Houston: 2021-22 American Men's Basketball Champions

 

FORT WORTH, Texas -- — Fabian White Jr. scored 20 points, fellow big man Josh Carlton had 18 and 18th-ranked Houston beat Memphis 71-53 in the American Athletic Conference championship game Sunday.

A day after White played less than three minutes in the Cougars' semifinal win because of back tightness, the first-team All-AAC forward helped the top-seeded Cougars (29-5) earn the AAC's automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.

Memphis (21-10) didn't have to wait long to find out it had made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. The Tigers, who have won 12 of their last 14 games and beat Houston by double figures in both of their regular-season games, are the No. 9 seed in the West Region and will play Boise State.

Tigers center Jalen Duren, a 6-foot-11 freshman who was a first-team All-AAC pick, had 14 points and 10 rebounds. DeAndre Williams had 10 points.

Taze Moore had 11 points and eight assists for Houston, which is the No. 5 seed in the South Region and will play UAB. Jamal Shead scored 10 points. Kyler Edwards had eight points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Duren also had limited time in the semifinal round, playing 17 minutes in a win over SMU. He got two fouls in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the game, and didn't return until after halftime, when he exited for 6 1/2 minutes after falling hard to the floor after blocking a shot.

The Tigers, after trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, closed to 51-47 on Duren's emphatic two-handed dunk with 6:55 left. They never got closer.

Carlton had a three-point play on a slam dunk while being fouled after a nice pass from Moore. Shead then had a hustle play to force a turnover when Memphis had a breakaway chance, and White hit two free throws after a hard tumble when the upper half of his body ended up under the scoring table.

White took a shot to the mouth when fouled in the opening part of the second half. But his jumper right after that ignited a quick 8-0 run in which he also had a layup between Shead making two impressive plays. Shead had a basket high off the glass, then a rebound and a long pass ahead to a breaking Edwards for a dunk.

BIG PICTURE

Memphis: After missing the NCAA tourney last year, when they lost to Houston 76-74 in the AAC tournament semifinals, the Tigers went on to win the NIT championship. ... Memphis has won at least 20 games in all four seasons under coach Penny Hardaway, who played in NCAA Tournaments in 1992 and 1993 in his only seasons playing for the Tigers before an NBA career than ended in 2008. ... The Tigers' only other loss the past 14 games was to SMU, which they beat in the AAC Tournament semifinals.

Houston: The Cougars already have one more win than last season, when they won their first AAC tournament championship and then went to their first NCAA Final Four since 1984.

FLAGRANT APOLOGY

Memphis guard Alex Lomax was called for a flagrant foul after hard contact sent Shead sprawling to the floor with 2:10 left when he was driving toward the basket after a steal by Edwards. Shead jumped up and held up his hand to let his teammates know he was OK, and to ease tensions. Carlton and other teammates hugged Shead as they fired up their fans behind the bench. After referees reviewed the play, Lomax hugged Shead and went to the sideline to shake the hand of Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson.

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Iowa: 2021-22 Big Ten Men's Basketball Champions

 

INDIANAPOLIS -- — Keegan Murray had 19 points and 11 rebounds as No. 24 Iowa beat No. 9 Purdue 75-66 to win its first Big Ten Tournament championship since 2006 and earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

The sixth-seeded Hawkeyes (26-9) became the fourth team in conference history to claim the title by winning four games in four days. Iowa was also the first school to do it, in 2001, and Michigan repeated the feat in 2017 and 2018.

The Hawkeyes won their first title since 2006, one week after the Iowa women won the Big Ten tourney on the same court.

"We knew this team was destined for greatness," said Murray, who was selected the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. "And we changed the direction of the Iowa program today."

Iowa did it with a record-breaking scoring performance and by beating the Boilermakers about a one-hour drive from their campus in West Lafayette. Iowa's 351 points broke Ohio State's tournament record of 322, set last year.

Iowa heads into the NCAA Tournament with nine wins in its last 10 games.

Jaden Ivey scored 20 points and Trevion Williams had 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead Purdue (28-7), which failed to capture either the regular-season or tournament title despite spending most of the season as the highest-ranked team in the conference. Purdue hasn't won the Big Ten Tournament since 2009.

It's not as if the Boilermakers didn't have a chance.

But Purdue had nine turnovers, missed four free throws and never led in the first half as the energized Hawkeyes took a 35-32 halftime lead.

With the Purdue-friendly crowd roaring loudly early in the second half, it looked like the Boilermakers would respond when Eric Hunter Jr.'s 3-pointer with 3:13 to play capped a 7-0 run that trimmed the deficit to 63-62.

But Connor McCaffery responded with a three-point play on the ensuing possession. Iowa only allowed four points the rest of the way, closing it out at the line, silencing the crowd and setting off a wild post-game celebration near midcourt.

