Virginia puts halt on Heels
Top seed Miami outlasts Deacons
North Carolina’s desperate effort to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and assure a spot in the NCAA tournament, ended in one game. The Tar Heels lost Thursday night to No. 2 seed Virginia, 68-59, in a quarterfinal game in Greensboro, N.C.
After closing to within 2524 with 19 seconds left in the first half, the Tar Heels (2013) fell behind by double digits halfway through the second half. They closed the lead to 59-55 with 1:57 to play, but watched the 13th-ranked Cavaliers (24-6) close the deal with free throws and a big dunk by Kadin Shedrick.
Jayden Gardner had 17 points and 10 rebounds to pace Virginia. R.J. Davis had 24 for North Carolina.
Other ACC: Top seed 14thranked Miami (25-6) survived a furious comeback by No. 9 seed Wake Forest before escaping with a 74-72 victory after leading the Demon Deacons by 18 at the half.
Other tournaments
Atlantic 10: David Shriver, Jamir Watkins and Adrian Baldwin scored 11 points each to lead VCU (25-7) to a 71- 53 quarterfinal victory against Davidson at Brooklyn, N.Y. ... Saint Louis (21-11) pulled away from a 25-25 tie in the first half to run away with an 82-54 win against George Mason ( 20-13). ... Dayton (20-11) took the lead on Toumani Camara’s 3pointer with 6:37 left in the half and held on for a 60-54 victory against St. Joseph’s (16-16). ... Darius Quisenberry’s 3-pointer with 45 seconds left quelled a rally by La Salle ( 15-19) and lifted Fordham (25-7) to a 69-61 win.
Big East: Top seed Marquette (26-6) rallied from a 10point halftime deficit to get a 72-70 win in overtime at New York against St. John’s (1815) with Tyler Kolek scoring all 19 points in the second half, including tiebreaking free throws with 15.7 seconds left in the extra period. ... Fourth seed Connecticut (25-7) rolled to a 73-66 victory against Providence (21-11). ... No. 15 Xavier (24-8) ousted DePaul (10-23), 89-84, behind Jack Nunge’s 23 points.
Big Ten: Tenth-seeded Rutgers (19-13) dealt a crushing blow to Michigan (17-15) with a 62-50 upset at Chicago. ... Iowa (19-13) stayed close throughout but could never get ahead of Ohio State (1518) in a 73-69 Buckeyes win. Bruce Thornton scored 17 points and Brice Sensabaugh 16 for the Buckeyes.
Big 12: No. 6 seed Iowa State (19-12) got 24 points from Gabe Kalscheur in a surprising quarterfinal win, 7872, against No. 14 Baylor at Kansas City, Mo. ... Seventhranked Texas (24-8) ousted Oklahoma State (18-15) with a 60-47 win.
SEC: Mississippi State (2111) stunned Florida (16-16) as Tolu Smith scored the winning points on a layup with 5 seconds left in overtime in a second-round game at Nashville, Tenn. ... No. 17 Tennessee (22-9) got 20 points and seven rebounds from JosiahJordan James in a 64-55 win against Mississippi (12-21). ... Nick Smith Jr.’s jumper with 19 seconds to play and free throws by Davonte Davis lifted Arkansas (20-12) to a 76-73 victory against Auburn (20-12).
Pac-12: No. 2 UCLA (27-4) struggled with Colorado (1715) but pulled away for a 7966 victory vs. Colorado (1716) in its quarterfinal at Las Vegas. Freshman Amari Bradley led the Bruins with a season-high 26 points. ... Oregon ( 18- 13) held Washington State (17-15) scoreless in the final 3:15 for a 75-70 win.