Jordan Schakel scored 14 of his team-high 17 points in the second half as 5th-ranked San Diego State rallied for a 73-60 victory over Air Force in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament on Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas.
Schakel, who tied his career-high with five 3-pointers, was 4-for-5 beyond the arc after halftime to spark the Aztecs (29-1), who trailed by as many as eight points in the second half.
Mountain West player of the year Malachi Flynn finished with 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, Yanni Wetzell also scored 16 points, and Matt Mitchell added 10 points for San Diego State, which will play fifth-seeded Boise State in the semifinals on Friday night.
A.J. Walker finished with a game-high 18 points, Caleb Morris had 12 points and Sid Tomes added 10 points for Air Force (12-20), which fell to 0-17 all-time in Mountain West tournament quarterfinal contests.
No. 13 Oregon 90, California 56
Payton Pritchard’s 20 points and nine assists helped the Ducks roll past the Golden Bears in Eugene, Ore.
The Ducks (23-7) ran their Pac-12 record to 12-5, pulling into a tie atop the conference standings with UCLA. Anthony Mathis added 17 points, Will Richardson overcame an ankle injury to score 13, and freshman Addison Patterson added 13, a career high for the freshman in a conference game.
Matt Bradley’s 15 points led the Golden Bears (13-17, 7-10), whose two-game winning streak ended. California is currently in the eighth position in the conference as the regular season winds to an end Saturday.
No. 19 Ohio State 71, No. 23 Illinois 63
Kaleb Wesson had 19 points and E.J. Liddell was right behind with 17 as the Buckeyes overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to beat the Fighting Illini in Columbus.
Wesson had 15 points in the second half before fouling out with 1:49 left for the Buckeyes (21-9, 11-8 Big Ten) in their fourth straight win and ninth in 11 games.
Illinois (20-10, 12-7) had a four-game winning streak snapped and lost an opportunity to move into a four-way tie for first in the Big Ten with one game left.
Connecticut 77, No. 21 Houston 71
Senior guard Christian Vital had 26 points in the last home game of his career, leading the Huskies’ upset of the Cougars in Storrs, Conn.
The Huskies played their last home game in the American Athletic Conference. UConn (18-12, 9-8 AAC) will rejoin the Big East next season after last playing in that conference in the 2012-13 season. James Bouknight finished with 17 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies, and Isaiah Whaley added 13 points.
Houston (22-8, 12-5) is now one game behind Tulsa atop the AAC standings with one game remaining in the regular season. Quentin Grimes led the Cougars with 24 points and added six rebounds, and Caleb Mills had 20 points and six boards.
No. 25 Michigan 82, Nebraska 58
Isaiah Livers had 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Wolverines handed the Cornhuskers their 15th consecutive loss in a Big Ten Conference matchup in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Senior guard Zavier Simpson also recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists in his final home game for Michigan (19-11, 10-9), which bounced back from a pair of losses last week The team’s other senior starter, Jon Teske, contributed 12 points and Franz Wagner tossed in 11 points.
Haanif Cheatham led the Cornhuskers (7-23, 2-17) with 19 points and Dachon Burke added 16 points. Nebraska committed 22 turnovers, leading to 24 Michigan points.
-Field Level Media
