Josiah-Jordan James scored 20 points, Santiago Vescovi added 15 and No. 17 Tennessee defeated Ole Miss 70-55 in the second round of the SEC tournament on Thursday in Nashville, Tenn.

The fifth-seeded Volunteers (23-9) will continue their defense of the tournament title when they play fourth-seeded Missouri, which had a double-bye, in the quarterfinals Friday afternoon.

Myles Burns scored 14 and Jaemyn Brakefield and Matthew Murrell added 12 apiece to lead 13th-seeded Ole Miss (12-21), which finished 2-3 under acting head coach Win Case, who was promoted from assistant coach when Kermit Davis was fired last month.

Tennessee, which had lost its last five games away from home and six of its last 10 overall, used a defense ranked third in the country in fewest points allowed to limit the Rebels to 22 second-half points.

James started the second-half scoring by making two free throws and a 3-pointer to give the Vols a 44-33 lead.

Robert Allen followed with a layup for the Rebels’ first points and the margin alternated between nine and 11 points for several minutes.

Ole Miss climbed within 52-48 before Tyreke Key and Vescovi both made a 3-pointer during a 12-2 run that gave Tennessee a comfortable 64-50 lead with 7:39 left in the game.

The first 10 minutes of the game featured five ties and five lead changes, the last of which came when Burns’ steal and dunk gave Ole Miss a 21-19 lead.

That was part of an 8-0 run that gave the Rebels a six-point lead before Jonas Aidoo’s jumper started an 8-0 response that put the Vols in front 27-25.

The score was tied three more times before Ole Miss committed its first turnover of the game with 4:21 left in the half and Vescovi followed with a 3-pointer that gave Tennessee a 34-31 lead.

James beat the buzzer with another 3-pointer, pushing the Vols’ lead to 39-33 at halftime.

–Field Level Media

Playing without coach Bill Self, No. 3 Kansas got a double-double from Big 12 Player of the Year Jalen Wilson on Thursday as it stopped West Virginia 78-61 in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo.

Wilson finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season, leading the top-seeded Jayhawks (26-6) into the semifinals on Friday night against Iowa State. Gradey Dick added 18 points, while Dajuan Harris chipped in 13 points and dished out eight assists. KJ Adams tallied 13 points for Kansas.

Erik Stevenson scored 13 points to lead four players in double figures for eighth-seeded West Virginia (19-14). Joe Toussaint and Tre Mitchell added 11 each, while Emmitt Matthews Jr. contributed 10 points. The Mountaineers are still expected to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night.

Kansas pulled away in the second half with superior shooting. It made 20 of 30 from the field, including 5 of 11 from the 3-point line, and finished the day at 52.4 percent from the field. The Jayhawks also enjoyed advantages of 52-36 in paint points and 16-2 in points off offensive rebounds.

Kansas announced Thursday morning that coach Bill Self would miss the game because of illness. Assistant coach Norm Roberts, who ran the team for the season’s first four games while Self served a suspension, served as the interim coach.

Roberts oversaw a defensive effort that turned West Virginia over a whopping 11 times in the first half, turning those into 11 points. The Jayhawks fell behind 14-11 after scoring just two points in a 5:40 stretch, but rattled off 14 straight points to take a 25-14 advantage at the 5:20 mark on Harris’ transition layup.

The Mountaineers crawled back within six on two foul shots by Toussaint with 1:09 left, but Harris’ putback allowed Kansas to take a 31-23 lead to halftime.

Another big factor in the half was the Jayhawks’ 13-2 advantage in second chance points.

–Field Level Media

Amari Bailey had a career-high 26 points as top-seeded UCLA held off Colorado 80-69 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas.

The No. 2-ranked Bruins won their 11th straight game despite allowing over 50 percent shooting for only the second time this season. They were playing without guard Jaylen Clark, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in the regular-season finale.

