Marquette eases past Xavier, wins Big East

NEW YORK — Tyler Kolek and No. 6 Marquette raced out to a hefty lead and never looked back, beating No. 15 Xavier 65-51 on Saturday night to win the Big East Tournament for the first time.

Kolek, the Big East Player of the Year, had 20 points and eight rebounds as the top-seeded Golden Eagles (28-6) dominated a Big East final that brought a Midwestern flavor to Madison Square Garden.

Coach Shaka Smart’s surprising team will head into the NCAA Tournament with a nine-game winning streak after Marquette’s first appearance in the Big East championship game resulted in one of its best performances of a scintillating season.

Kolek’s steal and layup made it 51-27 with 14:12 left. Less than a minute later, after two offensive rebounds by the Golden Eagles, David Joplin made a corner 3 to double up second-seeded Xavier (25-9).

Joplin finished with 12 points. Kolek was selected the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

Adam Kunkel scored 12 points to lead the Musketeers, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.

AAC

HOUSTON 69, CINCINNATI 48: Jamal Shead had 16 points and nine assists as top-ranked Houston advanced to its fifth American Athletic Conference championship game in a row with a victory over Cincinnati in Fort Worth, even after losing star guard Marcus Sasser to an injury.

The Cougars (31-2) led throughout, getting two second-chance layups from J’Wan Roberts in the opening minute of a game between two teams that are moving to the Big 12 next season. Roberts finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Sasser, the AAC player of the year who scored 30 points in Houston’s quarterfinals win on Friday, crumpled with an apparent groin injury with about 6 1/2 minutes left in the first half. The senior guard never returned after the non-contact injury, finishing with four points in nine minutes.

MEMPHIS 94, TULANE 54: DeAndre Williams had 27 points and 11 rebounds as Memphis overwhelmed Tulane.

Kendric Davis added 20 points and six assists for the Tigers (25-8), who have their most wins since going 31-5 a decade ago in their final Conference USA season before moving to the AAC in 2013-14.

Jalen Cook had 15 points and Kevin Cross had 12 for Tulane (20-11). Tylan Pope had 13 rebounds. The Green Wave shot a season-low 25.8% (17 of 66).

ACC

DUKE 59, VIRGINIA 49: Jeremy Roach scored 23 points and No. 21 Duke locked down defensively to beat No. 13 Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship in Greensboro, N.C., securing a title in Jon Scheyer’s debut season as the successor to Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Freshman Mark Filipowski added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Blue Devils (26-8), who completed a final-month surge to the top of the ACC to claim a league-record 22nd championship. It also marked the ninth straight win for Duke, a streak that began with an overtime loss at Virginia in which a league-acknowledged officiating error cost the Blue Devils a chance to win in regulation.

This time, Duke grinded their way through to the horn by leaning on a defense-first approach that Scheyer has pushed all season. The Blue Devils held the second-seeded Cavaliers (25-7) to 33% shooting, with Virginia missing both contested and clean looks while committing nearly as many turnovers (12) as made shots (16).

Big Ten

PURDUE 80, OHIO ST. 66: Zach Edey had 32 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 5 Purdue beat Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.

The Boilermakers (28-5) started to take control late in the first half and cruised into the conference final for the second straight year.

Roddy Gayle Jr. led Ohio State (16-19) with a career-high 20 points, 16 in the first half.

PENN ST. 77, INDIANA 73: Jalen Pickett scored 28 points, Seth Lundy had 16 and Penn State beat No. 19 Indiana to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship.

Andrew Funk added nine points as 10th-seeded Penn State (22-12) won for the eighth time in nine games. The Nittany Lions went 8 for 23 from 3-point range, compared to 2 for 14 for the Hoosiers.

The deep Big Ten run has Penn State in position for its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2011. The Nittany Lions looked as if they were going in 2020, but the tourney was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Big 12

TEXAS 76, KANSAS 56: Dylan Disu overcame early foul trouble to score 18 points, Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice added 17 apiece, and seventh-ranked Texas silenced a heavily pro-Kansas crowd with a romp over the third-ranked Jayhawks in the Big 12 Tournament title game.

