No. 18 Texas A&M advanced to the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game for the second straight year with an 87-75 victory over sixth-seeded Vanderbilt in the semifinals on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.

Wade Taylor IV had 25 points and four assists for the second-seeded Aggies (25-8), who will play No. 4 and top-seeded Alabama (28-5) for their first tournament title since joining the league prior to the 2012-2013 season.

Tyrece Radford added 16 points and five assists and Julius Marble chipped in 13 points and four rebounds for Texas A&M, which has won 10 of its past 11 games.

Texas A&M shot 31 of 52 (59.6 percent) from the field, including a red-hot 10 of 19 (52.6 percent) from 3-point range.

Vanderbilt (20-14), which saw a five-game winning streak end, was led by Jordan Wright’s 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Tyrin Lawrence had a team-best 18 points, with Ezra Manjon adding 16 points and seven assists for the Commodores, who lost for just the second time in their past 12 games. Colin Smith had 15 points.

Vanderbilt really missed SEC Defensive Player of the Year Liam Robbins, the team’s leading scorer (15 points per game), rebounder (6.8) and shot blocker (3.2), who is out for the season sustaining a broken right leg against Kentucky on March 1.

The Aggies outrebounded the Commodores 30-21.

Texas A&M dominated from the outset, jumping out to a 14-point lead in less than eight minutes before taking a 49-25 halftime advantage.

The Commodores didn’t get closer than 11 the rest of the way.

Radford scored 11 points and Marble added 10 in the first 20 minutes for Texas A&M, which shot a blistering 20 of 29 (69 percent) from the field, including an impressive 7 of 12 (58.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

Vanderbilt was led by Smith’s nine first-half points, but the Commodores had more turnovers (12) than made baskets (10) before halftime.

The Commodores shot 10 of 24 (41.7 percent) from the field, including a 4 of 12 (33.3 percent) from distance.

The Aggies fell 65-50 to Tennessee in last year’s tournament final, costing the Aggies a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

–Field Level Media

Jamal Shead and J’Wan Roberts each scored 16 points to make up for the injured Marcus Sasser as No. 1 Houston rolled to a 69-48 win over Cincinnati on Saturday in an American Athletic Conference tournament semifinal game in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Cougars (31-2), the top seed in this event, advance to Sunday’s title game to play second-seeded Memphis (25-8), which defeated third-seeded Tulane on Saturday, 94-54.

The Cougars led by 15 at halftime and were never seriously challenged in the second half. The only drama in the game is the ongoing availability of Sasser, Houston’s top scorer and the AAC player of the year. He suffered an apparent groin injury and exited at the 6:57 mark of the first half and did not return.

Sasser’s availability for the tournament final is to be determined.

Jarace Walker added 13 points to send Houston to its 13th straight victory.

Landers Nolley II scored 14 points to lead the fourth-seeded Bearcats (21-12), who shot just 25.5 percent from the floor and missed 12 of their 28 free throws.

Unlike in its tournament quarterfinal win against East Carolina when it shot a season-low 28 percent, Houston began the game on fire. The Cougars roared out to a 11-2 lead over the game’s first four minutes.

The Cougars were up by eight points when Sasser was injured. Despite having four players with at least two fouls, Houston still was able to expand its lead to 36-20 after a hook shot by Ja’Vier Francis with 2:26 remaining in the half before settling for a 38-23 advantage at the break.

Walker paced the Cougars with nine points and seven rebounds before halftime. All nine of the players who saw the court in the half scored at least two points.

Nolley led the Bearcats with eight points in the first half. Cincinnati was just 7 of 15 from the charity stripe.

Cincinnati cut its deficit to nine points after Nolley’s 3-pointer with 15:17 to play but the Cougars were unfazed, answering with an 8-0 run after which they never allowed their lead to fall to under double digits again.

–Field Level Media

Ohio State leading scorer Brice Sensabaugh will miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury, the school announced Saturday.

Sensabaugh underwent testing, including an MRI exam, that determined he wouldn’t be able to play again this season.

“Brice has had an outstanding freshman season and played very well down the stretch,” Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann said in the announcement. “I know how badly he wanted to play, and we are disappointed for him. We are proud of him and his continued development as a player.”

