Top-25 College Basketball Game Capsules

Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) – Patric Young had 16 points, Scottie Wilbekin scored 14 and top-ranked Florida came back to beat Tennessee 56-49 on Saturday to advance to the final of the SEC Tournament. Casey Prather added 12 points for Florida (31-2), which stretched its school-record winning streak to 25 games but not without another poor start. Wilbekin’s 3-pointer at the end of the first half cut a 10-point deficit to 35-28. The Gators then outscored the Volunteers 28-14 in the second half to set up a meeting with rival Kentucky in Sunday’s final. On Friday, Florida was tied with Missouri at halftime before outscoring the Tigers 43-20 the rest of the way. Jordan McRae scored 15 points to lead the fourth-seeded Volunteers (21-12), who had a five-game winning streak snapped. Jarnell Stokes added 13 points in the loss and Jeronne Maymon had 10.

Final Score: UCLA 75, (4) Arizona 71

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – UCLA had missed 12-of-13 shots against Arizona’s stifling defense before Jordan Adams rose up and hit the biggest one of the Pac-12 Tournament. Adams’ go-ahead 3-pointer with 43 seconds left lifted the Bruins to a 75-71 win over the Wildcats in a Pac-12 Championship Game thriller. The game was tied 68-68 before Adams used a flare screen to create separation from Nick Johnson and fired a left wing triple over the Pac-12 Player of the Year. Aaron Gordon airballed a left corner trey at the other end, but Kyle Anderson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to give Arizona another chance to tie. Johnson and Gabe York, though, were unable to connect on their 3-point attempts and David Wear sunk two foul shots with five seconds remaining to seal UCLA’s first Pac-12 Tournament title since 2008 in its first year under new head coach Steve Alford. Kyle Anderson tallied 21 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, while Adams added 19 points for the second-seeded Bruins (26-8), who shot 25.9 percent (7-of-27) in the second half after hitting on 58.1 percent (18-of-31) in the first half. UCLA finished at 43.1 percent (25-of-58) for the game. Johnson netted 22 points to lead top-seeded Arizona (30-4), which was looking for its first Pac-12 Tournament Championship in 12 years. The Wildcats have reached the title game in three of the last four seasons.

Final Score: (5) Louisville 71, (21) Connecticut 61

Memphis, TN (SportsNetwork.com) – Louisville’s one-year stop in the American Athletic Conference ended with a tournament title. Montrezl Harrell scored 22 points, Russ Smith had 19 and the fifth-ranked Cardinals rolled to a 71-61 win over No. 21 Connecticut in the conference’s first-ever championship game Saturday. Chris Jones added 11 points and Harrell pulled down a game- high 11 rebounds for the Cardinals (29-5), who pushed their winning streak to five games going into the NCAA Tournament. DeAndre Daniels had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Connecticut (26-8) while Shabazz Napier scored 16 and Amida Brimah added 14 points. Louisville won the Big East Tournament three times in the last five seasons it played in the conference, including the final two, and will move on to the ACC next season. The reigning national- champion Cardinals beat UConn for the third time this season, including an 81-48 rout on March 8.

Final Score: (6) Virginia 51, Pittsburgh 48

Greensboro, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – Virginia is headed to the ACC Tournament final for the first time since 1994 after pulling out a hard-fought 51-48 victory over Pittsburgh in another close finish at Greensboro Coliseum. Joe Harris scored 12 points while Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill each netted 10 for the sixth-ranked Cavaliers (27-6), who will face Duke in Sunday’s tourney finale. The Blue Devils upended NC State following Virginia’s win. Gill made two critical free throws in the closing seconds, and Justin Anderson blocked James Robinson’s potential tying 3-point try in front of the Panthers’ bench as the final buzzer sounded. Pittsburgh (25-9), a day after knocking off North Carolina in the quarterfinals, shot just 36.7 percent from the floor and 3-of-14 from 3-point range. Lamar Patterson and Talib Zanna each scored 15 points in the setback. Much like the only regular season meeting — one taken by Virginia in a slim 48-45 decision on Feb. 2 — Saturday’s showdown was played at a deliberately slow pace.

Final Score: (7) Duke 75, North Carolina State 67

Greensboro, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – Jabari Parker scored 20 points, Rasheed Sulaimon added 16 and No. 7 Duke pulled away from NC State in the second half for a 75-67 victory in ACC Tournament semifinal action. The Blue Devils (26-7) will try to extend their record with a 20th ACC tourney title on Sunday against Virginia, which edged Pittsburgh in a defensive slugfest earlier Saturday at Greensboro Coliseum. Duke, which came in as the No. 3 seed, showed some shutdown ability itself in holding the Wolfpack to 35.5 percent shooting after the break. The perennial contenders received their usual balanced offensive production with 14 points apiece from Rodney Hood and Quinn Cook, and wound up shooting 57.1 percent overall. T.J. Warren netted 21 points to lead the Wolfpack (21-13), but the conference Player of the Year missed nine of his 13 shots in the second half.

Final Score: (8) Michigan 72, (24) Ohio State 69

Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) – Caris LeVert posted 17 points with a game-high eight rebounds to lead eighth-ranked Michigan into the Big Ten Championship with a 72-69 takedown of rival No. 24 Ohio State on Saturday. Nik Stauskas netted 18 and Glenn Robinson III scored 11 for Michigan (25-7), which has won seven straight. Jordan Morgan and Derrick Walton Jr. had eight points and five boards apiece for the Wolverines, who will take on Michigan State in Sunday’s finals. LaQuinton Ross paced OSU (25-9) with 19 points in the setback, while Shannon Scott tallied 18 points, six assists and five boards. The Buckeyes had won all six previous meetings in the Big Ten Tournament between the two schools.