After going more than two decades without a Big 12 tourney championship, the Longhorns (26-8) have won two of the past three, and likely wrapped up a No. 2 seed in next week’s NCAA Tournament with their performance in Kansas City.

With interim coach Rodney Terry leading the way, the Longhorns built a 39-33 lead by halftime, extended it to 20 down the stretch and coasted toward a shower of confetti during a net-cutting celebration.

SEC

ALABAMA 72, MISSOURI 61: Freshman Brandon Miller scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as fourth-ranked Alabama advanced to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship by beating No. 25 Missouri (24-9). in Nashville.

Noah Clowney added 19 points for Alabama, and Charles Bediako had 10. D’Moi Hodge led the Tigers with 21 points.

TEXAS A&M 87, VANDERBILT 65: Wade Taylor IV scored 25 points as No. 18 Texas A&M dominated from the opening tip in routing Vanderbilt to reach the Aggies’ second straight Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game and third overall.

The Aggies (25-8) return to the tournament finals for the second year in a row. They were routed by Tennessee last season in Tampa and lost in overtime to Kentucky in 2016 in Nashville.

A-10

VCU 90, SAINT LOUIS 78: Jayden Nunn scored 18 points in VCU’s victory over Saint Louis in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament semifinals in New York.

Nunn added three blocks for the Rams (26-7). Brandon Johns Jr. scored 16 points and added nine rebounds and four steals. Jamir Watkins finished with 15 points. The Rams extended their winning streak to six games.

DAYTON 78, FORDHAM 68: Toumani Camara had 28 points and Daron Holmes scored 20 in Dayton’s victory against Fordham.

Holmes had six rebounds and three blocks. Camara added seven rebounds for the Flyers (22-11). Malachi Smith recorded 11 points.

C-USA

FAU 78, UAB 56: Alijah Martin scored 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Florida Atlantic took control early and beat UAB in Frisco, Texas, in the Conference USA Tournament championship game to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Florida Atlantic is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002 when they finished as the Sun Belt Conference champions and earned a 15 seed and lost to a second-seeded Alabama in the first round.

Mountain West

SAN DIEGO ST. 62, UTAH ST. 57: Jaedon LeDee scored 15 points and Matt Bradley added 14 to lead No. 20 San Diego State over Utah State in the Mountain West Tournament championship game in Las Vegas.

The Aztecs (27-6) claimed their seventh tournament title, and second in three years. This also was their conference-record 15th appearance in the title game.

America East

VERMONT 72, UMASS LOWELL 59: Dylan Penn scored 21 points, Matt Veretto scored 15 and ignited a game-breaking run, leading Vermont to a home victory over UMass Lowell in the championship game of the America East Tournament.

Ivy

YALE 80, CORNELL 60: John Poulakidas had 25 points in Yale’s victory against Cornell in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals in Princeton, N.J.

PRINCETON 77, PENNSYLVANIA 70: Tosan Evbuomwan had 21 points in Princeton’s victory against Pennsylvania.

MAAC

IONA 76, MARIST 55: Daniss Jenkins scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half and Walter Clayton Jr. scored 17 points and Iona beat Marist in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament championship game in Atlantic City to clinch an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

MAC

KENT ST. 93, TOLEDO 78: Sincere Carry scored 26 points and Malique Jacobs added 18 as Kent State won the Mid-American Conference championship in Cleveland, beating top-seeded Toledo, which had its winning streak stopped at 17 and will likely miss the NCAA Tournament for the 43rd straight year.

MEAC

HOWARD 65, NORFOLK STATE 64: Jelani Williams scored 20 points, including two free throws with 6.1 seconds left, to lead Howard over Norfolk State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament championship game in Norfolk, Va., and the Bison’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 31 years.

SWAC

TEXAS SOUTHERN 61, GRAMBLING 58: PJ Henry scored 19 points and Texas Southern (14-20) denied Grambling its first NCAA Tournament berth by winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament championship game in Birmingham.