Butler (29-3) punches NCAA ticket
Mike Green matched his career high with 24 points and No. 12 Butler used a big second-half run to beat Cleveland State 70-55 in Indianapolis for its fifth Horizon League championship and first automatic berth in the NCAAs since 2001.
Butler (29-3) blew a 14-point lead in the first half but pulled away again midway through the second half and took a 60-44 lead with six minutes to go on consecutive 3-pointers by Drew Streicher and reserve Zach Hahn.
J'Nathan Bullock, who led Cleveland State (21-12) with 21 points, scored the next 5 for the Vikings, but they never came closer than 13 the rest of the game.
Matt Howard added 16 points and Streicher scored a season-high 11 for the Bulldogs.
Both of Butler's NCAA appearances since it last won the Horizon tournament came as at-large selections. The Bulldogs would have been a lock to get in to the NCAA Tournament even if they had left it up to the selection committee. But this time they punched their own ticket.
Cleveland State, which split a pair of close games with Butler in the regular season this season, came in as the Horizon's No. 2 seed behind the top-seeded Bulldogs and reached the championship game for the first time. The loss left the Vikings on the NCAA bubble, however, still needing help from the selection committee on Sunday to make their first tournament appearance since 1986.
The Vikings played most of the second half without Jackson, who re-injured his left ankle and left early in the final period.
Cleveland State came within 43-41, but a basket by Howard and 2 straight by reserve Willie Veasley started Butler's decisive 17-3 surge.
Oral Roberts 71, IUPUI 64: Moses Ehambe hit seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points, and Oral Roberts (24-8) earned an automatic NCAA Tournament berth by beating IUPUI (26-7) in Tulsa, Okla., to win its third straight Summit League tournament title.
Shawn King backed in for a layup to put Oral Roberts up 59-57 with 2:51 left, and Robert Jarvis added a jumper in the lane on the Golden Eagles' next trip down.
Summit League player of the year George Hill answered with a driving layup for IUPUI, but Jarvis -- the top-scoring reserve in the country -- connected on a 3-pointer from the right side and Hill couldn't match him on the other end.
W. Kentucky 67, Middle Tenn. 57: Jeremy Evans had 20 points and 14 rebounds as Western Kentucky (27-6) defeated Middle Tennessee (17-15) to win the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship in Mobile, Ala., and an NCAA bid.