Mississippi now has two very big items on its resume nobody can take away.
Murphy Holloway scored 23 points and Marshall Henderson had 21 as the Rebels gave coach Andy Kennedy his first NCAA tournament berth by upsetting No. 13 Florida 66-63 yesterday in Nashville, Tenn., for the Southeastern Conference tournament championship.
“So much is made about the NCAA tournament,” Kennedy said. “I was just glad to get the albatross that is the NCAA tournament off the neck of our program so people can now exhale and get a new focal point.”
The Rebels (26-8) have won seven of eight, grabbing their first tournament title since 1981 and their second ever.
“We worked so hard to get to this point, and it just feels so good to celebrate with the guys in the locker room,” Rebels senior guard Nick Williams said.
Ohio St. 50, Wisconsin 43
In Chicago, DeShaun Thomas scored 17 points and No. 10 Ohio State (26-7) used its stout defense to beat No. 22 Wisconsin (23-11) for the Big Ten tournament title.
Thomas was 6 for 19 from the field, but made some big free throws down the stretch to lead the Buckeyes to their fifth tournament title in nine appearances.
Miami 87, North Carolina 77
In Greensboro, N.C., Shane Larkin scored a career-high 28 points, eight coming in the final 2 1/2 minutes, to help No. 9 Miami (27-6) pull away late to beat North Carolina (24-10) in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament final.