NCAA Conference Tournaments 2015: Predictions, Results for Saturday's Top Games
What's almost as exciting as Selection Sunday?
The day before when major conferences crown their champions, small-time schools either punch their ticket or have their hearts broken and bids will be cinched or stolen with buzzer-beaters, upsets or tremendous individual performances.
On Saturday, Iowa State, Notre Dame, Villanova and Arizona all won conference tournament titles and gave the committee a lot of questions in regards to seeding. And teams like Buffalo, Stephen F. Austin, New Mexico State and UC Irvine all won their leagues, and an oh so coveted ticket to the Big Dance.
But enough with the formalities, Selection Sunday is finally here! Later today, we'll see what fate befalls other teams vying for their conference titles, and what teams will have wind up on the outside of the 68, looking in.
AAC Tournament Semifinals
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Results
SMU 69, Temple 56
SMU won't need to sweat it out on Selection Sunday this year.
Larry Brown's revitalized Mustangs are a lock for inclusion in the tournament and will play for the AAC tournament championship Sunday after a 69-56 semifinal win over Temple.
The Owls could've given their own tournament hopes a big boost with a win Saturday, but now they'll be in SMU's position last year, hoping to hear their name called when the brackets are announced.
SMU broke open a game it trailed at halftime with a 43-28 edge in the second half, keyed by big man Markus Kennedy's 17 points and nine rebounds. The Owls, without much interior size, just weren't able to contain him.
—Updated by Kevin McRae
UConn 47, Tulsa 42
In a word: unbelievable.
Down by nine points with under five minutes to play with your season on the line and having shot abysmally all game?
No problem if you're the defending national champion UConn Huskies.
The Huskies closed the contest on a 16-2 run, sealed by four Ryan Boatright free throws, to shock Tulsa 47-42 and likely knock the Golden Hurricane out of NCAA tournament consideration.
UConn advances to Sunday's AAC final against SMU, a game it needs to win in order to earn a chance to defend its title. But, would you pick against the Huskies at this point?
Boatright finished the game with 21 points and six rebounds in the victory.
—Updated by Kevin McRae
ACC Tournament Championship
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Results
Notre Dame 90, North Carolina 82
Notre Dame appeared to be in big trouble in the second half of the ACC championship game against North Carolina. Trailing by eight points with 9:21 remaining, the Tar Heels were ready to pull away.
That’s when Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey urged his team to forget the score and leave it all on the court. The Irish responded with a monstrous 15-0 run that allowed them to take command and secure a 90-82 championship game win.
The title was the first basketball conference championship of any kind for the Irish.
Notre Dame’s three-point shooting and North Carolina’s sloppiness with the ball were big keys to the win. The Irish knocked down 10 of 20 three-point attempts, while the Tar Heels had 13 turnovers that allowed Notre Dame to have plenty of wide-open looks at the basket.
Jerian Grant had 24 points to lead the Irish, while teammate Pat Connaughton had 20 points. Marcus Paige had 24 points to lead the Tar Heels.
—Updated by Steve Silverman
Atlantic 10 Tournament Semifinals
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Results
VCU 93, Davidson 73
VCU split its regular-season meetings with Davidson, losing by an ugly 27 points on the road just nine days ago, but it took the rubber match 93-73 on Saturday to advance to the Atlantic 10 tournament final.
The Rams raced out to a 16-point lead at halftime before tacking on a couple of late threes in the closing seconds to extend the misery for the Wildcats, who will be safely in the field but could've added to their stock with a conference tournament title.
VCU shot 12-of-24 from behind the arc on the day. Treveon Graham led the way with 18 points, shooting 4-of-4 on threes, and nine rebounds.
Davidson had three players with 18 or more points, led by Tyler Kalinoski (19 points).
—Updated by Kevin McRae
Dayton 56, Rhode Island 52
Dayton narrowly avoided an upset at the hands of a Rhode Island team that came into Saturday's action knowing its only chance of an NCAA tournament bid was to win the Atlantic 10 tournament.
With the game tied at 44 with 4:35 to play in regulation, the Flyers got six of their final 12 points from senior guard Jordan Sibert to nip the Rams and advance to face VCU for the championship Sunday afternoon.
—Updated by Kevin McRae
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Big 12 Tournament Championship
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Results
Iowa State 70, Kansas 66
The comeback kids from Iowa State did it again.
Down by 17 points to the Kansas Jayhawks, the Cyclones came all the way back and earned their second consecutive Big 12 tournament championship with a 70-66 victory.
Fred Hoiberg’s team found itself trailing 40-23 early in the second half, and it looked like the Jayhawks would simply roll to the title. However, Iowa State turned up the defensive pressure, and that led to a major momentum shift.
The Cyclones went on a 17-2 run that got them within two points with 14:50 remaining, and Iowa State never let up after that. Georges Niang scored 19 points to lead the Cyclones, while Abdel Nader, Monte Morris and Jameel McKay all scored in double figures.
Wayne Selden had 25 points to lead the Jayhawks, but it was not enough to propel the Jayhawks past the never-say-die Cyclones.
