Temple 76, Massachusetts 65
PHILADELPHIA — John Chaney kept reminding his team how close they were to beating Duke. It paid off Saturday.
Lynn Greer scored 20 points and Kevin Lyde had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Temple to a 76-65 victory over Massachusetts in the Atlantic 10 tournament final. That sent the Owls to the NCAA tournament for the 12th straight year.
Temple (21-12) avenged four straight losses to UMass (15-15) in the A-10 title game in the 1990s, won their second straight conference championship and sixth overall, and completed a remarkable turnaround following a tough start.
After opening with four wins, Temple lost seven straight — the longest losing streak in Chaney's 18 seasons at the school. One of the losses came to then-No. 1 Duke 63-61 in the championship game of the Preseason NIT.
BIG EAST
NO. 10 BOSTON COLLEGE 79, PITTSBURGH 57: At New York, the celebration was almost as impressive as the turnaround. No sooner had the 10th-ranked Boston College Eagles closed out their 79-57 victory over Pittsburgh in the tournament title game Saturday night than they were in the stands hugging, on the court dancing and up the ladders cutting down nets.
CONFERENCE USA
CHARLOTTE 80, CINCINNATI 72: For years, Cincinnati has muscled opponents in Conference USA. The Bearcats were a far tamer team Saturday in Louisville, Ky., and it cost them an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
KenKay Jones matched a career-high with 18 points and Charlotte outrebounded Cincinnati 45-29 in an 80-72 win in the Conference USA championship.
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
KENT ST. 67, MIAMI (OHIO) 61: At Cleveland, Trevor Huffman scored 27 points as Kent State earned its second trip to the NCAA tournament and second Mid-American Conference tournament title with a 67-61 win over Miami (Ohio) on Saturday night.
SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
ALABAMA ST. 64. ALCORN ST. 52: At Birmingham, Ala., Joey Ball scored 14 points and Tyrone Levett added 12 as Alabama State beat Alcorn State 64-52 Saturday in the championship game of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament to earn its first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
HAMPTON 70, SOUTH CAROLINA ST. 58: At Richmond, Va., the Hampton Pirates beat defending champion South Carolina State 70-58 in the tournament final to claim an automatic berth into the NCAA field of 65.
AMERICAN EAST
HOFSTRA 68, DELAWARE 54: When Hofstra beat Delaware Saturday in the conference tournament championship game in Hempstead, N.Y., to earn a return trip to the NCAA tournament, there were plenty of names receiving credit. Norman Richardson scored 20 points. Roberto Gittens had 17 points and was selected tournament MVP. Jason Hernandez took over down the stretch Saturday as his only field goals of the second half started Hofstra's closing 10-0 run.