Ben Gold prevented Silas Demary Jr. from hitting a game-tying basket with 2 seconds remaining and host Marquette upset No. 4 UConn 68-62 on Saturday in Milwaukee.
Nigel James Jr. led the Golden Eagles (12-19, 7-13 Big East) with 19 points before Gold made the defensive play of the game and prevented the Huskies from getting a share of the Big East regular-season title.
James missed a jumper with 14 seconds left and Jayden Ross seized the defensive rebound. Demary moved the ball up the floor and entered the paint, but he was met by Gold, who contested the jumper and was not called for a foul. The no-call angered UConn coach Danny Hurley, who was tossed by referee John Gaffney, and Chase Ross (14 points) hit four free throws with one second left to finish it.
Demary led the Huskies (27-4, 17-3) with 17 and Tarris Reed Jr. added 16, but the Huskies endured a woeful shooting day, finishing at 35.6%. UConn made just 3 of 24 three-pointers as Braylon Mullins and Alex Karaban were a combined 1 of 15 from behind the arc and 4 of 21 overall.
No. 1 Duke 76, No. 17 North Carolina 61
Cameron Boozer scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the Blue Devils rolled over the Tar Heels in the second half of a home victory to avenge their only Atlantic Coast Conference loss at Durham, N.C.
Maliq Brown racked up 15 points and Isaiah Evans had 11 for Duke (29-2, 17-1 ACC), which was saddled with some makeshift lineups because of injuries that could be concerning in the coming weeks. The Blue Devils, who also received 10 points from Dame Sarr, head to the ACC tournament with the top seed while riding an eight-game winning streak.
Derek Dixon’s 17 points were tops for North Carolina (24-7, 12-6), which will be the No. 4 seed in the ACC tournament. Henri Veesaar had nine of his 11 points in the first half, and Jarin Stevenson and Seth Trimble both scored 10 points.
No. 2 Arizona 89, Colorado 79
Freshmen Koa Peat and Brayden Burries combined for 56 points on 21-of-31 shooting from the field to lead the Wildcats past the Buffaloes at Boulder, Colo.
Arizona (29-2, 16-2 Big 12) set the program record for most wins in a regular season. Burries had 22 of his career-high 31 points in the second half and Peat finished with 25 points in the final regular-season game for both teams. The Wildcats shot a sizzling 70.4% from the field (19 of 27) in the second half.
Colorado’s Isaiah Johnson broke the program’s freshman scoring record, scoring a career-high 28 points to put him at 526. Alec Burks had the previous record of 512 points in 2009-10. Barrington Hargress had 13 points and Jalin Holland finished with 12 points and five rebounds for the Buffaloes (17-14, 7-11).
No. 5 Florida 84, Kentucky 77
Thomas Haugh had a team-high 20 points, nine rebounds and three steals, and the Gators closed out their Southeastern Conference regular season with their 11th straight win, holding off the Wildcats in Lexington, Ken.
Boogie Fland had 16 points and six assists, while Alex Condon posted 14 points, five rebounds and four assists for Florida (25-6, 16-2). Rueben Chinyelu produced 13 points and eight rebounds and Xaivian Lee posted 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Top scorer Otega Oweh notched 28 points and five rebounds for Kentucky (19-12, 10-8), which lost to the Gators for the third time in four meetings. Denzel Aberdeen had 15 points and five assists, but the Wildcats ended the SEC season in a 2-5 plummet.
No. 6 Iowa State 86, Arizona State 65
Tamin Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic and Joshua Jefferson scored 16 points apiece and the Cyclones dominated the middle 12 minutes of the second half on the way to a win over the Sun Devils in Ames, Iowa, in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Jamarion Bateman added 13 points and Dominykas Pleta had 11 for Iowa State (25-6, 12-6 Big 12), which clinched the fifth seed in the league tournament as well as a first-round bye.
Massamba Diop led Arizona State (16-15, 7-11) with 12 points while Anthony Johnson and Maurice Odum scored 10 each. The Wildcats finished 12th in the league and will play No. 13 seed Baylor in the first round on Tuesday in Kansas City. The winner of that game faces the Cyclones in the second round.
No. 7 Houston 82, Oklahoma State 75
Freshman reserve Chase McCarty scored a season-high 20 points and the Cougars rallied past the Cowboys to close out Big 12 regular-season play in Stillwater, Okla.
McCarty made 7 of 10 from the field, including a career-best 6 of 9 from deep and added four rebounds. Kingston Flemings had 13 points, nine assists and five rebounds as Houston (26-5, 14-4 Big 12) secured its second-place conference position. Joseph Tugler totaled 12 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals, and Milos Uzan and Emanuel Sharp had 11 points apiece.
Anthony Roy led Oklahoma State (18-13, 6-12) with 18 points, while Kanye Clary had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Jaylen Curry notched 13 points and six rebounds and Benjamin Ahmed scored 11. The Cowboys finished league play by dropping seven of nine games.
BYU 82, No. 10 Texas Tech 76
Robert Wright III scored 27 points, including 23 in the second half, to lift the Cougars to a win over the Red Raiders in Provo, Utah.
AJ Dybantsa had 21 points and Kennard Davis Jr. added 16 for the Cougars (21-10, 9-9 Big 12), who overcame a 13-point deficit. They will be the No. 10 seed in next week’s Big 12 tournament.
Texas Tech (22-9, 12-6) fell to a No. 4 seed in the conference tournament and received a double bye. Christian Anderson posted 23 points and nine assists and finished the regular season with a school-record 233 assists. Donovan Atwell also had 23 points and Jaylen Petty had 14.
