Abilene Christian wins Southland title, routs Nicholls 79-45

KATY, Texas (AP) — Reggie Miller had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 2 seed Abilene Christian routed top-seeded Nicholls 79-45 on Saturday night in the Southland Conference tournament championship.

It was the second straight tournament title for Abilene Christian (23-4). The Wildcats are also the first to win back-to-back championships since Stephen F. Austin in 2015 and 2016.

Damien Daniels and Joe Pleasant scored 13 points apiece for Abilene Christian. Coryon Mason added 11 points, six assists and four steals.

Ty Gordon scored 16 points to lead Nicholls (18-7), which ended an eight-game win streak. Kevin Johnson had 11 points.

The Colonels scored just 14 points in the second half, their lowest in a half since putting up 18 in the first in a 60-49 loss at California on Nov. 30. They finished 19 of 64 from the floor and committed 15 turnovers.

Abilene Christian led by as many as 18 points in the first half, but Nicholls closed on a 17-4 run to cut the deficit to 36-31 at the break. The Wildcats opened the second half on a 16-6 surge and had a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Nicholls’ last tournament title was in 1998.

___

For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25