INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kofi Cockburn scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half, and No. 3 Illinois beat No. 5 Iowa 82-71 to advance to the Big Ten Tournament title game. The Fighting Illini have won six straight, with three coming against top-10 foes. If Illinois wins one more, against No. 9 Ohio State, it would claim its first tourney title since 2005. Ayo Dosunmu scored 18 points for Illinois, and reserve guard Andre Curbelo finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Luka Garza had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Iowa.
Also in college basketball:
— Texas finally has a Big 12 title in men’s basketball. Matt Coleman scored a career-high 30 points and Jericho Simms added a career-best 21 as the 13th-ranked Longhorns held off No. 12 Oklahoma State, 91-86. Kai Jones and Andrew Jones added 13 points apiece for third-seeded Texas, which had gone 0-6 in its previous Big 12 title game appearances. Cade Cunningham’s 29-point performance included a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute, the last getting OSU within 89-86.
— Georgetown entered the Big East tournament with a 9-12 record. The Hoyas leave as tournament champs following a stunning 73-48 rout of No. 17 Creighton. The Hoyas closed the first half on a 23-2 run that put them up 18 at the break against the second-seeded Bluejays. Georgetown later reeled off a 16-3 spurt that made it 52-21 with 14:58 remaining. Chudier Bile matched a season high with 19 points and Jahvon Blair had 18 and went 4 for 7 from 3-point range for Georgetown.
— Georgia Tech has earned the ACC’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament with an 80-75 comeback win over 15th-ranked Florida State in the conference title game. Michael Devoe scored 20 points and Georgia Tech shot 52% after halftime to earn its first ACC crown since 1993. League player of the year Moses Wright added 15 points and eight rebounds for the fourth-seeded Yellow Jackets, who are in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 11 years. Devoe was named the tournament MVP after making 8 of 12 shots, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 6:44 left.
— LSU and Alabama will try to end lengthy SEC tournament title droughts on Sunday. LSU has reached the conference title game for the first time in 28 years by upsetting eighth-ranked Arkansas, 78-71. Cameron Thomas dropped in 21 points and the Tigers went on a 12-0 run after the Razorbacks tied the game at 52. Marcus Moody had 28 points for Arkansas, which had won 12 straight SEC games. In the opener of the semifinals, Herb Jones delivered 21 points and sixth-ranked Alabama stormed back from a 15-point deficit to beat Tennessee, 73-68. Jahvon Quinerly added 19 points, including two free throws with 15.5 seconds left, keeping the Crimson Tide in line for their first SEC title since 1991.
— The Big 12, ACC, and Big East weren’t the only conferences to settle their automatic bids into the NCAA tournament. Matt Mitchell scored 14 points to lead No. 19 San Diego State to a 68-57 victory over Utah State in the Mountain West Tournament championship game. The Aztecs also won the regular-season championship but had lost six of their previous seven title game appearances, the last two to the Aggies. With the league’s automatic bid, the Aztecs return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. Maurice Calloo gave Oregon State an unexpected lift with 15 points and the Beavers won their first conference tournament title, holding off No. 23 Colorado 70-68 in the Pac-12 championship game. Oregon State opened its first conference title game in 33 years with a flurry of 3-pointers and withstood a late push by Colorado to become the first Pac-10/12 team to win the conference title after being picked to finish last. Asante Gist scored 18 points and coach Rick Pitino took his record-tying fifth school to the NCAA Tournament with Iona’s 60-51 victory over Fairfield in the MAAC (mak) championship. Austin Williams scored 20 points with eight rebounds and three steals, and Hartford earned an automatic bid to its first NCAA Tournament by downing UMass Lowell 64-50 in the America East championship. Joe Bryant scored 17 points and Kashaun Hicks added 14, including a pair of clinching dunks, as Norfolk State defeated Morgan State 71-63 in the MEAC (MEE’-ak) championship game. Karl Nicholas scored 16 points and pulled down 12 rebounds as Texas Southern upset top-seeded Prairie View A&M 80-61 in the Southwest Athletic Conference championship game. Jason Preston scored 22 points and Ohio dominated from the start to win its first Mid-American Conference Tournament championship since 2012, an 84-69 victory over Buffalo.
