NEW YORK (AP) —
Tristen Newton and Donovan Clingan each had 13 points and seven rebounds and No. 2 UConn blitzed Xavier in the second half Thursday, opening the postseason with an 87-60 blowout in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.
Alex Karaban and Cam Spencer both scored 12 in a balanced performance by the top-seeded Huskies (29-3), who have won five straight games and 19 of 20. The defending national champions will play fourth-seeded Seton Hall or No. 5 seed St. John’s in the first semifinal Friday evening at Madison Square Garden.
Samson Johnson also had 12 points off the bench, and Big East Freshman of the Year Stephon Castle added 10 points and eight rebounds to round out six scorers in double figures for Connecticut, seeking its first Big East Tournament title since 2011.
Quincy Olivari scored 17 points and Desmond Claude had 13 for ninth-seeded Xavier.
NO. 4 NORTH CAROLINA 92, FLORIDA STATE 67
WASHINGTON (AP) — Armando Bacot scored 14 points and grabbed 10 of his team’s 48 rebounds to Seminoles’ 22, and fourth-ranked Tar Heels rolled into the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals with a victory.
Bacot got the double-double with a rebound on his final play before being pulled midway through the second half, and unanimous ACC player of the year RJ Davis scored a game-high 18 points.
Winning their sixth in a row, the Tar Heels flexed their muscles on the boards, at one point grabbing four offensive rebounds on the same possession late in the first half. By halftime, the Seminoles had just six.
A combination of rebounding domination and some timely shooting — as Florida State went ice cold from the floor — helped UNC (26-6, 18-3 ACC) pull away. Shooting for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the ACC’s regular-season champions face Wake Forest or Pitt on Friday night with a spot in the final on the line.
NO. 25 TEXAS TECH 81, NO. 20 BYU 67
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pop Isaacs scored 22 points, Chance McMillian added 17 points and eight rebounds and the Red Raiders withstood a furious second-half rally by the Cougars for a victory in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Kerwin Walton added 12 points and Robert Jennings and Joe Toussaint had 10 apiece for No. 4 seed Red Raiders (23-9), who led by as many as 23 in the first half before the Cougars (23-10) embarked on a 15-0 second-half run to make it interesting.
Jaxson Robinson hit a pair of 3-pointers before two free throws from Richie Saunders got the Big 12 newcomers within 62-55 with 5:04 to go. But unperturbed, Toussaint answered with a 3 for Texas Tech, and when Trevin Knell’s answering 3 rimmed out, Darrion Williams added another to give coach Grant McCasland’s team some breathing room.
The Red Raiders advanced from there into a semifinal matchup with No. 1 Houston or TCU on Friday night.
Robinson finished with 22 points to lead the Cougars, who shot 14 of 30 from the 3-point arc in a second-round win over UCF but were just 7 of 35 against Texas Tech. Fousseyni Traore finished with 13 points and Saunders had 12.
NO. 6 ARIZONA 70, SOUTHERN CAL 49
LAS VEGAS (AP) — KJ Lewis led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points as the Wildcats avenged an end of the regular season loss by rolling past the Trojans 70-49 Thursday in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals.
The top-seeded Wildcats (25-7) play the winner of the Oregon-UCLA game on Friday night. Arizona is two victories from becoming the first three-peat Pac-12 champion since the Wildcats won four straight in 1988-90 and 2002. There were no conference tournaments between 1991-2001.
Ninth-seeded USC ended its season at 15-18. The Trojans’ four-game winning streak also came to a halt.
Jaden Bradley scored 12 points for Arizona. Pac-12 player of the year Caleb Love, who scored two points in the previous meeting with USC, finished with 11, Oumar Ballo posted his 17th double-double this season with 10 points and 13 rebounds and Pelle Larrson had 10 points.
Kobe Johnson led USC with 14 points, Isaiah Collier scored 13 and the Trojans shot just 35.7%.
Arizona dominated in nearly every way, beating USC in rebounds (44-30), second-chance points (19-4), bench points (32-3) and transition points (16-2).
