#FFXIV
Mr. Wonderful
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, oh, you're so incredible
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, wonderful to me
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, oh, you're irresistible
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, a miracle to me
Hold me, I wanna feel your arms around me
Ooh la la, ooh la la
Kiss me 'cause only you can make me happy
Ooh la la la
Ooh la la heya heya, oh, Mr. Wonderful
Ooh la la heya heya, are you for real
Ooh la la heya heya, it's not impossible
Ooh la la heya heya, ooh ah, ooh ah
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, oh, you're so incredible
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, wonderful to me
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, oh, you're irresistible
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, a miracle to me
Touch me, it feels like heaven, I'm so lucky
Ooh la la, ooh la la
Love me 'cause only you can make me happy
Ooh la la la
Ooh la la heya heya, oh, Mr. Wonderful
Ooh la la heya heya, are you for real
Ooh la la heya heya, it's not impossible
Ooh la la heya heya, ooh ah, ooh ah
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, oh, you're so incredible
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, wonderful to me
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, oh, you're irresistible
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, a miracle to me
A miracle to me
A miracle to me
A miracle to me
A miracle to me
Ooh la la heya heya, ooh la la, ooh la la
Ooh la la heya heya, ooh la la la
Ooh la la heya heya, ooh la la, ooh la la
Ooh la la heya heya, ooh ah, ooh ah
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Hey, Mr. Wonderful, oh, you're so incredible
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, wonderful to me
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, oh, you're irresistible
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, a miracle to me
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, oh, you're so incredible
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, wonderful to me
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, oh, you're irresistible
Hey, Mr. Wonderful, a miracle to me
Ooh la la heya heya, ooh la la, ooh la la (a miracle to me)
Ooh la la heya heya, ooh la la la (a miracle to me)
Ooh la la heya heya, ooh la la, ooh la la (a miracle to me)
Ooh la la heya heya, ooh la la la (a miracle to me)
Arizona! What happenduh?
Unacceptable.
No. 2 Arizona can’t lose to No. 15 Princeton.
Not after what Princeton almost did to Georgetown in 1989. Not after what Princeton did to UCLA in 1996. Not after what Arizona State did to Nevada on Wednesday!
This is bad for Arizona fans, who will have to take prank phone calls from ASU fans and endure taunts from now until eternity. This is bad for Tommy Lloyd, who will have to deal with unflattering comparisons with Sean Miller. This for the Pac-12, which is fighting for relevance like buggy whip manufacturers in the age of the Model T. And it’s bad for the nation, with President Joe Biden having picked UA to win it all!
Unlike Sun Devil fans, Wildcats boosters plan their lives around Arizona men’s basketball. In the Phoenix area, ASU basketball is an afterthought. Down in Tucson, UA hoops is life.
Arizona went scoreless over the final 5 minutes, proving that nerves come into play at even the highest levels of basketball. Blueblood teams simply cannot allow plucky contenders to keep the score close in games like this. It looked like UA had things under control after halftime, but the Wildcats couldn’t match the intensity of the Tigers when it mattered most.
Brackets are busted. Gambling money has been lost. And pride has been shattered.
Tommy Lloyd was on top of the world just a week ago after winning the Pac-12 for the second year in a row. Now? He probably doesn’t want to get off a plane in southern Arizona for a couple of weeks.
He’s going to have to answer whether this loss was worse than Sean Miller falling to Buffalo in 2018.
From here, it wasn’t. Miller had the No. 1 draft pick in Deandre Ayton, plus a slew of blue chippers. On top of that, Buffalo’s coach at the time, Nate Oats, now leads Alabama, which earned the top overall seed in this year’s tournament.
But maybe … No one thought much of Buffalo at the time. And even though Princeton’s big moments in the Big Dance came a million years ago, the Tigers are known to backcut and fundamental their way into shocking big schools.
Regardless of which loss you think was worse, who wants to even have that conversation?!
Especially after Arizona State and the Flyin’ Bobby Hurleys looked like they could qualify for the NBA playoffs just a day earlier. This is the kind of thing little-brother fanbases, like ASU men’s basketball supporters, live to hold over their in-state rivals, which have national title aspirations every year, like UA.
The Pac-12 is fighting for relevance. This doesn’t help. At all.
If the conference disintegrates in the next five years, analysts will be looking back to this loss to ask whether it was the beginning of the end.
And poor Joe Biden. The president is trying to bring together a divided nation and picked UA in a play that could have won him support in a vital swing state. Instead, he looks like a bandwagoner kissing up to earn brownie points. And if it feels unfair, tough cookies. This is what comes with tradition and expectation.
ASU fans have been looking forward to having their weekends free. UA fans have been budgeting for flights and hotels in Houston for the Final Four.
This is completely unacceptable.
It could happen to any team in any tournament, but it’s Lloyd’s job to make sure it doesn’t happen to his squad or to his fans.
He had better win some games in March next season or the conversation around his program, his conference and even his nation are going to sound a lot different.
95th Academy Awards: The List.
Best Picture
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, and Jonathan Wang, producersdouble-dagger
All Quiet on the Western Front – Malte Grunert, producer
Avatar: The Way of Water – James Cameron and Jon Landau, producers
The Banshees of Inisherin – Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, and Martin McDonagh, producers
Elvis – Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick, and Schuyler Weiss, producers
The Fabelmans – Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg, and Tony Kushner, producers
Tár – Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan, and Scott Lambert, producers
Top Gun: Maverick – Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison, and Jerry Bruckheimer, producers
Triangle of Sadness – Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, producers
Women Talking – Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and Frances McDormand, producers
Best Director
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Oncedouble-dagger
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans
Todd Field – Tár
Ruben Östlund – Triangle of Sadness
Best Actor
Brendan Fraser – The Whale as Charliedouble-dagger
Austin Butler – Elvis as Elvis Presley
Colin Farrell – The Banshees of Inisherin as Pádraic Súilleabháin
Paul Mescal – Aftersun as Calum Paterson
Bill Nighy – Living as Mr. Rodney Williams
Best Actress
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All at Once as Evelyn Quan Wangdouble-dagger
Ana de Armas – Blonde as Norma Jeane
Cate Blanchett – Tár as Lydia Tár
Andrea Riseborough – To Leslie as Leslie Rowlands
Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans as Mitzi Schildkraut-Fabelman
Best Supporting Actor
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All at Once as Waymond Wangdouble-dagger
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees of Inisherin as Colm Doherty
Brian Tyree Henry – Causeway as James Aucoin
Judd Hirsch – The Fabelmans as Boris Schildkraut
Barry Keoghan – The Banshees of Inisherin as Dominic Kearney
Best Supporting Actress
Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere All at Once as Deirdre Beaubeirdredouble-dagger
Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as Queen Ramonda
Hong Chau – The Whale as Liz
Kerry Condon – The Banshees of Inisherin as Siobhán Súilleabháin
Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All at Once as Joy Wang / Jobu Tupaki
Best Original Screenplay
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinertdouble-dagger
The Banshees of Inisherin – Martin McDonagh
The Fabelmans – Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner
Tár – Todd Field
Triangle of Sadness – Ruben Östlund
Best Adapted Screenplay
Women Talking – Sarah Polley; based on the novel by Miriam Toewsdouble-dagger
All Quiet on the Western Front – Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, and Ian Stokell; based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Rian Johnson; based on characters created by Johnson and the film Knives Out
Living – Kazuo Ishiguro; based on the original motion picture screenplay Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, and Hideo Oguni
Top Gun: Maverick – Screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks; based on the film Top Gun written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr.
