INDIANAPOLIS — Kofi Cockburn scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half, and No. 3 Illinois beat No. 5 Iowa 82-71 on Saturday to advance to the Big Ten Tournament title game.
The Fighting Illini (22-6) have won six straight, with three coming against top-10 foes. If Illinois wins one more, against No. 9 Ohio State, it would claim its first tourney title since 2005.
Ayo Dosunmu scored 18 points for Illinois, and reserve guard Andre Curbelo finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Luka Garza had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Iowa (21-7). Jordan Bohannon scored 20 points.
NO. 9 OHIO STATE 68, NO. 4 MICHIGAN 67
INDIANAPOLIS — Duane Washington Jr. scored 24 points, E.J. Liddell had 18 and Ohio State held off Michigan to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship.
The Buckeyes (21-8) will play their fourth game in four days against No. 3 Illinois on Sunday.
Michigan managed to cut a 13-point deficit to one in the final 4 1/2 minutes. After a third consecutive Buckeyes turnover in the final 90 seconds, Mike Smith’s long jumper with 2 seconds left bounced off the back of the rim and time expired in the scramble for the loose ball.
Hunter Dickinson had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Wolverines (20-4), who played without Isaiah Livers after he was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right foot.
Ohio State forward Kyle Young sat out after he was hit in the head with an inadvertent elbow against Purdue.
NO. 6 ALABAMA 73, TENNESSEE 68
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Herbert Jones had 21 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, helping Alabama rally for the win.
Jahvon Quinerly had 19 points for the Crimson Tide, including two free throws with 15.5 seconds left.
Top-seeded Alabama (23-6) faces LSU in Sunday’s championship in search of its first SEC Tournament title since 1991.
Tennessee (18-8) awaits an NCAA Tournament seeding on Sunday.
Trailing 48-33 with 16:56 remaining, the Crimson Tide stormed back to lead 60-59 with 5:26 left.
Keon Johnson had 20 points for Tennessee, and Jaden Springer finished with 18.
NO. 7 HOUSTON 76, MEMPHIS 74
FORT WORTH, Texas — Justin Gorham scored 15 points, including four free throws in the final 27 seconds, and Houston advanced to its third consecutive American Athletic Conference Tournament final.
Boogie Ellis had 27 points for Memphis, but he had a huge turnover with 49 seconds left. He fell down with the ball when trying to respond to the Gorham’s nifty one-handed reverse layup with just over a minute left that had put the Cougars up 72-71.
Gorham added two free throws with 27 seconds left, and two more with 4 seconds left. Ellis made a running 3-pointer just before the final buzzer.
Quentin Grimes had 21 points for Houston (23-3), which is already a lock for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Next up for the Cougars is fifth-seeded Cincinnati on Sunday.
DeAndre Williams had 16 points for Memphis (16-8), an NCAA bubble team.
LSU 78, NO. 8 ARKANSAS 71
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Cameron Thomas scored 21 points, and LSU reached the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship for the first time since 1993.
The Tigers (18-8) will play No. 6 Alabama on Sunday looking to improve their NCAA Tournament seeding even more. LSU has won this tournament only once — back in 1980.
Javonte Smart scored 19 points for LSU, and Darius Days had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Moses Moody tied his season high with 28 points for Arkansas (22-6). Justin Smith added 21.
NO. 13 TEXAS 91, NO. 12 OKLAHOMA STATE 86
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Matt Coleman scored a career-high 30 points and Jericho Simms added a career-best 21, leading Texas to its Big 12 Tournament title.
Kai Jones and Andrew Jones added 13 points apiece for third-seeded Texas (19-7), which edged No. 20 Texas Tech in the quarterfinals before advancing to the finals when Kansas had to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test.
The title was the first for the Longhorns in seven frustrating appearances in the Big 12 championship game, and their first conference tournament trophy since winning the old Southwest Conference title in 1995.
Cade Cunningham had 29 points for the fifth-seeded Cowboys (20-8). Isaac Likekele added 13 points.
GEORGETOWN 73, NO. 17 CREIGHTON 48
NEW YORK — Patrick Ewing is taking Georgetown back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 after the eighth-seeded Hoyas completed a surprising run to a Big East championship.
On the 49th anniversary of the day Georgetown hired John Thompson, the late Hall of Fame coach who transformed the program into a national power and one of the most iconic brands in college basketball history, the Hoyas won their record eighth Big East Tournament title and first since 2007.
The Hoyas (13-12) closed the first half on a 23-2 run that put them up 18 at the break against second-seeded Creighton (20-8).
Georgetown’s Chudier Bile matched a season high with 19 points.
Marcus Zegarowski scored 17 points for Creighton.
The 58-year-old Ewing is the first person in Big East history to be the most outstanding player on a Big East Tournament champion and coach a team to a Big East Tournament title.
NO. 19 SAN DIEGO STATE 68, UTAH STATE 57
LAS VEGAS — Matt Mitchell scored 14 points to lead San Diego State to the win in the Mountain West Tournament championship.
The Aggies had beaten San Diego State in each of the last two tournament championship games. The Aztecs, who also won the regular-season championship, had lost six of their previous seven title game appearances.
With the league’s automatic bid, the Aztecs return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.
Nathan Mensah added 10 points and eight rebounds for San Diego State (23-4).
Neemias Queta led the Aggies (20-8) with 18 points, six rebounds, and three blocked shots.
