Michigan State: 2018-19 Big Ten Men's Basketball Champions

CHICAGO -- Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had one simple question for his team. He got the answer he wanted, and the sixth-ranked Spartans picked up their sixth Big Ten Tournament championship.

Now, they'll try to bring home the biggest prize of all.

Matt McQuaid scored a career-high 27 points, Cassius Winston converted the go-ahead layup in the closing minute, and the Spartans rallied to beat No. 10 Michigan 65-60 in the Big Ten final on Sunday.

Top-seeded Michigan State (28-6) scored the game's final 10 points to capture its first championship since 2016. No other program has won the conference tournament as many times as Michigan State, and this one was particularly sweet.

After all, the Spartans prevented a championship three-peat by Michigan (28-6) and beat their rivals for the third time this season.

"I asked them all today, `What do you want to do?" Izzo said. "Pregame meal, `What do you want to do? You want to play for the (NCAA) Tournament or you want to play the game?' That sounds like a stupid question, but if you knew where my guys were at as far as physically, it was a good question to ask. Once they said `We want to play the game,' I said, `You just gave me a license for 40 minutes of hell, so you better get going because I'm not letting up."

"They responded and I think they enjoyed it," he continued. "So did I."

McQuaid nailed a personal-best seven 3-pointers. Winston, the Big Ten Player of the Year, had 14 points and 11 assists as Michigan State won for the 10th time in 11 games.

"It's always big," McQuaid said. "Michigan's a really good team. Beating them three times ... it's hard to do."

Both teams were awarded No. 2 seeds in the NCAA Tournament and will play Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa. Michigan State faces Bradley in the East Region, while Michigan goes against Montana in the West. The Wolverines beat Montana last year on the way to the national championship game.

Ignas Brazdeikas led Michigan with 19 points. Jordan Poole scored 13. Jon Teske had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Zavier Simpson added 10 assists.

But the third-seeded Wolverines fell again to Michigan State after blowing their chance to win the league by losing to their rivals twice in the final four regular-season games.

"You lose three times in a season to your rival, it's gonna hurt" Isaiah Livers said. "But we'll use it as motivation for the NCAA Tournament. I'm glad we don't have a week or two weeks to sit there and think about that last game. We can get right back to playing."

Michigan led by 13 early in the second half, but Michigan State went on a 13-4 run to tie it at 48 with just over seven minutes remaining.

The Wolverines were up 60-55 after Livers hit a 3 with 2:29 left, but they didn't score again. McQuaid answered with one of his own to start the game-ending run and Xavier Tillman made a tying layup for Michigan State.

After Simpson missed a 3 for Michigan, Winston drove to his left for a layup -- which Teske thought he blocked -- to put the Spartans on top 62-60 with 28 seconds left.

Brazdeikas then missed a pull-up jumper that got tipped by Aaron Henry with 14 seconds to play. Teske and Tillman went up for the rebound, the ball got knocked out of bounds and the referees gave possession to Michigan State after a review as Michigan coach John Beilein screamed on the sideline.

Henry made a free throw and missed the second, making it a three-point game. Poole then appeared to get bumped by Winston -- Michigan State had a foul to give -- just before he launched a long 3 off the dribble, but there was no call.

The Spartans' Kenny Goins hit two free throws to make it 65-60 with two seconds left.

AHRENS INJURED

Michigan State forward Kyle Ahrens was relieved X-rays showed his left ankle wasn't broken after he was taken from the court on a stretcher in the first half, though the extent of the injury was not clear.

He expects to have an MRI once the softball-sized swelling goes down.

Ahrens landed awkwardly when he collided in midair with Goins going for a defensive rebound with 4:34 left in the first half.

He clutched his lower left leg as he screamed in pain. Medical personnel placed an air cast on his leg and teammates gave him hugs before he was wheeled away, pounding his chest as he was taken to the back. He returned to the sideline on crutches in the second half.

BIG PICTURE

Michigan: The Wolverines have their sights set on another big NCAA run after losing to Villanova in the championship game last year.

