No. 1 Houston falls; Bama, Purdue win tourney titles

Sun, Mar 12, 2023
Other News (AP)

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Kendric Davis scored 31 points, including 14 in a big run before halftime, and Memphis beat short-handed No. 1 Houston 75-65 in the American Athletic Conference Tournament championship game Sunday.

DeAndre Williams had 16 points and 13 rebounds for coach Penny Hardaway and the Tigers (26-8), who got the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid. They are going to March Madness for the second year in a row.

Houston (31-3) was without AAC player of the year Marcus Sasser, who strained his groin in the first half of Saturday's semifinal game. The senior guard's status will remain a question mark for the Cougars, who received their first No. 1 NCAA seed since 1983 during the Phi Slama Jama era.

NO. 4 ALABAMA 82, NO. 18 TEXAS A&M 63

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Brandon Miller scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Alabama's smothering win over Texas A&M for its second Southeastern Conference Tournament championship in three seasons. Alabama was named the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament a few hours later.

The Crimson Tide (29-5) also capped their second SEC double dip in three seasons, having won the regular season, too. Miller was named the tournament MVP after posting his ninth double-double of the season. Jahvon Quinerly had 22 points and Charles Bediako had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The second-seeded Aggies (25-9) dropped to 0-3 in the tournament finale, losing for a second straight year. Dexter Dennis led Texas A&M with 14 points, Wade Taylor IV had 13 and Tyrece Radford 12.

NO. 5 PURDUE 67, PENN STATE 65

CHICAGO (AP) - Zach Edey scored 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Purdue hung on to beat Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament championship game.

The Boilermakers (29-5) led by as much as 17 in the second half, only to have the lead shrink to one in the closing seconds. Edey, the Big Ten Player of the Year, shook off the constant double teams and delivered another big performance for Purdue's fifth straight win. The 7-foot-4 center made 12 of 17 shots.

Seth Lundy led Penn State (22-13) with 19 points and Camren Wynter scored 14. But the Nittany Lions - one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country - made just 7 of 23 from beyond the arc.

___

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25