BUCKNELL 83, COLGATE54
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Stephen Brown scored 22 points and reserve Nate Sestina added 16 as Bucknell won its second consecutive Patriot League Tournament championship with an 83-54 victory over Colgate on Wednesday night.
The top-seeded Bison (25-9) head to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in program history and sixth time as the Patriot League representative. Four of those six titles have come in the last eight years.
The second-seeded Raiders (19-13) lost to Bucknell for the third time this season. Colgate was playing in the league championship game for the first time in 10 years and gunning for its first league championship since 1996.
The Bison finish the year with a 15-1 record at home. They have won 18 of 19 entering the NCAA Tournament.
Brown, who made five three-pointers, was named the tournament MVP. Bucknell shot 46 percent from beyond the arc (13-for-28).
Will Rayman, Colgate's leading scorer coming in and a second-team all-Patriot League selection, scored 17 points. Jordan Burns added 12 for the Raiders.
Nana Foulland had 12 points for the Bison.
Bucknell tied Holy Cross for most Patriot League Tournament titles in league history. The Bison are the first team to win back-to-back tournament titles twice (2005-06).
ACC
Louisville holds on
NEW YORK — Quentin Snider scored 19 points, Ray Spalding had 18 and Louisville built a huge lead before knocking off Florida State 82-74 on Wednesday in an Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament game with substantial NCAA implications.
Deng Adel added 15 points and 8 rebounds for the ninth-seeded Cardinals (20-12), who won for the first time in ACC postseason play and advanced to face top-ranked Virginia in the first quarterfinal today.
Trent Forrest and PJ Savoy each had 14 points off the bench to pace No. 8 seed Florida State (20-11), which trailed by 26 with 11 minutes remaining.
A furious rally by the Seminoles whittled the margin to eight with 3:26 to play, but Louisville regrouped and hung on behind Snider. The senior point guard had 6 assists and 5 rebounds without committing a turnover in 35 minutes.
The teams combined for 21 blocked shots (11 by FSU), a tournament record.
In other ACC Tournament games Wednesday, Jerome Robinson made a pull-up jumper with 18 seconds left to break a 85-85 tie, and then forced a turnover on an inbound play moments later, and Boston College (19-14) upset North Carolina State (21-11) 91-87. Robinson scored 26 points and fellow North Carolinian Ky Bowman had 24 for the 12th-seeded Eagles, who will face No. 4 seed Clemson today in the quarterfinals at Barclays Center. … Bonzie Colson banked in a go-ahead, three-point heave that barely beat the shot clock with two minutes remaining, and Notre Dame (20-13) rallied from 21 down in the second half to stun Virginia Tech (21-11) 71-65. … Theo Pinson had 16 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists and Kenny Williams scored 17 points as No. 12 North Carolina beat Syracuse 78-59. The sixth-seeded Tar Heels (23-9) face third-seeded Miami tonight in the quarterfinals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Oshae Brissett scored 20 points and made five three-pointers for 11th-seeded Syracuse (20-13), which never got closer than nine down in the second half.
BIG 12
Oklahoma St. moves on
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Cameron McGriff scored 18 points, Jeffrey Carroll added 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Oklahoma State pulled away from Oklahoma after squandering most of a 16-point lead for a 71-60 victory in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament.
Kendall Smith had 11 points for the eighth-seeded Cowboys (19-13), who led 58-53 with six minutes left before easing away down the stretch to set up a quarterfinal matchup with No. 1 seed Kansas.
Oklahoma State swept the ninth-ranked Jayhawks during the regular season.
Trae Young had 22 points on 7-for-21 shooting to lead the Sooners (18-13), who lost for the eighth time in their last 10 games.
The Sooners beat the Cowboys by 20 in early January, back when they were ascending to No. 4 in the nation. But things began to fall apart midway through the conference schedule, beginning with a lopsided loss to Kansas State and an overtime defeat to the Cowboys in Stillwater.
The slump hit its nadir with a six-game skid that put the Sooners on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Things weren’t a whole lot better during the first half at the Sprint Center. Young was hassled every time he touched the ball, nobody else made shots and the Cowboys slowly built a 39-28 lead.
It swelled to 50 - 34 when McGriff hit his third three-pointer of the second half.
In another Big 12 Conference Tournament game Wednesday, Dylan Osetkowski scored 20 points, Matt Coleman made a crucial jumper in the final minute and Texas beat Iowa State 68-64. Jase Febres added 12 points and Jericho Sims pulled down 15 rebounds for the No. 7 seed Longhorns (19-13), who advanced to play second-seeded Texas Tech in today’s quarterfinals.
PACIFIC-12
3-pointers spark Colorado
LAS VEGAS — McKinley Wright IV had 20 points and 11 assists, and Colorado put a dent in Arizona State’s NCAA Tournament hopes with a 97-85 victory over the Sun Devils in the opening round of the Pacific-12 Conference Tournament on Wednesday.
Colorado (17-14) made 13 of 21 from three-point range and took control of a close game with a 15-1 run midway through the second half.
The Buffaloes shot 54 percent overall and made 18 of 20 free throws to earn a spot in today’s quarterfinals against No. 15 Arizona.
Wright also had eight rebounds and Dominque Collier had 17 points for Colorado.
Arizona State (20-11) had two long stretches without a field goal in the second half and went 12 for 21 from the free throw line to lose a game it needed to win.
Remy Martin had 20 points to lead the Sun Devils, who may have an anxious Selection Sunday after being ousted so early in the Pac-12 tournament.
In other Pacific-12 Conference Tournament games Wednesday, Reid Travis had 19 points and 13 rebounds, helping Stanford (18-14) roll over rival California (8-24) 76-58. … Drew Eubanks scored 19 points, Stephen Thompson Jr. added 14 and Oregon State (16-15) outlasted Washington 69-66 in overtime.
At a glance
NCAA Automatic Bids
Men
Bucknell, Patriot League
College of Charleston, Colonial Athletic Association
Gonzaga, West Coast Conference
Iona, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
LIU Brooklyn, Northeast Conference
Lipscomb, Atlantic Sun Conference
Loyola of Chicago, Missouri Valley Conference
Michigan, Big Ten Conference
Murray State, Ohio Valley Conference
Radford, Big South Conference
South Dakota State, Summit League
UNC-Greensboro, Southern Conference
Wright State, Horizon League
Women
Baylor, Big 12 Conference
Belmont, Ohio Valley Conference
Connecticut, American Athletic Conference
DePaul, Big East Conference
George Washington, Atlantic 10 Conference
Gonzaga, West Coast Conference
Louisville, Atlantic Coast Conference
Mercer, Southern Conference
Ohio State, Big Ten Conference
Oregon, Pac-12 Conference
Quinnipiac, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
South Carolina, Southeastern Conference
South Dakota State, Summit League
Wis.-Green Bay, Horizon League
Sports on 03/08/2018