No. 8 Tennessee downs No. 3 Auburn 70-65 to reach SEC championship game

NASHVILLE, Tenn.>> Zakai Zeigler scored 20 points as No. 8 Tennessee held off regular-season champion and third-ranked Auburn 70-65 on Saturday to reach the Southeastern Conference 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 either fourth-ranked Florida or No. 5 Alabama on Sunday for the tournament title. The Vols and the winner of that semifinal likely wind up with No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament — only fitting for the nation’s best league.

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

No. 1 Duke 73, No. 13 Louisville 62>> Tyrese Proctor scored 19 points on six 3-pointers, Kon Knueppel added 18 points and No. 1 Duke defeated 13th-ranked Louisville 73-62 on Saturday night to clinch its second Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship in three seasons under Jon Scheyer.

It was Duke’s 23rd ACC title overall — the most of any team in conference history — and five more than rival North Carolina, who the Blue Devils knocked off 74-71 in a semifinal thriller.

Sion James added 15 points for Duke (31-3), which played its final two tournament games without ACC player of the year Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown due to injuries.

No. 4 Florida 104, No. 5 Alabama 82>> Walter Clayton Jr. scored 22 points, and No. 4 Florida pulled away from No. 5 Alabama for a 104-82 victory in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals.

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

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

The second-seeded Gators led the Crimson Tide 47-45 after a first half that featured 10 lead changes. But Clayton and company really turned up their play down the stretch.

No. 6 St. John’s 82, Creighton 66>> RJ Luis Jr. scored all but two of his 29 points after halftime and No. 6 St. John’s made 14 straight shots from the field in the second half to beat Creighton 82-66 on Saturday night for its first Big East Tournament title in 25 years.

Zuby Ejiofor added 20 points and Kadary Richmond had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the top-seeded Red Storm (30-4), who reached 30 wins for the third time in program history before a roaring hometown crowd at Madison Square Garden.

They 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. The others were Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona.

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

John Blackwell added 14 points as the Badgers (26-8) won for the third time in four days. They will play No. 11 Maryland or No. 22 Michigan for the tournament title on Sunday.

Jase Richardson had 21 points and seven rebounds for the Spartans (27-6). Jeremy Fears Jr. had 14 points and six assists, but he had the ball knocked away in the waning seconds as he tried to tie the score with a heave from near the midcourt logo.

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 No. 22 Michigan an 81-80 victory over No. 11 Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.

Donaldson finished with 12 points and nine assists, but the heavy lifting was done by Vladislav Goldin, who had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Danny Wolf Jr. with 21 points and 14 rebounds.

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

Donaldson’s remarkable drive rekindled images of Tyus Edney in 1995 and Danny Ainge in 1981, who made similar plays to add their stories to the March Madness book.

No. 16 Memphis 78, Tulane 77>> PJ Haggerty made eight free throws and forced a huge turnover in the final 40 seconds as 16th-ranked Memphis beat Tulane 78-77 to advance to the American Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.

Haggerty, the AAC player of the year, put the Tigers (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 a day after his 42 points matched an AAC tourney record.

— The Associated Press