Bailey was 8 of 12 from the field and the freshman made 8 of 9 free throws as UCLA (28-4) connected on 24 of 31 from the line compared to 7 of 11 for Colorado.

The ninth-seeded Buffaloes (17-16) were led by Tristan Da Silva, who had 17 points, while Julian Hammond III added 14.

Colorado led 38-37 at the half thanks to a 7-of-12 shooting performance from 3. A Hammond triple gave the Buffaloes a 49-46 edge with 14:47 left, but they followed that with a four-minute stretch in which they missed three straight shots and turned it over four times, twice on offensive player-control fouls.

UCLA went on a 9-0 run to build a 55-49 lead on David Singleton’s 3 with 10:49 to go.

Da Silva drained consecutive 3s to give Colorado a 61-60 lead but Jaime Jaquez Jr. hit a 3 on the other end to start another 9-0 run that put UCLA up 69-61 with 3:22 remaining. Jaquez, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, had 16 points and nine rebounds while Tyger Campbell scored 18 and added seven assists.

Colorado got within four with less than two minutes to go and had multiple chances to make it a one-score game. Jacquez stole it from Da Silva and converted into a game-sealing 3-point play with 1:21 left. Not long after, Colorado coach Tad Boyle was ejected in the final minute for receiving two technical fouls.

Colorado made its first four shots to lead 10-5 before UCLA stormed back and took its first lead about eight minutes in on a corner 3 from Bailey. He had 12 of the Bruins’ first 19 points.

UCLA will face either No. 4 Oregon or No. 5 Washington State in Friday’s Pac-12 semifinals.

–Field Level Media

Jordan Hawkins scored 19 points and No. 11 UConn survived a furious second-half comeback by Providence to earn a 73-66 victory on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament in New York.

The fourth-seeded Huskies (25-7) led by 16 at intermission, and that lead ballooned to 24 by the 16:26 mark of the second half thanks to a 12-3 spurt that featured four points from Hawkins.

After Tristen Newton and Nahiem Alleyne sank back-to-back triples to push the margin to 26, the fifth-seeded Friars (21-11) came roaring back, putting together a monstrous 26-5 run to pull within five with 3:34 remaining.

Both teams traded buckets down the stretch, and it was still a five-point game in the final minute. However, Newton sank a pair of free throws with 26 seconds left to seal the win for UConn, which will face No. 1 seed Marquette in the semifinals on Friday.

Newton finished with 16 points and seven assists, while Adama Sanogo chipped in 10 points for the Huskies. Andre Jackson Jr. supplied nine points and six assists to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds.

UConn made 28 of 53 shots (52.8 percent) from the floor, including 13 of 30 (43.3 percent) from 3-point range.

Bryce Hopkins led Providence with 16 points and seven rebounds. Noah Locke notched 14 points while Devin Carter contributed nine for the Friars, who made just 6 of 23 shots (26.1 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Friars missed 10 of their first 13 shots, allowing UConn to jump out to a 16-7 lead with 11:54 left in the first half.

Jumpers from Clifton Moore and Alyn Breed momentarily stopped the bleeding and cut Providence’s deficit to five, but the Huskies responded emphatically. Joey Calcaterra drained a pair of 3-pointers and Jackson threw down a vicious tomahawk dunk as part of a 19-8 run to close the half as UConn took a 35-19 advantage into the break.

Jackson and Hawkins each had seven points through the opening 20 minutes to pace the Huskies, who held the Friars to their lowest-scoring output in a half this season.

–Field Level Media

Kyle Filipowski scored 22 points and No. 21 Duke pounded Pitt, 96-69, in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at Greensboro Coliseum.

Dereck Lively matched his season high with 13 points, Mark Mitchell had 12 points and Tyrese Proctor added 11 points and a season-high 10 assists as the four leading scorers for the Blue Devils were freshmen in their first ACC tournament.

Fourth-seeded Duke (24-8) advances to play top-seeded Miami, which defeated ninth-seeded Wake Forest 74-72 in the first quarterfinal played Thursday.

