Zakai Zeigler scored 20 points as No. 8 Tennessee held off regular-season champion and third-ranked Auburn 70-65 on Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee to reach the SEC Tournament championship for the first time since 2022.

The fourth-seeded Volunteers (27-6) got revenge both for their Jan. 25 loss at Auburn and their 2019 loss to the Tigers in this tournament’s title game.

Tennessee will play fourth-ranked Florida today for the tournament title. The Vols and the Gators likely wind up with No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament — only fitting for the nation’s best league.

Jordan Gainey added 15 points for the Vols, and Chaz Lanier had 12.

The Tigers (28-5) go home losers of three of their last four games.

SEC player of the year Johni Broome led Auburn with 23 points, Miles Kelly added 13 and Denver Jones had 10.

NO. 2 HOUSTON 72, ARIZONA 64 >> Milos Uzan poured in 25 points, Emanuel Sharpe added 17 and the Cougars turned up their trademark defense in the final minute to hold on for a victory over the Wildcats in the Big 12 championship game in Kansas City, Missouri.

Playing without injured big man J’Wan Roberts, Houston (30-4) took a 64-62 lead on Uzan’s 3-pointer with 5 minutes to go, then suffocated Arizona (22-12) down the stretch to avenge a loss to Iowa State in last year’s title game.

Houston romped to the regular-season Big 12 title, winning 19 of 20 games in the expanded league. And it was just as dominant in three game in Kansas City.

No. 4 Florida 104, No. 5 Alabama 82 >> Walter Clayton Jr. scored 22 points and the Gators pulled away from the Crimson Tide for a victory in the SEC semifinals in Nashville, Tennessee.

Alijah Martin and Will Richard each had 16 points for Florida (29-4) in its fifth consecutive win.

Next up for Florida is today’s SEC championship game against No. 8 Tennessee, which beat No. 3 Auburn 70-65 in the first semifinal.

NO. 6 ST. JOHN’S 82, CREIGHTON 66 >> RJ Luis Jr. scored all but two of his 29 points after halftime and the Red Storm made 14 straight shots from the field in the second half to beat the Bluejays at Madison Square Garden in New York City for their first Big East Tournament title in 25 years.

Zuby Ejiofor added 20 points and Kadary Richmond had 12 points and 12 rebounds for top-seeded St. John’s (30-4), which reached 30 wins for the third time in program history before a roaring hometown crowd.

The Red Storm earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for their first trip since 2019, making 72-year-old Hall of Famer Rick Pitino the first coach to take six schools to the Big Dance.

No. 18 Wisconsin 77, No. 7 Michigan State 74 >> John Tonje scored 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds to help the Badgers beat the Spartans in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.

Michigan State, the league’s regular-season champ, had won eight in a row.

No. 16 Memphis 78, Tulane 77 >> PJ Haggerty made eight free throws and forced a huge turnover in the final 40 seconds as the Tigers edged the Green Wave in Fort Worth, Texas to advance to the American Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.

Haggerty put Memphis (28-5) ahead to stay with two free throws that made it 72-71 with 40 seconds left. He finished with 18 points, going 14 for 14 at the line and 2 of 13 from the field.

No. 22 Michigan 81, No. 11 Maryland 80 >> Tre Donaldson drove the length of the court and scored on a layup with 0.4 seconds left to give the Wolverines a victory over the Terrapins in the Big Ten Conference Tournament semifinals in Indianapolis.

The Wolverines (24-9) will face No. 18 Wisconsin in today’s championship game.

Neptune, Kruger fired >> Villanova fired Kyle Neptune after a three-year run where he succeeded Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright and failed to ever make the NCAA Tournament. Coach Kevin Kruger, who led UNLV to the Sweet 16 as the team’s point guard in 2007, was fired by the Rebels.