All-Michigan final in Big Ten tournament

INDIANAPOLIS – Adreian Payne scored 18 points, Branden Dawson had 14 and No. 22 Michigan State beat No. 12 Wisconsin, 83-75, Saturday to reach the Big Ten tournament championship.
The third-seeded Spartans (25-8) won consecutive games for the first time since winning 11 straight in a stretch over December and January. They will face No. 8 Michigan in the final today.
The Spartans went on a 16-1 run in the first half and took a 37-16 lead when Gary Harris scored with 5:39 left before halftime.
Frank Kaminsky had 28 points and Sam Dekker added 11 points and seven rebounds for the second-seeded Badgers (26-7), who were outrebounded 32-28 by the Spartans. Michigan State also shot 56 percent in an impressive performance against defense-minded Wisconsin.
Michigan State was swept by Michigan during the regular season, but it has a perfect record in conference title games. The Spartans’ last championship came in a win over Ohio State in 2012.
Michigan 72, Ohio State 69: No. 8 Michigan blew a 12-point second-half lead, then finished the game on a 7-1 run to beat archrival Ohio State, 72-69, in the Big Ten tournament semifinal.
Nik Stauskas had 18 points and Caris LeVert had 17 to lead the Wolverines (25-7), winners of seven straight. It will be Michigan’s first title game appearance since 1998, when it won its only tourney title, which was later vacated.
Ohio State (25-9) was led by LaQuinton Ross with 19 points and Shannon Scott with 18.
Duke 75, N.C. State 67: Jabari Parker scored 20 points and No. 7 Duke beat North Carolina State, 75-67, in an Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinal.
Rasheed Sulaimon added 16 points for the third-seeded Blue Devils (26-7) while Rodney Hood had 14 points and keyed the defensive effort against ACC player of the year T.J. Warren.
Duke earned its 31st championship game appearance and first since 2011.
The Blue Devils will play No. 6 Virginia today. Duke’s 69-65 win in January stood as the Cavaliers’ lone conference loss until Maryland beat them last week. Warren scored 21 points but was just 4 of 13 after halftime while facing a barrage of double teams.
Louisville 76, Connecticut 61: Montrezl Harrell had 22 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, and fifth-ranked Louisville beat No. 21 Connecticut, 71-61, for the inaugural American Athletic Conference tournament title in the Cardinals’ lone season in the league.
The defending national champions clinched their 40th NCAA tournament berth.
UCLA 75, Arizona 71: Kyle Anderson had 21 points and 15 points, Jordan Adams hit a huge 3-pointer in the final minute, and UCLA outlasted No. 4 Arizona, 75-71, in a spirited Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas.
The Pac-12’s two best teams during the regular season, UCLA (26-8) and Arizona (30-4) put on a show in the tournament final, trading big plays and floor burns.
Kentucky 70, Georgia 58: Aaron Harrison scored 22 points and Kentucky took a methodical 70-58 win over Georgia to advance to another Southeastern Conference tournament championship game.
Kentucky will play No. 1 Florida in today’s championship game, creating the attractive matchup of the tournament’s two top seeds. Florida beat Tennessee 56-49 in Saturday’s first semifinal.
Florida 56, Tennessee 49: Patric Young scored 16 points and No. 1 Florida turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, rallying for a 56-49 victory over Tennessee in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Atlanta.
Florida (31-2) extended its school-record winning streak to 25 in a row after trailing by 10 in the first half. The Gators were down 35-28 at the break, but they wore down the Volunteers (21-12) over the final 20 minutes. After shooting 54 percent in the opening period, Tennessee made just 5 of 20 shots, leaving its fate in the hands of the NCAA selection committee.
St. Joseph’s 67, St. Bonaventure 48: Halil Kanacevic had 26 points and 17 rebounds, and Saint Joseph’s reached the finals of the Atlantic 10 tournament for the first time since 2008 with a 67-48 win over St. Bonaventure in Brooklyn, N.Y.
VCU 74, GW 55: Treveon Graham scored 22 points and No. 23 VCU pressed and pressured its way into another conference tournament championship game, beating George Washington, 74-55, in the semifinals.
New Mexico 64, San Diego St. 58: Cameron Bairstow scored 17 points to lead No. 20 New Mexico to a 64-58 victory over No. 8 San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference championship game in Las Vegas.
Tulsa 69, Louisiana Tech 60: James Woodard scored 27 points to lead Tulsa to a spot in the NCAA tournament with a 69-60 victory against Louisiana Tech in the Conference USA tournament final in El Paso.
Western Michigan 98, Toledo 77: David Brown scored 32 points, Tucker Haymond added 21 and Western Michigan earned its first trip to the NCAA tournament in 10 years by beating Toledo, 98-77, in the Mid-American Conference championship in Cleveland.
Albany 69, Stony Brook 60: DJ Evans scored 16 points as Albany defeated host Stony Brook, 69-60, in the America East championship, giving the school their second consecutive NCAA tournament berth.
Georgia State 72, Arkansas State 45: Ryan Harrow scored 20 points and R.J. Hunter had 16 as top-seeded Georgia State eased to a 72-45 win over fourth-seeded Arkansas State in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament in New Orleans.
Louisiana-Lafayette 73, Western Kentucky 72: Elfrid Payton scored 23 points, including the go-ahead layup with 1:16 left, as third-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette beat No. 2 seed Western Kentucky, 73-72, Saturday in the semifinals.
Texas Southern 78, Prairie View 73: Aaric Murray had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead Texas Southern to a 78-73 win in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game.
North Carolina Central 71, Morgan State 62: Jeremy Ingram scored 29 points and N.C. Central used an 8-1 run to get some separation and held on to beat Morgan State, 71-62, in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship in Norfolk, Va.