Houston reaches AAC final as Sasser is hurt

“Marcus goes down, it means he’s hurt,” Sampson said. “We always say pain is an opinion. Some kids have a high opinion. Some kids have a low opinion. But Marcus doesn’t go down. He never misses practice, never misses a rep. He’s always there.”

Sasser, the American Athletic Conference player of the year, suffered an apparent groin injury with about 6 1/2 minutes left in the first half of the top-ranked Cougars’ 69-48 win over Cincinnati in their AAC tournament semifinal game Saturday.

Houston (31-2), which led throughout, was up by eight when Sasser got hurt and expanded that to 15 by halftime.

Sampson said Sasser would be re-evaluated, but indicated that the senior guard might not play when the two-time reigning regular-season champion Cougars try to win their third consecutive AAC tournament title.

“I would probably err on the side of holding him out because of how important next week is,” Sampson said. “But the most important thing is Marcus … his healthy going forward is the most important thing here.”

PURDUE 80, OHIO ST. 66: Zach Edey had 32 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 5 Purdue beat Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.

The Boilermakers (28-5) started to take control late in the first half and cruised into the conference final for the second straight year.

Roddy Gayle Jr. led Ohio State (16-19) with a career-high 20 points, 16 in the first half.

PENN ST. 77, INDIANA 73: Jalen Pickett scored 28 points, Seth Lundy had 16 and Penn State beat No. 19 Indiana to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship.

Andrew Funk added nine points as 10th-seeded Penn State (22-12) won for the eighth time in nine games. The Nittany Lions went 8 for 23 from 3-point range, compared to 2 for 14 for the Hoosiers.

The deep Big Ten run has Penn State in position for its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2011. The Nittany Lions looked as if they were going in 2020, but the tourney was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ALABAMA 72, MISSOURI 61: Freshman Brandon Miller scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as fourth-ranked Alabama advanced to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship by beating No. 25 Missouri (24-9). in Nashville.

Noah Clowney added 19 points for Alabama, and Charles Bediako had 10.

D’Moi Hodge led the Tigers with 21 points.

TEXAS A&M 87, VANDERBILT 65: Wade Taylor IV scored 25 points as No. 18 Texas A&M dominated from the opening tip in routing Vanderbilt to reach the Aggies’ second straight Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game and third overall.

The Aggies (25-8) return to the tournament finals for the second year in a row. They were routed by Tennessee last season in Tampa and lost in overtime to Kentucky in 2016 in Nashville.

Tyrece Radford added 16 points and Julius Marble had 13 for the Aggies, who won their fourth straight.

VCU 90, SAINT LOUIS 78: Jayden Nunn scored 18 points in VCU’s victory over Saint Louis in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament semifinals in New York.

Nunn added three blocks for the Rams (26-7). Brandon Johns Jr. scored 16 points and added nine rebounds and four steals. Jamir Watkins finished with 15 points. The Rams extended their winning streak to six games.

DAYTON 78, FORDHAM 68: Toumani Camara had 28 points and Daron Holmes scored 20 in Dayton’s victory against Fordham.

Holmes had six rebounds and three blocks. Camara added seven rebounds for the Flyers (22-11). Malachi Smith recorded 11 points.

VERMONT 72, UMASS LOWELL 59: Dylan Penn scored 21 points, Matt Veretto scored 15 and ignited a game-breaking run, leading Vermont to a home victory over UMass Lowell in the championship game of the America East Tournament.

Vermont will be making its ninth NCAA appearance. UMass Lowell, in its sixth year of eligibility, finished as the runner-up for the second time in three years.

YALE 80, CORNELL 60: John Poulakidas had 25 points in Yale’s victory against Cornell in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals in Princeton, N.J.

PRINCETON 77, PENNSYLVANIA 70: Tosan Evbuomwan had 21 points in Princeton’s victory against Pennsylvania.

HOWARD 65, NORFOLK STATE 64: Jelani Williams scored 20 points, including two free throws with 6.1 seconds left, to lead Howard over Norfolk State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament championship game in Norfolk, Va., and the Bison’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 31 years.

This is Howard’s first MEAC Tournament title since 1992, which was also the last time the Bison won the regular-season championship until this season. They beat the Spartans twice during the regular season 87-67 and 86-84 but the championship game was a tenacious defensive matchup.