Tennessee guard Josiah-Jordan James tries to drive past Kentucky forward Keion Brooks Jr. during an SEC semifinal on Saturday in Tampa, Florida. Chris O’Meara/Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. — Kennedy Chandler scored 19 points, Zakai Zeigler added 11 and No. 9 Tennessee held off fifth-ranked Kentucky 69-62 in the final minutes Saturday to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament final for the third time in the last five years.
The Volunteers (25-7) have won 11 of 12 and taken a huge step toward potentially securing a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Tennessee will face eighth-seeded Texas A&M on Sunday in the SEC title game.
The Wildcats (26-7) had been penciled into a top seed, but losing to Tennessee twice in three meetings could flip the script. Chandler, Ziegler and Josiah-Jordan James helped author the changes.
Chandler, a freshman guard from Memphis, made 8 of 16 shots and seemingly had an answer every time third-seeded Kentucky looked like it would make a run in front of a pro-Big Blue crowd inside packed Amalie Arena. Chandler added three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
(6) KANSAS 74, (14) TEXAS TECH 65: David McCormack had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Ochai Agbaji made a pair of clinching foul shots with just over a minute to go, and the Jayhawks (27-6) the Red Raiders (25-9) in Kansas City, Missouri to win the Big 12 Tournament title.
Agbaji finished with 16 points, Christian Braun had 14 and Jalen Wilson and Remy Martin 12 apiece to lead the Jayhawks, who showcased poise and resilience in the final minutes while the Red Raiders fumbled away a chance at the title.
(7) DUKE 82, VIRGINIA TECH 67: For the second straight Saturday night, Duke failed to deliver Coach K a send-off victory.
This time it was Virginia Tech playing party pooper.
Hunter Cattoor scored a career-high 31 points and the seventh-seeded Hokies won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament for the first time, beating Duke (28-6) in New York to deny Mike Krzyzewski a league title in his final season.
Virginia Tech (23-12) came to Brooklyn in need a of a run to make the NCAA Tournament, and the Hokies became just the second ACC to take the crown with four wins in four days.
(8) VILLANOVA 54, CREIGHTON 48: Collin Gillespie buried consecutive 3-pointers late in the game that put the Wildcats (26-7) ahead for good, and Villanova beat the Bluejays (22-11) to win the Big East Tournament championship at Madison Square Garden.
Gillespie missed this tournament and the NCAAs last season with a torn ligament in his left knee. But a year later he made the clutch shots in the waning minutes, hitting the go-ahead 3 over the outstretched arm of 7-foot-1 center Ryan Kalkbrenner with 2:44 left.
(9) PURDUE 75, MICHIGAN STATE 70: Jaden Ivey had 22 points and nine rebounds and Eric Hunter Jr. made two back-breaking 3-pointers late in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal to help the Boilermakers (26-7) beat the Spartans (22-12) in Indianapolis.
The third-seeded Boilermakers face No. 24 Iowa on Sunday in their first title game appearance since 2018.
TEXAS A&M 82, (15) ARKANSAS 64: Quenton Jackson scored 20 points and the eighth-seeded Aggies (23-11) took down a ranked opponent for the second straight day, stunning the Razorbacks (25-8) to reach the championship game of the SEC Tournament in Tampa, Florida.
Jackson also had six assists, five rebounds and four steals to pace the Aggies (23-11), who have revived their NCAA Tournament hopes by winning eight of nine games since ending a month-long, eight-game losing streak in February.
(18) HOUSTON 88, TULANE 66: Kyler Edwards had 20 points with six 3-pointers, big man Josh Carlton added 16 points and the 18th-ranked Cougars (28-5) advanced to their fourth consecutive American Athletic Conference championship game with a win over the Green Wave (14-15) in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Cougars matched their win total from last season, when they won their first AAC tournament title and then made it to the Final Four.
(24) IOWA 80, INDIANA 77: Jordan Bohannon banked in a 3-pointer from just inside the midcourt logo with 0.8 seconds left and the Hawkeyes (25-9) rallied to shock the ninth-seeded Hoosiers (20-13) a Big Ten Tournament semifinal in Indianapolis.
With the shot clock running down and the score tied, Bohannon caught a pass on the deep left wing, took three dribbles trying to shake loose and launched the long 3 from straightaway. The ball went off the backboard and through the net, sending him running backward toward the Hoosiers bench.
VERMONT 82, MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY 43: Ryan Davis scored 20 points, Ben Shungu added 19 and the Catamounts (28-5) completed a dominant America East season with their fourth conference tournament title in six years with a win over the Retrievers (18-14) in Burlington, Vermont.
LSU: The school fired coach Will Wade for cause amid “serious” allegations of NCAA violations, the university announced in a joint statement from its president and athletic director.
The firing comes the day after LSU was bounced from the Southeastern Conference Tournament by Arkansas, 79-67, in a quarterfinal game on Friday night.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
(4) BAYLOR 81, (21) OKLAHOMA 76: NaLyssa Smith had a career-high 37 points as the Bears (27-5) routed the Sooners (24-8) in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Missouri.
Smith’s previous career high was 35 earlier this year vs. Texas Tech.
(7) TEXAS 82, (10) IOWA STATE 73: Rori Harmon scored 12 of her 30 points in overtime and the Longhorns (25-6) outlasted the Cyclones (26-6) in the Big 12 women’s semifinals in Kansas City Missouri.
Texas’ Lauren Ebo had an attempt in the lane with less than two seconds left that rolled off the rim and sent it to overtime. Texas used its size and strength inside to control the overtime, outscoring Iowa State 19-10 in the extra period.
(24) PRINCETON 77, COLUMBIA 59: Kaitlyn Chen scored a career-high 30 points and the Tigers (24-4) beat the Lions (22-6) to win the Ivy League tournament in Boston, earning earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAAs.
This will be the first time since the 2019 season that an Ivy League team will play in the NCAAs. The 2020 NCAA Tournament was called because of the coronavirus and the Ivy League decided not to have sports last year because of the ongoing pandemic.
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