No. 7 Iowa State Stifles No. 1 Houston in Big 12 Final

Milan Momcilovic scored 18 points as No. 7 Iowa State dominated No. 1 Houston 69-41 Saturday night in the Big 12 tournament final in front of a largely partisan Iowa State crowd in Kansas City, Mo.

Iowa State is the only school to have played in the tournament title game and never lost. The Cyclones are now 6-0 all-time in tournament championship games.

It was expected to be a defensive struggle between the two best scoring defenses in the Big 12 and two of the top five in Division I, but this game was all Iowa State. The Cyclones held Houston to just 26.8 percent shooting (15 of 56) from the field.

The Cyclones shot 25 of 50 against the nation’s best field-goal percentage defense. No. 2-seed Iowa State (27-7) also got 16 points from Keshon Gilbert and 13 from Hason Ward. Gilbert was named tournament MVP.

No. 2 UConn 73, No. 10 Marquette 57

Donovan Clingan put up 22 points and 16 rebounds, Tristen Newton and Jaylin Stewart each drilled three critical 3-pointers and the Huskies pulled away from the Golden Eagles to win the Big East championship game in New York.

The top-seeded Huskies claimed their first Big East tournament title since 2011, before the university left the conference from 2013-2020. After sweeping third-seeded Marquette during the regular season, UConn avenged a semifinal loss to the Golden Eagles in last year’s tournament.

Newton had 13 points, 10 assists and five rebounds for UConn (31-3), which will be in the mix for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Kam Jones tallied 13 points and eight rebounds and David Joplin added 12 points and six boards for the Golden Eagles (25-9), who reached the final despite star guard Tyler Kolek sitting out all week with an oblique injury.

Wisconsin 76, No. 3 Purdue 75 (OT)

Max Klesmit’s floater bounced in for the decisive basket with 4.8 seconds remaining and the fifth-seeded Badgers upset the top-seeded Boilermakers in Minneapolis to advance to the Big Ten tournament title game.

Chucky Hepburn had 22 points and three steals and AJ Storr scored 20 points for Wisconsin (22-12), but Klesmit was the hero with 12 points. A last-second 3-point attempt by Purdue’s Lance Jones missed everything as the buzzer sounded.

Zach Edey recorded 28 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Boilermakers (29-4). He also became Purdue’s all-time leading scorer with 2,339 career points, surpassing legend Rick Mount (1967-70), who scored 2,323 points in three seasons for the Boilermakers.

NC State 84, No. 4 North Carolina 76

DJ Horne scored 29 points as the Wolfpack, seeded 10th, pulled off their improbable fifth victory in five days, beating the top-seeded Tar Heels to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament for the first time since 1987.

For North Carolina (27-7) — No. 4 in the AP poll — the loss snapped an eight-game winning streak. While RJ Davis — the ACC Player of the Year — and Armando Bacot stuffed the stat sheet, only one other Tar Heel scored in double figures. Davis finished with 30 points on 10-of-26 shooting while Bacot had 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The play of DJ Burns Jr., who had 20 points and a career-high-tying seven assists, also helped power the Wolfpack (22-14). North Carolina State is the lowest-seeded team to ever win the conference tournament. Mohamed Diarra had a game-high 14 rebounds and 11 points, while Michael O’Connell chipped in 10 points.

No. 12 Auburn 73, Mississippi State 66

Five players scored in double figures as the Tigers got past the Bulldogs to earn a spot in the championship game of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

The fourth-seeded Tigers (26-7) will play sixth-seeded Florida for the SEC tournament title Sunday. The ninth-seeded Bulldogs (21-13) will wait for a possible at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament when the 68-team field is unveiled Sunday.

Chad Baker-Mazara scored 14 points to lead Auburn, while Jaylin Williams and Denver Jones each added 13. Johni Broome and reserve Tre Donaldson tallied 10 points apiece. Freshman guard Josh Hubbard scored a game-high 20 points for Mississippi State but hit only 6 of 17 field goal tries.

No. 13 Illinois 98, Nebraska 87

Terrence Shannon Jr. set a Big Ten tournament record with 40 points and the second-seeded Fighting Illini recovered from a 15-point, second-half deficit to post a victory over the third-seeded Cornhuskers in Minneapolis to reach the conference title game.

Shannon’s career-high output included 22 points in the second half. The Fighting Illini (25-8) outscored the Cornhuskers 58-36 in the second half after trailing by 11 at the break. Marcus Domask added 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Illinois, which will face fifth-seeded Wisconsin in Sunday’s championship game.

