CHICAGO (AP) — Oscar Cluff scored 21 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn had 20 and No. 18 Purdue topped No. 3 Michigan 80-72 on Sunday for the Big Ten Tournament championship.
Braden Smith had 14 points, 11 assists and three steals as Purdue (27-8) added to an impressive turnaround after closing the regular season with four losses in six games. Fletcher Loyer made three 3-pointers and finished with 14 points.
The Boilermakers won the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2023 and third time overall. They lost to the Wolverines in the final in 1998 and 2018.
Yaxel Lendeborg scored 20 points for top-seeded Michigan (31-3), which beat Purdue 91-80 in their regular-season meeting on Feb. 17. Aday Mara had 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.
NO. 17 ARKANSAS 86, NO. 22 VANDERBILT 75
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darius Acuff Jr. scored 30 points and handed out 11 assists, leading Arkansas to its first Southeastern Conference Tournament championship and first automatic NCAA Tournament berth since 2000, beating Vanderbilt.
With the win, John Calipari became the first coach in SEC history to win tournament titles at two different programs.
He won six with Kentucky with the last in 2018, including the 2017 title over Arkansas. Calipari now has 16 combined conference tournament titles in his career.
This title game featured a duel of All-SEC guards in Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner defending Acuff, the SEC player and freshman of the year. Acuff put on a show finding teammates with passes, dropping fadeaway jumpers and 3s or layups.
The Razorbacks (26-8) sealed the win with a 12-0 spurt in the final minutes to snap a skid of four straight losses in this game with the program’s second SEC Tournament title.
Billy Richmond III added 18 points for Arkansas. Trevon Brazile had 16 and D.J. Wagner 11.
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