Best Animated Feature Film
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio – Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar, and Alex Bulkleydouble-dagger
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan, and Paul Mezey
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – Joel Crawford and Mark Swift
The Sea Beast – Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger
Turning Red – Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins
Best International Feature Film
All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany) – directed by Edward Bergerdouble-dagger
Argentina, 1985 (Argentina) – directed by Santiago Mitre
Close (Belgium) – directed by Lukas Dhont
EO (Poland) – directed by Jerzy Skolimowski
The Quiet Girl (Ireland) – directed by Colm Bairéad
Best Documentary Feature
Navalny – Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, and Shane Borisdouble-dagger
All That Breathes – Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann, and Teddy Leifer
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed – Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin, and Yoni Golijov
Fire of Love – Sara Dosa, Shane Boris, and Ina Fichman
A House Made of Splinters – Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström
Best Documentary Short Subject
The Elephant Whisperers – Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Mongadouble-dagger
Haulout – Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev
How Do You Measure a Year? – Jay Rosenblatt
The Martha Mitchell Effect – Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison
Stranger at the Gate – Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
Best Live Action Short Film
An Irish Goodbye – Tom Berkeley and Ross Whitedouble-dagger
Ivalu – Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan
Le pupille – Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón
Night Ride – Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen
The Red Suitcase – Cyrus Neshvad
Best Animated Short Film
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freuddouble-dagger
The Flying Sailor – Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis
Ice Merchants – João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano
My Year of Dicks – Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon
An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It – Lachlan Pendragon
Best Original Score
All Quiet on the Western Front – Volker Bertelmanndouble-dagger
Babylon – Justin Hurwitz
The Banshees of Inisherin – Carter Burwell
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Son Lux
The Fabelmans – John Williams
Best Original Song
"Naatu Naatu" from RRR – Music by M. M. Keeravani; Lyrics by Chandrabosedouble-dagger
"Applause" from Tell It Like a Woman – Music and lyrics by Diane Warren
"Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Maverick – Music and lyrics by Lady Gaga and BloodPop
"Lift Me Up" from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, and Ludwig Göransson; Lyrics by Tems and Ryan Coogler
"This Is a Life" from Everything Everywhere All at Once – Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne, and Mitski; Lyrics by Ryan Lott and David Byrne
Best Sound
Top Gun: Maverick – Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon, and Mark Taylordouble-dagger
All Quiet on the Western Front – Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel, and Stefan Korte
Avatar: The Way of Water – Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, and Michael Hedges
The Batman – Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray, and Andy Nelson
Elvis – David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson, and Michael Keller
Best Production Design
All Quiet on the Western Front – Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipperdouble-dagger
Avatar: The Way of Water – Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole
Babylon – Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
Elvis – Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn
The Fabelmans – Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
Best Cinematography
All Quiet on the Western Front – James Frienddouble-dagger
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths – Darius Khondji
Elvis – Mandy Walker
Empire of Light – Roger Deakins
Tár – Florian Hoffmeister
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
The Whale – Adrien Morot, Judy Chin, and Anne Marie Bradleydouble-dagger
All Quiet on the Western Front – Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová
The Batman – Naomi Donne, Mike Marino, and Mike Fontaine
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Camille Friend and Joel Harlow
Elvis – Mark Coulier, Jason Baird, and Aldo Signoretti
Best Costume Design
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Ruth E. Carterdouble-dagger
Babylon – Mary Zophres
Elvis – Catherine Martin
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Shirley Kurata
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris – Jenny Beavan
Best Film Editing
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Paul Rogersdouble-dagger
The Banshees of Inisherin – Mikkel E. G. Nielsen
Elvis – Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond
Tár – Monika Willi
Top Gun: Maverick – Eddie Hamilton
Best Visual Effects
Avatar: The Way of Water – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrettdouble-dagger
All Quiet on the Western Front – Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank, and Kamil Jafar
The Batman – Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands, and Dominic Tuohy
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White, and Dan Sudick
Top Gun: Maverick – Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson, and Scott R. Fisher
Purdue: 2022-23 Big Ten Men's Basketball Champions
CHICAGO − If anyone doubted the validity of Purdue's regular-season Big Ten championship, the Boilermakers doubled down.
After running through the league and winning the title by three games, Purdue (29-5) beat Rutgers, Ohio State and Penn State on consecutive days to add a Big Ten tournament championship.
Piloted again by Zach Edey and a cast of eight solid role players, Purdue stopped a monumental week for the Nittany Lions on championship Sunday with a 67-65 victory in the United Center, surviving a late rally.
With 3.3 seconds left, Penn State's inbounds pass from the right wing was tipped by Edey, causing a scramble that resulted in a traveling violation on the Nittany Lions. With 0.6 of a second left, Purdue heaved a pass to the 7-foot-4 Edey, who swatted it away as time expired.
It is Purdue's second Big Ten tournament championship, with the first coming in 2009.
Edey also added to his postseason haul of awards, garnering Tournament Most Valuable Player to package with his Big Ten Player of the Year award.
3 stars
Zach Edey, Purdue: The Boilermakers trailed 4-0 after Penn State opened with two straight shots. Then Edey scored. Then he scored again. And Purdue's unstoppable force was just that. Edey went 12 of 17 from the field, finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds.
David Jenkins Jr., Purdue: Jenkins continued his hot shooting in the first half Sunday, going 3-for-5 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes, missing only on an attempt as the shot clock expired and on the final play of the first half. This week, Jenkins became the scoring punch Purdue needed off the bench, scoring 11 first-half points.
Purdue men's basketball: This third part is interchangeable and probably why the Boilermakers got just one player (Edey) on the Big Ten's first-, second- and third-teams. There's Edey. And there's a plethora of really good basketball players besides him. None consistently stand out, but at one time or another, all eight players aside from Edey in the rotation have stood out. Every player who saw the floor in the Big Ten Tournament championship - Edey, Jenkins, Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, Brandon Newman, Ethan Morton, Mason Gillis, Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn - had big moments in Sunday's victory.
Key moment
Penn State can get hot from the outside and with Jalen Pickett, has one of the most dynamic players in the Big Ten.
When the Nittany Lions pulled within 40-36 with 16 minutes to go, it felt like an opportunity.
Purdue slammed that door shut immediately, holding Penn State to five points over the net seven-plus minutes and expanding that lead back to 14.
Ethan Morton slid into the paint on a Seth Lundy drive and drew a charge with 8:21 to go. This is the stuff that gets Purdue coaches excited more than flashy passes or 3-point shooting. The United Center erupted as Morton pounded the floor with both hands in celebration after the charge.
Penn State was able to cut the lead to four with 1:55 to go, but the Boilermakers went back to old reliable, getting it down low to Edey, who turned and put in a shot off the glass. Purdue needed every bit of that separation.
Myles Dread hit a 3, then Penn State stole the ensuing inbounds pass and cut the deficit to 66-65. Loyer made 1 of 2 free throws with 6.4 seconds remaining.
Key stat
When Purdue struggled this season, it was plagued by turnovers.
Needing to elevate its level of play heading into the NCAA tournament, the Boilermakers were masterful in taking care of the basketball on Sunday.
Purdue turned the ball over just seven times. If there's one concern, its' that three of those came in the final minutes that kept Penn State in striking distance.
Memphis: 2022-23 American Men's Basketball Champions
FORT WORTH, Texas − Kendric Davis not only looked like the best player in the AAC, the Memphis basketball All-American looked like one of the best players in the country.