Michigan State: The Spartans head to the tournament with high hopes, though their rotation figures to be a little thinner after Ahrens went down.

UP NEXT

Michigan: NCAA Tournament.

Michigan State: NCAA Tournament.

Cincinnati: 2018-19 American Athletic Men's Basketball Champions

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- With conference player of the year Jarron Cumberland running the show, No. 24 Cincinnati pulled away to win its second American Athletic Conference Tournament.

Cumberland had 33 points and eight rebounds as No. 24 Cincinnati won its second straight AAC tournament title, defeating No. 11 Houston 69-57 on Sunday.

"Jarron was off the charts," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said, later adding: "Jarron is superhuman."

Cane Broome finished with 15 points and Tre Scott added 12 for Cincinnati (28-6), who had lost to Houston twice during the regular season, including 85-69 March 10 at Cincinnati. This time was different as the Bearcats shut down Houston's offense.

"We've had three terrific games with Cincinnati, at our place, at their place and (Sunday)," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. "Obviously, that's a difficult team to beat three times, especially over the course of five or six weeks.

"Watching how they played today, you can see how well we played the other two times when we beat them."

In the second half, Houston shot a mere 27.8 percent, including making 3 of 18 from 3-point range. That provided Cincinnati, the tournament's No. 2 seed, the opportunity to build a double-digit lead -- a margin that reached 15 three times in the final seven minutes.

Sampson said he could tell Cronin had the Bearcats "really ready to play. You could tell they had a little bit of an ax to grind."

Cronin had noted after Cincinnati's semifinal win over Wichita State that the Bearcats rarely lose to a team three times in a season -- another point of motivation for his team, along with holding the tournament trophy.

After Sunday's victory, the Cincinnati coach said the championship win gives his team a hint of the things necessary if they are to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, and with an emphasis on the thin margin between winning and losing.

"You've got to be hard to beat," Cronin said. "You can't (miss) layups. You've got to block out. You can't make dumb fouls and you try to maximize your potential on offense."

Armoni Brooks led Houston (31-3) with 17 points and Corey Davis added 12 for the Cougars, who were the tournament's top seed.

While the Bearcat defense stifled Houston shooting in the second half, Cincinnati put the ball in the hands of Cumberland, voted the tournament's most valuable player, and he responded with 20 second-half points. Cumberland made 7 of 14 shots after halftime and also was 6 of 9 from the free throw line.

"Cumberland hit some tough shots," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. "He hit some really, really tough shots."

Houston got in trouble early in the second half when two quick fouls sent forward Breaon Brady to the bench with four fouls. About the same time, Fabian White went to the bench holding his right wrist.

At that point, the Bearcats were taking the lead to 15 points and really weren't threatened the rest of the way.

"We would have liked to have won," Sampson said, later adding: "I'm not going to spend two minutes thinking about this game. I'm just excited about what's coming up."

BIG PICTURE

Cincinnati: Cumberland, who was limited to only 11 points in a semifinal win over Wichita State, had surpassed that at halftime with 13 but was still struggling from the field. After halftime, he took over the game as the Bearcats extended the lead.

Houston: The Cougars suffered through 35 percent shooting in the first half. Brooks made five of the nine Houston field goals in the half. But things got worse after halftime as Houston had trouble converting shots and could never really cut into the Cincinnati lead. Injuries and foul trouble only made things worse

UP NEXT

Cincinnati: The Bearcats are a seventh seed in the South Region and play Iowa, the region's No. 10 seed on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.

Houston: Earned a third seed in the Midwest Region and will play Friday against No. 14 seed Georgia State.

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Auburn: 2018-19 Southeastern Men's Basketball Champions

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Auburn Tigers are taking home their first Southeastern Conference Tournament championship since 1985 and aren't satisfied.

Not with the NCAA Tournament up next.

Bryce Brown scored 19 points, and Auburn won the SEC Tournament title by routing eighth-ranked Tennessee 84-64 on Sunday.

