ST. LOUIS — Fred VanVleet scored 13 of his 22 points in the final 6 minutes and No. 2 Wichita State remained the nation’s lone unbeaten after defeating Indiana State 83-69 on Sunday in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final.
ST. LOUIS — Fred VanVleet scored 13 of his 22 points in the final 6 minutes and No. 2 Wichita State remained the nation’s lone unbeaten after defeating Indiana State 83-69 on Sunday in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final.
Tekele Cotton added 20 points — with four 3-pointers — and Ron Baker had 14 points for the Shockers (34-0), who got tested in the second half before putting the title game out of reach with a 13-0 run capped by two 3-pointers from VanVleet that put them up by 18 points with 5:38 to go.
Wichita State matched the NCAA record for victories to start the season held by UNLV in 1990-91 with its third straight convincing tournament win after going 18-0 in the conference regular season. The Shockers won their first conference tournament since 1987.
Manny Arop and Justin Gant had 18 points apiece for second-seeded Indiana State (23-10), which has one of the closer calls against Wichita State with a seven-point loss at home in early February.
Wichita State’s last nine victories have all been by double digits. The Shockers have won 12 of 14 in the Indiana State series.
Maryland 75, No. 5 Virginia 69, OT
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland closed out its 61st and final Atlantic Coast Conference regular season in stunning fashion b y ending Virginia’s 13-game winning streak.
After blowing a seemingly secure lead in the closing seconds of regulation, the Terrapins never trailed in the extra session in front of an emotional sellout crowd of 17,950 at the school’s final home basketball game in a conference it joined as a charter member in 1953. Maryland moves to the Big Ten next season.
When the final buzzer sounded, thousands of fans stormed the court to celebrate another unforgettable ACC memory at the expense of one of its biggest rivals.
Seth Allen scored five of his 20 points in overtime and Dez Wells finished with 18 for the Terrapins (17-14, 9-9 ACC), who had lost six straight to Virginia, including a 61-53 decision in February.
Anthony Gill scored 15 points and London Perrantes had 14 for Virginia (25-6, 16-2), which had already won the regular season title and was vying to set an ACC record for most league wins during the regular season.
No. 7 Syracuse 74, Florida St. 58
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — C.J. Fair scored 22 points and Syracuse closed the regular season with a victory in the program’s first trip to Florida State. The Orange, who ended a two-game losing streak, had lost 4 of 5 after starting the season 25-0.
Jerami Grant, who had been bothered by back problems recently, had 16 points and eight rebounds while Tyler Ennis finished with 16 points for Syracuse (27-4, 14-4 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Okaro White led Florida State with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow senior Ian Miller scored 16 points in his last home game while Aaron Thomas chipped in 14.
The bubble may have burst for Florida State (18-12, 9-9) which desperately needed a signature win at this point of the season to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament.
Syracuse ran away from the Seminoles in the second half behind Fair. The senior forward scored 15 points after halftime, including 10 of the Orange’s first 14 to take a 47-40 lead.
Nebraska 77, No. 9 Wisconsin 68
LINCOLN, Neb. — Shavon Shields and Terran Petteway scored 26 points apiece, and Nebraska beat Wisconsin to bolster its resume for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
The Cornhuskers (19-11, 11-7) won for the 10th time in 12 games to clinch fourth place in the Big Ten for their highest conference finish since 1997-98. The Badgers (25-6, 12-6) had their longest conference win streak since 1940-41 end at eight games.
Shields made a couple of free throws, Ray Gallegos hit a 3-pointer and Shields dunked in transition to start a 12-1 run that turned a 52-48 deficit into a 60-53 lead with 5 minutes left.
The Cornhuskers, looking for their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1998, picked up a second win against a top-10 team for the first time since 1993-94. Their other one was at then-No. 9 Michigan State on Feb. 16. The Huskers won 11 conference games for the first time since 1965-66.
Nebraska also finished with a Big Ten-best 15-1 home record by defeating the conference’s best road team.
No. 17 Saint Louis 64, UMass 62
AMHERST, Mass. — Jordair Jett scored on a driving layup with 3 seconds to play and Saint Louis snapped a three-game losing streak to win the Atlantic 10 regular season title outright for the second straight season.
Jett finished with 17 points, including the Billikens’ last six of the game. Saint Louis (26-5, 13-3 A-10) got its final possession on a jump ball call with 36.4 seconds left. Jett dribbled out the clock near midcourt before starting the game-winning drive.
Chaz Williams, who had 20 points and nine assists for the Minutemen (23-7, 10-6), had a 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounce off the rim.
Saint Louis, which started its losing skid after a school-record 19-game winning streak, didn’t lead in the second half until Jett’s game-winning shot.
Ohio St. 69, No. 22 Michigan St. 67
COLUMBUS, Ohio — LaQuinton Ross scored 22 points and Aaron Craft added 12, including a late free throw, to lead Ohio State.
Keith Appling’s jumper with 2 seconds left was off the mark for the Spartans, who failed to score over the final 4:30 as Ohio State scored the game’s final four points.
Adreian Payne scored 23 points, Gary Harris had 12 and Denzel Valentine 11 for the Spartans (23-8, 12-6 Big Ten), who have lost seven of their last 11.
Amir Williams hit a free throw with 37.2 seconds left to put Ohio State (23-8, 10-8) ahead for good. Craft then added a free throw with 20.9 seconds remaining.
The Buckeyes had dropped their last two on the road to second-tier Big Ten teams.