NO. 15 SOUTH CAROLINA 80, ARKANSAS 66
NASHVILLE, TENN. (AP) — Collin Murray-Boyles scored 24 points as the Gamecocks knocked off the Razorbacks at the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
South Carolina (26-6), the No. 5 seed, took control of a back-and-forth game with a 16-0 run spanning halftime to put the Gamecocks into Friday’s quarterfinals against No. 12 Auburn, the fourth seed.
The Gamecocks gave AP SEC coach of the year Lamont Paris his first conference tourney win, and they tied the 2017 Final Four team for most wins in program history. Paris’ performance already has earned him a big pay raise and extension, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.
B.J. Mack added 19 points for South Carolina, which won its first game at this tournament since beating Ole Miss in the opening round of 2018. Ta’Lon Cooper scored 11 points.
Khalif Battle led 12th-seeded Arkansas with 20 points. Makhi Mitchell added 15 and Jalen Graham had 11.
NO. 1 HOUSTON 60, TCU 45
KANSAS CITY, MO. (AP) — Emanuel Sharp had 14 points and Jamal Shead scored 12, as the Cougars rolled to a 60-45 victory over the Horned Frogs in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
J’Wan Roberts added eight points and 10 rebounds for Houston (29-3), which held TCU without a point for nearly 10 minutes to start the game and was never threatened the rest of the way in winning its 10th consecutive game.
The Cougars will play No. 25 Texas Tech in the semifinal round on Friday night.
Micah Peavy had 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Horned Frogs (21-12). Leading scorer Emanuel Miller followed up his 26-point performance in a second-round win over Oklahoma by scoring just three points on 1-for-10 shooting.
Devin Carter had 22 points and 11 rebounds as Providence secured a huge victory for its postseason resume, holding off No. 8 Creighton 78-73 in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals Thursday night.
Josh Oduro added 17 points and nine boards for the seventh-seeded Friars (21-12), who recovered in the final five-plus minutes after squandering a 13-point lead in the second half. They will face 10th-ranked and third-seeded Marquette or No. 6 seed Villanova in the second semifinal Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
Jayden Pierre had 15 points and seven assists for Providence, hitting several clutch shots down the stretch before Carter — the Big East Player of the Year — salted away the win with a late drive and four free throws in the last 1:40.
Ryan Kalkbrenner had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the second-seeded Bluejays (23-9), still likely to receive a high seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Trey Alexander also scored 19, while Baylor Scheierman added 16 points and 13 boards. Steven Ashworth finished with 16 points as well.
NO. 18 UTAH ST. 87, FRESNO ST. 75, OT
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Great Osobor had 29 points and 17 rebounds as the Aggies defeated the Bulldogs in a quarterfinal round game of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
Darius Brown had 17 points and 11 assists and Javon Jackson scored 16 points for the Aggies (27-5), the tournament’s top seed.
Jalen Weaver scored 19 points, Isaiah Hill added 17 and Isaiah Pope 12 for the Bulldogs (12-21).
Osobor, the conference’s player of the year, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 before Fresno State’s Hill dropped in a layup to tie the game at 70 with 1:20 remaining. Both teams missed 3-point attempts in the final minute.
In the overtime, Jackson hit a 3-pointer and Osobor scored in the paint to put Utah State up by five. Osobor hit one of two free throws and extended the lead to 76-70 with 2:29 left in the extra session. Brown hit a 15-footer to stretch the lead to 78-70 with 1:43 left. Fresno State turned the ball over and couldn’t get any closer.
NORTH CAROLINA STATE 74, NO. 11 DUKE 69
WASHINGTON (AP) — DJ Horne scored 18 points, including two clutch free throws with 15 seconds left, and North Carolina State ousted Duke 74 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
Kyle Filipowski had 28 points and 14 rebounds for second-seeded Duke (24-8), but N.C. State big man D.J. Burns Jr. kept him frustrated in the second half as the Wolfpack refused to yield. Tenth-seeded N.C. State will face either Virginia or Boston College in Friday’s semifinals, needing two more victories to secure an improbable automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Duke heads into the NCAAs on a sour note after dropping its regular-season finale at home to rival North Carolina and then losing its ACC Tournament opener after receiving a bye into the quarterfinals.