Fifth-seeded Pitt (22-11) lost for the third time in its last four games and might have some anxious moments when the NCAA Tournament field is revealed Sunday night.

Nike Sibande led the Panthers with 17 points off the bench, while reserve Guillermo Diaz Graham had 14 points and Jamarius Burton posted 13 points.

It was the second meeting of the season between the teams coached by former Duke players and one-time Blue Devils’ assistant coaches. Duke won a close game at home in January, but this time Jon Scheyer’s team was never in danger against coach Jeff Capel’s Panthers.

Duke shot 63.2 percent from the field and Filipowski made 8 of his 10 attempts. The Blue Devils recorded a season-high 27 assists.

The Blue Devils shot 11 of 26 from 3-point range despite some late misses and reserves were on the court for a good chunk of the final stretch.

Pitt shot just 27.8 percent on 3-pointers (5-for-18), but did convert on 20 of 24 free-throw attempts.

Duke scored the game’s first 12 points and was in a groove for most of the game. The Blue Devils led 48-32 at halftime, with Filipowski with 14 points as the game’s only player in double figures at the midway mark.

The Blue Devils reached the 90-point mark with more than six minutes remaining.

Duke improved to 100-40 all-time in games at the Greensboro Coliseum.

–Field Level Media

Justice Sueing scored 14 points as No. 13 seed Ohio State upset No. 5 Iowa 73-69 in a second-round game of the Big Ten tournament in Chicago on Thursday.

Sueing made two free throws with 9.4 seconds left to ice the game.

The Buckeyes (15-18) play No. 4 seed Michigan State in the quarterfinals on Friday. The Spartans won both encounters this season: 62-41 on the road on Feb. 12 and an 84-78 home win on Sunday in the regular-season finale.

Roddy Gayle Jr.’s 3-pointer put the Buckeyes ahead for good, 64-61, with 3:17 to play. Sueing’s points from the line were the final ones of the game as the Hawkeyes missed two shots on their possession.

There were 18 lead changes and eight ties. Ohio State held the lead for 13:58; Iowa for 21:07.

Bruce Thornton led the Buckeyes with 17 points and Brice Sensabaugh added 16.

Filip Rebraca had 20 points and Kris Murray 17 for the Hawkeyes (19-13).

The game was back-and-forth with neither team able to gain more than a three-point lead from the 6:07 mark of the first half until a dunk by Payton Sandfort put Iowa up 55-51 with 8:59 to play.

At one point just prior to the midway point of the second half there were eight lead changes in a three-minute span.

Iowa could not take advantage of Ohio State’s fatigue. While the Hawkeyes had a first-round bye, the Buckeyes played Wednesday. They saw a 27-point lead turn into a late four-point margin before holding off Wisconsin 65-57.

The Buckeyes tipped off against Iowa 18 hours later.

The Buckeyes played a seventh straight game without their best all-around player in Zed Key, who was third in team scoring (10.8) and first in rebounding (7.5). He underwent season-ending shoulder surgery on March 1. His last game was the 92-75 loss at Iowa on Feb. 16.

–Field Level Media

Tolu Smith scored 28 points, including the go-ahead layup with 4.1 seconds left in overtime, lifting ninth-seeded Mississippi State to a 69-68 overtime win over eighth-seeded Florida in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

With the win, the Bulldogs (21-11) likely punched their ticket to an NCAA Tournament berth and will advance to face top-seed Alabama in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

Shakeel Moore added 13 points for Mississippi State, who held Florida to 40.3 percent shooting from the field and 22.9 percent shooting from 3-point range (8 of 35).

Riley Kugel led Florida (16-16) with 14 points, his ninth straight game scoring in double figures. Kowacie Reeves and Myreon Jones added 11 points apiece.

A Kugel steal and Niels Lane layup gave Florida a brief 68-67 in overtime with 13 seconds left, but Mississippi State answered by driving the ball quickly downcourt and finding Smith, who banked in a layup with 4.1 seconds left for the game-winning score.