In the blink of an eye, Davis sent a pair of heat-seeking torpedoes right through No. 1 Houston’s heart. His back-to-back 3-pointers that came 11 seconds apart in the first half let everyone inside Dickies Arena how this Championship Sunday might play out.
The Tigers (26-8) avenged a pair of regular-season losses to the Cougars (31-3), claiming a 75-65 victory – the first AAC Tournament title in program history – and sending the Big 12-bound program out on a sour note. Penny Hardaway’s team led by as many as 19 points, the largest deficit Houston has faced at any point this season. It is the first league title of any kind for the Tigers since 2013, when they won Conference USA.
Davis finished with 31 points.
Memphis will soon find out exactly where it will begin the NCAA Tournament, as the selection show begins at 5 p.m. on CBS.
Houston made a very Houston-like comeback, cutting the lead to 55-50 with 11:03 left in the game. But, if the first half belonged to Davis, a series of second-half clutch moments from senior guard Alex Lomax’s snuffed out any and all hope the Cougars had left.
Up 65-55, Lomax picked Terrance Arceneaux's pocket around mid-court, took off toward his goal (injured groin and all) and got the ball to go down despite being fouled by Jamal Shead. Lomax, after strutting his stuff for a few seconds, added the ensuing free throw for good measure. Lomax also secured a pair of key rebounds (including one offensive board that led to a Malcolm Dandridge field goal) and two assists.
Alabama: 2022-23 Southeastern Men's Basketball Champions
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Brandon Miller scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as fourth-ranked Alabama smothered No. 18 Texas A&AM 82-63 on Sunday for the Crimson Tide's second Southeastern Conference tournament championship in three seasons.
The Crimson Tide also capped their second SEC double dip in three seasons after picking up their regular-season trophy before Friday's quarterfinals. The Tide (29-5) extended the program record for wins while adding its eighth tournament title in its 15th appearance; both are second only to Kentucky in the SEC.
Miller, the tournament MVP and AP All-SEC player and newcomer of the year, posted his ninth double-double of the season. Jahvon Quinerly, who was 0-of-9 shooting with one point in the semifinal, made his first three 3s and scored 13 of his 22 points in the first half. Charles Bediako had 12 points and 13 rebounds.
The second-seeded Aggies (25-9) dropped to 0-3 in the tournament finale, losing for a second straight year. Dexter Dennis led Texas A&M with 14 points, Wade Taylor IV had 13 and Tyrece Radford 12.
Alabama snapped a five-game skid to Texas A&M, which included a 67-61 loss in College Station on March 4 in the regular season.
Mark Sears opened with a 3-pointer, and Alabama never trailed, making four of its first six 3s. The Tide led by as many as 33-17 with 4:10 left on a pair of free throws by Miller and 34-23 at halftime.
The Aggies could not knock down shots, shooting a season-low 29.7% (19-of-64) from the floor, and never got closer than nine in the second half.
The Tide padded their lead to as much as 25 before coach Nate Oats pulled his starters.
Alabama is chasing a top seeding in the NCAA tournament despite a season that has been challenging. Former Tide player Darius Miles and another man were indicted earlier this week on capital murder charges for the January shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris.
In February, an investigator testified that Miles texted Miller to bring him his gun. Police also said that Jaden Bradley also was at the scene. Neither Miller nor Bradley have been charged, and both have been playing -- Miller, especially.
Virginia Commonwealth: 2022-23 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Champions
NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen DeLoach had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and top-seeded VCU beat second-seeded Dayton 68-56 on Sunday to win the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time in eight years.
Ace Baldwin added 16 points and seven assists, sending the Rams (27-7) to the NCAA Tournament with a nine-game winning streak and a title that has often alluded them during an otherwise impressive run of consistency.
VCU had played in the A-10 final six times from 2013-21, winning just once in 2015 when it beat Dayton.
DaRon Holmes II tried to carry the Flyers (22-12) to their first A-10 title since 2003 and first NCAA bid in six years. Holmes had 28 points and 16 rebounds, but didn't get enough help in the second half. The 6-foot-10 sophomore was named the tournament's most outstanding player, averaging 22 points in three games at Barclays Center.
The Rams and Flyers split two regular-season games, decided by a total of three points. The rubber match was more of the same.
The Flyers bolted to a 10-point lead early in the second half, but Baldwin tied it at 47 with a 3 with 11:50 left in the second half and the Rams slowly edged away from there.
VCU converted three straight second-chance opportunities into seven points in the final 3 1/2 minutes, with DeLoach's work on the offensive glass spurring the effort. Brandon Johns muscled in a layup that gave the Rams a 65-56 lead with 1:57 left.
A day after Dayton's Toumani Camara went 12 for 13 from the floor in the semifinals against Fordham, he got into foul trouble and went scoreless in the first half against VCU. He fouled out with six points and six rebounds.
The 6-9 Mustapha Amzil stepped up to pair with Holmes to wear out the Rams inside. The two bigs combined to shoot 10 for 14 from the floor and score 29 points as Dayton took a 36-30 lead at halftime.
BIG PICTURE
The Atlantic 10 is all but certain to be a one-bid league in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005.
Typically one of the strongest mid-major conferences, the A-10 put six teams in the NCAA field in 2014 to cap a run of three years in which it had a total of 15 bids.
Dayton was 28-2 and on its way to being one of the top seeds in the 2020 NCAA Tournament before March Madness was cancelled by the pandemic.
But the conference has slipped over the past couple of seasons, putting only two teams in the NCAAs the last two seasons. And last season the A-10 needed a championship game upset by Richmond over Davidson to get that second team in via its automatic bid.
UP NEXT
Dayton: The Flyers haven't been in the NCAA Tournament since a run of four straight appearances from 2014-17. They'll hope for an NIT bid.
VCU: The Rams are back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021 and 10th time since 2011.
Princeton: 2022-23 Ivy Men's Basketball Champions
PRINCETON – Four years ago, in a version of planes, trains and automobiles that already has entered Princeton basketball lore, assistant coach Brett MacConnell discovered an obscure prospect in Newcastle, England.
That leap of faith paid off spectacularly Sunday.
The prospect, Tosan Evbuomwan, led the Tigers to the Ivy League Tournament title with a hardwood masterpiece in a 74-65 victory over Yale. Running the offense, scoring and defending the Bulldogs' top guard, the senior forward dominated as the Tigers earned their 26th NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2017.
"This means the world," Evbuomwan said. "Princeton is my home. Newcastle is my second home at this point."
He tallied 21 points, five rebounds and four assists, passing Princeton coach Mitch Henderson on the Tigers' all-time assist list. Not bad for a 6-foot-8 power forward.
"This has been a challenge with Tosan for three years, to get him to impose his physical will on the game," Henderson said. "And I thought we took strength from that this weekend. We’ll never have anyone here for a very long time who’s that good of a passer.”
On the defensive end, Evbuomwan limited Yale’s explosive sophomore John Poulakidis to 7 points on 2-of-6 shooting.
"Pretty inspiring," Princeton guard Matt Allocco said. "Everyone knows offensively Tosan is special, but today in particular I thought he was unbelievable. He’s the best player in this league on both ends. He was terrific today, willed us, carried us there.”
As a result Princeton (21-8) is going dancing for the second time under Henderson. The Tigers shared the Ivy’s regular-season crown with Yale (21-8) but got swept by the Bulldogs home and away – and also lost to them in last year’s Ivy Tourney final as well.
