Jalen Jackson scored 13 of his season-high 17 points in the second half, Owen Dease came off the bench to add a career-high 16 and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi defeated Northwestern State 75-71 to win its second straight Southern Conference Tournament championship on Wednesday.
The Islanders (23-10) defeated the second-seeded Demons for the third time this season to become the first No. 1 to take the tournament title since New Orleans in 2017.
Trevian Tennyson scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half and Isaac Mushila had 10 points and nine rebounds for Corpus Christi.
Conference player of the year DeMarcus Sharp scored 32 points on 15-of-31 shooting to lead Northwestern State (22-11). Ja’Monta Black added 15 points and Jalen Hampton had 13 points and 12 rebounds.
The Islanders rallied from an early 16-point deficit after losing senior point guard Terrion Murdix, the conference’s defensive player of the year who averages double figures, to a leg injury in the opening minutes.
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Patriot
COLGATE 79, LAFAYETTE 61: Keegan Records scored 21 points, Tucker Richardson had a triple-double and top-seeded Colgate won its third consecutive Patriot League Tournament championship with a victory over six-seeded Lafayette in Hamilton, N.Y.
The three-peat is the first in the league since Holy Cross accomplished the feat (2000-03). The Raiders were in their sixth straight title game.
The Raiders (26-8) beat the Leopards (11-23) for the third time this season, winning their ninth straight game. The first two wins came on 12- and four-point margins. But the third time around Colgate had a 17-point lead by halftime that reached as many as 24 in the second half.
ACC
WAKE FOREST 77, SYRACUSE 74: Daivien Williamson made a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.5 seconds left and Wake Forest beat Syracuse (17-15) in Greensboro, N.C., for its first ACC Tournament win since 2017.
Wake Forest (19-13), the No. 9 seed, advances to play top-seeded Miami in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The Deamon Deacons had lost six straight games at the NCAA Tournament and nine of their last 10.
PITT 89, GEORGIA TECH 81: Jamarius Burton scored 21 points, Federiko Federiko added 19 and Pittsburgh ousted Georgia Tech.
The Panthers play fourth-seeded and No. 21-ranked Duke in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Duke beat Pitt in their one regular-season meeting 77-69 on the Blue Devils’ floor.
NORTH CAROLINA 85, BOSTON COLLEGE 61: Caleb Love scored 22 points, RJ Davis hit four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points and North Carolina kept alive its NCAA Tournament hopes with a victory over Boston College.
Armando Bacot had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes for No. 7 seed North Carolina (20-12). The 6-foot-11 senior left the game with about five minutes left in the first half due to an apparent ankle injury. He started the second half before returning to the bench for good with 14:27 to play and the Tar Heels leading 58-31.
N.C. STATE 97, VIRGINIA TECH 77: Terquavion Smith scored 30 points on 11-for-13 shooting and Jarkel Joiner had a double-double and sixth-seed North Carolina State beat No. 11-seed Virginia Tech.
The Wolfpack will play third-seed Clemson on Thursday.
Big East
ST. JOHN’S 76, BUTLER 63: Led by Joel Soriano’s 19 points, St. John’s defeated Butler in the first round of Big East Conference Tournament in New York.
Eight-seeded St. John’s takes on top-seeded Marquette in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
DEPAUL 66, SETON HALL 65: Umoja Gibson made three free throws with 3.9 seconds left and Nick Ongenda blocked a layup at the buzzer to give DePaul a victory over Seton Hall.
The 10-seed Blue Devils will face second-seeded Xavier in Thursday’s semifinals.
VILLANOVA 80, GEORGETOWN 48: Cam Whitmore had 19 points and 10 rebounds in Villanova’s easy victory over Georgetown.
Justin Moore scored 13 points with four 3-pointers for the sixth-seeded Wildcats (17-15), who will take on third-seeded Creighton in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Brandon Slater, Brendan Hausen and Mark Armstrong added 10 points apiece.
Big Ten
OHIO ST. 65, WISCONSIN 57: Sean McNeil scored 17 points, Justice Sueing added 16 and 13th-seeded Ohio State held on to defeat 12th-seeded Wisconsin to open the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.
The Buckeyes (14-18), who had a 27-point lead with 15 1/2 minutes to play, face fifth-seed Iowa in the second round on Thursday.
MINNESOTA 78, NEBRASKA 75: Dawson Garcia had 18 points, 13 rebounds and six assists and Ta’lon Cooper had 16 points and set the program record for assists in a Big Ten Tournament game with 12 to help Minnesota beat Nebraska.