Florida had one last chance to win the game, but Jones missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

With Florida down 57-51 and under two minutes to go in regulation, Jones sank back-to-back 3-pointers, including one with 36 seconds left to tie the score at 57 and force overtime. Off a Mississippi State miss, Florida had a chance to win at the end of regulation, but a Jones 3-point attempt at the buzzer clanged off the side iron.

Moore scored 10 points in the first half, helping Mississippi State jump to a 36-26 halftime lead.

After an inside layup by Florida’s Alex Fudge cut Mississippi State’s lead to 17-15, the Bulldogs went on a 14-2 run. Dashawn Davis’ 3-pointer put MSU up 30-17 with 7:54 left in the half before Smith split two free throws to compete the burst.

The Bulldogs maintained the lead for the rest of the half, holding Florida to 36 percent shooting and 23.1 percent (3 of 13) from 3-point range. Mississippi State had its way inside throughout the first half, outscoring the Gators 12-0 in second chance points and 16-10 in points in the paint.

–Field Level Media

Gabe Kalscheur made six 3-pointers while scoring 24 points and Iowa State defeated Baylor for third straight time this season, prevailing 78-72 over the No. 10 Bears in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament on Thursday at Kansas City.

Jaren Holmes scored 17 points and Tamin Lipsey recorded 13 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals for the fifth-seeded Cyclones (19-12). Tre King added 10 points and Iowa State used a 30-10 second-half run to dispatch the fourth-seeded Bears.

Jalen Bridges established career bests of 28 points and seven 3-pointers for Baylor (22-10). Adam Flagler added 14 points and three steals, Keyonte George scored 11 points before fouling out and LJ Cryer had 10 for the Bears.

Iowa State will face either top-seeded Kansas or eighth-seeded West Virginia in Friday’s Big 12 semifinals.

The Cyclones defeated Baylor by 15 points in both regular-season meetings.

Bridges made three 3-pointers in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second half as Baylor extended a three-point halftime edge into a 50-42 lead.

The Cyclones then took over with their game-changing burst. It began by scoring 12 of the next 15 points with Kalscheur tallying seven and Holmes hitting a 3-pointer to give the Cyclones a 54-53 edge with 11:41 remaining.

Bridges then hit his seventh trey to put Baylor back ahead with 10:06 left. The Cyclones answered with Kalscheur draining two 3-pointers as Iowa State scored 18 of 22 points to take a 72-60 lead with 2:44 remaining.

The Bears scored six of the game’s final seven points to avoid a third double-digit loss to Iowa State.

Baylor shot 45.1 percent from the field and made 14 of 29 from 3-point range. Bridges added three steals and was 10 of 11 from the field, his lone miss coming on a 3-pointer with 11:49 remaining.

The Cyclones made 49.2 percent from their attempts from the floor, including 8 of 31 from behind the arc. Iowa State held a dominating 44-17 rebounding advantage, including 21-5 on the offensive boards.

Flagler swished a 35-foot 3-pointer as time expired to give the Bears a 41-38 halftime lead.

Bridges displayed signs he was in line for a big outing when he scored 11 of Baylor’s first 19 points. He finished the half with 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting, including three treys.

–Field Level Media

Cam Spencer scored a team-high 18 points and ninth-seeded Rutgers held eighth-seeded Michigan to just four made field goals in the second half to secure a 62-50 victory in the second round of the Big Ten tournament Thursday afternoon in Chicago.

Michigan led by three points at halftime before shooting just 4-of-21 the rest of the way, missing 16 of its first 17 tries and losing seven turnovers in the second half.

Freshman Derek Simpson, drawing just the fourth start of his career, scored nine of his 13 points and grabbed all five of his rebounds in the second half. His performance helped the Scarlet Knights (19-13) advance to face No. 1 seed Purdue in a quarterfinal game Friday.

