The associated Press ADVERTISING The associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Trey Lyles scored 14 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 13 with nine rebounds and No. 1 Kentucky pulled away from Florida 67-50 on Saturday to complete the storied program’s first unbeaten
The associated Press
The associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Trey Lyles scored 14 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 13 with nine rebounds and No. 1 Kentucky pulled away from Florida 67-50 on Saturday to complete the storied program’s first unbeaten regular season.
A sellout crowd cheered loudly as the final seconds wound down on the eight-time NCAA champions’ milestone achievement. Players soon donned blue T-shirts with “31-0” in white and the phrase “not done yet.”
Towns was essential in getting the Wildcats going toward history with 10 first-half points. He also grabbed six rebounds that were critical in helping Kentucky (31-0, 18-0 Southeastern Conference) slowly pull away.
Kasey Hill scored 15 points and Dorian Finney-Smith had 12 for Florida (15-16, 8-10). The Gators were outscored 46-13 in bench points alone and shot just 43 percent.
No. 16 LOUISVILLE 59, No. 2 VIRGINIA 57
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mangok Mathiang made a 15-footer with 2.7 seconds left to give a stunning victory over Virginia.
Evan Notle’s inbounds pass went wide to end the Cavaliers’ chance for a last-second win, giving Louisville the ball back underneath its own goal. Terry Rozier made a free throw for the final margin.
Montrezl Harrell had 20 points and 12 rebounds in his last home game to help Louisville (24-7, 12-6) clinch the fourth seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
No. 3 DUKE 84, No. 19 N. CAROLINA 77
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Tyus Jones had a big second half to help Duke shoot 59 percent after the break and beat North Carolina.
Jones scored 17 of his season-high 24 in the second half for the Blue Devils (28-3, 15-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who capitalized on a handful of key turnovers by the Tar Heels (21-10, 11-7) to finally get a fragile hold on a game in which neither team could get many second-half stops.
Quinn Cook added 20 points for Duke, including a tough floater to beat the shot clock with about 4 minutes left as the Blue Devils worked to hang on for their 11th straight win.
Marcus Paige matched his season high with 23 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead the Tar Heels, while Brice Johnson added 17 on 8-for-12 shooting.
No. 4 VILLANOVA 105, ST. JOHN’S 68
PHILADELPHIA — Daniel Ochefu had 21 points and nine rebounds, and JayVaughn Pinkston scored 18 points as Villanova rolled to its 12th straight victory.
The Wildcats (29-2, 16-2 Big East) now have the most regular-season wins in team history and head to New York as the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. The Wildcats have won 12 straight Big East games for the first time in program history.
No. 5 ARIZONA 91, STANFORD 69
TUCSON, Ariz. — T.J. McConnell had 10 points and 11 assists in his final home game to helping Arizona close out the regular season.
Arizona (28-3, 16-2 Pac-12) led by 16 points at halftime despite McConnell being in foul trouble and fought through a chippy second half to extend the nation’s longest home winning streak to 38 games.
Brandon Ashley had 15 points and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 14 for the Wildcats, the No. 1 seed in next week’s Pac-12 Tournament after ending the regular season with an eight-game winning streak.
No. 7 GONZAGA 81, SAN FRANCISCO 72
LAS VEGAS — Przemek Karnowski scored a season-high 24 points and Kyle Wiltjer added 19 to lead Gonzaga over San Francisco in the West Coast Conference tournament.
The Bulldogs (30-2) will play Pepperdine in the semifinals Monday night. The Waves defeated San Diego 50-47 earlier Saturday.
Tim Derksen and Mark Tollefsen led USF (14-18), the tournament’s eighth seed, with 21 points each. Devin Watson scored 17.
ILLINOIS ST. 65, No. 8 WICHITA ST. 62
ST. LOUIS — Daishon Knight capped a 25-point game with two critical free throws in the closing seconds and Illinois State rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to beat Wichita State in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
Reggie Lynch added 11 points, seven rebounds and five blocks for the fourth-seeded Redbirds (21-11), who were 0-2 against the regular-season champions in conference play and trailed by 12 in the first half. Illinois State has won six straight and will play for the Valley’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in the final on Sunday.
No. 15 OKLAHOMA 75, No. 9 KANSAS 73
NORMAN, Okla. — Buddy Hield scored on a tip-in with 0.2 seconds left to give Oklahoma the victory.
Hield got up high and got both hands on Jordan Woodard’s missed layup. Hield finished with 18 points and seven rebounds to help the Sooners (21-9, 12-6 Big 12) clinch at least a tie for second in the conference.