Sensabaugh sat out Friday’s 68-58 Big Ten tournament quarterfinal victory over Michigan State and Saturday’s 80-66 semifinal loss to top-seeded Purdue. The setback to the Boilermakers ended the surprise tourney run of the 13th-seeded Buckeyes.

Sensabaugh, a forward, injured the knee during the second half of a 73-69 victory over Iowa on Thursday. He had 16 points in 27 minutes before departing.

A third-team All-Big-Ten choice, Sensabaugh is averaging a team-best 16.3 points to go along with 5.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 33 games (21 starts) this season for the Buckeyes (16-19). He is just the sixth freshman in school history to score 500 or more points.

Sensabaugh is projected as a first-round NBA draft choice if he elects to not return to Ohio State.

–Field Level Media

Zach Edey scored 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead No. 5 Purdue to an 80-66 victory over Ohio State in a Big Ten tournament semifinal on Saturday afternoon in Chicago.

Top-seeded Purdue (28-5) advances to the final on Sunday where it will face No. 10 seed Penn State. It is the Boilermakers’ fourth appearance in the final in the past seven times the tournament was held.

The Boilermakers are trying to win their first conference tournament title since 2009. If Purdue wins, it would be the first time it wins both the Big Ten tournament and regular season titles in the same season.

No. 13 seed Ohio State (16-19) — a team which at one point lost nine consecutive games and 14 in a 15-game stretch — saw its remarkable run in the conference tournament end. Ohio State became the lowest seed to ever advance to the Big Ten semifinals.

The Buckeyes, who were resilient despite losing leading scorer Brice Sensabaugh (knee) in the second round, put together a 16-4 surge early in the first half and led 29-21 with 8:18 left.

Purdue then closed out the first half on a 21-5 run keyed by Edey, who overcame double- and triple-teams to find easy scores and open teammates for good looks from the perimeter.

Brandon Newman finished with 15 points and Braden Smith totaled 14 points.

Edey posted his seventh game this season with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds, and his 25th double-double. Edey shot 12 of 25 from the field, helping Purdue shoot 48.8 percent from the field (28 for 58).

Ohio State, which was trying to win its first Big Ten title since 2013 and sneak into the NCAA Tournament with an automatic bid, was led by Roddy Gayle Jr.’s 20 points, including 5-for-6 from 3-point range. The Buckeyes kept themselves in the game with their long-distance shooting, making 10 of 24 3-point attempts. Justice Sueing finished with 15 points.

–Field Level Media

Brandon Miller collected 20 points and 12 rebounds to lift No. 4-ranked Alabama to a 72-61 win over No. 25 Missouri in a Southeastern Conference tournament semifinal clash Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.

Noah Clowney added 19 points and Charles Bediako 10 as the top-seeded Crimson Tide (28-5) advanced to the title game on Sunday. They will face second-seeded Texas A&M (25-8), which beat sixth-seeded Vanderbilt 87-75 in the other semifinal Saturday.

D’Moi Hodge recorded 21 points and nine rebounds, DeAndre Gholston scored 17 and Noah Carter had 10 to lead the fourth-seeded Tigers (24-9). Missouri made its deepest run in the tournament since joining the SEC for the 2012-13 season.

Missouri attempted 11 more field goals than Alabama but shot just 33.8 percent from the floor compared with 49.1 percent for the Tide.

Hodge made a 3-pointer and Gholston converted a 3-point play to start the second-half scoring and give Missouri a 35-31 lead.

Miller answered with the Tide’s first points on a 3-point play, and his 3-pointer completed an 8-0 run that gave Alabama a 44-39 advantage.

Carter answered with a 3-pointer, but Miller and Noah Gurley made back-to-back 3-pointers to increase the Tide’s lead to 52-42.

Hodge scored four straight points to trim the lead to six, and Missouri got within six twice more.

But Clowney made a 3-pointer and Bediako added a jumper to put Alabama in control with a 64-53 lead with 3:30 remaining.

The score was tied at seven before Jalen Bradley made two layups and Miller made one.

The Tigers got within one point before Clowney made a layup and added a 3-pointer to help Alabama open a 20-12 lead.