NO. 7 IOWA STATE 76, KANSAS STATE 57
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Robert Jones scored 18 points, Tre King added 16 points and No. 7 Iowa State harried Kansas State into 20 turnovers allowing the Cyclones to cruise to a 76-57 victory in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Keshon Gilbert added 12 points and six steals and Tamin Lipsey had 11 points for the fourth-seeded Cyclones (25-7), who were clinging to a 40-39 lead with about 16 minutes to go when the Wildcats’ turnovers really began to pile up.
Tylor Perry had 18 points, Arthur Kaluma scored 13 and Will McNair Jr. had 12 points for 10th-seeded Kansas State (19-14), which may have popped its own NCAA Tournament bubble.
PROVIDENCE 78, NO. 8 CREIGHTON 73
NEW YORK (AP) — Devin Carter had 22 points and 11 rebounds as Providence secured a huge victory for its postseason resume, holding off No. 8 Creighton 78-73 in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.
Josh Oduro added 17 points and nine boards for the seventh-seeded Friars (21-12), who recovered in the final five-plus minutes after squandering a 13-point lead in the second half. They will face 10th-ranked and third-seeded Marquette or No. 6 seed Villanova in the second semifinal Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
Jayden Pierre had 15 points and seven assists for Providence, hitting several clutch shots down the stretch before Carter — the Big East Player of the Year — salted away the win with a late drive and four free throws in the last 1:40.
Ryan Kalkbrenner had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the second-seeded Bluejays (23-9), still likely to receive a high seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Trey Alexander also scored 19, while Baylor Scheierman added 16 points and 13 boards. Steven Ashworth finished with 16 points as well.
DUQUESNE 64, NO. 24 DAYTON
NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Clark III scored 16 points and Duquesne held off star big man DaRon Holmes II and No. 24 Dayton in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Holmes scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half, but the Flyers (24-7), who came in with a NET ranking of 21, struggled from the field and now will have to rely on an at-large bid to make the NCAA Tournament.
NO. 22 WASHINGTON STATE 79, STANFORD 62
LAS VAGAS (AP) — Isaac Jones scored 16 points and No. 22 Washington State beat Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals.
The Cougars had six players score in double figures and shot 50.8% (31 for 61) from the field. Myles Rice and Jaylen Wells each scored 14, and Andrej Jakimovski had 13.
Stanford finished the season with a 14-18 record. The school announced after the game that it had fired coach Jerod Haase.
Spencer Jones led the Cardinal with 22 points, and Brandon Angel had 15.
COLORADO STATE 85, NO. 23 NEVADA 85
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jalen Lake scored 16 points, Isaiah Stevens added 15 and Colorado State beat No. 23 Nevada in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
The Rams (24-9), the No. 7 seed, never trailed after the 17:06 mark of the first half. Nique Clifford had 14 points and nine rebounds for Colorado State, and Joe Palmer added 12 points.
Jared Lucas led the second-seeded Wolf Pack (26-7) with 18 points. Kenan Blackshear added 16 points for Nevada and Tylan Pope scored 10.
NO. 14 BAYLOR 68, CINCINNATI 56
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — RayJ Dennis shook off a tough start to score 13 points, Jalen Bridges had 12 points and eight rebounds, and No. 14 Baylor pulled away in the second half for a victory over Cincinnati in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Yves Missi added 12 points and Ja’Kobe Walter had 11 for the third-seeded Bears (23-9), who advanced to their eighth semifinal under Scott Drew. They will face seventh-ranked Iowa State on Friday night as they chase their first tournament title.
Dan Skillings Jr. had 15 points for the No. 11 seed Bearcats (20-14). John Newman III and Jizzle James added 12 apiece.
NO. 10 MARQUETTE 71, VILLANOVA 65, OT
NEW YORK (AP) — Kam Jones scored 17 points, Oso Ighodaro’s only basket of the game was a huge one with 18 seconds left in overtime and No. 10 Marquette rebounded from having a potential game-winning buzzer-beater waved off in regulation to beat sixth-seeded Villanova in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals Thursday night.
The third-seeded and defending champion Marquette will face seventh-seeded Providence in the nightcap of Friday night’s semifinal doubleheader at Madison Square Garden.
Eric Dixon led Villanova with 19 points, TJ Bamba made three free throws with 1:50 left in the second half to tie it at 58 and neither team scored in regulation again.
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