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Florida 76, No. 9 LSU 73

The Florida Gators finally figured out how to avoid overtime against LSU.

For that, they could soon be receiving a very nice reward.

Andrew Nembhard hit a 3-pointer with a second left, and Florida rallied from 13 down in the second half Friday to upset the Tigers in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The win likely took the Gators (19-14) off the bubble and secured them a spot in the NCAA Tournament. They'll play No. 22 Auburn in Saturday's semifinals.

And troubled LSU (26-6) now has a long weekend to wait and see how the loss will impact its seeding come Selection Sunday.

With the game tied at 73, freshman Keyontae Johnson had the ball when he saw LSU forward Naz Reid sliding into position to take a charge. Johnson passed to Nembhard, who was open at the top of the key for the winner.

"I just had confidence in him," Johnson said. "I'm glad he hit it."

After a chaotic week that included the banishment of their coach, the SEC regular-season champs tried to make one last play to salvage their opening game at the SEC Tournament. Will Reese threw the ball deep to Reid, but he couldn't catch it, and the buzzer sounded.

That prevented the third overtime this season between these teams, and sent the Tigers home, where they'll attempt to get ready for next week despite all the uncertainty surrounding the program.

Coach Will Wade remained suspended for Friday's game in the wake of a report that he'd been caught on a wiretap talking with a person convicted of funneling money to the families of basketball recruits.

Guard Javonte Smart was back in the lineup after missing one game as a result of the report. The school said he was reinstated after cooperating with a "joint inquiry" with the school and the NCAA.

Smart scored 13 points, but it wasn't enough. And LSU clearly could've used Wade, who remains out because he has not agreed to speak with school officials.

Interim head coach Tony Benford hurt the Tigers by picking up a technical that led to a six-point play for Florida for a 66-63 lead with 3:45 left. Benford also went to a 1-3-1 defense in the final seconds that gave the Gators more room to operate for the winning shot.

"Unfortunately, I probably shouldn't have gotten the T, looking back on it," Benford said.

The Tigers accepted their regular-season-champion trophy from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey before tipoff. It was a subdued ceremony; guard Tremont Waters insisted the drama of the past week hasn't been a distraction.

"At the end of the day, people are going to talk regardless," Waters said. "We heard stuff about this season. We heard stuff today. I personally wasn't listening for it. I don't care. We just got to move forward and keep pushing."

Trailing by 13, Florida clawed back into the game by hitting eight straight shots and 10 of 11. Jalen Hudson made a pair of free throws with 6:05 left to give Florida its first lead of the game at 58-57, setting up a frantic finish.

Reid, who finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds, hit two 3-pointers in the final minute to tie it at 70, and again at 73 with 13.2 seconds left. Then Johnson found Nembhard for the winning 3.

Nembhard said he had no time to do anything more than catch and shoot.

"I'm happy it went down for sure," said Nembhard, who finished with 20 points and was one of five Gators in double figure.

Smart was held out of LSU's win over Vanderbilt to close the regular season and didn't learn until about 9:45 a.m. Friday that he could play again. Asked if he had any knowledge of the offer Wade reportedly discussed on the FBI wiretap, Smart said no.

"I have nothing to do with that," Smart said.

The Gators' 3-point shooting woes, which contributed to their three-game skid to end the regular season, surfaced again. They went 2 of 15 (13.3 percent) in the first half outside the arc, a number made worse considering they shot more from the outside than inside the arc. But the Gators kept shooting 3s and went 6 of 13 in the second half.

The Tigers will have a complaint about the discrepancy in foul calls with 24 on LSU compared to 10 for the Gators. The Tigers didn't even go to the free throw line in the first half despite having a 26-10 scoring edge in the paint. They wound up shooting 7 of 11 at the line while Florida was 16 of 26.

"I can't get into that," Benford said. "We're not going to get any calls. I heard guys (say) when there's an interim coach, you're not getting any calls."

Minnesota 75, No. 13 Purdue 73

Jordan Murphy scored 27 points, Amir Coffey added 21 points and Minnesota beat Purdue to advance to the Big Ten semifinals.

Murphy drove for a go-ahead three-point play and hit two free throws in the closing minutes, and the Gophers (21-12) beat the Boilermakers (23-9) for the second time in 10 days when Carsen Edwards missed a 3 as time expired.