The Tide’s biggest lead of the half was 10 points on two occasions before Missouri finished with a push.

Carter and Gholston made back-to-back 3-pointers, and Hodge added a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to trim Alabama’s lead to 31-29 at halftime.

–Field Level Media

Dylan Penn scored 21 points to lead Vermont to a 72-59 win against UMass Lowell in the America East Conference tournament final in Burlington, Vt.

The top-seeded Catamounts (23-10) extended their winning streak to 15 games and are headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season and the fifth time under coach John Becker.

Penn made 8 of 12 shots from the field. Matt Veretto scored 15 points, Finn Sullivan added 14 points and seven rebounds and Aaron Deloney had 10 points.

The second-seeded River Hawks (26-8) shot just 37.7 percent from the field and had their six-game winning streak snapped. Allin Blunt scored 14 points and Yuri Covington added 10 off the bench.

Vermont scored the first five points of the second half to erase a 29-25 halftime deficit. Deloney’s 3-pointer with 12:39 left put the Catamounts ahead for good at 38-37.

Howard 65, Norfolk State 64

Jelani Williams capped a 20-point performance by making two free throws with 6.1 seconds remaining in the second half to help Howard rally to a victory over Norfolk State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament final in Norfolk, Va.

The third-seeded Spartans (22-11) held a 64-60 lead before Marcus Dockery drained his lone 3-pointer of the game with 13.2 seconds remaining in the second half. Norfolk State’s attempted in-bounds pass sailed out of bounds, and Williams made good from the charity stripe to help the top-seeded Bison (22-12) capture their first MEAC tournament title since 1992 and secure its first NCAA Tournament berth since then and third overall.

Howard, which has defeated Norfolk State on three occasions this season, has won five in a row overall and 14 of its last 16 games.

Dana Tate Jr. recorded 19 points and seven rebounds and Joe Bryant Jr. added 18 points and five steals for the Spartans.

Texas Southern 61, Grambling 58

PJ Henry finished with 19 points as No. 8 seed Texas Southern built a 12-point, second-half lead and held on to stun No. 2 Grambling in the final of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament in Birmingham, Ala.

Davon Barnes added 13 points and eight rebounds for Texas Southern (14-20), which beat top-seeded Alcorn State and No. 5 Alabama A&M to advance to the championship game.

Texas Southern held Grambling (24-9) to 11.1 percent shooting from 3-point range and 33.3 percent overall. Zahad Munford led Grambling with 12 points and Jonathan Aku added 11.

Kent State 93, Toledo 78

Sincere Carry led five players in double figures with 26 points as the Golden Flashes cruised to the victory over the Rockets in the Mid-American Conference tournament finale in Cleveland.

Kent State shot 55.7 percent from the floor, including 10 of 24 from the 3-point line. Chris Payton scored 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting off the bench.

Rayj Dennis and Setric Millner Jr. led Toledo with 25 points apiece. The Rockets shot just 42.4 percent from the floor.

Iona 76, Marist 55

Daniss Jenkins scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Gaels to a win over the Red Foxes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament title game.

Walter Clayton Jr. added 17 points and Nelly Junior Joseph posted nine points and 11 rebounds for the Gaels.

Patrick Gardner led the Red Foxes with 23 points on 9-for-19 shooting. Marist shot just 33.3 percent from the floor.

Florida Atlantic 78, UAB 56

Alijah Martin scored a game-high 30 points and the Owls claimed the Conference USA tournament championship in a rout over the Blazers in Frisco, Texas.

Martin finished 12 of 19 from the floor and collected 11 rebounds. He made 5 of 10 3-pointers.

Jordan Walker scored 18 points for UAB, which made just 5 of 26 shots from behind the arc.

UC Santa Barbara 72, Cal State Fullerton 62

Ajay Mitchell scored 20 points to help the Gauchos defeat the Titans and claim the Big West tournament championship in Henderson, Nev.

Cole Anderson scored 12 points off the bench for the Gauchos, who went 19-for-24 from the foul line.

Max Jones led four Titans in double figures with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting. The Titans finished 12 of 18 from the free-throw line.

–Field Level Media