Saint Joseph’s ousts top-seeded Richmond in Atlantic 10 quarterfinal

Erik Reynolds II scored 30 points as No. 9 seed Saint Joseph’s (21-12) knocked off top-seeded Richmond 66-61 Thursday in an Atlantic 10 quarterfinal in Brooklyn, New York. The Hawks erased a 10-0 deficit at Barclays Center.

The Spiders (23-9), likely headed to the National Invitation Tournament, were led by Neal Quinn, who posted 21 points, four assists and two blocks. Richmond also got 17 points and four assists from Jordan King.

VCU 73, Massachusetts 59: Joe Bamisile came off the bench to score 18 points as the fifth-seeded Rams (21-2) avenged a regular-season loss to the fourth-seeded Minutemen, moving VCU into a Saturday semifinal against Saint Joseph’s.

Zeb Jackson had 17 points for VCU, sinking 10 of 11 free throws. Rahsool Diggins finished with 21 points for the Minutemen (20-11), who trailed for the final 30 minutes and by 42-25 at halftime.

St. Bonaventure 75, Loyola Chicago 74, 2 OTs: Reserve Daryl Banks had 22 points and eight rebounds as the seventh-seeded Bonnies (20-12) edged the second-seeded Ramblers (23-9) in a thriller to move to a Saturday semifinal against the Dayton-Duquesne victor. Banks was 12 for 12 at the free-throw line.

Philip Alston scored 22 for Loyola Chicago, which shared the regular-season title with Richmond. On the game’s final play, Des Watson shot an airball on a win-or-lose 3-pointer from well beyond the arc.

NCAA Division III semifinal

Hampden-Sydney 62, Guilford 57: Davidson Hubbard had 16 points and seven rebounds as the Tigers (31-2) won an All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference national semifinal against the Quakers (26-5) in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Ryan Clements had 10 points and eight rebounds and Shane Fernald had 10 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Tigers.

Julius Burch and Tyler Dearman scored 16 points each and Luke Proctor had 15 for Guilford, which dethroned defending champion Christopher Newport in a quarterfinal. Burch grabbed 11 rebounds.

Hampden-Sydney, ranked No. 1 by d3hoops.com entering the 64-team tournament, will play for the title Saturday night against the winner between Trinity of Hartford, Connecticut, and Trine of Angola, Indiana.

Big 12 quarterfinals

No. 1 Houston 60, TCU 45: Emanuel Sharp led the Cougars (29-3) with 14 points and Jamal Shead scored 12, and their defense that held the Horned Frogs without a point for nearly 10 minutes to start the game in Kansas City, Missouri. Micah Peavy wound up leading the Horned Frogs (21-12) with 13 points. Houston will play Texas Tech in a semifinal, while TCU awaits a possible NCAA at-large bid.

No. 25 Texas Tech 81, No. 20 Brigham Young 67: Pop Isaacs scored 22 points, Chance McMillian added 17 points and eight rebounds, and the fourth-seeded Red Raiders knocked out the fifth-seeded Cougars. Texas Tech led by as many as 23 before absorbing a 15-0 run by BYU in the second half.

Big East quarterfinals

No. 2 Connecticut 87, Xavier 60: Tristen Newton and Donovan Clingan each had 13 points and seven rebounds, and top-seeded UConn blitzed Xavier in the second half. The top-seeded Huskies have won five straight games and 19 of 20.

St. John’s 91, Seton Hall 72: Rick Pitino returned to the Big East Tournament for the first time in 11 years and led the fifth-seeded Red Storm over the fourth-seeded Pirates. The Red Storm will face UConn Friday at Madison Square Garden in their first Big East semifinal appearance since 2000, the last time St. John’s won the tournament. The Red Storm has won six straight since Pitino publicly criticized players on Feb. 18.

Pac-12 quarterfinal

No. 6 Arizona 70, Southern California 49: KJ Lewis led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points in Las Vegas as Arizona avenged a loss to USC to end the regular season by rolling past the Trojans. The top-seeded Wildcats (25-7) will play the winner of the Oregon-UCLA game.

