Cameron Matthews and Josh Hubbard each scored 18 points Friday as Mississippi State never trailed en route to a 73-56 upset victory over No. 5 Tennessee in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
Matthews made all seven of his shots from the field and added eight rebounds for the Bulldogs (21-12), the tournament’s ninth seed who shot 55.3 percent from the field and moved closer to securing an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament next week.
Mississippi State, which will play fourth-seeded Auburn in the first semifinal on Saturday, hammered the Volunteers inside. The Bulldogs had a 42-14 advantage on points in the paint and made 64.7 percent of their 2-point shots.
Zakai Zeigler scored a game-high 20 points for top-seeded Tennessee (24-8). SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht was held to 14 points on 4-of-17 shooting from the field, while Jahmai Mashack added 10 points. The Volunteers endured a miserable day on offense, hitting only 19 of 62 shots from the field (30.6 percent) and 8 of 33 (24.2 percent) from 3-point range.
No. 1 Houston 82, No. 25 Texas Tech 59
LJ Cryer poured in 20 points and hit six 3-pointers to help the Cougars roll to a victory over the Red Raiders in the first semifinal game in the Big 12 Conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
The Cougars (30-3), this event’s No. 1 seed, won their 11th straight game and will play No. 7 Iowa State — the second seed — on Saturday evening, with the Big 12’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in the offing.
Emanuel Sharp added 17 points for the Cougars while Jamal Shead and Ja’Vier Francis scored 12 each. Chance McMillian paced the Red Raiders (23-10) with 15 points. Texas Tech, the fourth seed in the Big 12 tourney, is in line to receive an at-large bid into the NCAAs.
No. 2 UConn 95, St. John’s 90
Tristen Newton totaled 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds as the Huskies constantly answered second-half comeback attempts by the Red Storm to reach the Big East final in New York.
The top-seeded Huskies (30-3) won their sixth straight and advanced to face third-seeded Marquette. UConn is seeking its first title since Kemba Walker led the Huskies to five wins in five days in 2011.
Fifth-seeded St. John’s (20-13) got 27 points from Daniss Jenkins and 19 from Jordan Dingle.
No. 3 Purdue 67, Michigan State 62
Zach Edey recorded 29 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Boilermakers to a victory over the Spartans in a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal at Minneapolis.
Lance Jones added 10 points and three steals and Braden Smith had eight assists for the top-seeded Boilermakers (29-3), who won their sixth consecutive game and 15th in 16 contests. Purdue will face fifth-seeded Wisconsin in the semifinals.
Tyson Walker scored 15 points and Malik Hall added 12 points and seven rebounds for eighth-seeded Michigan State (19-14), which lost for the fifth time in its past seven games.
No. 4 North Carolina 72, Pitt 65
RJ Davis scored 25 points to help the Tar Heels beat the Panthers in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals.
Top-seeded North Carolina (27-6) will face North Carolina State on Saturday after the 10th-seeded Wolfpack beat Virginia in overtime in the second semifinal. Armando Bacot contributed 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels.
For fourth-seeded Pitt (22-11), the loss snaps a four-game win streak and puts the Panthers’ NCAA Tournament hopes in limbo. Carlton Carrington led Pitt with 24 points and five rebounds, while Jaland Lowe added 17 points.
Oregon 67, No. 6 Arizona 59
The fourth-seeded Ducks overcame a 14-point, first-half deficit and an early injury to N’Faly Dante to eliminate the top-seeded Wildcats in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament.
Jackson Shelstad scored 21 points and Jermaine Couisnard added 20 for the Ducks (22-11), who surged to a 13-point lead before hanging on against the Wildcats (25-8). The Ducks advance to play Saturday night against third-seeded Colorado.
Dante returned to action and finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and three steals in 27 minutes. Oumar Ballo had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Arizona, posting his 12th double-double in his past 13 games.
No. 7 Iowa State 76, No. 14 Baylor 62
Keshon Gilbert scored 20 points for the Cyclones, who pulled away in the second half for a victory over the Bears in the second semifinal of the Big 12 tournament.
Iowa State (26-7) will be playing in its sixth Big 12 tournament final, having won each of the previous five. The Cyclones also got 13 points from Curtis Jones.