Murphy finished three points shy of his season high. He also had eight rebounds. The Gophers will face No. 10 Michigan.

Matt Haarms scored 16 points for Purdue.

San Diego State 66, No. 14 Nevada 56

Devin Watson had 20 points and five assists and San Diego State held Nevada scoreless for nearly seven minutes late in the Aztecs' victory in the Mountain West Conference semifinals.

Jalen McDaniels added 12 points and 10 rebounds for San Diego State (21-12). The Aztecs will play the Fresno State-Utah State winner in the championship game Saturday night.

San Diego State also had a home victory over Nevada on Feb. 20.

Cody Martin led the top-seeded Wolf Pack (29-4) with 16 points and six rebounds. Jordan Caroline, averaging 17.3 points and 9.6 rebounds, did not play due to an injury.

Iowa State 63, No. 15 Kansas State 59

Marial Shayok hit back-to-back 3-pointers right in front of his own bench to give Iowa State the lead in the final minute, and the Cyclones held to beat Kansas State in the Big 12 semifinals.

The Cyclones (22-11) trailed 55-52 when Shayok's first 3-point bounced off the rim, then off the glass and dropped through. Then, after the Wildcats' Cartier Diarra missed a 3 at the other end, the Cyclones' senior guard dropped a 3 that gave his team the lead.

Shayok finished with 21 points, and Nick Weiler-Babb had 12, as Iowa State advanced to play No. 17 Kansas.

Diarra had 15 points for the Wildcats (25-8), who shared the regular-season title with Texas Tech. The Red Raiders were knocked out in the quarterfinals.

The Wildcats once again played without All-Big 12 forward Dean Wade, who sat on the bench with a walking boot on his right foot. It remains unclear whether he'll be ready for the NCAA Tournament.

No. 4 Kentucky 73, Alabama 55

Tyler Herro scored 20 points and Kentucky started its bid for a fifth straight Southeastern Conference Tournament title, beating Alabama in the quarterfinals.

The Wildcats (27-5) improved to 17-2 against Alabama in the tournament, and got a measure of revenge for opening SEC play with a 77-75 road loss to the Crimson Tide back on Jan. 5.

Kentucky will play No. 8 Tennessee in the semifinals.

Tevin Mack scored 22 points for Alabama (18-15).

No. 6 Michigan State 77, Ohio State 70

Cassius Winston scored 18 points, Foster Loyer provided a lift off the bench with a career-high 14 points and Michigan State gave Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo his 600th career victory, beating Ohio State in the Big Ten quarterfinals.

Seeking a sixth conference tournament title, the Spartans (26-6) pulled away in the second half for their third victory over the Buckeyes (19-14) this season. They will face No. 19 Wisconsin in the semifinals Saturday.

Izzo improved to 600-231 in 24 seasons.

Winston, the Big Ten Player of the Year, also had seven rebounds and five assists.

Keyshawn Woods scored 16 points for Ohio State.

No. 8 Tennessee 83, Mississippi State 76

Admiral Schofield scored 20 points and Tennessee beat Mississippi State the Southeastern Conference quarterfinals.

Kyle Alexander and Grant Williams each scored 16 points for Tennessee (28-4). Jordan Bone had 14 points and nine assists with only one turnover, and Jordan Bowden added 10 points.

Aric Holman scored 20 points, and Quinndary Weatherspoon had 17 for Mississippi State (23-10).

No. 10 Michigan 74, Iowa 53

Zavier Simpson sparked Michigan's balanced attack with 10 points on perfect shooting and 11 assists, and the Wolverines picked apart Iowa in the Big Ten quarterfinals.

Michigan made 10 3-pointers, bouncing back nicely from Saturday's disappointing loss to rival Michigan State. Ignas Brazdeikis had 15 points, and Jon Teske had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Seeking their third consecutive Big Ten Tournament title, the third-seeded Wolverines (27-5) advanced to the semifinals for the fourth straight year. They will go for their third win against Minnesota this season when they face the surprising Wisconsin Gophers on Saturday.

Luke Garza and Tyler Cook each scored 14 points for Iowa (22-11).

No. 17 Kansas 88, West Virginia 74

Dedric Lawson poured in 24 points, Quentin Grimes added 18 before leaving late with cramps and Kansas roared away from West Virginia in the Big 12 semifinals.