Isaiah Cousins added 16 points, TaShawn Thomas had 13, and Ryan Spangler finished with nine points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma.
Frank Mason III tied a season high with 21 points for Kansas (24-7, 13-5).
No. 11 N. IOWA 63, LOYOLA 49
ST. LOUIS — Seth Tuttle led a balanced, methodical attack with 13 points and Northern Iowa was stingy again defensively in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament semifinals.
Marvin Singleton and Jeremy Morgan added 11 points apiece for the Panthers (29-3), who held Bradley to 46 points in the quarterfinals. Northern Iowa is fourth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 54 points, and has won 18 of 19 headed into the title game against fourth-seeded Illinois State (21-11), which upset top-seeded and eighth-ranked Wichita State earlier Saturday.
Northern Iowa beat Illinois State by one and 19 points in the regular season.
No. 12 NOTRE DAME 81, CLEMSON 67
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jerian Grant had 19 points and eight assists and Zach Auguste added 19 points as Notre Dame shot 55 percent from the field.
Jaron Blossomgame kept Clemson in the game for a while, scoring the first seven points and 13 of the Tigers’ first 17. But Blossomgame added just nine more points the rest of the way after Steve Vasturia started defending him, finishing with 22 points.
Auguste scored five points during a 7-0 run late in the first half to open an 11-point lead and the Irish hit three 3-pointers early in the second half and used a 10-3 spurt to go ahead 55-38.
WASHINGTON 77, No. 13 UTAH 68
SEATTLE — Nigel Williams-Goss of Washington scored 28 points, including a deep 3-pointer with 1:08 remaining as the shot clock was about to expire.
Washington (16-14, 5-13 Pac-12) was 15-4 after winning at Colorado on Jan. 22, then proceeded to lose its next seven games and 10 of 11 as injuries and player discipline left the Huskies short-handed. Included in that skid was a 21-point loss to the Utes in Salt Lake City.
But the Huskies played inspired in the final game of the regular season. Andrew Andrews had 16 points and Mike Anderson added 15 in his final home game.
No. 17 IOWA ST. 89, TCU 76
FORT WORTH, Texas — Georges Niang and Monte Morris each had 19 points and Iowa State ended the regular season with another comeback win, beating TCU to clinch the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
After only two points with three turnovers before halftime, Niang had two assists, two rebounds and a layup as Iowa State (22-8, 12-6 Big 12) went ahead to stay with a 16-5 run in the first 4½ minutes of the second half. That included the assist on a tiebreaking 3-pointer by Naz Long.
Kenrich Williams had 17 points and Kyan Anderson 16 for TCU (17-14, 4-14), which had won its previous three home games.
LSU 81, No. 18 ARKANSAS 78
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Keith Hornsby hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give LSU the victory.
The Tigers (22-9, 11-7 Southeastern Conference) hit 3-pointers on their final two possessions to erase a 3-point deficit. Jalyn Patterson’s 3-pointer with 57.8 seconds remaining tied the game 78-78.
No. 20 W. VIRGINIA 81, OKLAHOMA ST. 72
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Devin Williams tied a career-high with 22 points to lead West Virginia.
Daxter Miles Jr. added 15 points for the Mountaineers (23-8, 11-7 Big 12), who were without injured senior guards Juwan Staten and Gary Browne in their final home game. Williams had 13 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Most of Williams’ work came from the free-throw line, where he went 14 of 15.
No. 21 BUTLER 68, No. 24 PROVIDENCE 64
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Roosevelt Jones scored 16 points and Kellen Dunham had 15 as Butler held on.
Reserve Kelan Martin added 14 points for the Bulldogs (22-9, 12-6 Big East), who won for the ninth time in 12 games.
Kris Dunn led Providence (21-10, 11-7) with 23 points, six assists and four steals. Tyler Harris had 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. LaDontae Henton, a senior and the Big East’s leading scorer, had eight points on 2-of-10 shooting.
BELMONT 88, No. 25 MURRAY ST. 87
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Taylor Barnette hit a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left, and Belmont upset Murray State to win the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship and clinch its seventh NCAA Tournament berth.
The Bruins (22-10) improved to 7-1 in conference tournament finals — all in the past decade. Murray State had one last chance, but T.J. Sapp’s deep 3 came nowhere near the basket before the buzzer.
Murray State (27-5) couldn’t add a perfect run through the tournament to the first undefeated league record in the program’s history. The Racers snapped a 25-game winning streak that had been second only to No. 1 Kentucky.