The 14th-seeded Golden Gophers, who have won two of their last three following a 12-game skid, play No. 6 seed Maryland in the second round Thursday. The Terrapins swept the season series with Minnesota, winning the two games by a combined 53 points.
Big 12
WEST VIRGINIA 78, TEXAS TECH 62: Kedrian Johnson had 20 points, Tre Mitchell added 17 points and nine rebounds, and No. 8 seed West Virginia rolled past ninth-seeded Texas Tech in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
Erik Stevenson added 18 points and Emmitt Matthews Jr. had 13 for the Mountaineers (19-13), who advanced to play third-ranked Kansas — the No. 1 seed and defending champion — in the quarterfinal round on Thursday.
RESIGNS: Texas Tech coach Mark Adams, who had been suspended recently for racially insensitive comments made toward one of his players, resigned shortly after the Red Raiders were eliminated from the Big 12 Tournament.
OKLAHOMA ST. 57, OKLAHOMA 49: Caleb Asberry scored 15 points, Bryce Thompson added 12 and seventh-seeded Oklahoma State overcame two more injuries in the backcourt to beat No. 10 seed Oklahoma.
The Cowboys already were missing star guard Avery Anderson III following wrist surgery. Chris Harris Jr. then left midway through the first half after landing awkwardly on a 3-point attempt, and John-Michael Wright was hurt with about 4 1/2 minutes to go while scrambling for the ball near midcourt.
PAC-12
COLORADO 74, WASHINGTON 68: Julian Hammond III scored a career-high 21 points and Luke O’Brien made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 59.8 seconds left to help Colorado beat Washington in the opening game of the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.
Colorado (17-15) snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with Washington. The Buffaloes will try to end a four-game skid against top-seeded UCLA in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
WASHINGTON ST. 69, CAL 52: TJ Bamba scored 17 points, DJ Rodman had 10 points and 11 rebounds and No. 5 seed Washington State extended its winning streak to seven with a victory over 12th-seeded California.
It was the second straight season Washington State beat Cal in the opening round of the conference tournament. The Cougars (17-15) will look for their second straight win over the fourth-seeded Ducks on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
STANFORD 73, UTAH 62: Brandon Angel’s double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds led a balanced attack that lifted 10th-seeded Stanford over seventh-seeded Utah.
Angel followed up two free throws with a jumper that gave the Cardinal a 53-40 lead and they stayed ahead by double figures the rest of the way.
SEC
MISSISSIPPI 67, SOUTH CAROLINA 61: Freshman backup Amaree Abram scored 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting, Jaemyn Brakefield scored 16 points and Mississippi beat South Carolina in an opening round game of the SEC Tournament in Nashville.
James White added 10 points and gathered 10 rebounds for Ole Miss which had a 41-31 rebounding advantage. The Rebels made 25 of 59-shot attempts (42.4%) including 9 of 22 (40.9%) from 3-point range.
LSU 72, GEORGIA 67: KJ Williams scored 18 points, Trae Hannibal and Shawn Phillips both had double-doubles, and 14th-seeded LSU defeated No. 11 seed Georgia.
LSU, which blew double-digit leads in the second half of recent losses to Missouri and Florida, held on to a 12-point halftime lead until Georgia tied it at 57-all on a 3-pointer by Jabri Abdur-Rahim with under five minutes remaining.
A-10
DAVIDSON 65, ST. BONAVENTURE 54: Desmond Watson had 17 points and Davidson beat St. Bonaventure (14-18) in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament in New York.
GEORGE MASON 62, RICHMOND 57: Josh Oduro had a double-double and Ronald Polite put George Mason ahead with a 3-pointer with 47 seconds left in a victory over Richmond.
SAINT JOSEPH’S 87, GEORGE WASHINGTON 76: Erik Reynolds II scored 34 points to lead Saint Joseph’s over George Washington.
LA SALLE 81, DUQUESNE 70: Jhamir Brickus had 23 points in La Salle’s victory against Duquesne.
MAAC
IONA 74, MOUNT ST. MARY’S 54: Walter Clayton Jr. had 21 points in Iona’s victory over Mount St. Mary’s in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals in Atlantic City.
Mountain West
COLORADO ST. 67, FRESNO ST. 65: John Tonje led Colorado State with 20 points and Isaiah Stevens scored the game-winning jump shot with 2.7 seconds left as the Rams defeated Fresno State in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.
UNLV 78, AIR FORCE 70 (OT): Elijah Harkless scored a career-high 35 points, 11 in the overtime, as UNLV beat Air Force.
SWAC
GRAMBLING 87, BETHUNE-COOKMAN 72: Jourdan Smith had 23 points in Grambling’s victory over Bethune-Cookman in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals in Birmingham, Ala.