"We still have a lot more to prove, a lot more to accomplish as a team," said Brown, a senior guard who hadn't won an SEC Tournament game before this week.

No. 22 Auburn (26-9) hadn't even played for the title since 2000, and the fifth-seeded Tigers won their fourth game in as many days to capture only the second SEC Tournament championship in program history. The Tigers now have won eight straight and 10 of their last 11 heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Better yet, Auburn and coach Bruce Pearl have become the nemesis to his old program, beating Tennessee three straight times. Auburn ruined Tennessee's hopes of winning back-to-back SEC regular-season titles for the first time with an 84-80 win to wrap up the season a week ago, and the Tigers also are the last team to beat Tennessee in Knoxville.

Now Pearl has his first SEC Tournament title at the expense of the first team he coached in the league.

"I get no greater pleasure in beating Tennessee for this SEC championship because I spent so many wonderful years as a Tennessee Vol," Pearl said. "Got great respect for their fans and program, their tradition in basketball."

On the court, Pearl thanked SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey for forgiving him and letting him return to the league as a coach. Pearl was still under an NCAA show cause penalty when Auburn hired him in 2014 for violations committed when he was at Tennessee. He was fired in 2011 for lying to NCAA investigators about a cookout he held for recruits.

"I hope the SEC's better with me in it," Pearl said.

Tennessee (29-5) likely cost itself any chance at the program's first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols will have to win their first-round game to reach 30 victories for only the second time in school history.

"Now it's time to play for the big one," Tennessee senior Admiral Schofield said after being held to a season-low four points.

Chuma Okeke scored 18 points and had 13 rebounds for Auburn, and Danjel Purifoy added 10. Junior guard Jared Harper, Auburn's second-leading scorer, went 1 for 11 and had nine points.

Lamonte' Turner led Tennessee with 24 points. Grant Williams, the two-time SEC player of the year, was held to 13. Jordan Bone had 11 and Jordan Bowden scored 10.

Tennessee struggled to bounce back after an emotional win over No. 4 Kentucky in the semifinals. Coach Rick Barnes said he told his assistants the Vols looked a little drained at the start.

"We just came out with no energy," Williams said. "We came out like we expected things to happen. It's hard to bounce back from that, especially how Auburn plays, how explosive they can be, especially when they start making shots."

The Tigers also became only the third team this season to lead Tennessee by double digits. Tennessee led 17-13 with 11:09 left on a pull-up jumper by Jordan Bowden. Then the Vols went cold, making only two buckets the rest of the half.

Auburn heated up with the Tigers' defense helping them turn the Vols over and over. The Tigers scored 16 straight points in a run that featured a pair of 3s from Brown. A free throw by Horace Spencer capped the spurt with 3:58 left and a 31-18 advantage. Auburn led 32-23 at halftime.

The team that just set the SEC record for 3s made in a season hit 6 of 12 outside the arc to push that lead further. By the time Austin Wiley finished off a three-point play with 11:22 to go, the Tigers led 56-34.

BIG PICTURE

Auburn: The Tigers get so much attention for how they shoot 3s, but they also are fifth in the nation in steals per game. They came up with 14 steals in forcing 17 turnovers and had a 21-11 scoring edge off turnovers. ... The Tigers also got the most minutes yet from Wiley, coming off an injured lower right leg. He missed five games, including the Tigers' tournament-opening win over Missouri.

Tennessee: The Vols had not lost a rematch in the regular season, going 5-0 in such games in each of the past two seasons. This game came a week after the Vols lost at Auburn. The Vols' drought without a SEC tourney title, last won in 1979, will stretch to at least 41 years.

BROWN'S BACK

Brown had struggled in the first half of games at this tournament and said after Auburn's win over Florida in the semifinals that he knew he would have to start faster in the championship game. The senior guard did just that. He was 4-of-8 shooting with 11 points, and Auburn needed his production with Harper limited to two minutes in the first half because of foul trouble.

