NEW YORK — Isaiah Whitehead scored 26 points, including the deciding three-point play with 18 seconds left, and Seton Hall won the Big East tournament for the first time in 23 years, beating No. 3 Villanova 69-67 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Whitehead drove on the right side, flipped the ball in and was fouled. His free throw gave the Pirates a 68-67 lead. Villanova had two more chances sandwiched around a free throw by Angel Delgado, but the Pirates held on and beat the top-seeded defending champions.
It was Seton Hall’s third tournament title, the others coming in 1991 and 1993.
The third-seeded Pirates (25-8) led for almost the entire game, leading by 14 points in the first half and 11 at halftime.
(1) KANSAS 81, (9) WEST VIRGINAI 71: Devonte Graham matched a career-high with 27 points, Wayne Selden Jr. added 21 and top-ranked Kansas overcame a remarkable performance by West Virginia’s Devin Williams in the Big 12 tournament title game at Kansas City, Missouri.
Williams finished with a career-best 31 points and 10 rebounds for the Mountaineers.
(2) MICHIGAN STATE 64, (18) MARYLAND 61: Denzel Valentine had 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds to lead the Spartans in a Big Ten tournament semifinal at Indianapolis.
Michigan State (28-5) has won 12 of 13 and will face Purdue in Sunday’s title game.
(7) NORTH CAROLINA 61, (4) VIRGINIA 57: The Tar Heels held the Cavaliers without a field goal for more than 8 minutes in the second half en route to their first ACC tournament title since 2008.
(13) PURDUE 76, MICHIGAN 59: A.J. Hammons had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and Purdue (26-7) won at Indianapolis to advance to the Big Ten tournament championship.
Hammons made 11 of 17 shots, mostly from inside. Vince Edwards added 13 points and Isaac Haas finished with 11.
(16) KENTUCKY 93, GEORGIA 80: Jamal Murray scored 26 points, Tyler Ulis added 25 and both keyed a late 11-3 run that helped the Wildcats win in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Nashville, Tennessee.
(17) TEXAS A&M 71, LSU 38: Tonny Trocha-Morales scored 13 points as the Aggies trounced LSU and freshman star Ben Simmons to reach their first conference tournament championship game since 1994.
HAMPTON 81, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 69: Reginald Johnson Jr. had 21 points and eight assists and top-seeded Hampton (20-10) won its second consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament at Norfolk, Virginia.
STONY BROOK 80, VERMONT 74: Jameel Warney scored 43 points and the Seawolves reached the NCAA tournament for the first time by coming from behind to win the America East tournament at Stony Brook, New York.
Top-seeded Stony Brook (26-6) had reached this point four times in the last five seasons, including the last two years, and lost each time.
The Seawolves were down 15 in the second half, but Warney’s unstoppable inside game proved too much for Vermont (21-13).
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 55, OLD DOMINION 53: Reggie Upshaw made two free throws with 2.9 seconds left as Middle Tennessee won the Conference USA tournament at Birmingham, Alabama. The Blue Raiders (24-9) earned their first NCAA berth since 2013.
SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY 54, JACKSON STATE 53: At Houston, Adrian Rodgers made a jump shot with 17 seconds left to give the Jaguars the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship.
FRESNO STATE 68, SAN DIEGO STATE 60: Marvelle Harris scored 18 points at Las Vegas as Fresno State (25-9) won the Mountain West tournament title and an NCAA berth.
BUFFALO 64, AKRON 61: Blake Hamilton made a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left as Buffalo defended its Mid-American Conference title with a win at Cleveland.
WOMEN
NORTH CAROLINA AT&T 65, COPPIN STATE 46: Christina Carter scored 14 points and the Aggies (19-11) took control early the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship at Norfolk, Virginia, to head to their third NCAA tournament.
ALABAMA STATE 55, SOUTHERN 51: Britney Wright scored 17 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and was named MVP as Alabama State (19-11) advanced to the NCAAs with a win in the Southwestern Athletic Association final at Houston.
IDAHO 67, IDAHO STATE 55: Freshman Mikayla Ferenz scored 18 points as third-seeded Idaho won the Big Sky Conference championship at Reno, Nevada.
JAMES MADISON 60, DREXEL 46: Jazmon Gwathmey scored 19 points in the Colonial Athletic Association championship at Upper Marlboro, Maryland, clinching a third straight NCAA berth for the Dukes (27-5).
NEW MEXICO STATE 80, TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY 53: Freshman Brooke Salas scored 20, Sasha Weber added 16 points and top-seeded New Mexico State (26-4) cruised to the Western Athletic Conference championship at Las Vegas.
BUFFALO 73, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 71: Stephanie Reid banked in a floater at the buzzer in overtime and Buffalo (20-13) won the Mid-American Conference tournament at Cleveland.
ARMY 69, LOYOLA MARYLAND 51: Kelsey Minato scored 25 points at West Point, New York, as top-seed Army won the Patriot League tournament and an NCAA berth.
HAWAII 78, UC DAVIS 59: Ashleigh Karaitiana scored 17 points, making five 3-pointers, as Hawaii (21-10) won the Big West Conference championship at Anaheim, California.
TROY 61, LITTLE ROCK 69: Ashley Beverly Kelley scored with 20 seconds to play and Caitlyn Ramirez blocked a layup with one second left as fourth-seeded Troy (20-12) upended defending Sun Belt champion Little Rock at New Orleans to advance to the NCAA tournament.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 70, OLD DOMINION 54: Brea Edwards scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Middle Tennessee won the Conference USA tournament at Birmingham, Alabama.
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