College basketball roundup: Michigan repeats as Big Ten Tournament champion
Zavier Simpson was a catalyst on both ends of the floor, running Michigan’s efficient offense and leading its lock-down defense, and back-up big man Jon Teske scored 14 as the 15th-ranked Wolverines beat No. 8 Purdue 75-66 Sunday to repeat as Big Ten Tournament champions.
Fifth-seeded Michigan (28-7) became the first team to repeat as Big Ten Tournament champs since Ohio State in 2010 and ’11.
Simpson finished with 10 points, five assists and five rebounds and Moe Wagner led Michigan with 17 points, despite playing only 17 minutes because of foul trouble – which plagued him all tournament.
That’s where Teske stepped up. The 7-1 sophomore scored 12 points in the first half and picked up the slack guarding Purdue’s 7-2 center Isaac Haas.
Simpson and Teske put an exclamation point on Michigan’s four-day Madison Square Garden party with 6:02 left in the second half. The 6-foot Simpson drove and dished to Teske, who finished with a one-handed slam over Haas.
That made it 66-48 and brought chants of “Tes-key!” from the Michigan fans – who showed up in droves for the first Big Ten Tournament played in New York.
Purdue (28-6) chipped away late with Michigan missing free throws run but it was way too late.
Haas led Purdue with 23 points, but Purdue’s top-two scorers, Carsen Edwards and Vincent Edwards, combined for 16 points on 6-of-22 shooting.
No. 10 Cincinnati 62, No. 11 Wichita State 61: Jacob Evans scored 19 points to lead No. 10 Cincinnati to a 62-61 victory over No. 11 Wichita State, giving the Bearcats the American Athletic Conference title.
Cincinnati (27-4, 16-2) survived a slugfest of a second half as the teams combined for just two baskets in the final five minutes.
Wichita State (24-6, 14-4) needed a victory to share the conference title and would have earned the top seed in the AAC tournament after having defeated Cincinnati earlier this season.
Jarron Cumberland and Kyle Washington each scored 11 points for the Bearcats, and Gary Clark added 10.
No. 25 Houston 81, UConn 71: Rob Gray scored 30 points, Corey Davis Jr. had 17 and No. 25 Houston held off UConn 81-71.
Gray was 10 of 15 from the floor for the Cougars (24-6, 14-4 AAC), who have won ten of their last 12. Devin Davis added 12 points for Houston, which shot 45 percent from the field and hit eight of 20 from behind the arc. The Cougars finished 15-0 at home, the first time Houston has done that since 1983-84.
Radford 55, Liberty 52: Carlik Jones made a long 3-pointer at the buzzer and Radford beat Liberty 55-52 in the Big South Conference championship, earning the Highlanders their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2009.
The Highlanders (22-12) called timeout with 13 seconds left, setting up the final play. Jones dribbled as the clock ran down, then made a move at the top of the key and hit the shot.
Officials reviewed the play to be sure no time was left on the clock, and once that was confirmed, Radford fans began celebrating.
Lipscomb 108, Florida Gulf Coast 96: Lipscomb is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time, after Garrison Mathews scored 33 points and the second-seeded Bisons wasted most of an enormous lead before recovering to beat top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast 108-96 in the Atlantic Sun Conference title game.
Kenny Cooper scored 17 for Lipscomb (23-9), which made 15 of its first 18 shots on the way to a 32-point lead late in the opening half. They still led by 32 early in the second half, and saw that get cut to five before hanging on in a frantic finish.
Zach Johnson tied an FGCU school record with 37 points, 29 of those coming after halftime. Brandon Goodwin added 34 for the Eagles (23-11), who had won the last two A-Sun titles and were bidding for a fourth NCAA trip in the last six seasons.
Rob Marberry and Matt Rose each scored 14 points and Eli Pepper finished with 13 for Lipscomb, which shot 65 percent from the field – and made a staggering 20 of 23 shots from 2-point range.
Loyola-Chicago 65, Illinois State 49: Donte Ingram scored 18 points, Cameron Krutwig added 11 points and nine rebounds and Loyola-Chicago earned its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 33 years with a 65-49 victory over Illinois State in the Missouri Valley Conference championship game.
The Ramblers (28-5) have won 10 in a row and will return to the NCAAs for the first time since 1985, when they reached the Sweet 16.