Saturday's college basketball roundup: No. 3 Illinois beats No. 5 Iowa, reach Big Ten final
Indianapolis — Illinois center Kofi Cockburn learned some hard lessons dueling with Luka Garza as a freshman.
On Saturday, he stood up to Iowa’s career scoring leader – and won.
Cockburn scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half, fought through foul trouble in the second half and challenged Garza physically while leading No. 3 Illinois past No. 5 Iowa 82-71 on Saturday. The victory sends the Illini to the Big Ten Tournament championship game.
“I thought Kofi was just great,” coach Brad Underwood said. “I thought the job he did in the first half, he was just dominant and not just because he had 18 points but because of his defense.”
Illinois (22-6) has won six straight, with three coming against top-10 foes. If Illinois wins one more, against No. 9 Ohio State on Sunday, it would claim its first tourney title since 2005.
But it was the matchup between Cockburn and Garza that was one of the prime reasons why Illinois’ boisterous fans made the short trek across the state line to Indianapolis. They made themselves at home, cheering loudly each time Cockburn made a play, while booing the foul calls against Illinois.
And Cockburn made sure Garza worked for everything he got. Garza finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds for Iowa (21-7). The Big Ten Player of the Year went 8 for 21 from the field and dealt with his own foul trouble in the second half.
Cockburn, meanwhile, made 11 of 21 shots.
“It’s tough,” Garza said. “You know he’s a tremendous big man. We’re both being physical with each other. It’s just it’s what I’m going to have to deal with and I’ve been dealing with in the Big Ten for a while now.”
The difference was Cockburn’s supporting cast.
Ayo Dosunmu had 18 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. Freshman guard Andre Curbelo added 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
A 9-0 run midway through the first half gave Illinois a 22-14 lead that it never surrendered. The Illini led 45-37 at the break and then opened the second half on an 8-2 spurt that featured two big baskets from Jacob Grandison.
Iowa couldn’t get closer than five rest of the way.
“I wanted to make him score through me, always putting my body on him,” Cockburn said before turning his attention on some unfinished business. “It’s that Mamba mentality, that Kobe (Bryant) mentality that we’re not through. We’ve got a long way to go.”
Southeastern Conference
►No. 6 Alabama 73, Tennessee 68: Herbert Jones had 21 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, helping Alabama rally for the win.
Jahvon Quinerly had 19 points for the Crimson Tide, including two free throws with 15.5 seconds left.
Top-seeded Alabama (23-6) faces LSU in Sunday’s championship in search of its first SEC Tournament title since 1991.
Tennessee (18-8) awaits an NCAA Tournament seeding on Sunday.
Trailing 48-33 with 16:56 remaining, the Crimson Tide stormed back to lead 60-59 with 5:26 left.
Keon Johnson had 20 points for Tennessee, and Jaden Springer finished with 18.
►LSU 78, No. 8 Arkansas 71: Cameron Thomas scored 21 points, and LSU reached the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship for the first time since 1993.
The Tigers (18-8) will play No. 6 Alabama on Sunday looking to improve their NCAA Tournament seeding even more. LSU has won this tournament only once – back in 1980.
Javonte Smart scored 19 points for LSU, and Darius Days had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Marcus Moody tied his season high with 28 points for Arkansas (22-6). Justin Smith added 21.
Big 12
►No. 13 Texas 91, No. 12 Oklahoma State 86: Matt Coleman scored a career-high 30 points, Jericho Simms added a career-best 21 and No. 13 Texas was poised at the foul line down the stretch to give the Longhorns their first Big 12 Tournament title.
Kai Jones and Andrew Jones added 13 points apiece for third-seeded Texas (19-7), which edged No. 20 Texas Tech in the quarterfinals before advancing to the finals when Kansas had to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test.
The title was the first for the Longhorns in seven frustrating appearances in the Big 12 championship game, and their first conference tournament trophy since winning the old Southwest Conference title in 1995.
Cade Cunningham had 29 points for the fifth-seeded Cowboys (20-8), including a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute, the last getting them within 89-86 with 6 seconds to go.
Mountain West
►No. 19 San Diego State 68, Utah State 57: Matt Mitchell scored 14 points. The Aggies had beaten San Diego State in each of the last two tournament championship games. The Aztecs, who also won the regular-season championship, had lost six of their previous seven title game appearances.
With the league’s automatic bid, the Aztecs return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. It marked just the fifth time the No. 1 seed won the title in 22 years.
Nathan Mensah added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Aztecs, and Trey Pulliam also scored 10.
Junior center Neemias Queta led the Aggies with 18 points, six rebounds, and three blocked shots. Justin Bean added 12 points and six rebounds.
San Diego State (23-4) snapped Utah State’s six-game winning streak, during which the Aggies (20-8) had allowed just 58.5 points per game. The Aztecs had their 58th point by the 5:53 mark of the second half.
Big East
►No. 8 Georgetown 73, No. 17 Creighton 48: Patrick Ewing is taking Georgetown back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 after the eighth-seeded Hoyas completed a surprising run to a Big East championship.
