No. 1 Houston reaches AAC title game - Orange County Register

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No. 1 Houston reaches AAC title game

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Texas forward Dylan Disu dunks during the Longhorns’ rout of Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament title game. CHARLIE RIEDEL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Houston guard Marcus Sasser brings the ball up the court ahead of Cincinnati guard David DeJulius during top-ranked Cougars’ victory on Saturday. RON JENKINS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Jamal Shead had 16 points and nine assists as top-ranked Houston advanced to its fifth American Athletic Conference championship game in a row with a 69-48 win over Cincinnati on Saturday, even after losing star guard Marcus Sasser to an injury.

The Cougars (31-2) led throughout, getting two second-chance layups from J’Wan Roberts in the opening minute of a game between two teams that are moving to the Big 12 next season. Roberts finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Sasser, the AAC player of the year who scored 30 points in Houston’s quarterfinals win on Friday, crumpled with an apparent groin injury with about 6 1/2 minutes left in the first half. The senior guard never returned after the non-contact injury, finishing with four points in nine minutes.

Houston will play Memphis today for the championship.

Landers Nolley II had 14 points for Cincinnati (21-12), which shot 25.5% (13 of 51) from the field.

no. 7 texas 76, no. 3 kansas 56 >> Dylan Disu overcame early foul trouble to score 18 points, Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice added 17 apiece and the seventh-ranked Longhorns silenced a heavily pro-Kansas crowd with a romp over the third-ranked Jayhawks in the Big 12 Tournament title game. After going more than two decades without a Big 12 tourney championship, the Longhorns (26-8) have won two of the past three. Jalen Wilson scored 24 points and Joseph Yesufu finished with 11 for the Jayhawks (27-7), who had won 13 of their previous 16 trips to the Big 12 finals.

NO. 4 alabama 72, no. 25 missouri 61 >> Freshman Brandon Miller scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as fourth-ranked Crimson Tide advanced to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship by beating the No. 25 Tigers. Alabama (28-5) will play in its 15th tournament championship game against No. 18 Texas &AM today, looking for an eighth title to add to its regular-season trophy. Noah Clowney added 19 points for Alabama, and Charles Bediako had 10. D’Moi Hodge led Missouri (24-9) with 21 points. DeAndre Gholston added 17 and Nick Carter had 10. Leading scorer Kobe Brown was held to six.

NO. 5 PURDUE 80, OHIO STATE 66 >> Zach Edey had 32 points and 14 rebounds in the No. 5 Boilermakers’ win over the Buckeyes in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Purdue (28-5) started to take control late in the first half and cruised into the conference final for the second straight year. They will meet Penn State today for the title. Roddy Gayle Jr. led Ohio State (16-19) with a career-high 20 points, 16 in the first half, and Justice Sueing added 15 points.

NO. 6 MARQUETTE 65, NO. 15 XAVIER 51 >> Tyler Kolek and the No. 5 Golden Eagles raced out to a hefty lead and never looked back, beating the No. 15 Musketeers to win the Big East Tournament for the first time. Kolek, the Big East Player of the Year and tournament MVP, had 20 points and eight rebounds for top-seeded Marquette (28-6).David Joplin finished with 12 points. Adam Kunkel scored 12 points to lead Xavier (25-9), which had a five-game winning streak snapped.

no. 21 duke 59, no. 13 virginia 49 >> Jeremy Roach scored 23 points and the No. 21 Blue Devils locked down defensively to beat the No. 13 Cavaliers in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game, securing a title in Jon Scheyer’s debut season as the successor to Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski. Freshman Mark Filipowski added 20 points and 10 rebounds for Duke (26-8). The Blue Devils held the second-seeded Cavaliers (25-7) to 33% shooting. Reece Beekman scored 12 points for Virginia.

no. 18 texas a&m 87, vanderbilt 75 >> Wade Taylor IV scored 25 points as the No. 18 Aggies (25-8) dominated from the opening tip in routing the Commodores to reach their second straight Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game and third overall. Tyrece Radford added 16 points and Julius Marble had 13 for Texas A&M, which won its fourth straight. The Aggies will take on No. 4 Alabama today for the tournament title. Tyrin Lawrence led Vanderbilt (20-14) with 18 points. Jordan Wright had 17, and Ezra Manjon 16.

PENN STATE 77, NO. 19 INDIANA 73 >> Jalen Pickett scored 28 points, Seth Lundy had 16 and Penn State upset the No. 19 Hoosiers to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship against No. 5 Purdue. Andrew Funk added nine points as Penn State (22-12) won for the eighth time in nine games. The deep Big Ten run has Penn State in position for its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2011. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Indiana (22-11), and Tamar Bates had 14 points.

no. 20 san diego state 62, utah state 57 >> Jaedon LeDee scored 15 points and Matt Bradley added 14 to lead the No. 20 Aztecs in the Mountain West Tournament championship game. San Diego State (27-6) claimed its seventh tournament title, and second in three years. For Utah State (26-8), which should receive an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament when pairings are announced today, Steven Ashworth scored 13 points and Trevin Dorius 12.

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Ashley Joens scored 22 points, Lexi Donarski added 20 and Iowa State defeated No. 14 Oklahoma 82-72 on Saturday to advance to the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament. Nyamer Diew came off the bench for 19 points for the third-seeded Cyclones (21-9), who will face No. 15 Texas in today’s championship game.

Madi Williams led the second-seeded Sooners (25-6) with 19 points, Nevaeh Todd added 14 and Skylar Vann 13.

Iowa State was up 70-53 a minute into the fourth quarter when Oklahoma went on a nine-point run to cut the deficit to six with 4:24.

no. 15 texas 64, oklahoma state 57 >> Shaylee Gonzales scored 17 points and Rori Harmon had a double-double and the No. 15 Longhorns (25-8) advanced to the Big 12 Tournament championship game beating Oklahoma State 64-57 on Saturday. Texas will play Iowa State today for the title. Harmon scored 11 points and had 10 assists against a single turnover and grabbed seven rebounds. Naomie Alnatas scored 13 points, Lior Garzon and reserve Kassidy De Lapp each scored 11 for Oklahoma State (21-11).

no. 25 middle tennessee 82, western kentucky 70 >> Jalynn Gregory made 5 of 5 3-pointers and scored 24 points to lead the No. 25 Blue Raiders to win the Conference USA Tournament championship. Middle Tennessee (28-4) will be making its 20th NCAA Tournament appearance. Alexi Whittington scored 16 points and Savannah Wheeler added 11 points with five assists for the Blue Raiders. Acacia Hayes led Western Kentucky (19-13) with 15 points and Aaliyah Pitts scored 11. The Lady Toppers hit two of 3 3-pointers early, then missed 19 of their next 20 attempts.