NASHVILLE, Tenn. – De’Aaron Fox scored 18 points Sunday, and No. 8 Kentucky won its third straight Southeastern Conference tournament championship by beating Arkansas, 82-65.

The Wildcats (29-5) added their 30th tournament title all-time to their 48 regular-season championships in convincing fashion.

The Razorbacks couldn’t string together points the way they usually do, not with Kentucky answering every big bucket with its own run. The big spurt came when Kentucky scored 13 straight points to end the first half and into the opening minute of the second that turned a three-point lead to a 46-30 edge.

Arkansas (25-9) fell to 1-6 in this championship game, having lost to Kentucky for the second time in three years.

Arkansas hit six straight shots, the last a 3-pointer by Jaylen Barford, to pull within nine for the only time in the second half, but just two minutes remained.

BIG TEN: Michigan (24-11) completed a magical run to its first tournament title, using a swarming defense and accurate shooting to beat No. 24 Wisconsin (25-9) 71-56 at Washington for its fourth victory in four days.

The eighth-seeded Wolverines began their journey with a scary skid off the airport runway in Michigan and ended it by overwhelming the second-seeded Badgers, who had won three straight – including the regular- season finale against Minnesota – by a total of 55 points.

Between the aborted flight and their final unexpected victory, the Wolverines beat Illinois, eliminated top-seed Purdue and sent home No. 4 seed Minnesota.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC: Sterling Brown scored 18 points to help send No. 12 SMU (30-4) streaking into the NCAA tournament with a 71-56 victory against No. 15 Cincinnati (29-5) in the championship game at Hartford, Connecticut.

The tournament MVP, Simi Ojeleye, added 14 points, Jarrey Foster had 13 and Ben Moore scored 12 for the Mustangs, who won their 16th straight game and second AAC title in three years. The Mustangs took the championship in 2015 but missed last year’s postseason under NCAA sanctions.

Jarron Cumberland had 14 points to lead Cincinnati.

SUN BELT: Jordon Varnado had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Troy (22-14) defeated Texas State (20-13) 59-53 in the championship game at New Orleans.

The sixth-seeded Trojans advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003 after winning their third game in three days and fourth in the tournament.

ATLANTIC-10: Jared Terrell finished with 20 points and E.C. Matthews added 19, including a decisive runner with 55 seconds to go as Rhode Island (24-9)earned a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999 with a 70-63 victory against Virginia Commonwealth (26-8)in the title game at Pittsburgh.

The third-seeded Rams never trailed and withstood a serious late push by second-seeded VCU to capture their first conference tournament title since Lamar Odom led them to the A-10 crown 18 years ago. It’s the ninth time in Rhode Island history the program is going to the NCAAs.

IVY: Myles Stephens had a career-high 23 points and eight rebounds, and Princeton (23-6) won the inaugural tournament, beating Yale (18-11) 71-59 at Philadelphia to clinch its first berth in the NCAA tournament since 2011.

Princeton won its 19th straight game overall and didn’t lose in Ivy play this season. A day earlier the Tigers overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half and topped Penn in overtime at the Palestra, the Quakers’ home court.

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