Ball State Punches Its NCAA Ticket

Duane Clemens scored 14 points, Lonnie Jones blocked a tournament-record seven shots and Ball State defeated Miami of Ohio, 61-58, Wednesday in the championship of the Mid-American Conference tournament at Cleveland.

The Cardinals (22-8) played tough defense and made their free throws down the stretch to hold off the RedHawks (15-15) and earn a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Theron Smith had 12 points and eight rebounds for Ball State, which will be making its seventh NCAA tournament appearance.

Jason Stewart scored 25 points and Rob Mestas had 11 for Miami.

BIG EAST

No. 21 Connecticut 70, Boston College 55--The Huskies (22-8) extended their winning streak over the Eagles to 23 games with a thumping at New York. Jake Voskuhl led Connecticut with 16 points. Kenny Walls led Boston College (11-19) with 13 points.

Notre Dame 74, Rutgers 62--The Fighting Irish will play Miami tonight in the quarterfinals. Troy Murphy led Notre Dame (18-13) with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Dahntay Jones led Rutgers (15-15) with 19 points.

Seton Hall 85, Providence 65--Darius Lane scored 22 points for the Pirates (20-8), who will play Connecticut today. The Friars (11-19) were led by Abdul Mills’ 14 points.

Villanova 65, Pittsburgh 55--Malik Allen had 24 points and 11 rebounds and the Wildcats (19-11) used an 11-2 second-half run to advance to play St. John’s. Brandin Knight had 17 points for Pittsburgh (13-15).

Georgetown 70, West Virginia 67--Kevin Braswell’s three-point basket with 0.2 seconds remaining rescued the Hoyas. Braswell led Georgetown (17-13), which plays Syracuse today, with 19 points. Calvin Bowman led the Mountaineers (14-14) with 19 points.

OTHER GAMES

Memphis 60, South Florida 58--Marcus Moody’s 15-foot jump shot with 10 seconds left gave the Tigers (15-15) the victory in the opening round of the Conference USA tournament at Memphis, Tenn. Kelly Wise led Memphis (15-15), which plays DePaul today in the quarterfinals, with 13 points. B.B. Waldon had 22 points for South Florida (17-13).

Virginia Tech 51, Fordham 48--The Hokies held the Rams to two points over the last 10 minutes in the opening game of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament at Philadelphia. Virginia Tech (16-14), which plays No. 6 Temple today, was led by Brendan Dunlop’s 13 points. Teremun Johnson led Fordham (14-15) with nine points.