This was different as nearly 5,000 fans packed Jadwin Gym, making the most of Princeton’s first turn as the host of this four-team event. The Ivy League added a tournament in 2017, becoming the last Division 1 conference to do so. That year, Princeton prevailed at the Palestra and went on to push Notre Dame to the brink in the Big Dance’s opening round, falling when Devin Cannady’s 3-pointer missed the mark at the buzzer.
Getting back there has been a mission for Henderson, who played in three NCAA Tournaments as a Princeton guard from 1996-98.
“I think about it every day walking into the gym and looking at the banners…especially as an alum," Henderson said. “It’s one of the coolest things in sports.”
After the final buzzer Sunday he encountered John Thompson III, who starred at guard at Princeton before leading the Tigers to two NCAA Tournaments as a head coach. Thompson is widely associated with Georgetown, which he coached to a Final Four in 2007, but he's a Princeton man through and through.
“All is right with the world," Thompson told him.
This Tigers team, a likely No. 14 seed, has the firepower to cause trouble for some high-major. It starts with Evbuomwan, a point forward who scored 21 in Saturday’s semifinal win over Penn and was the runaway choice for tournament MVP. But there are sharpshooters too in guards Ryan Langborg (14 points vs. Yale), Allocco (15 points, 7 rebounds) and a rising-star freshman in forward Caden Pierce (12 points, 10 rebounds). Princeton's last March Madness win came in 1998, Henderson's senior year. The Tigers also stunned UCLA in an instant classic in 1996, the final triumph for legendary coach Pete Carril.
Carril died in August at age 92.
“I’ve thought about him a lot," Henderson said. "So much of what I say is him."
He said Carril would particularly have enjoyed how this Princeton squad got better as the season went on. Peaking late was a Carril specialty.
"A lot of this is honoring him," Henderson said. "He’d be very proud."
Grand Canyon: 2022-23 Western Athletic Men's Basketball Champions
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LAS VEGAS — With a chance to break a 20-plus year drought of NCAA Tournament bids, Southern Utah's magic ran out late Friday night in front of a packed house in the desert.
Less than 24 hours after Tevian Jones' miraculous 4-point play capped off a 23-comeback win over in-state rival Utah Valley, there was no such strike for the upstart Thunderbirds in their first season in the Western Athletic Conference, and their first conference tournament title game since winning the 2001 Mid-Continent championship.
SUU trailed by as much as 18 in the second half — a stone's throw behind the 23-point deficit the Thunderbirds overcame a night earlier — but barely got within single digits in the second half in front of a raucous Orleans Arena crowd filled roughly two-thirds by purple-clad Lopes fans.
Ray Harrison had 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Gabe McGlothan scored 21 as Grand Canyon overwhelmed the Thunderbirds 84-66 to claim their second NCAA Tournament berth in program history.
Noah Baumann had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Lopes (24-11).
Jones led Southern Utah (22-10) with 17 points and three rebounds, and Maizen Fusett added 12 points and seven boards. Harrison Butler added 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Thunderbirds.
Grit. Heart. Intensity. The Thunderbirds had plenty of it on Saturday night but fell victim to their Achilles' heel once again: guarding the 3-point line.
Utah Tech's Cam Gooden had a career-high 35 points against SUU in the first round of the WAC Tournament. Then came UVU's Trey Woodbury and the 29 points he scored in that come-from-ahead loss. Harrison, who shot 4-of-6 from 3-point range in the first half, was just the latest in a succession of career shooters.
SUU led for less than six minutes of game time as Grand Canyon dropped in 13 3-pointers and outrebounded the Thunderbirds 41-30.
Arizona: 2022-23 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Champions
LAS VEGAS—The revenge tour is complete.
Courtney Ramey drained the go-ahead 3-pointer with 16.8 seconds left to give Arizona its second straight Pac-12 title, beating top-seeded UCLA 61-59 on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The second-seeded Wildcats (28-6) improved to 9-0 in revenge games under Tommy Lloyd, getting payback for a regular-season loss for the third time in as many games during the conference tournament. Arizona has now won nine Pac-12 tourney titles.
UCLA (29-5) had a chance to win it at the buzzer, after Azuolas Tubelis missed the second of two free throws with 5.8 seconds to go, but Dylan Andrews’ 3-point try was off the rim. As soon as it bounced, the Arizona-heavy #McKaleNorth crowd erupted.
Tubelis finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds, making 9 of 11 free throws. He was 5 of 17 from the field, missing all seven of his field goal attempts, but was 6 of 7 from the line a night after the UA as a team was 5 of 12 on foul shots in the semifinal win over ASU.
Ramey’s 3 was his only make of the night, and it came after Tubelis was off on a 3-point try but Pelle Larsson tapped out the rebound to the 5th-year transfer guard at the top of the key. Larsson finished with 11 points, four rebounds and five assists.
Oumar Ballo, who joined Tubelis on the All-Tournament team, had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Arizona shot 36.5 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3 but held UCLA to 36.7 and 21.1 percent shooting. The Bruins were without two starters, as wing Jaylen Clark missed the Pac-12 tourney with a leg injury and center Adem Bona, the conference’s Freshman of the Year, did not play after injuring his shoulder in the semifinals against Oregon.
In addition to missing Bona, UCLA had big men Mac Etienne and Kenneth Nwuba foul out but Arizona couldn’t take advantage inside, getting outscored 24-22. The Wildcats did have a 37-32 edge on the boards and limited UCLA to six second-chance points.
UCLA got 19 points from Amari Bailey, including a jumper with 2:52 left that gave the Bruins their last lead at 58-56, while Tyger Campbell had 16 and Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 14.
Campbell and Jaquez, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, combined to go 10 of 32.
Down 34-33 at the half, Arizona scored on its first possession but then went empty for almost four minutes, while UCLA built an 8-point lead at 43-35. During the drought the calls all went against the Wildcats, both offensively and defensively.
The UA trailed 46-37 after a Bailey 3 with 14:18 to go when Kerr Kriisa hit a 3, then on the next two possessions Ballo drew the fourth fouls on both Nwuba and Etienne in a 27-second span.
Eitenne fouled out with 9:35 left, and Larsson hit a 3 not long after to put Arizona back in front 50-48 to complete an 8-0 run. The lead was short lived, as UCLA scored six in a row and had a chance to make it bigger but Arizona’s defense clamped down in the halfcourt.
Kriisa swished a 3 to put the Wildcats ahead 55-54 with 5:23 left, its last lead until Ramey’s winning shot. Arizona had two other chances to go ahead in the final two minutes but turned it over, with Kriisa fouling out on a moving screen and Jaquez stealing it from Tubelis.
UCLA couldn’t capitalize, missing its final four shots, and when Ramey was called for a foul on Campbell with 5.8 seconds left the senior point guard made the first but missed the second, with Tubelis grabbing the rebound and getting fouled.
Offense was in short supply the first six-plus minutes, with Arizona not scoring for the first 3:33 and not getting its first basket until more than five minutes in. The pace picked up after that, with the teams combining to make 7 of 8 shots as the lead changed hands 12 times in the first half.
Arizona had multiple 4-point leads and then got up 27-22 on a pair of Tubelis free throws with 5:11 left, but UCLA went back in front on a 3-point play from Jaquez—with Tubelis getting his second foul on the play—with 3:05 to go.
The Bruins took a 1-point lead into the half on a baseline drive from Bailey in the final minute, on a play where it looked like he traveled, right after Larsson was called for steps on the other end.
