Virginia, UNC earn share of ACC title

Freshman Coby White scored 21 points and No. 3 North Carolina hung on late to beat No. 4 Duke 79-70 on Saturday night in Chapel Hill, N.C., to clinch a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title.

The Tar Heels (26-5, 16-2) will be the No. 2 seed at the upcoming ACC tournament behind co-champion Virginia, which held off visiting Louisville 73-68 earlier in the day behind Ty Jerome’s 24 points.

The second-ranked Cavaliers (28-2, 16-2) beat UNC 69-61 in the teams’ only meeting Feb. 11.

Senior Kenny Williams scored a season-high 18 points for the Tar Heels, who led by 15 with about 61⁄2 minutes left but had to hold off a rally from the rival Blue Devils — who played yet again without injured freshman star Zion Williamson. Duke lost starting big man Marques Bolden early in this one, too.

UNC earned its first regular-season sweep of the Blue Devils since 2009.

Big win for Boilers: Carsen Edwards scored 21 points and No. 11 Purdue clinched a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship with a 70-57 road victory over Northwestern.

The Boilermakers (23-8, 16-4) secured a share of their second regular-season title in three years. They came in tied with Michigan State and Michigan, who faced off in the evening.

Nojel Eastern scored a career-high 15 points in the win.

Rarity for Red Raiders: Jarrett Culver scored a career-high 31 points, Davide Moretti added 20 and No. 8 Texas Tech clinched a share of its first Big 12 regularseason title by beating host Iowa State 80-73.

Matt Mooney added 13 points for the Red Raiders (26-5, 14-4 Big 12), winners of nine straight heading into the postseason. Their last league crown came in the defunct Southwestern Conference in 1996.

Later, No. 18 Kansas State (24-7, 14-4 Big 12) routed Oklahoma 68-53 to match Texas Tech atop the league.

Smart sits: No. 10 LSU held Javonte Smart out of its regular-season finale Saturday night against Vanderbilt because the freshman guard was mentioned in a wiretapped phone call about recruiting that resulted in coach Will Wade’s suspension.

LSU senior associate AD Robert Munson said the decision not to play Smart was “done only in an abundance of caution, and as a result of the lack of clarity provided regarding media reports and reported wiretaps” involving Wade.

Munson’s statement said the decision “does not suggest, in any way, wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing on Javonte’s part or his family.” Munson also said Javonte and his family “have been fully cooperative and open” with university officials.

LSU suspended Wade on Friday, a day after Yahoo published excerpts of Wade’s phone conversations with a person convicted last year of funneling money to the families of basketball recruits.

LSU, which had clinched at least a share of the Southeastern Conference title, could secure the championship outright with a win over Vanderbilt.