The Wildcats (29-2, 14-2) had already clinched their 44th Southeastern Conference title outright with Vanderbilt’s loss to South Carolina on Saturday night. Florida (20-11, 9-7) may need to win a few games in this week’s SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn., to reach the NCAAs.

Kentucky, college basketball’s winningest program, last had 14 wins in the league in 2005.

No. 11 Michigan St. 64  Michigan 48: In East Lansing, Mich., Raymar Morgan scored 13 of his 22 points in the first half, helping the No. 11 Spartans coast to a share of the Big Ten title.

Michigan State (24-7, 14-4) shared the championship with Ohio State and Purdue, winning their second straight title and sixth under coach Tom Izzo.

The Wolverines (14-16, 7-11) have to make a stunning appearance in the Big Ten tournament to avoid a losing record and would have to win the championship game to earn a consecutive bid to the NCAA tournament.

No. 15 Wisconsin 72 Illinois 57: In Champaign, Ill., Taylor Jordan and John Leuer each scored 20 points, and the No. 15 Badgers dealt a significant blow to the Fighting Illini’s NCAA tournament hopes.

Trevon Hughes added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Badgers (23-7, 13-5), who will be the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten tournament. Illinois (18-13, 10-8) has dropped five of six and will be the No. 5 seed in Indianapolis.

Mike Tisdale led Illinois with 16 points and Bill Cole had 14.

No. 18 Gonzaga 77 Loyola Marymount 62: In Las Vegas, Steven Gray scored 18 points, Elias Harris added 16 and Gonzaga advanced to the West Coast Conference tournament final.

Matt Bouldin scored 10 of his 12 points after halftime for the Bulldogs (26-5), whose big early lead dwindled to six points in the final minutes before Bol Kong and Robert Sacre made decisive baskets.

Gonzaga advanced to Monday night’s title game against Saint Mary’s, which beat Portland in the other semifinal.

Drew Viney had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Lions (18-15).
 

IN St. Louis, Kwadzo Ahelegbe had 24 points and Northern Iowa used dominating defense to beat Wichita State 67-52for its second straight Missouri Valley Conference tournament title.

Northern Iowa (28-4) held the Shockers without a field goal for more than 12 minutes during a 25-3 second-half run. The Panthers are the first team since Illinois State in 1997-98 to sweep both Valley titles in consecutive years.

Wichita State (25-9) kept it close with 3-point shooting early in its first MVC title game since 1991, but hit just 6 of 26 shots in the second half.
 

Frank Martin’s grandmother sat in a small room for 12 hours a day and sewed. His uncle worked the docks in the hot Miami sun. His grandfather died of a heart attack while helping the family escape communist rule.

On Sunday, the son of impoverished Cuban immigrants fulfilled the American dream that had kept his family going through all the tough times, and he could hardly keep from weeping.

Struggling with his composure, Martin said Sunday he had agreed to a contract extension with Kansas State that will boost his annual salary to more than $1.5 million. On the same day, he was also picked as The Associated Press Big 12 coach of the year.

“I’m having a tough time finding words,” Martin said.

Seated alongside athletic director John Currie at a hastily called news conference, Martin had to pause several times as he recalled his humble beginnings.

“As I’ve been reflecting all day today—from selling newspaper ads and being the pool hall change boy when I was 12 to now making the dollar figure that I’m getting ready to make,” he said in a quavering voice.

The first man to win 20-plus games in each of his first three seasons at Kansas State, Martin had been one of the lowest-paid coaches in the Big 12 at around $750,000 annually. But a new president and athletic director began contract discussions during the season and accelerated the talks as Martin reeled off victory after victory and fans—many of whom had criticized his hiring—expressed fear they might lose him.

The Wildcats finished the regular season 24-6 overall and 11-5 in the Big 12, second to Kansas. Martin’s overall record of 67-30 is the best of any Kansas State coach in their first three seasons.

“We are confident in the continued growth of the program into a regular contender for Big 12 and national honors under coach Martin’s ongoing leadership,” Currie said.

Currie said Martin would make an average of $1.55 million for the 2010-11 season through 2014-15, and also receive a signing bonus of $462,800, along with a “nationally competitive” incentives program that could add up to 32 percent of his base salary.

A panel of sports writers and sportscasters gave Martin 11 votes while Kansas’ Bill Self, who has said Martin deserves to be national coach of the year, collected five.

After releasing the contract details, Currie introduced Martin as the 2010 AP coach of the year and turned the mic over to him. He was silent for more than half a minute and dabbed at his eyes before finally beginning to speak.

“I never knew it was so hard to swallow,” he said.

Martin was born in Florida after his family fled Cuba, and he is an unabashed patriot.

“It’s the greatest country in the world,” he said in an interview with the AP on Saturday. “America gave my family an opportunity to work, to move forward in life. My family had to leave a country that was ready to go into oppression and lose the rights of human beings. Every time I hear that National Anthem, it’s very moving to me. It symbolizes what my family is about.”

If Martin had been an assistant coach at any other school in April 2007, when Bob Huggins unexpectedly resigned, he probably wouldn’t have gotten so much as a return phone call.

It’s not because he was unqualified—he has proven beyond doubt that he is.

But he was a relative unknown, spending 15 years as a high school coach in the Miami area before joining the college ranks as an assistant at Northeastern in 2000. In 2004, he joined Huggins’ staff in Cincinnati and then came with him to Kansas State in 2006.

He had never been a head coach above the high school level, but Kansas State, desperate to keep super recruits Michael Beasley and Bill Walker and with few other options, gave Martin the career opportunity his family must have dreamed of as they fled Cuba.