QUOTABLE

"The fact is we weren't very good," Barnes said.

UP NEXT

Auburn is cruising into its second straight NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee makes its second straight NCAA Tournament.

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Georgia State: 2018-19 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Champions

NEW ORLEANS -- Normally talkative Georgia State coach Ron Hunter announced that he couldn't linger long at his postgame media conference following the Sun Belt Conference title game.

He had a six-hour party to attend, he said, referring to the bus ride back to Atlanta from New Orleans.

Malik Benlevi scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Georgia State advanced to a second straight NCAA Tournament with a 73-64 victory over Texas-Arlington in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament final on Sunday.

"This is about to be the best party bus you have ever seen," Hunter said. "We're not going to a restaurant. I cancelled it. We're not going to a hotel. I cancelled it. We're getting with my team. We're getting with our families. We're getting on a bus and you're going to hear us all around the country."

The top-seeded Panthers (24-9) also demonstrated they are no longer the one-man show they were a year ago, when they relied on D'Marcus Simonds' 27 points to win the 2018 conference title game. This time, Simonds was held to 10 points, but Georgia State had the balance to withstand that. Benlevi punished UTA from outside with four 3-pointers, while Damon Wilson scored 13 points, Kane Williams 12, and Jeff Thomas 11, putting all five starters in double figures.

"We are a dangerous team to play because of how we play," Hunter said. "What people are doing, they're game-planning for D'Marcus and it's the wrong thing to do. I've got good players.

"That's why I hope whoever we're playing in the NCAA Tournament, they're doing the exact same thing."

Edric Dennis scored 12 points and Brian Warren 11 for Texas-Arlington (17-16), which has now come within one victory of a trip to the NCAA Tournament in two straight seasons, only to fall short against the same foe.

The game was a rematch of last year's Sun Belt final, albeit in name only because Texas-Arlington had a different coach and five different starters a year ago. Only one current UTA player -- reserve D.J. Bryant -- even played in the 2018 final.

Texas-Arlington was as close as 64-60 when Warren's jumper went down with 2:10 to go, but the Panthers made enough free throws and grabbed enough defensive rebounds from there on to close the game out comfortably. Georgia State coach Ron Hunter started subbing out starters -- and hugging them as they came to the bench -- with a minute to go.

But UTA's real downfall was a shooting drought of 23 straight missed field goals spanning the last 10 minutes of the first half and more than the first five minutes of the second before TiAndre Jackson-Young hit a 3 with 14:46 left to trim Georgia State's lead to 43-34.

"That'll get you beat," UTA coach Chris Ogden said. "I knew we were going through droughts and we were trying different things. We had some looks that we didn't hit, but when they made the plays at the rim, I just thought it affected our overall aggression and they did a good job of contesting shots. They did, so give them credit."

AWAITED ACCOLADE

Benlevi, a 6-foot-6 senior, was named the tournament's outstanding player after garnering few other accolades during his four-year career.

"Four years I've been playing the Sun Belt and never made All-Conference. I feel like I've been snubbed two years in a row," he said. "So, I'm feeling good."

MOMENTUM SHOT

Texas-Arlington raced to a 12-4 lead as Patrick Mwamba scored seven early points and led 23-19 after Warren's 3 with 10:10 left in the first half. But after that, the Mavericks missed their last 13 shots of the half.

Georgia State surged into the lead for good with a 13-1 run highlighted by Williams' 3 as he was fouled.

"It was very big. I think it was a momentum swinger," Williams said of his four-point play. "After that, I feel like we got the tide rolling and everybody picked up the pace and we started getting the energy flowing ... It was a big-time play."

BIG PICTURE

Texas-Arlington: In its second appearance in the Sun Belt title game since joining the league in 2013-14, UTA again fell short of what would have been its second trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Georgia State: After winning its third Sun Belt tournament title in five years, GSU enters the NCAA Tournament having won five straight and eight of nine.

UP NEXT

Texas-Arlington: Although the Mavericks were the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt, finishing just one game above .500 overall likely ends their season without a bid to any postseason invitational tournaments.