"It is hard to describe," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. "This game is really special, special to me because I get to coach my boys and to see them celebrate with their teammates and celebrate together, there's no better feeling."

Indianapolis native Tony Perkins had 11 points and four assists for the Hawkeyes while Payton Sandfort added 10 points.

"We had a lot of goals and sometimes you have to make changes," Fran McCaffery said. "But this team accepted its roles and we beat a really good team today."

Zach Edey had 12 points and 14 rebounds for Purdue.

BIG PICTURE

Iowa: A strong finish — and tourney title — could propel the Hawkeyes to a top-five seed, maybe even a No. 4 seed, and a possible trip to Milwaukee. Regardless of who they play or where they land, one of America's most prolific scoring teams will be a handful.

Purdue: A loss in the championship game could prove costly to the Boilermakers. They could slide from the No. 2 line to the No. 3 line. Will it cost them a second straight bus trip down I-65 to Indianapolis? Maybe. But Purdue needs fewer unforced errors on offense and more production from its 3-point shooters.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Iowa will continue ascending in Monday's rankings, perhaps even cracking the top 15. The bigger question is whether Purdue did enough to extend its record streak of consecutive weeks in the top 10 to 19.

ALL-TOURNEY

Murry and Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon, who banked in the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left to beat Indiana on Saturday, were both selected to the all-tournament team. They were joined by Ivey, Williams and Trayce Jackson-Davis of Indiana.

UP NEXT

The teams wait to see where they fit in the 68-team field.

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Richmond: 2021-22 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Champions

WASHINGTON -- — Jacob Gilyard scored 26 points, Tyler Burton had 16 points and 12 rebounds and No. 6 seed Richmond beat top-seeded Davidson 64-62 on Sunday to clinch the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament and an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time in 11 years.

Richmond (23-12) was playing in the A-10 championship game — needing two 15-point comebacks in the early rounds — for the first time since winning in 2011. The Spiders are making their 10th trip to the NCAAs, the first since making the Sweet 16 in that 2011 season.

With Davidson's 27-6 record and resume, Richmond's win likely knocked out a bubble team.

The Spiders lost a home game to Davidson 87-84 on Jan. 14 when Michael Jones hit a game-winning 3-pointer with three seconds remaining. Jones had another chance to win this game, getting an inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left, but his contested 3-pointer from the corner didn't hit the rim as time expired.

Richmond went six-plus minutes without a field goal down the stretch until Burton completed three-point plays on back-to-back possession to get the Spiders within 62-60. Davidson dribbled down the clock and missed a 3-pointer and Burton missed a baseline jumper at the other end but his airball went off a Davidson player.

After a timeout, Matt Grace powered into the lane and completed another three-point play — his first points of the game — to give Richmond a 63-62 lead with 19.1 seconds left. Foster Loyer had a good look at a 3-pointer at the other end but it rolled out and Gilyard, an 85.7% free-throw shooter, was fouled before making 1 of 2 free throws at 2.9.

Davidson called a timeout at 2.5 and Richmond called another after seeing how the Wildcats set up. Davidson made a half-court pass and called another timeout with 1.7 left, but Jones' shot was off.

Gilyard was 9 of 18 from the field, including a long jumper early in the second half to reach 2,000 career points, becoming just the fifth player in program history to do so.

Sam Mennenga scored 18 points and Jones finished with 17 for Davidson. Luka Brajkovic, the A-10 player of the year, had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Mennenga made his fourth straight 3-pointer to give Davidson a 49-42 lead with 10:03 remaining but the Wildcats didn't make their next field goal until Brajkovic at 4:45. Richmond tied it on three different occasions during Davidson's field-goal drought but couldn't take the lead until the closing seconds.

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Tennessee: 2021-22 Southeastern Men's Basketball Champions

TAMPA, Fla. -- — With the clock ticking down on Tennessee's first men's SEC Tournament title in 43 years, freshman Kennedy Chandler dribbled near midcourt with his left hand and popped the chest of his jersey with his right.

Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi angled for the sideline, where they tried to lure coach Rick Barnes into Sunday's celebration.

"This time of year is about players," said Barnes, who wound up in the mix anyway after the ninth-ranked Volunteers beat Texas A&M 65-50, cut down the nets and the players approached him again to place a portion around his neck.

"I just think it's their moment. It's their time to get the trophy. It's their time to cut down the nets," Barnes added. "They came to Tennessee to help us make it a special place. They've done that. It's truly their time."

A short time later, James walked out of Amalie Arena carrying the tournament trophy.

"Taking it back to the crib," the 6-foot-6 junior guard said.

Tennessee fans have waiting since 1979.

"They beat us from start to finish," Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. "We had no answers for their tactical decisions, nor their talent."

