BRANDON SLATER

David McCormack muscled his way to 25 points, Ochai Agbaji added 21 and hot-shooting Kansas withstood every Villanova run for a 81-65 victory Saturday night that sent the Jayhawks back to the national title game.

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Justin Lewis had 19 points and nine rebounds, and No. 24 Marquette never trailed in an 83-73 victory over No. 12 Villanova.

Jermaine Samuels scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as No. 5 Villanova eased to a 71-53 win over No. 17 Tennessee Saturday in the opening round of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament in Connecticut.

McDermott’s use of a phrase evoking slavery overshadowed what was expected to be fantastic showdown between the top two teams in the Big East. 10 Villanova capture the Big East title with a 72-60 win over 14th-ranked Creighton. “The pain I saw in their eyes was immense,” McDermott said after the game. The Big East title was a formality on the Main Line — Villanova is 114-26 with two national titles since the conference was reconfigured in 2013. BIG PICTURECreighton: McDermott isn’t off the hot seat yet.