Devon Dotson added 13 points and Marcus Garrett had 11 for the third-seeded and reigning champion Jayhawks (25-8). Kansas has advanced to the championship game three of the past four years.

Lamont West led West Virginia (14-20) with 16 points.

No. 18 Buffalo 85, Central Michigan 81

C.J. Massinburg dropped a spinning layup and made four free throws in the final 32 seconds to help Buffalo advance to the Mid-American Conference title game.

The top-seeded Bulls (30-3) will play Bowling Green for the MAC's automatic NCAA bid.

Massinburg, the MAC Player of the Year and Buffalo's senior leader, scored 21 points, and Davonta Jordan added 16 for the Bulls, the defending champions trying to win the school's fourth tourney in five years. Massinburg scored Buffalo's last nine points.

Rob Montgomery scored 17 points for the Chippewas (23-11).

No. 19 Wisconsin 66, Nebraska 62

Nate Reuvers and Khalil Iverson each scored 14 points, D'Mitrik Trice hit a 3-pointer with 58 seconds left and Wisconsin beat pesky Nebraska to advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.

The Badgers (23-9) won for the sixth time in seven games despite a shaky performance by Ethan Happ. The 6-foot-10 forward had a season-low four points and committed seven of the team's 17 turnovers.

Glynn Watson Jr. scored 23 points for Nebraska (18-16).

No. 22 Auburn 73, South Carolina 64

Jared Harper scored 27 points to help Auburn beat South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference quarterfinals.

Auburn (24-9) went 13 of 34 from 3-point range and broke the SEC record for 3-pointer in a season with 368.

Bryce Brown had 19 points, and Samir Doughty added 10. Chris Silva led South Carolina with 27 points and 11 rebounds.

Seton Hall 81, No. 23 Marquette 79

Myles Powell sparked Seton Hall with 18 second-half points and Big East player of the year Markus Howard of Marquette came up short on a potential winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Pirates a chippy and foul-filled victory in the Big East Tournament semifinals.

The third-seeded Pirates (20-12) will face top-seed and defending champion Villanova in the final Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in a rematch of the 2016 title game won by Seton Hall.

The expected showdown between Howard and Powell, the top two scorers in the conference, never fully materialized. Howard scored 21 points, but finished 1 for 15 from the field. He also went to the locker room with 2:24 left in the first half, favoring his left wrist. He started the second half, but the 90 percent free-throw shooter was 18 for 24 from the line for Marquette (24-9).

No. 24 Cincinnati 82, SMU 74

Jarron Cumberland had two late three-point plays and finished with 26 points to help Cincinnati beat SMU in the American Athletic Conference quarterfinals.

Justin Jenifer and Tre Scott added 17 points, with Jenifer making all six shots — five from 3-point range — for the second-seeded Bearcats. Cincinnati (26-6) will face Wichita State in the semifinals.

Jimmy Whitt Jr. led the Mustangs (15-17) with a career-high 24 points.

No. 25 Villanova 71, Xavier 67 (OT)

Phil Booth scored 28 points, Jermaine Samuels hit a trio of critical 3-pointers and Villanova rallied past Xavier in overtime to reach its fifth consecutive Big East championship game.

The top-seeded Wildcats (24-9) will play Seton Hall and try to become the first school in the 40-year history of the Big East to win three straight tournament titles.

Paul Scruggs scored a career-high 28 points for the Musketeers (18-15).

Women

No. 21 Drake 86, Valparaiso 58

Becca Hittner scored 18 points and Drake used an 18-0 first-quarter run to roll to a victory over Valparaiso in the Missouri Valley Conference quarterfinals.

Maddy Dean added 16 points, Sara Rhine 14 and Monica Burich 10 to help Drake (26-5) win its 11th straight game. The two-time defending tournament winner will face Illinois State in the semifinals.

Addison Stoller and Graces Hales each had 15 points for Valparaiso (8-24).

No. 24 Rice 64, Western Kentucky 57

Erica Ogwumike scored 19 of her 22 points in the second half and Rice rallied to its 20th straight victory, beating Western Kentucky in the Conference semifinals.

Oguwmike scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to help the Owls (27-3) reach their first title game since 2007. They will play Middle Tennessee. Alexis Brewer had 17 points for the Lady Toppers (18-14).