Final Score: (20) New Mexico 64, (8) San Diego State 58

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Cameron Bairstow scored 17 points and sparked a late 8-0 run that lifted 20th-ranked New Mexico to a thrilling 64-58 victory over No. 8 San Diego State and a third consecutive Mountain West Tournament title. Bairstow was fouled while driving the lane and converted a layup with 1:15 remaining, then hit the subsequent bonus shot to give the Lobos a 59-57 lead. Kendall Williams followed with a deep 3-pointer before Bairstow sealed the automatic NCAA bid by sinking two more free throws with 13 seconds left. The Lobos (27-6) overcame 11 second-half turnovers by outproducing the Aztecs at the foul line, making good on 22-of-27 attempts from the stripe compared to a 13-of-22 success rate for San Diego State. Bairstow finished 11-of-14 from the line in addition to pulling down nine rebounds. Williams added 16 points and Hugh Greenwood scored 12 with five assists to help New Mexico avenge a 51-48 road loss to the Aztecs last Saturday that gave San Diego State the league’s outright regular-season crown. MWC Player of the Year Xavier Thames netted 15 points for San Diego State (29-4), but was held to a 6-of-16 shooting night. The Aztecs shot just 35.7 percent as a team for the game.

Final Score: (22) Michigan State 83, (12) Wisconsin 75

Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) – Adreian Payne led six Michigan State players in double figures with 18 points as the 22nd-ranked Spartans held off No. 12 Wisconsin, 83-75, to advance to the finals of the Big Ten Tournament. Branden Dawson netted 14 points with seven rebounds while Gary Harris and Denzel Valentine donated 12 apiece for the Spartans (25-8), who won back-to- back games for the first time since an 11-game winning streak was snapped on Jan. 25. Keith Appling had 10 points and six assists and Travis Trice scored 11 off the bench for MSU, which will take on Michigan in Sunday’s finals. The Wolverines swept the season series. Wisconsin (26-7) lost despite a game- high 28 points from Frank Kaminsky, who hit all eight of his free throw attempts in the setback. Sam Dekker and Ben Brust each added 11 points. The Badgers will enter the NCAA Tournament having lost two of three on the heels of eight consecutive victories.

Final Score: Providence 65, (14) Creighton 58

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Selection Sunday won’t be quite so nerve- wracking for the Providence Friars anymore. With Bryce Cotton outgunning Doug McDermott for much of the game, the Friars captured only their second- ever Big East Tournament title with a stunning 65-58 victory over 14th- ranked Creighton that secured an automatic bid for one of the NCAA Tournament’s firm bubble teams. Cotton led the way with 23 points and LaDontae Henton came down with 13 rebounds while netting four crucial points down the stretch, a clutch jumper with 45.6 seconds remaining and two late free throws that helped Providence (23-11) earn a spot in the NCAA field for the first time since 2004. The Friars’ only previous Big East Tournament championship came in 1994, when they topped Georgetown in the final as a No. 4 seed. Providence entered this event as a fourth seed as well. McDermott overcame a frustrating first half to finish with 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting, but the Bluejays’ potent attack was largely kept in check by a stifling Friars’ defense that limited the Big East’s highest scoring team to a mere 17 points over the opening period. Avery Dingman was the only other double-digit scorer for Creighton (26-7), registering 10 points while hitting all five of his field goal attempts.

Final Score: (16) Iowa State 74, Baylor 65

Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – DeAndre Kane supplied 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and No. 16 Iowa State used a late spurt to secure its first Big 12 Tournament title in 14 years with a 74-65 triumph over Baylor. The Cyclones (26-7) didn’t take their first lead until 2013-14 Big 12 Player of the Year Melvin Ejim followed a Naz Long 3-pointer with a triple of his own to give Iowa State a 53-50 edge with under six minutes left. Baylor’s Isaiah Austin answered with a three-point play and added a jumper shortly thereafter before Brady Heslip buried a trey for a 58-56 Bears’ lead with four minutes remaining. However, Long and Ejim countered with back- to-back triples to spark a decisive 10-2 swing from the Cyclones. Baylor (24-11) got as close as four following Cory Jefferson’s tip-in with 1:08 left, but ISU went 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to seal the outcome. Georges Niang netted 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Dustin Hogue and Long each scored 12 points, and Ejim finished with 10 points and nine boards for the Cyclones, who claimed their second Big 12 Tournament title in school history and first since 2000. Kenny Chery registered 16 points and Heslip supplied 14 for Baylor, which fell to 0-3 in Big 12 Tournament Championship games.

Final Score: (23) VCU 74, George Washington 55

Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Treveon Graham scored 22 points and No. 23 VCU pulled away for a 74-55 win over George Washington on Saturday to earn a trip to the final of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Briante Weber added 16 points for the second-seeded Rams (26-7), who will face Saint Joseph’s on Sunday at Barclays Center. The fourth-seeded Hawks spoiled St. Bonaventure’s run with a 67-48 win in the first semifinal game Isaiah Armwood scored 15 points to lead third-seeded George Washington (24-8), Nemanja Mikic had 12 and Kevin Larsen chipped in 10. Larsen was blocked by Mo Alie-Cox, setting up a Graham’s NBA- range 3-pointer at the other end to cap a 7-1 VCU burst that gave the Rams a 60-51 lead with under six minutes to play. The advantage reached 11 points moments later on Alie-Cox’s tip-in and VCU coasted down the stretch.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball