Hunter Cattoor scored a career high 31 points as he led Virginia Tech to perhaps its biggest win in program history, 82-67 over No. 7 Duke on Saturday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament final in New York.
Keve Aluma added 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the seventh-seeded Hokies (23-12) captured their first ACC tournament title since joining the league in 2004-05 and earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
By winning in their first appearance in the title game, Virginia Tech denied Duke’s retiring coach Mike Krzyzewski his 16th ACC tournament championship in his final conference game.
Duke (28-6) got 20 points and five rebounds from Paolo Banchero. Wendell Moore Jr. added 11 points and six rebounds for the Blue Devils, who were beaten badly from the arc as they shot just 4 of 20 (20 percent) while Virginia Tech hit 10 of 22 (45.5 percent) from long distance.
It was the 13th win in the last 15 games for Tech after a 10-10 start.
No. 2 Arizona 84, No. 13 UCLA 76
Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points and led the Wildcats back from a 12-point second-half deficit to win the Pac-12 championship game with a victory over the Bruins in Las Vegas.
Top-seeded Arizona (31-3) earned its first conference tournament title since 2018 and is in line to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.
Mathurin, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, scored 18 points in the second half and made 13 of 15 free-throw attempts. Four players scored in double figures for second-seeded UCLA (25-7), led by Jules Bernard with 19 points.
No. 6 Kansas 74, No. 14 Texas Tech 65
Five players scored in double figures, led by David McCormack’s 18 points, as the Jayhawks defeated the Red Raiders to claim the Big 12 tournament championship in Kansas City, Mo.
Kansas receives the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, though both teams are likely to be on one of the top three lines. Kansas is likely headed for another No. 1 seed.
Ochai Agbaji had 16 points for Kansas (28-6), which also got 14 from Christian Braun. Texas Tech (25-9) was led by Bryson Williams with 17 points.
No. 8 Villanova 54, Creighton 48
Collin Gillespie scored 17 points, all in the second half, and drilled 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions late in the contest to help the Wildcats secure a hard-fought victory over the Bluejays in the Big East tournament title game in New York.
The second-seeded Wildcats (26-7) earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Gillespie added seven rebounds and five assists, while Justin Moore scored 16 points for Villanova, which won the tournament for the fifth time in the last seven events.
Ryan Kalkbrenner posted 19 points with eight rebounds and three blocked shots and Alex O’Connell had 10 for No. 4 seed Creighton (22-11), which failed in its fourth Big East final in school history without a win. Freshman Arthur Kaluma had nine points and 12 rebounds.
No. 9 Purdue 75, Michigan State 70
Jaden Ivey scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half to pace the Boilermakers to a victory over the seventh-seeded Spartans in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament at Indianapolis.
The third-seeded Boilermakers (27-6) advance to Sunday’s title game against No. 24 and fifth-seeded Iowa. Purdue last won the tournament in 2009, losing the final in 2016 and 2018.
Michigan State (22-12), which trailed 43-30 early in the second half, pulled within 57-56 on A.J. Hoggard’s jumper with 5:45 remaining. Eric Hunter Jr. answered with consecutive 3-pointers to put Purdue up 63-56. Ivey’s spinning lay-in put the Boilermakers up 69-59 with 1:50 remaining.
No. 9 Tennessee 69, No. 5 Kentucky 62
Kennedy Chandler scored 19 points, and the Volunteers withstood a late rally against the Wildcats to advance to the Southeastern Conference tournament title game in Tampa.
Tennessee (25-7), the No. 2 seed, will take on No. 8 Texas A&M in Sunday’s title game, the third time in the past four tournaments the Volunteers have reached the championship game. Tennessee, however, has not won the event since 1979.
Zakai Zeigler scored 11 points and Josiah-Jordan James added 10, but defense was the key to defeating Kentucky (26-7).
Texas A&M 82, No. 15 Arkansas 64
Quenton Jackson recorded 20 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals as the Aggies trounced the Razorbacks in Tampa to reach the Southeastern Conference tournament title game.
Hassan Diarra added 12 points as the eighth-seeded Aggies (23-11) never trailed in the semifinal matchup while posting their second straight big upset. Texas A&M knocked off top-seeded Auburn, ranked fourth nationally, in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Stanley Umude scored 20 points and Au’Diese Toney 18 for fourth-seeded Arkansas (25-8), which lost for just the third time in the past 18 contests.
No. 18 Houston 86, Tulane 66
Kyler Edwards scored 20 points and tied his career high with eight assists as the short-handed Cougars rolled to a victory over the Green Wave in the first American Athletic Conference semifinal game in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Cougars (28-5), the AAC’s regular-season champion and the top seed in the tournament, will play Memphis in the final on Sunday. Houston earned a berth in the AAC tournament final for the fourth consecutive season.
Taze Moore added 17 points for Houston, and Josh Carlton finished with 16, J’Wan Roberts had 10 points and 13 rebounds, and Ramon Walker Jr. contributed 11 points. Jaylen Forbes led the Green Wave (14-15) with 19 points. Kevin Cross added 13, DeVon Baker scored 12 and Tylan Pope had 10 points.
No. 24 Iowa 80, Indiana 77
Jordan Bohannon banked in a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left and Keegan Murray scored a game-high 32 points as the Hawkeyes rallied to defeat the Hoosiers in a Big Ten tournament semifinal in Indianapolis.
Trailing by nine with 5:31 remaining, the Hawkeyes closed the game on a 22-10 run. Fifth-seeded Iowa (25-9) advanced to meet third-seeded Purdue, ranked ninth nationally, in the tournament championship game on Sunday afternoon.
Trayce Jackson-Davis notched a double-double of 31 points and 10 rebounds for the ninth-seeded Hoosiers. Xavier Johnson added 20 points and nine assists for Indiana (20-13), and Race Thompson had 11 points and seven rebounds.
–Field Level Media