Miami Gets a Share of League Title

Elton Tyler made a game-saving block as Miami defeated No. 18-ranked St. John’s, 74-70, in overtime Sunday at Miami to clinch a share of the Big East regular-season title with No. 9 Syracuse.

The title is Miami’s first since joining the Big East in 1991 and the school’s first of any kind since 1965, when Rick Barry led the Hurricanes when they played in the Intercollegiate Conference.

“This is a very, very special moment for our program,” Coach Leonard Hamilton said. “To have a chance to win a title is something very few people enjoy.”

With Miami trailing, 62-60, with 10 seconds left in regulation, Mario Bland made a jump shot from the top of the key to send the game into overtime.

Bland and Tyler each scored four points in the extra period, but it was Tyler’s block of a shot by the driving Erick Barkley with nine seconds left and Miami (20-9 overall, 13-3 in the Big East) leading, 72-70, that proved to be the difference.

The loss ended a winning streak at eight for St. John’s (21-7, 12-4).

Barkley, the Red Storm’s leading scorer who was returning from his second NCAA suspension this season, scored 15 points, making five of 18 shots.

Wisconsin 56. No. 14 Indiana 53--Mike Kelley made four free throws in the final 25 seconds at Madison, Wis., as the Badgers (16-12, 8-8 in the Big Ten) closed the game with an 11-3 run and survived a controversial finish for only their second victory over the Hoosiers (20-7, 10-6) in the last 37 games.

Indiana’s Dane Fife missed a three-point shot with three seconds left, and television replays showed that the ball bounced off a Badger player and landed out of bounds with one second left. But the clock ran to 0:00 and the buzzer sounded. After a conference, the officials declared the game over.

Arkansas 64, No. 19 Auburn 55--Teddy Gipson scored five unanswered points to give the Razorbacks (21-8, 9-7 in the Southeastern Conference) an 11-point lead and the Tigers (21-8, 9-7) never got closer than six points over the final 11:46 at Fayetteville, Ark.

The loss was Auburn’s third in a row since star forward Chris Porter was suspended by the NCAA for contact with an agent.

No. 23 Kansas 83, Missouri 82--Freshmen Drew Gooden and Kirk Hinrich each made two free throws in the final 12 seconds at Lawrence, Kan., and the Jayhawks won the Big 12 regular season finale.

After Hinrich gave Kansas (22-8, 11-5) an 83-80 lead with 7.6 seconds left, Clarence Gilbert of Missouri (17-11, 10-6) tipped in Keyon Dooling’s miss with one-tenth of a second left.

OTHER GAMES

Appalachian State won the Southern Conference tournament and clinched its first NCAA tournament berth since 1979 with a 68-56 victory over College of Charleston at Greenville, S.C. The Mountaineers (23-8) were led by Tyson Patterson, who scored six points during a 13-2 run that gave them a 56-45 lead with 4:11 left. Charleston (24-6) had won conference tournament championships the previous three years. . . . Southeast Missouri State (24-6) ended a three-year run by Murray State (23-9) as Ohio Valley Conference champion with a 67-56 victory at Nashville. Mike Branson scored 21 points for Southeast Missouri State. Murray State’s Aubrey Reese, the Ohio Valley player of the year, had three points, making only one of 18 shots. Reese’s buzzer-beating basket gave Murray State a 62-61 victory over Southeast Missouri State in last year’s Ohio Valley title game. . . . Ninth-seeded Miami of Ohio (14-14) was 58-56 winner over top-seeded Bowling Green (22-7) in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament at Cleveland. Miami’s Jason Grunkemeyer sent the game into overtime with a 35-foot basket at the final buzzer. Anthony Stacey’s 22 points led Bowling Green (22-7), but he missed a jump shot and a layup in the final 29 seconds. The RedHawks play Marshall (21-8) in today’s semifinals. Travis Young’s off-balance shot with 37 seconds left gave the Thundering Herd a 58-56 victory over Central Michigan (6-23).

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NCAA Basketball Tournament

Schools that have received automatic bids to NCAA basketball tournament. All bids are by virtue of conference tournament championships with the exception of Ivy League and Pacific 10, which do not conduct postseason tournaments:

Men

Appalachian State, Southern

Pennsylvania, Ivy League

Samford, Trans America Athletic

Southeast Missouri State, Ohio Valley

Winthrop, Big South

*

Women

Liberty, Big South

Purdue, Big 10

San Diego, West Coast

Tennesee, Southeastern