BURLINGTON, Vt. — Shamir Bogues scored 15 points, TJ Long added 14, and top-seeded Vermont beat No. 2 seed UMass Lowell 66-61 on Saturday to clinch its third straight America East title and secure a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Vermont (28-6) has won six of the last eight America East championships, 12 overall since 2003. The River Hawks (22-10) were searching for their first-ever NCAA Tournament bid in 11 seasons at the Division I level.
Four players finished in double figures for the Catamounts. Aaron Deloney scored 12 points and Nick Fiorillo of Scarborough had 11 for Vermont.
Cam Morris III led the River Hawks with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Bogues and Long each survived foul trouble, as Long picked up his fourth foul with 10:19 left and Bogues got his fourth with 4:41 to go.
Bogues made a pair of free throws with 11:25 left to put Vermont ahead for good, 44-43. Long and Fiorillo followed with 3-pointers on successive possessions.
After a 3-for-15 shooting performance from 3-point range before the halftime break, Vermont made 5 of 10 in the second half.
(7) IOWA STATE 69, (1) HOUSTON 41: Keshon Gilbert wrapped up a spectacular Big 12 Tournament with 16 points, and the Cyclones (27-7) blitzed No. 1 Houston to begin the second half in Kansas City, Missouri, as they rolled to their sixth league championship in six appearances in the title game.
Milan Momcilovic had 18 points and Hason Ward scored 13 for the Cyclones. Iowa State turned a 30-23 lead at halftime into a blowout with an 18-3 run to start the second half.
Jamal Shead had 10 points on 3-for-17 shooting for Houston (30-4), which was outscored 39-18 in the second half. L.J. Cryer was held to seven points and Emanuel Sharp to five as the Cougars shot 4 of 22 from the 3-point arc and 15 of 56 from the field.
(2) UCONN 73, (10) MARQUETTE 57: Donovan Clingan scored 22 points and Jaylin Stewart gave UConn (31-3) an unexpected boost with three second-half 3-pointers during a decisive run as the top-seeded Huskies beat the Golden Eagles (25-9) to win the Big East Tournament in New York for the first time since rejoining the league four years ago.
The Huskies’ eighth Big East title matched Georgetown for the most in conference history and was their first since 2011, when Kemba Walker led UConn to five wins in five days – and then a national title.
Stewart, a freshman who was averaging 2.4 points, scored nine in about a four-minute span as UConn pulled away.
Kam Jones led the third-seeded Golden Eagles, the defending tournament champions, with 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
WISCONSIN 76, (3) PURDUE 75: Max Klesmit made a runner in the lane with 4.8 seconds to play in overtime, and the Badgers (22-12) beat the top-seeded Boilermakers (29-4) for a spot in the Big Ten championship game in Minneapolis.
Klesmit’s clutch shot followed his teammate Chucky Hepburn’s in regulation. Hepburn sank a layup as time expired to force overtime.
Hepburn finished with 22 points. AJ Storr scored 20, and Klesmit had 12 for fifth-seeded Wisconsin..
Zach Edey led Purdue with 28 points and 11 rebounds. He surpassed Rick Mount’s school record of 2,323 career points (1967-70) with about seven minutes remaining in the second half.
(12) AUBURN 73, MISSISSIPPI STATE 66: Dylan Cardwell scored his only points on consecutive dunks in the final minutes as the Tigers (26-7) held off the Bulldogs (21-13) to reach the Southeastern Conference championship game in Nashville, Tennessee.
With the SEC’s top three seeds already eliminated, that left a wide-open path for Auburn to win the event for the first time since 2019. The Tigers are in the title game for the fifth time in program history.
They will play Florida on Sunday.
Chad Baker-Mazara led five Tigers in double figures with 14 points. Denver Jones and Jaylin Williams each added 13. Johni Broome and Tre Donaldson had 10 apiece.
Josh Hubbard scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half for Mississippi State.
(13) ILLINOIS 98, NEBRASKA 87: Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a career-high 40 points for a Big Ten Tournament record to lead a second-half surge by the Illini (25-8) in a Big Ten semifinal victory over the Cornhuskers (23-10) in Minneapolis.
Marcus Domask added 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Luke Goode made four 3-pointers for the Illini, who fell behind by 15 points early in the second half before seizing control.
Brice Williams had 23 points, Keisei Tominaga finished with 18 and Rienk Mast scored 15 for the Huskers, who were making their first appearance in the Big Ten semifinals in 13 seasons in the league.
FLORIDA 95, TEXAS A&M 90: Denzel Aberdeen scored a career-high 20 points in helping the Gators (24-10) rally from an 18-point deficit to beat the Aggies (20-14) in Southeastern Conference semifinals.
The sixth-seeded Gators earned their first trip to the tournament final since 2014.
Aberdeen led six Gators in double figures. Will Richard scored 19, followed by Walter Clayton Jr. with 16, and Zyon Pullin and Tyrese Samuel with 15 apiece.
Texas A&M, the No. 7 seed, led 40-22 with 5:20 left in the first half.
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