No. 13 Virginia 76, Virginia Tech 72
Malik Thomas and Ugonna Onyenso each scored 16 points and the Cavaliers finished the regular season with a victory over the rival Hokies in ACC action in Charlottesville, Va.
The Virginia (27-4, 15-3) finished 16-1 at home in its first year under coach Ryan Odom and will be the No. 2 seed in next week’s ACC tournament in Charlotte, N.C. The Cavaliers have won 11 of their last 12 games. Sam Lewis added 15 points and Thijs De Ridder had 13 for Virginia, which never trailed.
Ben Hammond scored 21 points to lead Virginia Tech, which will need to make some noise in Charlotte to impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Amani Hansberry and Jailen Bedford each scored 12.
No. 14 Kansas 104, Kansas State 85
Darryn Peterson poured in 27 points and Tre White knocked down five 3-pointers en route to a 23-point performance as the Jayhawks cruised to a home victory over the Wildcats in the Sunflower Showdown in Lawrence, Kan.
Kansas (22-9, 12-6 Big 12) closed the regular season with its 20th straight win over the Wildcats at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks ended a two-game skid as they’ll enter the postseason with high hopes.
K-State (12-19, 3-15) has lost four of its last five under interim coach Matthew Driscoll. P.J. Haggerty and Nate Johnson both finished with 21 points to lead the Wildcats.
Wisconsin 97, No. 15 Purdue 93
John Blackwell scored 25 points to lead the sweet-shooting Badgers past the host Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Ind.
Nick Boyd had 23 points, Austin Rapp scored 17 and Aleksas Bieliauskas added 16 for Wisconsin (22-9, 14-6), which played without top big man Nolan Winter due to an ankle injury. The Badgers made a season-high 18 3-pointers while hitting 52.9% from 3-point range and 87.5% at the free-throw line.
Fletcher Loyer scored 23 points, Braden Smith had 20 points and Trey Kaufman-Renn added 17 points in the trio’s final game at Mackey Arena for Purdue (23-8, 13-7), which held a 34-22 rebounding advantage. The Boilers shot 11 of 25 from 3-point range and 34 of 67 overall.
No. 16 Alabama 96, Auburn 84
Labaron Philon Jr. and Aden Holloway scored 21 points apiece as the Crimson Tide cruised to an easy home win over the Tigers at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Amari Allen added 16 points, London Jemison scored 11 and Aiden Sherrell had 10 points and three blocked shots as Alabama (23-8, 13-5 SEC) won for the ninth time in 10 games. The Tide never trailed and led by as many as 28 while beating the Tigers for the sixth time in the past eight meetings.
In the teams’ regular-season finale, Kevin Overton scored 24 points for fading Auburn (16-15, 7-11), which lost for the eighth time in 10 games. Tahaad Pettiford added 19 points and four steals, Keyshawn Hall scored 13 points and Elyjah Freeman had 11 points for the Tigers.
No. 20 Arkansas 88, Missouri 84 (OT)
Meleek Thomas shot 5-for-6 from 3-point range en route to scoring 28 points and John Calipari won his 900th career game as the Razorbacks edged the Tigers in overtime in Columbia, MO.
Arkansas (23-8, 13-5 SEC) won its regular-season finale despite not having Wooden Award finalist Darius Acuff Jr. on the court. The freshman sensation and leading scorer (22.2 points per game) for the Razorbacks sat out because of a nagging ankle injury. A 19-point, nine-rebound performance from Trevon Brazile and 17 points from Malique Ewin helped make up for Acuff’s absence.
Mark Mitchell went off for 32 points to lead the Tigers (20-11, 10-8). Trent Pierce scored 13 and Jayden Stone tallied 11.
Louisville 92, No. 22 Miami 89
Adrian Wooley made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 18 seconds left as the visiting Cardinals defeated the Hurricanes in an ACC matchup in Coral Gables, Fla.
Louisville (22-9, 11-7) got double-figure scoring from Ryan Conwell (24 points), J’Vonne Hadley (16), Wooley (15) and Isaac McKneely (15) in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Miami (24-7, 13-5) finished tied for the most regular-season wins in program history. The Hurricanes had a three-game win streak snapped despite a game-high 25 points and six assists from Tre Donaldson. Donaldson, Malik Reneau (18 points) and Ernest Udeh Jr. (eight points, eight rebounds) were honored on Senior Day.
No. 24 Vanderbilt 86, No. 23 Tennessee 82
Tyler Tanner scored 25 points, AK Okereke added 17 and Duke Miles scored 13 with four steals to lead the Commodores past the host Volunteers in Knoxville, Tenn.
Vanderbilt (24-7, 11-7 SEC) shot 52.9% from the floor, 50% from 3 and 84.4% from the line and never trailed. The Commodores avenged a four-point loss to Tennessee two Saturdays prior in Nashville and snapped the Vols’ eight-game home winning streak in the series.
Amari Evans had a career-high 24 for Tennessee (21-10, 11-7). J.P. Estrella had 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench while Felix Okpara had eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 17 and dished out four assists.
George Mason 86, No. 25 Saint Louis 57
Jahari Long scored 21 points and handed out nine assists to spark the Patriots to an upset win over the Billikens in the Atlantic 10 Conference finale for both teams in Fairfax, Va.
Kory Mincy contributed 15 points, Nick Ellington had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Riley Allenspach tallied 13 points for George Mason (23-8, 11-7 A-10). Emmanuel Kanga also posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Dion Brown led Saint Louis (27-4, 15-3) with 13 points. The Billikens have a double bye into the quarterfinals as the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament.
–Field Level Media