—Updated by Steve Silverman
Big East Tournament Championship
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Results
Villanova 69, Xavier 52
Villanova has been troubled by slow starts from time to time, but the Wildcats were not about to let that happen in the Big East championship game against Xavier at Madison Square Garden.
Head coach Jay Wright's team came out with a purpose and built a 13-point halftime lead. The Wildcats never let a solid but overmatched Xavier team back in the game, dominating throughout to come away with a 69-52 victory. It was Villanova's first Big East tournament championship since 1995.
Sixth-man Josh Hart had another big game. A day after scoring 18 points in the semifinal win over Providence, he scored 15 points and added seven rebounds against the Musketeers. Dylan Ennis added 16 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Dee Davis and Jalen Reynolds had 13 points each for Xavier. The Wildcats did a solid defensive job on 6'10" Matt Stainbrook, holding him to four points.
—Updated by Steve Silverman
Big Ten Tournament Semifinals
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Results
Wisconsin 71, Purdue 51
Wisconsin got all it could handle from Purdue in the first half, trailing the Boilermakers by five at the break before outscoring them 41-16 in the second half to advance to Sunday's Big Ten final.
Wooden Award finalist Frank Kaminsky didn't have his best game of the season, finishing with just 12 points on the day, but he was picked up by Bronson Koenig, who led all scorers with 19 points.
Sam Dekker and Nigel Hayes also added 15 apiece for the Badgers who could take advantage of losses by Duke and Virginia to claim a No. 1 seed when the NCAA tournament brackets are released Sunday evening.
—Updated by Kevin McRae
Michigan State 62, Maryland 58
The Big Ten's old guard is doing just fine, thank you.
Michigan State battled back from way behind to knock off No. 8 Maryland, 62-58, in the Big Ten semifinals Saturday to set up a championship meeting of traditional powerhouses against Wisconsin on Sunday.
The Spartans, led by Travis Trice with 20 points, trailed by 11 points just over five minutes into the game and by as many as 16 in the first half before capping their biggest comeback of the season to advance to the final.
Maryland, in its first season as a member of the Big Ten, was led by Melo Trimble's 22 points, but it has to feel as though it let a big opportunity slip away.
—Updated by Kevin McRae
Mountain West Tournament Championship
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Results
Wyoming 45, San Diego State 43
Josh Adams hit a three-pointer from the corner with 1:05 remaining, and that shot spurred the Wyoming Cowboys to a 45-43 victory over San Diego State in the Mountain West championship game.
The Cowboys emerged from this defensive struggle right after JJ O’Brien had given San Diego State a 41-40 lead with a free throw. However, the Aztecs had no answer once Adams gave the Cowboys the lead because Aqeel Quinn missed a three-pointer that would have given San Diego State the lead.
Derek Cooke Jr. pulled down the rebound of the Quinn miss, and he made two free throws to clinch the win for Wyoming. Cooke, a 53 percent free-throw shooter for the season, made all five of his attempts from the line in this game.
The Cowboys earned a spot to the NCAA tournament with the win. Larry Nance Jr. led them with 14 points and six rebounds, while Malik Pope led San Diego State with 13 points.
—Updated by Steve Silverman
Pac-12 Tournament Championship
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Results
Arizona 80, Oregon 52
Arizona went into the Pac-12 tournament championship game against Oregon with full confidence, having beaten Oregon by a total of 52 points in two previous meetings.
The Ducks had won seven consecutive games going into the Pac-12 final, but they could not stay with Arizona. The Wildcats dominated from start to finish and rolled to an 80-52 victory, and they will go into the NCAA tournament having won 11 games in a row.
The Wildcats were effective on the offensive end, but it was their defense that kept the previously explosive Ducks in check. Arizona kept Oregon from getting its fast-break game going, and that convincing performance allowed the Wildcats to win their first Pac-12 tournament title since 2002.
Brandon Ashley led a balanced attack with 20 points, while Stanley Johnson contributed 14 points for Arizona. Joseph Young had a solid effort and scored 19 points for the Ducks, but Oregon could not slow down Arizona at any critical point in the game.
—Updated by Steve Silverman
SEC Tournament Semifinals
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Results
Kentucky 91 , Auburn 67
Kentucky did what Kentucky does, stomping on Bruce Pearl's Auburn Tigers and ending their unlikely run through the SEC tournament with a 91-67 semifinal victory on Saturday.
By now you all know the deal with the Wildcats. They're the only unbeaten team in the country, a lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and an overwhelming favorite to cut down the nets as national champions.
They never trailed Saturday against an Auburn team that was trying to win its fourth game in as many days.
Kentucky had five guys in double digits, led by Willie Cauley-Stein with 18, and held the Tigers to just 33 percent shooting from the field.
—Updated by Kevin McRae
Arkansas 60, Georgia 49
The Razorbacks will get one more shot at putting a dent in Kentucky's perfect season after being embarrassed the last time out.
Arkansas overcame an absolutely abysmal 1-of-14 shooting day from star forward Bobby Portis to ding Georgia's tournament hopes with a 60-49 SEC semifinal victory.
Michael Qualls led the Razorbacks, who Kentucky dominated 84-67 at Rupp late in February, with 15 points to set up a rematch against the nation's top team.
—Updated by Kevin McRae
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