Arizona now waits to see what its seed is and where it will play in the NCAA Tournament. The 2023 field will be announced Sunday at 3 p.m. MST.
UC Santa Barbara: 2022-23 Big West Men's Basketball Champions
UC Santa Barbara punched its ticket to the Big Dance with a 72-62 victory over Cal State Fullerton for the Big West championship.
The Gauchos last made the NCAA Tournament in 2021, losing in the first round to No. 5 Creighton.
Sophomore guard Ajay Mitchell led all scorers with 20 points for UC Santa Barbara. Three other players scored in double figures for the Gauchos.
UC Santa Barbara shared the regular-season title with UC Irvine, who Cal State Fullerton eliminated from the Big West Tournament on Friday.
Duke: 2022-23 Atlantic Coast Men's Basketball Champions
GREENSBORO – Duke basketball found itself in a familiar place Saturday at the Greensboro Coliseum, cutting down nets in celebration of a 22nd ACC Tournament championship.
No program in league history has won more tournament titles than the Blue Devils, who secured a wire-to-wire 59-49 victory against Virginia on Saturday for their first ACC championship since 2019.
After a controversial loss at Virginia in February, the 21st-ranked Blue Devils (26-8) had ample motivation and never trailed against the 14th-ranked Cavaliers (25-7). It’s the ninth time Duke has raised a trophy in Greensboro.
First-year head coach Jon Scheyer is the third rookie coach to win the ACC Tournament, joining Duke’s Vic Bubas (1960) and UNC’s Bill Guthridge (1998). He’s the first person to win tournament MVP (2009) and coach a squad to a title.
Kyle Filipowski, the ACC Rookie of the Year, had 20 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Blue Devils. Junior captain Jeremy Roach supplied 23 points.
Kyle Filipowski was the best player on the floor in each of Duke’s three games at the ACC Tournament. On Saturday night, the 7-footer had as many points (7) as Virginia in the first 11 minutes.
After a scoreless performance that included five turnovers in Duke’s OT loss at Virginia, Filipowski had 11 points and five rebounds in the first half. The freshman turned things up in Duke’s first two games in Greensboro.
He hit 16 of his first 19 shots in the ACC Tournament, scoring 22 points against Pitt before adding 17 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high five assists against Miami. His 15 double-double performances leads all Division I freshmen
Duke’s interior defense
In its rout of Clemson, Virginia scored 40 points in the paint. Things didn’t come as easily for the Cavaliers against Duke, which limited the Cavaliers to six points in the paint in the first half.
The Blue Devils made a point to keep Virginia from being comfortable on the interior, forcing the Hoos’ guards away from the rim and daring them to shoot over 7-foot-1 center Dereck Lively, who had two blocks in the first half after not recording a block in the loss at Virginia.
By the end of the first half, the Cavaliers were shooting 27% (6 of 22) and Duke had a 24-17 lead.
Florida Atlantic: 2022-23 Conference USA Men's Basketball Champions
Florida Atlantic is headed to its first March Madness appearance since 2002 after beating UAB 78-56 in the C-USA championship game.
The Owls scored 46 points in the first half. Sophomore guard Alijah Martin led all scorers with 30 points in the contest. Johnell Davis also contributed 18 points for FAU.
Florida Atlantic was ranked as high as 19th in the AP Top 25 poll this season.
UAB was the C-USA's representative in the Big Dance last season, losing to Houston in the first round.
FAU lost to Alabama in its lone appearance in March Madness during the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
Iona: 2022-23 Metro Atlantic Men's Basketball Champions
ATLANTIC CITY - There was a bit of a scare from a red-hot Marist Red Foxes team that hardly played like the bottom-seeded team of the bracket, but in the end, the Iona Gaels were able to halt Marist's momentum and recapture the MAAC Tournament title with a 76-55 win.
The Gaels returned to the top, winning their sixth MAAC Tournament in seven seasons and their first since 2021, which was coach Rick Pitino's first year at Iona.
Iona held a 35-26 lead at half and every time the Gaels seemed to pull away, Marist would close the gap.
The Red Foxes finally strung together a run, feeling re-energized after the halftime break, eventually tying it up at 46 with 10:25 to go in the game.
Iona buckled down from there, never relinquishing its lead and responding with big plays on both ends of the court to regain separation. The Red Foxes never recovered from there, as the Gaels closed the game on a 19-2 run over the final 4:42 to secure the title.
Daniss Jenkins led the Gaels with a game-high 27 points, including a 6-of-9 shooting clip from long range. Walter Clayton Jr. had 17 points, six rebounds and four assists. Nelly Junior Joseph added nine points, 11 rebounds, two steals and four blocks.
For Marist, Patrick Gardner tallied 23 points and seven rebounds. Kam Farris had 12 points off the bench.
The Gaels improve to 27-7 and will await their NCAA Tournament draw on Selection Sunday.
Kent State: 2022-23: Mid-American Men's Basketball Champions
CLEVELAND (AP) — Sincere Carry scored 26 points and Malique Jacobs added 18 as Kent State won the Mid-American Conference championship Saturday night, 93-78 over top-seeded Toledo, which had its winning streak stopped at 17 and will likely miss the NCAA Tournament for the 43rd straight year.
The second-seeded Golden Flashes (28-6) won their first tourney title since 2017 along with the conference's automatic NCAA bid.
It's more heartbreak for the top-seeded Rockets (27-7), who have to hope the NCAA selection committee looks at their entire body of work. However, history won't be on their side as the MAC hasn't had two teams in the 68-team field since 1999.
Toledo fell to 0-6 in MAC title games since last winning in 1980.
RayJ Dennis, the conference player of the year, scored 25 for the Rockets. Setric Millner Jr. added 25 and 10 rebounds for Toledo, which reeled off 17 straight wins since losing to Kent State on Jan. 10.
But with a chance to end one of the nation's longest NCAA droughts, the Rockets couldn't finish the job.
Jacobs added 13 rebounds and six assists while atoning for a mistake last year, when he was suspended for the first half of the title game along with three teammates after they posted a profane video on social media following the semifinals.
Toledo was still within 71-67 when the Golden Flashes went on a 10-3 run capped by Curry's long 3-pointer as the 30-second shot expired. The 6-foot-1 senior from the Cleveland area was named the tournament's most outstanding player.
The Rockets couldn't catch up in the final minutes as Kent State put it away at the foul line in the final minute. Appropriately, Jacobs grabbed Toledo's last miss before celebrating with his teammates.
Toledo came in averaging 85.8 points per game — second nationally to Gonzaga — and these high-powered Rockets had scored over 100 points six times this season. But the Golden Flashes held them to a season-low 63 on Jan. 19, and Kent State's defense was up to the task early.
Getting defensive stops, the Golden Flashes reeled off 11 points in a row to take a 27-16 lead.
With Dennis unable to get going on offense, Millner picked up the slack by scoring 11 straight points and Toledo went on an 18-6 run to briefly take the lead before Jacobs' lay-in at the horn gave Kent State a 35-34 halftime lead.
Toledo's NCAA dry spell has weighed heavily on the program, to the point that coach Tod Kowalczyk, who has been at the school for 13 years, felt it had become an unfair talking point.
“Everybody wants to make a big deal about 1980," he said following Friday's semifinals. “That’s not this team’s problem.”
Unfortunately, it hasn't gone away.
Marquette: 2022-23 Big East Men's Basketball Champions
NEW YORK (AP) — Tyler Kolek and No. 6 Marquette raced out to a hefty lead and never looked back, beating No. 15 Xavier 65-51 on Saturday night to win the Big East Tournament for the first time.
