ORLANDO, Fla. -- Daniel Hamilton and Shonn Miller scored 19 points apiece and Connecticut (23-10) shrugged off a slow start Saturday to beat top-seeded Temple 77-62 in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
Showing no signs of fatigue after needing four overtimes to win the longest game in league history in the quarterfinals, the Huskies built a 16-point first-half lead and weathered a couple of Temple surges before pulling away for good down the stretch.
Jaylen Bond led Temple (21-11) with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The conference regular-season champions were just under 36 percent from field, missed 10 free throws and finished 4 of 20 on three-point attempts.
In the other semifinal game, Dedric Lawson had 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists and sixth-seeded Memphis beat 10th-seeded Tulane 74-54. Shaq Goodwin added 16 points for the Tigers (19-14). Louis Dabney and Melvin Frazier scored eight each to lead Tulane (12-22).
ATLANTIC 10 TOURNAMENT
St. Joe's off to finals
NEW YORK -- Isaiah Miles had 26 points and nine rebounds and St. Joseph's (26-7) knocked off top-seeded Dayton 82-79.
Aaron Brown added 16 points and Papa Ndao had 14 for the Hawks on a day when A-10 regular-season player of the year DeAndre Bembry was held to nine.
DyShawn Pierre scored 22 points for Flyers (25-7) and Schoochie Smith added 14.
In the other semifinal game, Mo Alie-Cox scored 13 points, including a rim-shaking slam off a lob from JeQuan Lewis, and VCU ran out to an emphatic 76-54 victory against Davidson to reach the championship game for the fourth consecutive season. Lewis and Alie-Cox led a decisive run early in the second half. The 250-pound Alie-Cox went high to jam a Lewis lob that made it 51-30 with 16:05 left. Korey Billbury led VCU (24-9) with 17 points. Brian Sullivan scored 15 points for sixth-seeded Davidson (20-12).
ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
Defense lifts Tar Heels
WASHINGTON -- No. 7 North Carolina held No. 4 Virginia without a field goal for more than 8 minutes in the second half, and Joel Berry II scored 19 points, giving the Tar Heels a 61-57 victory for their first ACC Tournament title since 2008.
Since then, Coach Roy Williams had led North Carolina to four finals and lost each one.
Marcus Paige added 13 points for North Carolina (28-6), which won its 18th league championship.
Malcolm Brogdon led Virginia (26-7) with 15 points, but the conference player of the year was limited to 6 of 22 on field-goal attempts, 2 of 9 on three-pointers.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
Purdue flogs Michigan
INDIANAPOLIS -- A.J. Hammons had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 13 Purdue (26-7) beat Michigan 76-59.
Hammons made 11 of 17 shots, mostly from inside. Vince Edwards added 13 points, and Isaac Haas finished with 11.
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman led Michigan with 15 points. Derrick Walton Jr. scored 14 points and Zak Irvin had 11.
Eighth-seeded Michigan (22-12) was playing its third game in three days.
In the other semifinal game, Denzel Valentine had 18 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds to lead No. 2 Michigan State past No. 18 Maryland 64-61. The league's player of the year sealed it with two free throws with 0.8 seconds to go, and Melo Trimble's desperation heave from 55 feet away didn't get past midcourt. Robert Carter Jr. had 18 points and eight rebounds to lead Maryland. Trimble finished with 11 points.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
Kansas wins 10th title
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Devonte Graham matched a career-high with 27 points, Wayne Selden Jr. added 21 and top-ranked Kansas overcame a remarkable performance by West Virginia's Devin Williams for an 81-71 victory over the ninth-ranked Mountaineers.
Perry Ellis added 17 points for the Jayhawks (30-4), who almost certainly locked up the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament by winning their 10th Big 12 Tournament championship.
Kansas trailed the Mountaineers (26-8) at halftime before taking control behind Graham, their sophomore guard. He hit five three-pointers and was 10 of 10 from the foul line.
Williams finished with a career-best 31 points and 10 rebounds.
BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Seton Hall tops Villanova
NEW YORK -- Isaiah Whitehead scored 26 points, including the deciding three-point play with 18 seconds left, and Seton Hall won the Big East Tournament for the first time in 23 years, beating No. 3 Villanova 69-67 at Madison Square Garden.
Whitehead drove on the right side, flipped the ball in and was fouled. His free throw gave the Pirates a 68-67 lead. Villanova had two more chances sandwiched around a free throw by Angel Delgado, but the Pirates held on and beat the top-seeded defending champions.
The third-seeded Pirates (25-8) led for almost the entire game, leading by 14 points in the first half and 11 at halftime.
The Wildcats (30-4) started hitting from three-point range in the second half. They tied the game four times before finally taking their first lead since three minutes into the game when Kris Jenkins' three-pointer gave them a 67-64 lead with 50 seconds to play.
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMP.
Fresno State moves on
LAS VEGAS -- Marvelle Harris scored 18 points to lead Fresno State (25-9) to a 68-63 victory over San Diego State (25-9) and earn its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2001.
San Diego State had a chance to tie the game with 28 seconds left, but Dakarai Allen missed the second of two free throws, and Bulldogs guard Julien Lewis drained four consecutive foul shots to put the game out of reach.
Sports on 03/13/2016