No. 4 Alabama beats No. 25 Missouri, heads to SEC title game

Sat, Mar 11, 2023
Other News (AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Freshman Brandon Miller scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as fourth-ranked Alabama advanced to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship by beating No. 25 Missouri 72-61 on Saturday.

Alabama (28-5) will play in its 15th tournament championship game against either No. 18 Texas &AM or Vanderbilt on Sunday, looking for an eighth title to add to its regular-season trophy. Noah Clowney added 19 points for Alabama, and Charles Bediako had 10.

No. 25 Missouri (24-9) missed a chance to play in its first SEC Tournament championship since joining the league in 2012. D'Moi Hodge led the Tigers with 21 points. DeAndre Gholston added 17 and Nick Carter had 10. Leading scorer Kobe Brown, who had been averaging 16.2 points, was held to six.

NO. 5 PURDUE 80, OHIO STATE 66

CHICAGO (AP) - Zach Edey had 32 points and 14 rebounds in Purdue's win over Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

The Boilermakers (28-5) started to take control late in the first half and cruised into the conference final for the second straight year. They will meet either No. 19 Indiana or Penn State on Sunday.

Brandon Newman scored 15 and Braden Smith added 14 points for the Boilermakers, who won their fourth in a row.

Roddy Gayle Jr. led Ohio State (16-19) with a career-high 20 points, 16 in the first half, and Justice Sueing added 15 points. Leading scorer Brice Sensabaugh missed his second game in a row because of a sore knee.

___

AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25