Kolek, the Big East Player of the Year, had 20 points and eight rebounds as the top-seeded Golden Eagles (28-6) dominated a Big East final that brought a Midwestern flavor to Madison Square Garden.
Coach Shaka Smart’s surprising team will head into the NCAA Tournament with a nine-game winning streak after Marquette’s first appearance in the Big East championship game resulted in one of its best performances of a scintillating season.
Kolek’s steal and layup made it 51-27 with 14:12 left. Less than a minute later, after two offensive rebounds by the Golden Eagles, David Joplin made a corner 3 to double up second-seeded Xavier (25-9).
Joplin finished with 12 points. Kolek was selected the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
Adam Kunkel scored 12 points to lead the Musketeers, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.
This was the first Big East title game since the conference dropped football in 2013 to not feature any of its longstanding Northeast members.
Still, the Milwaukee school (Marquette, which joined in 2005) and the Cincinnati school (Xavier, which joined in 2013) filled The Garden for the first 1 vs. 2 seed Big East Tournament final in 19 years.
It looked more like a 1-16 NCAA Tournament game for a while.
Marquette jumped out to a 21-4 lead, and never relented.
During a particularly splendid 2 1/2 minutes, Stevie Mitchell swished a corner 3, Kolek came off a screen to make another 3, Kam Jones got free for a reverse layup after a nifty hesitation move on the baseline and Kolek converted a layup off a give-and-go with Oso Ighodaro.
At that point, Marquette was up 33-10 with 7:02 left in the first half and the Golden Eagles had not yet committed a turnover.
The Musketeers responded with a 14-5 run to end the period, but with their fans chanting “We are, Mar-quette!” the Golden Eagles went into the break up 39-24.
Marquette’s only previous league tournament title was as a member of Conference USA in 1997.
Twenty-six years later, the Golden Eagles were able to clear the bench in the final minute of the Big East championship game and their fans were finally able to make Madison Square Garden feel like home.
BIG PICTURE
Xavier: The Musketeers played what coach Sean Miller called one of their best two-way games of the season in the semifinals Friday night against Creighton. Less than 24 hours later, they did almost nothing well. Xavier shot 34% from the field, forced only four turnovers and was held 12 points under its previous season low. The Musketeers fell to 0-2 in Big East championship games.
Marquette: Smart, who took VCU to a Final Four but never could find that consistent winning formula at Texas, guided a team picked to finish ninth in the Big East in the preseason coaches’ poll to maybe its best season since Dwyane Wade led Marquette to a Final Four in 2003.
UP NEXT
Xavier: Miller will have the Musketeers back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.
Marquette: The Golden Eagles will be making their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and figure to earn perhaps a No. 2 seed.
San Diego State: 2022-23 Mountain West Men's Basketball Champions
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jaedon LeDee scored 15 points and Matt Bradley added 14 to lead No. 20 San Diego State to a 62-57 victory over Utah State in Saturday's Mountain West Tournament championship game.
The Aztecs (27-6) claimed their seventh tournament title, and second in three years. This also was their conference-record 15th appearance in the title game.
San Diego State clinched the conference's bid to the NCAA Tournament, though it was never in doubt the Aztecs would be selected. What kind of seed San Diego State receives remains to be seen.
Utah State (26-8) also figures to be headed to the tournament when the selections are announced Sunday.
This was the fourth time in the last five years the teams have played each other in the Mountain West championship game. Utah State won the 2019 and 2020 title games, and San Diego State went home with the 2021 trophy. Boise State temporarily ended the monopoly last season by beating the Aztecs 53-52.
Neither team shot well Saturday, with San Diego State making 33.3% of its shots compared to 37.1% for the Aggies.
No San Diego State players reached double-figure scoring other than Ledee and Mitchell. For Utah State, Steven Ashworth scored 13 points and Trevin Dorius 12.
The Aggies were hot early, however, going on a 12-2 run in the first half to take a 26-15 lead with 6:57 left, but then went cold. They failed to make another field goal until 1:43 into the second half, but somehow didn't fall behind during that stretch.
But the Aztecs got close, and eventually went back and forth with Utah State in the second half. San Diego State nearly put away the game by going up 53-46 with 3:03 left, but the Aggies got back to within three points with 48 seconds remaining and two points with 30.3 seconds to go.
San Diego State closed out the game at the free throw line by making 9 of 10 free throws in the final 43 seconds.
THE BIG PICTURE
Utah State: The Aggies entered the game fourth nationally in 3-point percentage at 40.1, but struggled badly against San Diego State's long, athletic defense. Utah State made just 4 of 24 3-point attempts.
San Diego State: The Aztecs come in waves. Nine players were in the game, and each was on the floor for at least 16 minutes and eight at least 19. All nine scored and collected rebounds.
UP NEXT
Utah State: The Aggies have a NET ranking of No. 18, so it would be quite a surprise if they aren't selected to the NCAA Tournament.
San Diego State: A potential six seed could be coming San Diego State's way, but the Aztecs also might have worked their way into a No. 5.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Vermont: 2022-23 America East Men's Basketball Champions
A second-half comeback led top-seeded Vermont (23-10, 14-2 AE) to its league-best 10th America East title, defeating No. 2 UMass Lowell (26-8, 11-5 AE) 72-59 in the 2023 Jersey Mike's America East Championship Game on Saturday at Patrick Gym.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Catamounts and River Hawks combined for only one miss from the floor in the first 2:36 of the game, with UML taking a 7-6 lead. Abdoul Karim Coulibaly scored all of UMass Lowell's points in the opening minutes. Dylan Penn had four points for Vermont.
Penn put Vermont in front when his layup was goaltended by UML's Max Brooks, giving the Cats an 8-7 lead. Finn Sullivan cashed in his first three-pointer of the game on the following possession to extend the lead to 11-7 with 14:38 left in the first half.
The Catamounts held the River Hawks scoreless for 4:30 after an Allin Blunt layup with 13:43 remaining. Vermont's lead would grow to 16-9 during that stretch, until a layup by Cam Morris III with 9:12 left in the half.
Morris' basket sparked a 20-5 run for UMass Lowell as the River Hawks made eight of their next 11 field goals to take a 29-21 lead with 1:21 remaining in the opening frame. The sophomore had six points to lead the UML run.
Finn Sullivan knocked down a free throw in the final minute, and Aaron Deloney sank a deep three-pointer on Vermont's final possession to cut the deficit to 29-25 before the break.
Penn scored the first four points of the second half to tie the game at 29-29 with 18:27 left on the clock. The fifth-year senior posted up a UMass Lowell defender and cashed in the hook shot. Penn knocked down a pair of free throws shortly after to draw even with the River Hawks.
Finn Sullivan briefly put Vermont ahead with a free throw that made the score 30-29, but Allin Blunt knocked down a trio of free throws on the following possession to give UMass Lowell a 32-30 lead with 17:42 left.
Matt Veretto's first three-pointer of the day was timely, sinking a corner three on a skip pass from Robin Duncan to put the Catamounts back in front, up 33-32. Deloney made an acrobatic jumper minutes later to give Vermont a 35-32 lead with 15:13 remaining.
A layup from Morris and a three-pointer from Everette Hammond put UMass Lowell ahead 37-35 with 13:09 left on the clock.
Deloney countered with a triple from the wing at the end of the shot clock to put Vermont back in front, up 38-37 with 12:16 remaining. The senior's three-pointer sparked a 9-2 run for the Catamounts that included a trey from Penn and trio of free throws from Gibson.