Georgia State: The Panthers await their seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

Saint Louis: 2018-19 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Champions

NEW YORK -- Saint Louis coach Travis Ford could feel a shift about eight minutes into the second half of the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship game. The Billikens had trailed St. Bonaventure almost the whole way to that point -- by as much as 15 in the first half -- but Ford could sense the Bonnies were ready to be caught.

"I told them, now let's put the pedal to the metal," Ford said. "Let's let loose a little bit. Let's get aggressive on defense."

The Billikens responded with a run that gave them the lead for good and Saint Louis beat St. Bonaventure 55-53 Sunday to win the Atlantic 10 and an NCAA Tournament bid.

The sixth-seeded Billikens (23-12) won four games in four days to earn their first A-10 Tournament title since 2013 and get back in the NCAAs for the first time since 2014.

"How we won the game is who we are," said Ford, who took over at Saint Louis in 2016 after being fired by Oklahoma State. "We're just a hard-playing, physical, aggressive basketball team."

Bonnies guard Nelson Kaputo, who played only the last minute, had a 3 from the corner for the win in the final seconds after a scramble, but it bounced off the back of the rim. The Billikens cleared the rebound as time expired and then dog-piled on the court as confetti rained down from the ceiling of Barclays Center.

"He didn't play for two hours," Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt said. "For him to come up and try and make that shot, it's hard. I know he's disappointed, but at the end of the game you can't really choose who's going to take that last shot."

Jordan Goodwin had 16 points and 14 rebounds for Saint Louis and Tramaine Isabell made a key 3, starting the decisive 12-0 run. Isabell was named the tournament's most outstanding player.

Courtney Stockard led the fourth-seeded Bonnies (18-16) with 22 points but fouled out in the final minute.

The Billikens are a team heavy on senior transfers with Isabell (Drexel), Javon Bess (Michigan State), D.J. Foreman (Rutgers) and Dion Wiley (Maryland) all playing key roles. They were picked to win the A-10, but lost four straight in late January and muddled through the conference schedule.

Goodwin, a sophomore, said through the losing streak the upperclassmen kept the team optimistic.

"Javon, he said, `It's not over. It's not over,' " Goodwin said. "We could have been the last seed, but we knew we were going to make it to this game. We were going to win this game."

Isabell said: "Guys could have quit. Some locker rooms might."

Saint Louis needed an 11-point comeback to get out of the first round Thursday against Richmond and then beat Dayton and Davidson to reach the final.

St. Bonaventure controlled the first half, holding the Billikens without a field for the first 9:19.

In the second half, the Bonnies went 6:09 without scoring as Saint Louis played more man-to-man defense and got aggressive with its switches.

"They did a really good job of taking away some of our actions and making it a one-on-one game. And we don't have one-on-one type players," Schmidt said.

Hasahn French made a reverse layup for the Billikens at 6:56 to give Saint Louis its first lead, 47-46, since the first basket of the game. Moments later, Wiley swished a 3 from the right corner and Saint Louis was up 52-46.

"When Dion hit that 3 in the right corner, I was like, here we go," Isabell said.

The small contingent of Saint Louis fans -- no A-10 campus is farther from Brooklyn -- was doing its best to drown out the noise from a partisan crowd of St. Bonaventure fans from western New York.

Stockard hit a 3 from the corner with 56 second left to cut Saint Louis' lead to 55-53. The Bonnies tried to get the ball into star freshman Kyle Lofton's hands on the last possession, but it was poked away. The best Lofton could do after recovering was find Kaputo in the corner, and the senior missed his only shot of the game.

BIG PICTURE

Saint Louis: Ford, the former Kentucky guard, is making his seventh NCAA appearance as a coach. He took Oklahoma State to the tournament five times in eight seasons and also went as coach of Eastern Kentucky in 2005.

St. Bonaventure: The Bonnies were trying to make consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in program history.

