Pinson steps up to power North Carolina by Miami
Tar Heels earn showdown with archrival Duke
NEW YORK — Theo Pinson scored a career-high 25 points and had 11 rebounds, lifting
No. 12 North Carolina while its other stars were struggling, and the Tar Heels beat Miami 82-65 on Thursday to set up a second straight Atlantic Coast Conference semifinal meeting with Duke.
The fifth-seeded Tar Heels (24-9) face the fifth-ranked and second-seeded Blue Devils for the third time this season on Friday for a spot in the championship game — just as the rivals did last year in the tournament’s debut at Barclays Center.
It will be the 22nd time Duke and North Carolina play in the ACC Tournament. Duke leads 13-8.
Ja’quan Newton, who beat North Carolina nine days ago in Chapel Hill with a 40-foot buzzer beater, scored 17 points for third-seeded Miami (22-9).
Pinson scored 10 points in 3½ minutes of the second half, including a corner 3 to make it 69-63 with 4:25 left. Forty-two seconds later, Pinson dribbled through the Miami press and threw down a slam that had the UNC fans chanting “Taarrr! Heels!”
The defending national champions needed the senior, because the Heels’ top two scorers were off.
At New York, Kyle Guy scored 19 points for the Cavaliers (29-2), who weathered a second-half challenge from the Cardinals (20-13) in an ACC tournament quarterfinal.
At New York, Mikal Bridges scored 25 points for the Wildcats (28-4), who made 15 of 29 3-pointers to rout the Golden Eagles (19-13) in a Big East tournament quarterfinal, making Jay Wright the winningest Villanova coach with 414 victories.
At New York, Trevon
Bluiett scored 27 points for the Musketeers (28-4), who scuffled
No. 1 Virginia 75, Louisville 58 — No. 2 Villanova 94, Marquette 70 — No. 3 Xavier 88, St. John’s 60 —
with the Red Storm (16-17) in the postgame handshake line of the Big East tournament quarterfinal.
At New York, Marvin Bagley III had 33 points and 17 rebounds for the Blue Devils (26-6), who downed the Fighting Irish (20-14) for their 100th ACC tournament victory.
No. 5 Duke 88, Notre Dame 70 — No. 9 Kansas 82, Oklahoma