Veretto scored nine points in a span of 1:52 to extend the UVM lead to 53-46 with 7:53 to play. The graduate student sank a trio of free throws to begin his run, followed up by back-to-back three-pointers. Veretto also forced a turnover on the defensive end during that stretch.
Penn gave the Catamounts their first double-digit lead of the afternoon, when he sank a hook shot coming out of the post to go up 57-46 with 6:13 left.
Sullivan sank the dagger with 2:10 remaining when he drilled a three-pointer from the right wing while drawing a foul. The 2023 America East Player of the Year knocked down his free throw to put Vermont up 63-50.
The Catamounts maintained their double-digit cushion over the River Hawks for the remainder of the game.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The Catamounts secure their 10th America East title in the last 20 seasons, and their sixth in 12 seasons under Becker.
Vermont's come-from-behind victory marked the first time that the Catamounts have won a game while trailing at the half this season. UVM entered the game 0-8 when behind at the break.
Penn was named the Reggie Lewis Most Outstanding Player, pouring a game-high 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting. The guard averaged 23.3 points and a 67.4% field goal percentage in Vermont's three playoff victories.
Veretto and Deloney were named to the America East All-Championship Team. Veretto tallied 15 points on 4-for-9 shooting, which included a 3-for-6 clip from long range. Deloney had 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting, with a pair of triples.
Sullivan also reached double figures, scoring 15 points. The fifth-year senior had a team-high seven rebounds, and recorded four steals.
Nick Fiorillo received the America East Elite 18 Award for demonstrating excellence on the court and the classroom.
With the win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to King Street Center as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since its inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $80,000 to local non-profits through the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.
UP NEXT
The Catamounts have punched their ticket to the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Vermont will learn its opponent and location on Selection Sunday, which will air live on CBS at 6 p.m. ET.
Texas Southern: 2022-23 Southwestern Athletic Men's Basketball Champions
Texas Southern has that championship DNA.
When it comes to the SWAC basketball tournament, it’s time to shine for the Tigers.
On Saturday night, TSU won the conference tournament for the third straight season, earning their third straight NCAA tournament automatic berth in the process. It was a rousing three-game run at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama for the Tigers.
Victory wasn’t easy after a fast start. The Tigers led consistently but were defeated by Grambling State 61-58 and denied GSU their first NCAA tournament.
The Tigers (14-20) led by as much as 17 points – 22-5 – and were only tied once late 43-43 with 7:15 remaining in the game. But TSU derailed GSU’s comeback attempt in a Tigers meeting.
Losing their last three games of the regular season, TSU turned up the heat in Birmingham under coach Johnny Jones.
And Tigers guard PJ Henry turned it on late in a game he was struggling with shooting. After starting 1-of-13 from the field, TSU’s spark hit two late 3-pointers and scored seven crucial points in the remaining three minutes and 18 seconds.
TSU won its 11th conference tournament championship in its sixth straight title game appearance. The 2020 championship game was not played due to COVID-19. The Tigers are 11-7 in SWAC championship games.
Grambling missed 11 of his first 12 field goals and had to make up the rest of the game.
Second-place Grambling (24-9) set a program record for most wins in a season. The G-Men have had victories over Vanderbilt (64-62) and Colorado (83-74) this season.
Henry was 5-of-18 off the field. But when the Tigers needed him most, he delivered. The 5-10 point guard made four of his last five field goal attempts, ending with 19 points.
John Walker III added 14 points and Von Barnes amassed 13 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers, who overtook their opponent 46-35 and led 31-18 at halftime.
Jonathan Aku accumulated 11 points and 10 rebounds for Grambling.
Selected to finish first in SWAC last season, eighth-seeded TSU defeated Alcorn State (66-62) and Alabama A&M (74-61) to reach the tournament finals. TSU is 10-2 against Grambling in the postseason, with GSU’s last tournament win coming over the Tigers in 1988.
Grambling, who shared the regular season title with Alcorn State, won the season series with the Tigers, winning 85-72 at the H&PE Arena and 65-46 at Grambling. The G-Men defeated Bethune-Cookman (87-72) and Jackson State (78-69) to advance to the finals.
TSU had the benefit of the extra rest. The Tigers finished their semifinal game at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Grambling’s semifinal game didn’t start until six hours later.
In his fifth season at TSU, Jones has a 26-8 record in games played in March. Donte’ Jackson was aiming for his 100th coaching win at Grambling.
Though Henry missed 11 of 12 shots in the first half, TSU led 31-18 at the break and passed GSU 28-13 in the first 20 minutes.
TSU started quickly, taking advantage of Grambling’s bad shooting and bad troubles. After less than three minutes, the Tigers were 8-1 up with Walker scoring six of the points.
Shortly thereafter, the Tigers had their largest lead at 17 points. Conference Player of the Year Cameron Christon conceded his third foul at 9:29 before halftime. A couple of free throws from Henry gave TSU a 22-5 lead at the 9:29 mark.
Christon was on the bench for a full nine minutes of the half and only scored four points. Christon scored his team’s first field goal at 13:23, giving it a 13-4 score. Aku, a 6-11 post, was called out for his second foul less than four minutes into the contest. Joshua Phillips, who started as a forward, also faced early fouls, amassing three in the first half.
Howard: 2022-23 Mid-Eastern Men's Basketball Champions
NORFOLK — Kenny Blakeney couldn’t stop crying. It was 3:30 on Saturday afternoon at Scope Arena, Howard had just ended a 31-year NCAA tournament drought with a heart-stopping 65-64 victory over Norfolk State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament final, and the tears were flowing everywhere.
But Blakeney was the leader in waterworks.
Each new hug produced another torrent of tears. When freshman Shy Odom, the MVP of the MEAC tournament, wrapped him up, screaming, “Coach, I love you, I love you!” Blakeney couldn’t even respond. A moment later, when Howard President Wayne A.I. Frederick came over, it took Blakeney a few seconds to stand up. When he did, he wept on Frederick’s shoulder and said, “Thank, you, thank you, thank you.”
It was Frederick who told Athletic Director Kery Davis to hire Blakeney four springs ago, even though Blakeney had never been a head coach. “As soon as I met him, I said, ‘Hire him,’ ” Frederick said. “I knew he was our guy the minute he walked in the door.”
Saturday was a long time coming for Blakeney and for Howard. The Bison were 4-29 his first season and only got to play five games in the coronavirus-plagued 2020-21 season. But Blakeney’s recruiting began to kick in a year ago, and Howard went 16-13. This season has produced 22 wins, a MEAC regular season title and now — finally — the tournament title and the first trip to the NCAA tournament since Butch Beard was Howard’s coach in 1992.
“Wow,” Blakeney said softly standing in front of his team, the net around his neck and the MEAC trophy next to him. He paused and started to choke up again. “Just wow. I mean, holy s---. Everything you’ve gone through, the 6 a.m. practices, getting thrown out of the locker room — all of it — was for this.”
This was an extraordinary basketball game. Norfolk State had won the past two MEAC titles and has been the class of the conference along with North Carolina Central for most of Coach Robert Jones’s 10 seasons at the school. Howard went into halftime with a 33-27 lead, but the Spartans scored the first five points of the second half and neither team led by more than four the rest of the way.
In the final 20 minutes, there were six ties and 11 lead changes. Two straight baskets were as close to a run as anyone came.
“It was everything we expected,” Howard’s Jelani Williams said. “It was what a championship game is supposed to be.”
