Blue Devils knock out Irish
Notre Dame can’t slow down Duke’s Bagley
NEW YORK — Even with Bonzie Colson and Matt Ferrell in the lineup for Notre Dame, there still weren’t enough answers for stopping Duke and star freshman Marvin Bagley III.
Bagley went on a tear in the second half of Thursday night’s quarterfinal game of the ACC tournament, carrying the Blue Devils to an 88-70 win.
Bagley, who finished with the game with 33 points, scored 23 the second half. He also had 17 rebounds. It was his 20th double-double of the season.
With the win, No. 5 Duke (26-6) will move on to the semifinals of the ACC tournament to play the winner of No. 12 North Carolina (23-9) and No. 24 Miami (22-8).
Duke won the first matchup against Notre Dame, 88-66, on Jan. 29. But the Irish were without their two best players, Colson and Ferrell, who missed the game with injuries.
Colson and Ferrell said Thursday they were looking forward to being able to avenge that loss. And during the first half it was interesting.
Duke got out to a fast start. The Blue Devils hit 14 of their first 23 shots. Duke senior guard Grayson Allen knocked down his first five shots, all 3-pointers, while Bagley made four of five. At that point, Duke was clicking on all cylinders.
It soon cooled off. The Blue Devils missed 10 of their next 11 shots during the last 10 minutes of the first half. The Fighting Irish managed to cut the deficit to four points by halftime. Bagley missed his final five shots of the half and Allen missed two.
Colson, who struggled in the first half of Notre Dame’s win over Virginia Tech, scored 10 points in the first half.
But three games in three nights seemed to take its toll on the Fighting Irish. In the second half, Bagley couldn’t be stopped. Bagley hit 11 of 13 shots after halftime.
With leading scorer Kyle Guy back following a brief injury scare, the nation’s No. 1 team is off to a strong postseason start.
Guy and his Virginia teammates looked like healthy favorites on Thursday, beating Louisville 75-58 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Guy scored 19 points in his speedy return after a sprained left knee and the top-seeded Cavaliers (29-2) weathered a secondhalf charge. They’ll play in the first semifinal Friday night against 19th-ranked and fourth-seeded Clemson, a 90-82 winner over No. 12 seed Boston College.
“I think we know we’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” Virginia guard Devon Hall said.
Hall had 14 points and five assists as Virginia methodically dismantled a Louisville team seeking a major upset in Brooklyn to augment its NCAA Tournament credentials.
Instead, the ninthseeded Cardinals (20-13) will sweat out Selection Sunday hoping for an atlarge bid.
“Really proud of our effort, and we’re looking forward to next week,” said a confident David Padgett, the interim coach who took over when Rick Pitino was fired.
No. 12 North Carolina rolled to an 82-65 win over No. 24 Miami in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals Thursday night.
The Tar Heels led just 32-31 at halftime but dominated the second half, outscoring the Hurricanes 50-34.
Theo Pinson led a balanced UNC attack with 25 points.
Jaquan Newton, meanwhile, paced UM with 17 points.