Houston forward Jarace Walker, left, and team staff attend to guard Marcus Sasser after Sasser went down with an injury during the Cougars’ win over Cincinnati in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. Ron Jenkins/Associated Press
FORT WORTH, Texas — 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 69-48 win over Cincinnati on Saturday, 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.
Sasser was dribbling between the conference logo and the 3-point line when his right foot appeared to slip, throwing him off-balance before his left foot slipped as well, sending him into an awkward split.
Houston was up by eight points when Sasser got hurt, and expanded its lead to 38-23 by halftime.
Landers Nolley II had 14 points for Cincinnati (21-12), which shot 25.5% (13 of 51) from the field.
(7) TEXAS 76, (3) KANSAS 56: Dylan Disu overcame early foul trouble to score 18 points, Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice added 17 apiece, and the Longhorns (26-8) silenced a heavily pro-Kansas crowd with a romp over the third-ranked Jayhawks (27-7) in the Big 12 Tournament title game in Kansas City, Missouri.
(4) ALABAMA 72, (25) MISSOURI 61: Freshman Brandon Miller scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Crimson Tide (28-5) advanced to the SEC tournament final by beating the Tigers (24-9) in Nashville, Tennessee.
Alabama will play in its 15th tournament championship game, looking for an eight title to add to its regular-season trophy. Noah Clowney added 19 points for Alabama, and Charles Bediako had 10.
(5) PURDUE 80, OHIO STATE 66: Zach Edey had 32 points and 14 rebounds, and the Boilermakers (28-5) beat the Buckeyes (16-19) in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.
The Boilermakers started to take control late in the first half and cruised into the conference final for the second straight year.
(6) MARQUETTE 65, (15) XAVIER 51: Tyler Kolek and the Golden Eagles (28-6) raced out to a hefty lead and never looked back, beating the Musketeers (25-9) in New York to win the Big East Tournament for the first time.
(18) TEXAS A&M 87, VANDERBILT 75: Wade Taylor IV scored 25 points as the Aggies (25-8) dominated from the opening tip in routing the Commodores (20-14) in Nashville, Tennessee to reach the Aggies’ second straight Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game and third overall.
PENN STATE 77, (19) INDIANA 73: Jalen Pickett scored 28 points, Seth Lundy had 16 and the Nittany Lions (22-12) beat the Hoosiers (22-11) in Chicago to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship.
(20) SAN DIEGO STATE 62, UTAH STATE 57: Jaedon LeDee scored 15 points and Matt Bradley added 14 to lead the Aztecs (27-6) to a victory over the Aggies (26-8) in the Mountain West Tournament championship game in Las Vegas.
VERMONT 72, UMASS LOWELL 59: Dylan Penn scored 21 points, Matt Veretto scored 15 and ignited a game-breaking run, leading the Catamounts (23-10) to a victory over the River Hawks (26-8) in the championship game of the America East playoffs in Burlington, Vermont.
Vermont will be making its ninth NCAA appearance. UMass Lowell, in its sixth year of eligibility, finished as the runner-up for the second time in three years.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
IOWA STATE 82, (14) OKLAHOMA 72: Ashley Joens scored 22 points, Lexi Donarski added 20 and the Cyclones (21-9) defeated the Sooners (25-6) in Kansas City, Missouri, to advance to the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament.
(15) TEXAS 64, OKLAHOMA STATE 57: Shaylee Gonzales scored 17 points and Rori Harmon had a double-double and the Longhorns (25-8) advanced to the Big 12 Tournament championship game beating the Cowgirls (21-11) in Kansas City, Missouri.
(25) MIDDLE TENNESSEE 82, WESTERN KENTUCKY 70: Jalynn Gregory made 5 of 5 3-pointers and scored 24 points to lead the Blue Raiders (28-4) to a victory over the Lady Toppers (19-13) in Frisco, Texas to win the Conference USA Tournament championship.
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