Jeff Horner scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and added 10 assists as No. 20 Iowa beat No. 7 Ohio State 67-60 on Sunday in the Big Ten tournament championship game.
Adam Haluska added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Hawkeyes (25-8), who won their first conference tournament since 2001.
Jamar Butler had 19 points and J.J. Sullinger added 15 for the top-seeded Buckeyes (25-5), who fell short in their quest to win both the regular season and tournament titles.
Iowa extended its winning streak to five games and ended Ohio State’s winning streak at seven.
Ohio State’s Terence Dials, the conference player of the year, had 10 points and nine rebounds despite playing only 22 minutes because of foul trouble.
Dials went out with his fourth foul with 5:24 left and Ohio State leading 57-55. The Buckeyes led the entire second half until Greg Brunner scored after rebounding two of his misses to tie the game at 57. The Hawkeyes took the lead on a layup by Horner, then Alex Thompson hit a 3-pointer with 2:56 left to give Iowa a 62-57 lead.
Horner scored on a short jumper with 2:02 left to give Iowa a 64-57 lead. Ohio State scored only one more basket, a three-point play by Dials.
Big 12: Kansas 80, Texas 68
No. 17 Kansas was terrific outside and played great defense to beat the eighth-ranked Texas Longhorns 80-68 in the finals of the Big 12 Conference Tournament.
The Jayhawks (25-7) roll into the NCAA Tournament having won 15 of 16 games and giddy over avenging an 80-55 loss at Texas (27-6) on Feb. 25. Brandon Rush, the first freshman ever named to the All-Big 12 team, was 1-for-8 with three points in the previous meeting but opened this game with two 3-pointers. Kansas went on to hit a season-best 12, on 24 attempts.
Then, in the final minutes, fellow freshman Julian Wright made the big plays. The 6-foot-8 forward from Homewood-Flossmoor reached around Texas guard A.J. Abrams and poked the ball the away, then turned it into a tomahawk dunk that put Kansas ahead 67-63. With 36 seconds left, Wright iced the victory with a 360-degree dunk in the open court after a blocked 3-pointer on the other end.
The Longhorns will head into the NCAA Tournament trying to follow their football and baseball teams as national champions; no school has ever held all three crowns at the same time.
ACC: Duke 78, Boston College 76
JJ Redick had consecutive 3-pointers down the stretch to give Duke the lead for good, Shelden Williams and Greg Paulus added clutch free throws in the final seconds, and the Blue Devils held off No. 11 Boston College 78-76 in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.
Louis Hinnant’s heave from about 50 feet right before the buzzer bounced off the backboard, denying the Eagles the title in their inaugural ACC Tournament.
The Eagles (26-7) led 71-68 before Redick, the tournament MVP, took over. The second-leading scorer in Division I made one 3 to tie it before Craig Smith converted two free throws on the other end. Redick then used a pick from Williams to get free and launched another jumper from a few steps behind the 3-point line.
As it swished through, he fell to the floor, but it didn’t matter. The Blue Devils (30-3) were back in front.
Redick scored 26 points while Williams added 18 for Duke. Hinnant led the Eagles with 20 points, and Smith finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