SEC second round

No. 15 South Carolina 80, Arkansas 66: Collin Murray-Boyles scored 24 points for South Carolina, which took control with a 16-0 run spanning halftime in Nashville, Tennessee. The fifth-seeded Gamecocks will play a quarterfinal Friday against No. 12 Auburn, the fourth seed.

Mountain West quarterfinal

No. 18 Utah State 87, Fresno State 75, OT: Great Osobor had 29 points and 17 rebounds for the top-seeded Aggies (27-5) in Las Vegas. Jalen Weaver scored 19 for the Bulldogs (12-21), and coach Justin Hutson resigned afterward.

American second round

East Carolina 84, Tulsa 79: Ezra Ausar led ECU with 28 points and RJ Felton secured the victory with a layup with 34 seconds remaining as the eighth-seeded Pirates took down ninth-seeded Tulsa in the American Athletic Conference Tournament’s second round in Fort Worth, Texas.

East Carolina will play top seed South Florida in Friday’s quarterfinals. Ausar also contributed 10 rebounds for the Pirates (15-17).

Late Wednesday

Patriot League final

Colgate 74, Lehigh 55: Brady Cummins scored a career-high 19 points, Braeden Smith had 15 points and 12 rebounds and top-seeded Colgate (25-9) collected its fourth straight Patriot League Tournament title and NCAA Tournament bid. The Raiders shot 56%.

With its fifth league title in six years, Colgate tied Holy Cross and Bucknell for the most league championships at seven. It was the seventh straight season Colgate played for the championship, the last six on its home court in Hamilton, New York. Nasir Whitlock, with 17 points, was the only player to score in double figures for Lehigh (14-18).

Big 12 second round

Cincinnati 72, No. 16 Kansas 52: Dan Skillings Jr. scored 25 points to help 11th-seeded Cincinnati beat a sixth-seeded Kansas team missing the league’s top two scorers, Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. Dickinson dislocated his shoulder in a loss to Houston last weekend, and McCullar has been dealing with a knee injury.

Kansas State 78, Texas 74: Tylor Perry scored 21 points, making four pressure-filled free throws down the stretch, and the 10th-seeded Wildcats rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit against seventh-seeded Texas. The Wildcats advanced to play second-seeded Iowa State in the quarterfinals.

Arthur Kaluma added 14 points and Virginia Tech transfer David N’Guessan had 13 for the Wildcats, who gave their flickering NCAA Tournament hopes a big boost. Texas’ Max Abmas finished with 26 points.

Southland final

McNeese 92, Nicholls 76: Southland Conference Player of the Year Shahada Wells scored 27 points as former VCU and LSU coach Will Wade’s Cowboys (30-13) won at home in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002 with its 30th victory this season. Diante Smith scored a career-high 33 points for Nicholls’ Colonels (20-14).

Big Sky final

Montana State 85, Montana 70: Robert Ford III scored 22 points as the fifth-seeded Bobcats beat the third-seeded Grizzlies in Boise, Idaho, for the Big Sky championship and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Montana State (17-17) advances to the Big Dance for the third straight season and sixth time overall. Montana (23-11), which swept the Bobcats during the regular season, was aiming for its 12th appearance.

John Olmsted totaled a season-high 16 points and five rebounds off the bench for MSU, which dominated after trailing 49-38. Josh Vazquez had 20 points to lead the Grizzlies.

Big East first round

Providence 74, Georgetown 56: Josh Oduro had 20 points for the seventh-seeded Friars (20-12) at Madison Square Garden. They earned the right to face eighth-ranked Creighton, the second seed, in a quarterfinal Thursday.

Oduro added nine rebounds for the Friars, his fellow George Mason transfer Ticket Gaines had 15 points, and Devin Carter had 19 points.

The 10th-seeded Hoyas (9-23) were led by former King’s Fork High star Jayden Epps, who had 30 points, four assists and two blocks.

Mountain West first round

New Mexico 82, Air Force 56: Led by JT Toppin’s 18 points and 11 rebounds, the sixth-seeded Lobos (23-9) won in Las Vegas. They were to play third-seeded Boise State in the quarterfinals Thursday.Rytis Petraitis led the 11th-seeded Falcons (9-22) with 26 points and 10 rebounds.