Third-seeded Baylor (23-10) was led by Jalen Bridges with 20 points.
Texas A&M 97, No. 9 Kentucky 87
Wade Taylor IV poured in 32 points as the Aggies upset the Wildcats in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
The seventh-seeded Aggies (20-13) will face Florida, which defeated Alabama 102-88, in the semifinals on Saturday. Tyrece Radford supplied 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Texas A&M.
Rob Dillingham paced Kentucky (23-9) with 27 points, four boards and seven assists. Reed Sheppard netted 14 points, and Antonio Reeves had 13.
No. 10 Marquette 79, Providence 68
Kam Jones scored 23 points and the Golden Eagles led virtually the entire way while beating the Friars in the semifinals of the Big East tournament at New York.
Third-seeded Marquette (25-8) will shoot for back-to-back titles when it faces UConn on Saturday. Oso Ighodaro added 20 points for the Golden Eagles.
Providence (21-13), the seventh seed, got 27 points from Devin Carter and 16 from Jayden Pierre.
No. 12 Auburn 86, No. 15 South Carolina 55
Johni Broome had 18 points and 10 rebounds and the Tigers used a suffocating defense to overwhelm the Gamecocks in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
Chaney Johnson finished with 11 points and K.D. Johnson had 10 for the fourth-seeded Tigers (25-7), who allowed just seven field goals while building a 20-point halftime lead and coasted throughout the second half.
B.J. Mack scored 14 points and Zachary Davis had 10 to lead the fifth-seeded Gamecocks (26-7), who weren’t much more competitive than they were in a 101-61 road loss to Auburn on Feb. 14. South Carolina shot just 28.1 percent from the floor.
No. 13 Illinois 77, Ohio State 74
The Fighting Illini scored the game’s last six points, all at the foul line, to pull out a victory over the Buckeyes in a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal at Minneapolis.
Terrence Shannon Jr. put up a game-high 28 points and Dain Dainja added 18 points for the second-seeded Illini, who rallied from a 10-point, second-half deficit. Shannon and Dainja combined for 26 of their team’s final 31 points to lead Illinois (24-8) into a Saturday semifinal vs. third-seeded Nebraska.
Jamison Battle scored 21 points while Bruce Thornton stacked up 20 points and a career-high 10 assists to lead No. 10 seed Ohio State (20-13), which finished with a 6-2 record since head coach Chris Holtmann was fired on Valentine’s Day and assistant Jake Diebler was named interim boss.
San Diego State 86, No. 18 Utah State 70
Jaedon LeDee had 22 points and eight rebounds and the fifth-seeded Aztecs returned to the Mountain West Conference tournament championship game for the seventh straight season with a win against the top-seeded Aggies in Las Vegas.
Lamont Butler scored 16 points and Micah Parrish had 15 points for reigning tourney champ San Diego State (24-9), which will play sixth-seeded New Mexico in the title game on Saturday.
Great Osobor scored 19 points, Ian Martinez had 16 points and Isaac Johnson finished with 11 points for Utah State (27-6), which had won six in a row.
Florida 102, No. 19 Alabama 88
Walter Clayton Jr. scored 23 points and Zyon Pullin added 19 as the Gators notched a victory over the Crimson Tide in Nashville, Tenn., to advance to the SEC tournament semifinals.
Tyrese Samuel contributed 18 points as the sixth-seeded Gators (23-10) won for the 12th time in the past 16 games. The Gators will face seventh-seeded Texas A&M in Saturday’s semifinals.
Mark Sears scored 22 points for third-seeded Alabama (21-11), which lost for the fourth time in the past six games. Aaron Estrada had 17 points and six assists.
Colorado 58, No. 22 Washington State 52
Eddie Lampkin Jr. made one of two free-throw attempts with 4.6 seconds left to secure the Buffaloes’ victory over the Cougars in a Pac-12 tournament semifinal game at Las Vegas.
Third-seeded Colorado (24-9) will play fourth-seeded Oregon in the championship game. KJ Simpson led the Buffaloes with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Washington State (24-9) was led by Isaac Jones’ 13 points. The Cougars were just 4 of 7 at the foul line, while Colorado finished 11 of 17.
–Field Level Media
