Duke starts postseason strong with rout of BC
ACC MEN’S TOURNAMENT Duke 86, Boston College 51
GREENSBORO, N.C. — DJ Steward scored 17 points, former Norfolk Academy star Mark Williams added 13 points and 10th-seeded Duke beat Boston College on Tuesday to begin its quest of winning five straight games in the ACC tournament.
No team has won five ACC tournament games in five days — but Duke (12-11) likely must do so to avoid missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995.
Steward, Williams and
Jeremy Roach — all freshmen — combined for 27 of Duke’s 41 first-half points. Steward scored 13 points with three of Duke’s eight 3-pointers and Williams was 5 of 6 from the field for 11 points.
The Blue Devils started the tournament with their lowest seed ever.
Miami 79, Pittsburgh 73
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Isaiah Wong scored 20 points to lead five Miami starters in double figures as the Hurricanes beat Pittsburgh in the opening game of the ACC tournament.
Nysier Brooks converted a three-point play with 53.8 seconds left — his only points of the half — to cap a 9-0 run for a three-possession lead at 73-66. Wong added four free throws in the final 29 seconds to seal it as Miami made 22 of 28 at the stripe compared to 5-of-14 shooting for Pitt.
Anthony Walker had 14 points and nine rebounds for Miami (9-16).
Freshman Femi Odukale scored a career-high 28 points for Pittsburgh (10-12).
Men
West Coast semifinal No. 1 Gonzaga 78, Saint Mary’s 55
LAS VEGAS — Drew Timme scored 18 points, Joel Ayayi added 16 and Gonzaga dominated the Gaels (14-9). A victory in the West Coast Conference tournament final Tuesday night would make the Bulldogs (25-0) the first team to enter the NCAA tournament unbeaten since Kentucky six years ago, and with a strong chance to be the No. 1 overall seed.
Gonzaga shot 53% as it tied the school record with its 29th straight win.
Sun Belt final Appalachian State 80, Georgia State 73
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Michael Almonacy scored a career-high 32 points, hitting six 3-pointers, as the Mountaineers (17-11) upset two-time defending champion Georgia State (16-6) to win the Sun Belt championship and return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2000.
Southern Conference final UNCG 69, Mercer 61
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Isaiah Miller scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as top-seeded UNC Greensboro (21-8) earned its fourth NCAA tournament berth by winning the Southern Conference title.
CAA semifinal
Drexel 74, Northeastern 67
HARRISONBURG — James Butler had 12 points and 12 rebounds to lift the sixth-seeded Dragons past the second-seeded, regular-season co-champion Huskies in a Colonial Athletic Assocation semifinal.
It set up an improbable matchup of the Dragons and eighth-seeded Elon on Tuesday night for the championship.
Women
Big East final
No. 1 UConn 73, Marquette 39
UNCASVILLE, Conn. —
Paige Bueckers scored 23 points to lead Connecticut to the program’s 19th Big East tournament title.
The standout freshman hit 10 of 15 shots, grabbed six rebounds and had four assists for the Huskies (24-1), who rejoined the league this season after winning seven straight titles in the American Athletic Conference.
Big South quarterfinal Longwood 83,
UNC Asheville 69
FARMVILLE — Sophomore Kyla McMakin, an Ocean Lakes High graduate, scored her 1,000th career point as the thirdseeded Lancers (14-10) made the Big South semifinals for the first time since 2013, when they joined the conference. They will play at No. 2 Campbell on Thursday.
McMakin, an all-conference first-team choice, finished with 19 points.
Regular season
No. 6 Baylor 96,
No. 17 West Virginia 73
WACO, Texas — Queen Egbo had a career-high 26 points along with 10 rebounds, DiJonai Carrington had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Baylor (22-2, 17-1) won the Big 12’s final regular-season game. Kirsten Deans had 22 points for the Mountaineers (19-5, 13-5) before fouling out.