Williams and Odom were the final pieces Blakeney added this season. Williams came to Howard as a graduate student after four years at Pennsylvania. Earlier this season, Williams said he decided to play at Howard because he wanted to be the leader on a team that had a chance to win a championship.
That dream became real Saturday, although it looked for a while as though the Bison would come up just short. Two free throws by Norfolk State’s Joe Bryant Jr. with 23.7 seconds left gave the Spartans a 64-60 lead. But Marcus Dockery drained a three-pointer — Howard’s only three-pointer of the second half — with 13.2 seconds left, and Blakeney called his final timeout.
The Bison came out in their “41” defense, meaning they were trying to deny any inbounds pass. It worked. The Spartans had a miscommunication, and the inbounds pass ended up going past everyone and out of bounds.
The clock never moved. When Howard inbounded, there was no doubt where the ball was going: to Williams. He already had 18 points — the only Howard player in double figures — and he had been the Bison’s rock down the stretch.
“I’m supposed to be the tough guy, especially in close games,” he said. “I understand that role, and I want that role.”
Williams caught the ball at the top of the key and drove into the teeth of the Norfolk State defense. As the Spartans collapsed on him, he twisted his body and drew a foul. The Spartans had complained about fouls early and often, but this time there was no arguing.
Williams drained the first shot to tie the score at 64. Jones called a timeout to make him think about the second one.
He did. “I thought, ‘This is why I came to Howard,’ ” Williams said, still clutching the ball he made the shots with. “I’ve waited all my life for a moment like this. I’m never letting go of this ball. I knew this was my last chance to go to the NCAAs, and I was going to make it happen.”
He made the free throw for a 65-64 lead with 6.1 seconds left. NSU got the ball to midcourt and called its final timeout with 4.3 seconds to go. The inbounds came to Kris Bankston, and he drove the baseline. But the Bison defense came to meet him, and his shot hit the bottom of the rim as time ran out.
Heartbreak for the Spartans. Euphoria for the Bison. It took several minutes for the Norfolk State players to find their legs to walk to the locker room. The Howard celebration was well underway by then. Former Howard players flooded the floor. Former coach A.B. Williamson, who guided Howard to its first NCAA tournament bid in 1981, stood and watched as the nets came down.
“I remember Kenny at DeMatha when he played for Morgan [Wootten],” he said with a smile. “Then he went to Duke and played for [Mike Krzyzewski]. I guess he learned a few lessons from those two.”
Even 30 minutes after the final buzzer, standing in front of his players with the net draped around his neck — “My new necklace,” he said — Blakeney was having trouble drinking it all in.
“It’s surreal, isn’t it guys?” he said. “It’s one thing to dream about doing something like this. It’s another thing to actually do it. I mean, it’s real. We really did it.”
It is entirely possible Howard, with a 22-12 record, will be sent to Dayton, Ohio, as a No. 16 seed for a play-in game. Blakeney could not care less. “Wherever they tell us to go, we’ll just get on the bus and go,” he said.
Wherever the Bison go, it won’t be by bus. When you make the NCAA tournament, you travel by charter plane. The last time Blakeney did that was 1994, when he was a Duke junior. He’s 51 now and, like his school, has been down a lot of roads to get back to where he was Saturday.
“I’m speechless,” Blakeney said to his players, who laughed because he is almost never speechless. “What a run.”
And what an ending.
Texas: 2022-23 Big 12 Men's Basketball Champions
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- — Dylan Disu overcame early foul trouble to score 18 points, Marcus Carr and Sir'Jabari Rice added 17 apiece, and seventh-ranked Texas silenced a heavily pro-Kansas crowd with a 76-56 romp over the third-ranked Jayhawks in the Big 12 Tournament title game Saturday night.
After going more than two decades without a Big 12 tourney championship, the Longhorns (26-8) have won two of the past three, and likely wrapped up a No. 2 seed in next week's NCAA Tournament with their performance in Kansas City.
With interim coach Rodney Terry leading the way, the Longhorns built a 39-33 lead by halftime, extended it to 20 down the stretch and coasted toward a shower of confetti during a net-cutting celebration.
Jalen Wilson scored 24 points and Joseph Yesufu, pressed into the starting lineup due to injuries, finished with 11 for the Jayhawks (27-7), who had won 13 of their previous 16 trips to the Big 12 finals.
The question now is whether the defending national champs did enough before Saturday night to earn the overall No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, and with it a favorable road through Kansas City in the regional round.
Kansas was once again without Hall of Fame coach Bill Self, who went to the emergency room on the eve of its quarterfinal for an undisclosed medical procedure. Self's longtime assistant and acting coach, Norm Roberts, once again called the shots from the sideline for the championship game.
On the other side stood Terry, who certainly didn't expect to be pulling the strings for Texas. But when Chris Beard was fired for an off-the-court incident early in the season, the former Fresno State and UTEP coach not only kept his talented team together but guided it to a second-place finish in the regular season.
Right behind the Jayhawks, who also happened to be defending Big 12 Tournament champs.
Both teams were missing starters Saturday night due to injuries — Kevin McCullar Jr. for the Jayhawks, Timmy Allen for the Longhorns — yet there was still plenty of star power on display inside the T-Mobile Center.
Wilson, the league's player of the year, kept the Jayhawks afloat during a scattershot first half. He scored 17 points, more than half their total, while pounding the glass and even picking up a steal.
Texas, meanwhile, relied on depth and balance in forging a 39-33 halftime lead. It had to after losing Disu, who already had been a revelation the previous two rounds, to a pair of fouls less than eight minutes into the game.
Montana State: 2022-23 Big Sky Men's Basketball Champions
BOISE, Idaho -- — RaeQuan Battle scored 25 points and Montana State beat Northern Arizona 85-78 Wednesday night to clinch its second consecutive Big Sky Conference title and an automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Darius Brown II added 11 of his 15 points in the second half and Jubrile Belo scored 14 points for No. 2 seed Montana State (25-9), which has won eight consecutive games and 13 of its last 14. Caleb Fuller made 4 of 6 from the field and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
The Bobcats, who lost 97-62 to Texas Tech in the first round last year, are 0-4 all time in the NCAA Tournament.
Jalen Cone converted a three-point play to cap a 12-6 spurt and pull the Lumberjacks within five points — as close as they had been since late in the first half — 70-65 with 4:50 to play but Battle was fouled as he hit a 3-pointer from the right corner 24 seconds later, made the and-1 free throw and Northern Arizona got no closer.
Colgate: 2022-23 Patriot Men's Basketball Champions
HAMILTON, N.Y. -- — Keegan Records scored 21 points, Tucker Richardson had a triple-double and top-seeded Colgate won its third consecutive Patriot League Tournament championship with a 79-61 victory over six-seeded Lafayette on Wednesday.
The three-peat is the first in the league since Holy Cross accomplished the feat (2000-03). The Raiders were in their sixth straight title game.
The Raiders (26-8) beat the Leopards (11-23) for the third time this season, winning their ninth straight game. The first two wins came on 12- and four-point margins. But the third time around Colgate had a 17-point lead by halftime that reached as many as 24 in the second half.
“I just feel like once we get a lead, we’re just so hard for teams to come back on us because we’ve been in so many big games over the years,” Richardson said in a postgame TV interview.
Records finished 9-of-10 shooting and blocked five shots. League player of the year Richardson, who had double-doubles in the first two tournament games, finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists — the first Colgate triple-double since 1997.
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