Huskies hold off Cal for Pac-10 title
<p>California's Markhuri Sanders-Frison, left and Washington's Tyreese Breshers battle for a rebound during the first half of the Pac-10 Conference tournament championship game Saturday afternoon at Los Angeles. The Huskies won 79-75.</p>
PAC-10
Quincy Pondexter scored 18 points, Isaiah Thomas added 16 and Washington rallied from a late deficit to win the Pac-10 tournament with a thrilling 79-75 victory over top-seeded California (23-10) on Saturday at Los Angeles.
Venoy Overton hit two free throws with 2.1 seconds left for the third-seeded Huskies (24-9), who emphatically salvaged their inconsistent regular season with seven straight wins.
After a four-day tournament filled with blowouts and poorly played games, Cal and Washington finally put on a show worthy of the Staples Center stage - albeit in front of thousands of empty seats. Both teams made impressive rallies while the lead swung wildly in the final minutes.
TOP 25
No. 1 Kansas 72, No. 9 Kansas State 64: At Kansas City, Mo., Marcus Morris had 18 points, Tyrel Reed added 15 and Kansas (32-2) held off Kansas State (26-7) down the stretch for a victory and its seventh Big 12 tournament title.
No. 2 Kentucky 74, No. 15 Tennessee 45: At Nashville, Tenn., DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and 15 rebounds, and Kentucky beat Tennessee (25-8) and advanced back to the Southeastern Conference tournament final for the first time since 2004.
Kentucky (31-2) will play Mississippi State today.
No. 4 Duke 77, Miami 74: At Greensboro, N.C., Kyle Singler scored 27 points to help Duke push ahead in the second half to beat Miami (20-13) in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals.
The Blue Devils (28-5) will face Georgia Tech today.
No. 5 Ohio State 88, Illinois 81, 2OT: At Indianapolis, Evan Turner scored 12 of his 31 points after regulation, helping the Buckeyes (26-7) pull away for a victory over Illinois (19-14) in the Big Ten Conference tournament semifinals.
Ohio State will play Minnesota today.
Minnesota 69, No. 6 Purdue 42: At Indianapolis, Ralph Sampson III scored 13 points for the sixth-seeded Golden Gophers (21-12), who reached the Big Ten Conference tournament final for the first time with a win over Purdue (27-5).
Minnesota led 37-11 at halftime. It was the fewest points by Purdue in a half since the school started keeping track in 1950.
No. 7 West Virginia 60, No. 22 Georgetown 58: At New York, Da'Sean Butler scored in the lane with 4.2 seconds left and the Mountaineers (27-6) beat the Hoyas (23-10) for their first Big East Conference tournament championship.
No. 17 Temple 57, Rhode Island 44: At Atlantic City, N.J., Ryan Brooks scored 16 points and Temple (28-5) beat Rhode Island (23-9) in an Atlantic 10 Conference tournament semifinal.
Temple will play Richmond today.
Mississippi State 62, No. 20 Vanderbilt 52: At Nashville, Tenn., Barry Stewart scored 14 points and Mississippi State (23-10) advanced to its second consecutive Southeastern Conference tournament championship game with a win over Vanderbilt (24-8).
Richmond 89, No. 24 Xavier 85, OT: At Atlantic City, N.J., Kevin Anderson scored 27 points, David Gonzalvez added 26 and Richmond (26-7) rallied to defeat the Musketeers (24-7) in the Atlantic 10 Conference semifinals.
Houston 81, No. 25 UTEP 73: At Tulsa, Okla., Kelvin Lewis scored 28 points and Houston (19-15) surged past UTEP (26-6) down the stretch to claim its first NCAA tournament berth in 18 years with a victory in the Conference USA tournament title game.
WESTERN ATHLETIC
New Mexico 69, Utah State 63: At Reno, Nev., Jahmar Young scored 19 points to help New Mexico State snap top-seeded Utah State's (27-7) 17-game winning streak with an upset in the Western Athletic Conference tournament title game.
Troy Gillenwater added 15 points and Jonathan Gibson 14 for the Aggies (22-11).
MOUNTAIN WEST
San Diego State 55, UNLV 45: At Las Vegas, Kawhi Leonard scored 16 points, grabbed a career-best 21 rebounds and sank all eight of his free throws in the final two minutes as San Diego State (25-8) fended off UNLV (25-8) to win the Mountain West Conference tournament title.
BIG WEST
UC Santa Barbara 69, Long Beach State 64: At Anaheim, Calif., Orlando Johnson had 20 points, five rebounds and four assists to lead the Gauchos (20-9) past the 49ers (17-16) for the championship of the Big West Conference tournament.