UP NEXT

Saint Louis: The Billikens will find out their NCAA opponent later Sunday.

St. Bonaventure: The Bonnies are hoping for an NIT bid.

Yale: 2018-19 Ivy League Men's Basketball Champions

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Two thoughts kept running through Alex Copeland's mind as his Yale team prepared to take on Harvard for the Ivy League championship and an NCAA berth.

First, he couldn't stop thinking about how hard he would cry if the Bulldogs lost on their home floor to their archrival in front of friends and family. Second, he couldn't stop thinking about how hard he would cry if they won.

The tears turned out to be happy ones.

Copeland scored a season-high 25 points and Yale beat the Crimson 97-85 on Sunday for its second NCAA Tournament trip in four seasons.

Yale (22-7), which lost to Harvard (18-11) twice in the regular season, used a 15-0 burst in the second half to take control. The Bulldogs celebrated with their fans who poured onto the floor when it was over.

"Visualizing those moments ... it's been going on for so, so long that to actually be here and to be talking about it sitting next to these guys feels so surreal and it just feels amazing," Copeland said.

The Bulldogs will return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since a memorable run that saw them beat Baylor in 2016. After that opening win, Yale then played Duke tough in a 71-64 loss.

"It was nice to go as freshmen, but at the end of the day we realized we were just minor pieces in that," senior Trey Phills said. "We really wanted to carry and lead a team, give these other guys the experience we had."

Bryce Aiken scored 38 points for Harvard and Noah Kirkwood added 19.

Copeland was chosen the Ivy tournament's most outstanding player. The senior guard, who had seven assists, scored eight points during Yale's big run that turned a 59-58 deficit into a 73-59 lead.

"He's had a tremendous career and he stepped up big time for us tonight," Yale coach James Jones said.

Miye Oni, the Ivy League's player of the year, spent most of the game in foul trouble, but added 17 points for Yale. Azar Swain had 15.

Yale hit four of its first six shots and jumped out to an 8-2 lead on a spinning layup by Jordan Brunner. The Bulldogs stretched that to double-digits when Brunner found Blake Reynolds (14 points) underneath for a layup that made it 29-19.

But Aiken kept Harvard in the game. He hit six of his 10 shots in the first half and his three free throws gave the Crimson their first lead at 38-37.

Yale, which shot 61 percent over the first 20 minutes, led 43-42 at halftime.

Harvard came out strong after intermission and led 52-45 after a dunk by Kirkwood.

"It's a game of runs and we weren't able theirs going down the stretch and ultimately that led them to get the victory," Aiken said.

Yale scored the next eight points, capped by a jumper from Oni, who picked up his fourth foul with more than 14 minutes left and played just 10 minutes after intermission.

"I looked at the clock and I looked at the rest of the guys on the court and I said, `We've got to do it without him. We've got to hold it down until he can get back in the game," Copeland said.

The Bulldogs kept the Crimson at bay after their big run and cut down the nets on their home court after winning basketball's version of The Game.

CHARITY AT HOME

Yale hit 28 of its 30 foul shots in the game (93.3 percent) and Oni was 10 of 10 from the line. Harvard made 19 of 24 free throws.

MOVING UP

The win gives Jones 310 at Yale, tying him with Fran Dunphy (Penn) for second all-time in the Ivy League. He would need another 204 to catch former Princeton great Pete Carril.

BIG PICTURE

Yale: The Bulldogs and Crimson were both 10-4 during the regular season, but the Bulldogs were playing as visitors on their home floor because of their two losses to Harvard during the regular season. .

Harvard: Harvard came into the game 7-0 versus Ivy League Tournament teams this season, including that 2-0 record against Yale, the tiebreaker which earned the Crimson the top seed in the tournament. It also guarantees them a spot in the NIT.

"I mentioned that to our kids," Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. "There's still basketball for our program to participate in a national tournament. We're proud of that."

UP NEXT

Yale: The Bulldogs await their opponent and site in the NCAA tourney.

Harvard: The Crimson await an NIT bid.