The Road to the Championship Round Up

  Big 10:

Ben Brust came alive in the second half to help the Wisconsin Badgers knock off the Michigan Wolverines 68-59. The Badgers were down 3 points when they came out strong after the half. The Badgers then went on a 10-0 run at 15:09 of the second, where Brust went on to score 11 of his 14 points.  Traevon Jackson added 16 points for the Badgers. Trey Burke carried the Wolverines with 19 points and 7 assists in the loss.

The Illinois Illini were dominated by the Indiana Hoosiers in an 80-64 loss. The Hoosiers shot 54 percent in the win. Cody Zeller led the way with 24 points and 9 rebounds, and Christian Watford added 15 points. The Hoosiers defense was able to contain the Illini’s Brandon Paul. Paul had 16 points, but he was only 2 of 13 from the field. Most of his points came from the free throw line, where he was 11 of 12.

ACC:

Shane Larkin scored 20 points for the Miami Hurricanes as they outlasted the Boston College Eagles 69-58.  Boston College was down 13 points at one point in the first half, but battled back. Patrick Heckmann led the way for the Eagles with 15 points. Oliver Hanlan added 14 points after his 41 point showing in the last game. The Eagles gave the Hurricanes everything they had, but two back-to-back turnovers at the end of the second half allowed Miami to go on a 7-0 run and pull away.

North Carolina State pummels Virginia. With this loss, the Cavaliers, who lost 5 of their last 7 games, may have seen their NCAA tournament hopes crushed. Scott Wood led the way for the Wolfpack with 23 points.

Dez Wells scored a career high 30 points as the Maryland Terps upset the Duke Blue Devils. Wells was 9 of 13 from the field.  The Blue Devils were led by Mason Plumlee with 19 points. Seth Curry was held scoreless in the first half, and the Terps dominated the half. In the second half, Duke started to rally when Curry got hot and scored 15 points. The Terps managed to hold off the Blue Devils and advanced to the next round.

SEC:

Erik Murphy scored a career high 27 points and 12 rebounds as the No. 13 Florida Gators hammered the LSU Tigers 80-58. Murphy hit five 3-pointers in the win. Scottie Wilbelkin followed up Murphy’s performance with 16 points.  The Tigers started out strong as Johnny O’Bryant III, who had 8 points, made a lay up to give them a 5-4 lead, but the Gators answered right back. The Gators went on to pull away in the mid first half to advance on to the next round of the SEC tournament.

Kentucky saw its NCAA tournament hopes take a dive in the 64-48 loss to Vanderbilt. Dai-Jon Parker led the way for the Commodores with 12 points. Four players finished in double digits for the Commodores; while Archie Goodwin was the lone offensive player for the Wildcats with 12 points.

Big 12:

The Iowa State Cyclones led the Kansas Jayhawks early, but Kansas comes back to win 88-73.  Georges Niang came off the bench for the Cyclones and scored 19 points. Melvin Ejim added 17 points and 7 rebounds in the loss. Perry Ellis put up 23 points and 6 rebounds for the Jayhawks. Jeff Withey and Elijah Johnson both had 14 points for the Jayhawks in the victory, as they move on to face Kansas State in the Championship game.  Kansas State knocked off Oklahoma State 68-57. Marcus Smith scored 18 points in the loss for the Cowboys.  Rodney McGruder had 25 points and 9 rebounds for the Wildcats.

Big East:

Brandon Triche, James Southerland, and Baye Moussa Keita all scored 13 points for Syracuse as they beat Georgetown 58-55 in OT. These two rivals savored one last battle to the wire in a hard-fought game. The Orange and the Hoyas battled back and forth in the first, before the Orange went on a 10-0 run. The Hoyas stayed behind most of the game before going on a 9-2 run in the last 7 minutes to tie the game at 49. Keita hit both foul shots at the 1:23 mark to give Syracuse the lead again. Syracuse’s C.J. Fair fouled Otto Porter, who made both foul shots to tie it. Michael Carter Williams then misses a  deep two and sent the game into OT. Keita put the Orange up by four in OT, and they held on to seal the trip back to the conference championship.

Russ Smith scored 20 points as the Louisville Cardinals held off the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Jack Cooley and Jerian Grant both had 14 points apiece for the Irish in the 69-57 loss.

Conference USA:

Chris Crawford helped Memphis get by Tulsa 85-74. Crawford scored 30 points, including eight 3-pointers to advance the Tigers to the conference championship.

Pac 12:

No. 21 UCLA knocks off No.18 Arizona 66-64 in a nail biter. John Adams led the way for UCLA with 24 points. In the Arizona loss, Brandon Ashley had 15 points and Mark Lyons added 13 points. For Arizona in the loss.

MAC:

Zeke Marshall led the Akron Zips past the Kent State Golden Flashes with 18 points. Randal Holt put up 19 points in the Kent State loss. The Zips move on to the MAC championship and will face the Ohio Bobcats.

Mountain West:

Tony Snell hits five 3-pointers and scored 17 points to lead New Mexico past San Diego State. Cameron Bairstow  16 points in the victory. Xavier Thames and Chase Tapley each had 14 points for San Diego State.

Atlantic 10:

Dwayne Evans scored 25 points and had 9 rebounds as the St. Louis Billikens catapult past the Charlotte 49’s 72-55.  Cody Ellis added 13 points for the Billikens. The 49’s lone offense came from Chris Braswell with 20 points.  St. Louis will move on to face VCU in the Atlantic 10 Championship, as the VCU Rams squeak by St. Joseph 82-79.