Duke edges Orange for matchup with Kansas
Duke found a way to crack Syracuse’s zone defence, and now the Blue Devils are a game away from the Final Four for the first time since the 2015 team won it all.
Gary Trent Jr., made two clutch free throws with 6.3 seconds left to help second-seeded Duke hold off the 11th-seeded Orange for a 69-65 chess match of a victory in the Midwest Region semifinals Friday night.
All that talk about busted brackets and the maddest March ever — not happening in the Midwest.
The win by Duke (29-7) set up a 1 vs. 2 showdown Sunday against Kansas, which also escaped with a four-point victory earlier against Clemson.
Syracuse (23-14), the last at-large team invited to the tournament, saw its unlikely run to the Sweet 16 end — unable to overcome 16 turnovers against a Mike Krzyzewski-designed zone that was every bit as pesky as Jim Boeheim’s vaunted 2-3.
Early in the second half, Krzyzewski tore off his jacket and threw it to the floor, calling a timeout after Syracuse scored two quick baskets to trim its deficit to three.
“It set the tone for me,” said Coach K, who has two freshmen, Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr., who will likely be NBA lottery picks later this spring. “You could see. I coach ‘em, so I could see, they were real young. They had young looks. Thank goodness they got out of it.”
Tyus Battle led the Orange with 19 points.
Kansas 80, Clemson 76
For the third year in a row, Kansas made it through the Sweet 16 — although not before Clemson tried its hardest to add another wild chapter to an already unbelievable tournament.
Malik Newman led the Jayhawks (30-7) with 17 points in a one-time runaway that got much closer and, quite frankly, won’t mean much to KU fans if their team can’t finish the job in the Midwest Region final Sunday.
Gabe DeVoe had a career-high 31 for Clemson (25-10), which couldn’t replicate the magic it showed in beating Auburn by 31 to reach its first Sweet 16 in 21 years.
Texas Tech 78, Purdue 65 United States
BOSTON - Chris Beard has done it to Purdue again.
The Texas Tech coach knocked the Boilermakers out of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years, this time leading the third-seeded Red Raiders to a 7865 victory in the Sweet 16. Keenan Evans scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, when Texas Tech scored 11 straight points to pull away.
The Red Raiders (27-9) will play No. 1 seed Villanova on Sunday in the East regional final for a spot in the Final Four. Villanova 90, West Virginia 78 Villanova’s 3-point party rolled past the intense pressure of West Virginia to bring the Wildcats to the doorstep of another Final Four two seasons after winning a national championship.
Jalen Brunson led Villanova with 27 points and Omari Spellman had 18 with eight rebounds as Villanova overcame the West Virginia press by hitting 13 of 24 shots from 3-point range.