Quincy Guerrier added 13 points and Luke Goode had 12 on four 3-pointers for the Illini. Brice Williams scored 23 points for Nebraska (23-10), which played in the Big Ten semis for the first time.

 

  1. College Sports News

    WCC to Add Grand Canyon and Seattle in 2025

    WCC adding Seattle U and Grand Canyon University

    WCC adding Seattle U and Grand Canyon University

    Seattle and Grand Canyon will be leaving the Western Athletic Conference and moving to the West Coast Conference starting July 2025.

    The nine current members of the conference are private universities with a religious affiliation. Seattle is a Jesuit institution, while Grand Canyon, situated in Phoenix, is a Christian college.

    Grand Canyon’s basketball achievements were a significant factor in attracting WCC commissioner Stu Jackson. The team has participated in the last two NCAA Tournaments and three of the previous four under the leadership of coach Bryce Drew.

    As the 12th-seeded Antelopes defeated fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s before losing to Alabama in the tournament this season.

    Saint Mary’s is currently a member of the West Coast Conference.

    The WCC, while also integrating Oregon State and Washington State this autumn (excluding football), will expand from 11 to 13 members by the 2025-26 season.

    The future beyond 2026 looks uncertain, with Oregon State and Washington State appearing unlikely to continue with the WCC.

    The former Pac-12 schools are under a two-year contract, expiring on June 30, 2026. Sources from CBS Sports suggest that the odds of the two Pacific Northwest institutions staying are slim, with a move to the Mountain West or a new conference formation being more probable.

    Following the departures of Sam Houston and New Mexico State last year, Seattle and Grand Canyon’s exit from the WAC will reduce the conference’s membership to just eight by July 2025.

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  2. College Sports News

    Ex-Cal State Fullerton G Max Jones Commits to Kansas State

    Kansas State adds athletic wing in left-handed shooter Max Jones

    Kansas State adds athletic wing in left-handed shooter Max Jones

    Former guard of Cal State Fullerton Max Jones has made a decision to join Kansas State for his upcoming collegiate season, according to reports.

    Notable alternatives that Jones purportedly pondered were New Mexico, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Florida Atlantic, and Loyola Chicago.

    During the previous season with the Titans, Jones maintained an average of 15.3 points and 3.0 rebounds across 24 games, in which he started 21. He secured the second-highest scoring position within the team, alongside being the second in 3-pointers with 42 baskets and 41 steals.

    In the season prior, Jones held an average of 12.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 32 games, amassing 34 three-pointers and 30 steals.

    Before making his way to Cal State Fullerton post the 2021-22 season, Jones spent two years at Division II Tampa, where he managed to achieve an average of 21.9 points across 21 games during his sophomore year with the Spartans.

    In the recent offseason, Kansas State acquired Dug McDaniel, a former player from Michigan recognized as one of the premier point guards available in this year’s transfer portal.

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  3. College Sports News

    Stanford Names Basketball Court in Honor of Tara VanDerveer

    View From The Top with Tara VanDerveer, Former Coach of Stanford Women’s Basketball

    View From The Top with Tara VanDerveer, Former Coach of Stanford Women’s Basketball

    Tara VanDerveer’s legacy at Stanford will now be visibly acknowledged, with the school revealing on Thursday that the basketball arena’s floor will bear the name of the esteemed Hall of Fame coach.

    At the age of 70, VanDerveer stepped down following her 38th season at the helm of the Cardinal.

    She steered Stanford to 14 Final Fours and secured three national championships (1990, 1992, 2021). VanDerveer embarked on her coaching journey at Idaho (1978-80) and later coached at Ohio State (1980-85).

    In January, she surpassed Mike Krzyzewski to clinch the title of the most successful college basketball coach in history, across both men’s and women’s teams. VanDerveer concluded with a remarkable 1,216-271 record, boasting a 1,064-220 tally with the Cardinal.

    Alongside the unveiling of the Tara VanDerveer Court at Maples Pavilion this November, Stanford also established an endowed position in women’s basketball for an assistant coach in VanDerveer’s honor.

    VanDerveer said in a statement, “This endowment will go a long way to strengthening the future of Stanford women’s basketball. I have many wonderful memories of leading the women’s basketball program at Maples Pavilion.”

    “It’s an honor, and a little surreal, to know that my name will be linked to both in these ways, and I look forward to celebrating with all our fans this fall.”

    Last month, Stanford appointed Kate Paye, one of VanDerveer’s longtime assistant coaches who played for the Cardinal from 1991-95 and began coaching under VanDerveer in 2007, as the new head coach.

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