Wisconsin continues mastery of No. 3 Indiana
Ryan Evans scored 16 points in a terrific all-around performance and No. 22 Wisconsin upset No. 3 Indiana, 68-56, in the Big Ten semifinals in Chicago yesterday.
"We're playing our best basketball at the end of the season, and that's what you want to do," Mike Bruesewitz said.
The Badgers allowed only seven points after the top-seeded Hoosiers pulled within one with 9:45 left. They earned their 12th consecutive win against Indiana, and will play No. 10 Ohio State in today's final.
Ben Brust had 12 points for Wisconsin (23-10), which has won three straight and six of eight. Sam Dekker scored nine of his 11 points in the second half, including seven in a row.
Christian Watford scored 14 points for Indiana (27-6), and Cody Zeller had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Ohio State 61, Michigan State 58: Aaron Craft scored 20 points and Deshaun Thomas had 16 points, including a clutch offensive rebound and a score in the paint to give the No. 10 Buckeyes (25-7) a 60-56 lead with 22 seconds left to repel a rally by the No. 8 Spartans (25-8).
Miami 81, N.C. State 71: Durand Scott scored a career-high 32 points and Shane Larkin 23 for No. 9 Miami (26-6) in the ACC semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
North Carolina 79, Maryland 76: Dexter Strickland and Reggie Bullock scored 15 points apiece and North Carolina (24-9) held on in the other ACC semifinal.
Florida 61, Alabama 51: Held scoreless for the first 25 minutes, Kenny Boynton scored 11 straight points during a 15-0 run as No. 13 Florida (26-6) erased a 10-point, second-half deficit in the SEC semifinals in Nashville.
Mississippi 64, Vanderbilt 52: Marshall Henderson scored 23 points and Mississippi (25-8) took control with a 15-2 run early in the second half in the other SEC semifinal.
Automatic bids
Memphis 91, Southern Miss 79: Chris Crawford scored 20 of his 23 points in the final 13 minutes, including the go-ahead three-pointer in the second overtime in Tulsa, Okla., as the No. 20 Tigers (30-4) took their seventh Conference USA title in the last eight years.
Kansas 70, Kansas State 54: Jeff Withey had 17 points and nine rebounds for the No. 7 Jayhawks (29-5) in the Big 12 final in Kansas City, Mo. Rodney McGruder scored 18 points for No. 11 Kansas State (27-7).
New Mexico 63, UNLV 56: Tony Snell scored 13 straight points for No. 15 New Mexico (29-5) during a second-half run in the Mountain West final in Las Vegas.
Albany 53, Vermont 49: Jacob Iati hit two three-pointers -- his only shots of the game -- one to give Albany (24-10) a 46-45 lead with 2:36 left and the other for a cushion later in the America East final in Burlington, Vt.
Southern U. 45, Prairie View 44: Derick Beltran had 13 points with a late steal and breakaway layup in the SWAC final in Garland, Texas.
North Carolina A&T 57, Morgan St. 54: Adrian Powell scored 14 points, including two critical free throws with 23.4 seconds to play, then blocked a potential tying three-pointer in the final seconds in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference final in Norfolk, Va.
Akron 65, Ohio 46: Demetrius Treadwell had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Zips (26-6) in the Mid-American Conference final in Cleveland.-- AP
