No. 3 Duke 78, No. 11 Boston College 76

No. 3 Duke 78, No. 11 Boston College 76
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- J.J. Redick scored 26 points, including consecutive 3-pointers down the stretch to give Duke the lead for good, and the Blue Devils beat Boston College Sunday in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship game. Duke (30-3) won the tournament for a record 16th time with seven coming in the past eight years. Since 1998, the Blue Devils are 25-2 in this event. They are 30-15 in the ACC tournament in this arena. The Eagles (26-7) led 71-68 before Redick, the tournament MVP, took over. The second-leading scorer in Division I made one 3 to tie it before Craig Smith converted two free throws on the other end. Redick then used a pick from Shelden Williams to get free and launched another jumper from a few steps behind the 3-point line that put the Blue Devils back in front. Williams' two free throws later increased the margin to four, and Louis Hinnant brought BC within one again with a leaning 3-pointer. Greg Paulus converted one at the line to make it a two-point game. Williams had 18 points. Hinnant led the Eagles with 20 points and Smith finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
No. 17 Kansas 80, No. 8 Texas 68
DALLAS -- Kansas was terrific outside and played great defense to beat Texas in the finals of the Big 12 conference tournament. The Jayhawks (25-7) have won 15 of 16 games, the only loss 80-55 on Feb. 25 to Texas (27-6). Mario Chalmers scored 15 points for Kansas, which hit a season-high 12 3-pointers in 24 attempts. Texas forward LaMarcus Aldridge scored only five points on 1-of-5 shooting and was limited to 28 minutes because of foul trouble. P.J. Tucker, the conference's player of the year, kept the Longhorns in it with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Kenton Paulino had 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Kansas won its first Big 12 title since taking the first three, a run that ended in 1999.
No. 16 Florida 49, South Carolina 47
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Joakim Noah scored with 11 seconds left then blocked a shot at the other end, and Florida won a second straight Southeastern Conference tournament championship. Florida (27-6) led the entire way but never put away South Carolina (18-15), already the lowest seed to play in this championship game. South Carolina guard Rocky Trice tied the game for the only time at 47 with 42 seconds left. Corey Brewer missed a short jumper, but Noah followed up with the winning basket. South Carolina's Tre Kelley missed a 3 and Renaldo Balkman tried to tip the ball in to force overtime, but Noah got a hand on the ball to clinch the Gators' fifth straight victory. Brewer finished with 16 points for Florida, while Noah eight. Balkman, Tarence Kinsey and Kelley each had 12 points for South Carolina.
San Diego State 69, Wyoming 64, OT
DENVER -- Brandon Heath scored six of his 22 points in the final 1:08 of overtime to help San Diego State beat Wyoming 69-64 in the championship of the Mountain West Conference tournament Saturday. Kyle Spain, who missed a shot underneath that could have won it in regulation, sank three of four free throws in the final 11 seconds to clinch the Aztecs' second NCAA tournament berth under coach Steve Fisher.
No. 21 Nevada 70, Utah St. 63, OT
RENO, Nev. -- Nick Fazekas had 23 points and 14 rebounds and Marcelus Kemp hit a key 3-pointer with 46 seconds left in overtime to help Nevada beat Utah State in the Western Athletic Conference championship. Mo Charlo added 14 points and the Wolf Pack (27-5) made 10 of 12 free throws in the overtime to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. Nevada has won 14 straight games, the second longest streak in the nation to Gonzaga's 18. Nate Harris scored 22 points for the Aggies (23-8), including a 3-pointer that cut it to 66-63 with 17 seconds left in the extra period. But Kemp, who finished with 13 points, made two free throws. After David Pak's 3-point attempt missed, Chad Bell made a pair of free throws with 7 seconds left to secure the win.
Southern 57, Ark.-Pine Bluff 44
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Peter Cipriano had 21 points and nine rebounds and Southern University beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff to win its first Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament championship in 13 years. Southern (18-12) advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1993, when it upset Georgia Tech in the first round. Southern held the Golden Lions (12-15) to just 27 percent shooting in the first half and led 25-17 at halftime. Arkansas-Pine Bluff went 1-for-6 from 3-point range before the break. Chris Alexander scored 13 points and Deforres Riley-Smith grabbed 12 rebounds for Southern, which outrebounded the Golden Lions 47-32. Cipriano scored 15 points in the second half, going 5-for-5 from the floor and connecting on all five of his free-throw attempts. Timothy Hamilton made three of four 3-pointers to score nine points for Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The win marked the third SWAC tournament title for first-year Southern coach Rob Spivery, who also won the tournament in 2001 and 2004 as coach of Alabama State.
Associated Press