Hunter Dickinson scored a game-high 24 points to carry the Wolverines (17-15), who are now in serious danger of missing the NCAA Tournament.

Rutgers won the battle on the boards 39-30, had a 10-4 advantage in steals and scored 18 points off Michigan’s 14 total turnovers.

Rutgers opened the second half with a 12-3 stretch, featuring 3-pointers by Spencer and Aundre Hyatt, to take a 37-31 lead. Michigan didn’t make a field goal until Dickinson knocked down a corner triple with 15:01 to play.

The Wolverines drew within 40-39 thanks to free throws, with Rutgers having entered the bonus less than nine minutes into the half. That’s when the Scarlet Knights scored 12 straight points to take control.

Simpson made a free throw and missed the second, but he easily grabbed his own rebound and laid it in for a three-point possession. Spencer made a 3-pointer to give Rutgers the game’s first double-digit margin at 50-39, and Simpson added a fast-break dunk with 5:52 to go.

Rutgers’ Paul Mulcahy (eight points, five rebounds, five assists) left the game late with an eye injury. Michigan made three shots in the final minute to make the final score respectable.

Michigan was ahead 23-17 when Jett Howard made a 3-pointer with 4:01 left in the first half. But Rutgers used an 8-0 run for its first lead.

Simpson helped on Dickinson at the low block and batted the ball out of his control for a steal, ultimately resulting in Oskar Palmquist’s game-tying free throws. Antwone Woolfolk jumped in front of a pass on Michigan’s next possession and took it coast to coast for a 25-23 Rutgers lead.

But Dickinson tied the game with a hook shot, part of his 13 first-half points, and Joey Baker beat the first-half buzzer with a 3-pointer to put the Wolverines up 28-25 at the break.

–Field Level Media

Jordan Miller posted a team-high 18 points as top-seeded Miami defeated ninth-seeded Wake Forest 74-72 on Thursday afternoon in an ACC tournament quarterfinal at Greensboro, N.C.

Daivien Williamson, who scored 14 points, missed a half-court shot at the buzzer that would’ve won the game for Wake Forest. Williams beat Syracuse on Wednesday with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, albeit at much closer range.

Miami (25-6), ranked 14th in the nation, advanced to the semifinals on Friday night.

Wake Forest (19-14) was led by Tyree Appleby, who had a game-high 24 points, five assists and three turnovers.

Cameron Hildreth added 17 points for Wake.

Miami’s Isaiah Wong, the ACC Player of the Year, had 17 points and five assists. Norchad Omier, Miami’s third-team All-ACC post player, had 14 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Miller added nine rebounds and five assists. Nijel Pack went scoreless in the first half and fouled out with 2:44 left. It was the first foul-out of his career, and he finished with nine points.

Wake Forest, which is 0-4 against Miami over the past two years, was playing on short rest. The Hurricanes hadn’t played since Saturday.

Miami led at halftime, 34-29, but that was only after a 55-foot swish by Hildreth was ruled to have been released a split-second after the intermission buzzer.

Neither team shot the ball well in the first half, especially Wake Forest at 42.9 percent, including 3-for-13 on 3-pointers.

Miami shot 46.9 percent, 2-for-9 from deep. Miami, though, had a 20-14 edge on rebounds, 7-3 on the offensive glass.

Miller led all first-half scorers with 13 points. Appleby had nine points for Wake, but he made just 4 of 11 shots, 1-for-6 from distance.

At the start of the second half, Miami shot 4 of 6 from the floor, taking a 44-33 with 17:13 left. The Hurricanes stretched their lead to 18 points with 9:51 remaining, their biggest of the game, but Wake Forest rallied before coming up just short.

For the game, Miami shot 52.5 percent, including 6-for-19 on 3-pointers. Wake shot 40.9 percent, but the Demon Deacons stayed in the game with 11-for-31 shooting on 3-pointers.

–Field Level Media