On the 49th anniversary of the day Georgetown hired John Thompson, the late Hall of Fame coach who transformed the program into a national power and one of the most iconic brands in college basketball history, the Hoyas won their record eighth Big East Tournament title and first since 2007.
And they did it with a dominant performance at Madison Square Garden reminiscent of Ewing’s playing days with Georgetown.
The Hoyas (13-12) closed the first half on a 23-2 run that put them up 18 at the break against second-seeded Creighton (20-8). Then they picked right up early in the second half with a 16-3 spurt. Chudier Bile knocked down a 3-pointer – holding the follow through for a beat – with 14:58 left that made it 52-21.
Mid-American
►Ohio 84, Buffalo 69: Jason Preston scored 22 points and Ohio dominated from the start to win its first Mid-American Conference Tournament championship since 2012, a victory over Buffalo, which was trying for a record third straight title.
The Bobcats (16-7) are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012, when they shocked Michigan on their way to the Sweet 16. They’ll receive the league’s automatic bid when the seedings are announced Sunday night.
Ben Roderick added 20 points and Dwight Wilson III 17 for No. 5 seed Ohio, which built a 20-point halftime lead, stopped a Buffalo comeback and won its seventh MAC title.
In the final minute, Ohio’s bench players and fans chanted, “O-U, Oh, yeah!” before the Bobcats bounced around the floor in celebration.
Ronaldo Segu scored 24 to lead the Bulls (16-8) and Josh Mballa had 16 and 11 rebounds.
Atlantic Coast Conference
►Georgia Tech 80, No. 15 Florida State 75: Michael Devoe scored 20 points and Georgia Tech shot 52% after halftime. League player of the year Moses Wright added 15 points and eight rebounds for the fourth-seeded Yellow Jackets (17-8), who won their first title since 1993 and secured an automatic NCAA Tournament berth to end an 11-year drought.
Devoe was named the tournament MVP after making 8 of 12 shots, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 6:44 left.
Georgia Tech had been been trying to play its way off the bubble since early February, when it stood at 9-8 after a loss at Clemson on a last-second shot.
The Yellow Jackets haven’t lost since, with fifth-year coach Josh Pastner talking about the final week of the regular season and the ACC Tournament as “a great opportunity.”
No doubt about the NCAA tourney now, not after a strong finish against the second-seeded Seminoles (16-6) that had balloons falling from the rafters and the Yellow Jackets celebrating amid confetti.
Conference USA
►North Texas 61, Western Kentucky 57, OT: Javion Hamlet scored six of his 20 points after regulation, including the go-ahead basket with 13.9 seconds left. The Mean Green (17-9) earned a berth into the NCAA Tournament, their first since winning the Sun Belt Conference tournament in 2010.
Mardrez McBride added 13 points and Zachary Simmons 12 for North Texas.
WKU’s Jordan Rawls hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring in OT and there were three lead changes and three ties before Hamlet’s left-handed runner in the lane made it 59-57. Thomas Bell blocked a potential tying layup attempt by Taveion Hollingsworth with four seconds left before James Reese made two free throws to cap the scoring.
Josh Anderson scored 14 points and Charles Bassey added 13 points and 11 rebounds for WKU (20-7).
Pac-12
Oregon 70, No. 23 Colorado 68: Maurice Calloo gave Oregon State an unexpected lift with 15 points and the Beavers won their first conference tournament title. Needing three wins in three days to end a four-year NCAA Tournament drought, the Beavers (17-12) built confidence with each step along The Strip.
Oregon State opened it first conference title game in 33 years with a flurry of 3-pointers and withstood a late push by Colorado (22-8) to become the first Pac-10/12 team to win the conference title after being picked to finish last.
State men
►Ashland 76, Wayne State 61: Aaron Thompson scored 14 and Brandon Haraway and Hunter Shedenhelm 13 each as Ashland (15-8) eliminated Wayne State from the NCAA Division II tournament. Brailen Neely scored 14 and Avery Lewis 13 for Wayne State (12-7).
Big Ten tournament
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
Wednesday, March 10
►Game 1: 13-Minnesota 51, 12-Northwestern 46
►Game 2: 11-Penn State 72,14-Nebraska 66
Thursday, March 11
►Game 3: 8-Maryland 68, 9-Michigan State 57
►Game 4: 5-Ohio State 79, 13-Minnesota 75
►Game 5: 7-Rutgers 61, 10-Indiana 50
►Game 6: 6-Wisconsin 75, 11-Penn State 74
Friday, March 12
►Game 7: 1-Michigan 79, 8-Maryland 66
►Game 8: 5-Ohio State 87, 4-Purdue 78, OT
►Game 9: 2-Illinois 90, 7-Rutgers 68
►Game 10: 3-Iowa 62, 6-Wisconsin 57
Saturday, March 13
►Game 11: 5-Ohio State 68, 1-Michigan 67
►Game 12: 2-Illinois 82, 3-Iowa 71
Sunday, March 14
►Championship game: 2-Illinois vs. 5-Ohio State, 3:30 p.m., CBS
Eastern Standard Time
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