Vescovi scored 17 points, James had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and the Vols (26-7) rattled off the first 14 points of the afternoon to win for the 12th time in 13 games since a one-point loss at Texas in late January.

Auburn and Kentucky entered the SEC Tournament ranked in the top five and Arkansas was as hot as any team in the country down the stretch, but Tennessee has emerged as the top team in the league after beating each of those rivals in the past two weeks.

Chandler, the tournament MVP, had 14 points and seven assists for Tennessee, which recorded assists on 19 of 22 baskets, including the first 10 the Vols made after halftime.

Playing its fourth game in four days, Texas A&M (23-12) started slowly and never recovered.

The Aggies missed their first eight shots — seven of them 3-point attempts — while Tennessee began the game with Chandler making a 3-pointer, James delivering a three-point play and then hitting a shot from behind the arc for a quick 9-0 lead.

It was 14-0 before Henry Coleman finally scored for Texas A&M, which never trimmed its deficit to fewer than five the rest of the way. The Aggies missed all nine of their 3-point attempts in the opening half while shooting 27% overall (6 of 22) from the field.

Tennessee also was outstanding defending the 3-point line in Saturday's 69-62 semifinal victory over fifth-ranked Kentucky, which finished 2 of 20 from beyond the arc. Since yielding 80 points in a 10-point victory over Texas A&M in Knoxville on Feb. 1, the Vols have held 10 of 12 SEC opponents under 65.

The closest Texas A&M got after the slow start was five, 34-29, on Tyrece Radford's 3-pointer early in the second half. Chandler answered with a 3 and Vescovi followed with a another to finish a 9-0 burst that rebuilt the lead to 14.

Chandler, falling out of bounds, shoveled a nifty underhand pass to James in the corner, where the Tennessee guard sank a 3-pointer that gave the Vols, who led by as many as 18, their biggest lead of the day.

Radford led Texas A&M, which beat Florida, fourth-ranked Auburn and No. 15 Arkansas to reach its first SEC Tournament final, with 13 points. Henry Coleman finished with 12 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, who likely played their way into the NCAA Tournament with three wins in Tampa.

The Vols were in the final for the third time in five years after losing to Kentucky in 2018 and Auburn in 2019. This time, they finished it off.

"Very proud of our team," Barnes said. "They have worked hard. They deserve what they've been able to achieve here."

BIG PICTURE

Texas A&M: The Aggies finished 4 of 19 from behind the 3-point line. Leading scorer Quenton Jackson never got on track, finishing with nine points on 3-of-9 shooting.

Tennessee: The Volunteers won the SEC Tournament for the fifth time overall. They also won it in 1936, 1941, 1943 and 1979.

UP NEXT

Texas A&M: With three wins in the SEC Tournament, the Aggies likely ensured their season wouldn't end without a NCAA appearance.

Tennessee: NCAA Tournament.

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Yale: 2021-22 Ivy Men's Basketball Champions

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- — Azar Swain scored 23 points and Yale held on for a 66-64 victory over Princeton to win the Ivy League tournament on Sunday.

The Bulldogs will play in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time. Yale last went to the NCAAs in 2019 and was to be the league representative for the cancelled 2020 event. The Ivy League cancelled its 2020-21 season.

Second-seeded Yale, which led nearly the entire game, was up by nine with a minute left. But Ethan Wright hit a 3-pointer and Jaelin Llewellyn added two more, the final one with 24 seconds remaining, to get the top-seeded Tigers within two after Yale's Bez Mbeng had made a pair of free throws for Yale.

After Yale's Isaiah Kelly missed two free throws with 14.4 seconds to go, Llewellyn drove inside but his effort to kick out a pass went off the bottom of the backboard and struck him as he went out of bounds with 1.5 left. Yale, which had two five-second violations in the final minutes, threw a long inbounds pass that Llewellyn intercepted but his desperation heave wasn't close.

Swain shot 9 of 21 with three 3-pointers. Mbeng added 13 points and 11 rebounds plus three steals and Matt Knowling had 12 points and five assists for the Bulldogs (19-11), who split with Princeton during the regular season but finished a game back of the first-place Tigers.

Tosan Evbuomwan scored 20 points with 11 rebounds and five assists for Princeton (23-6), which came in on an eight-game win streak. Llewellyn added 18 points and Wright 15. Princeton, ranked in the top 10 nationally in field-goal (49.05) and 3-point percentage (38.99) and eighth in scoring offense (80.4), shot 41%, made 10 of 30 from the arc and tied their season low for points.

Yale took a 7-4 lead on a Bbeng 3-pointer and led the rest of the way, holding a 32-25 halftime advantage. The Bulldogs led by as many as 11 in the second half, holding off several Princeton charges.

Yale shot 46%, made 6 of 17 from the arc and was plus-nine on the boards.