Porter Jr. returns, but Missouri loses
Yante Maten scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Georgia spoiled the return of heralded freshman Michael Porter Jr. with a in a 6260 victory over Missouri in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Thursday in St. Louis.
Georgia , the 12th seed, led throughout the second half, but fifth-seeded Missouri narrowed the Bulldogs’ lead to just two points with seven seconds left. The Tigers drew up a play for their leading scorer, Kassius Robertson. But Robertson’s 3-point attempt went long and Georgia secured the victory.
After starting the game out down 10- 0, the Bulldogs ( 18-14), who face fourth-seeded Kentucky in Friday’s second quarterfinal, charged back with a 12- 0 run of their own. The trend continued throughout the contest: Missouri makes a run, Georgia responds.
Maten and the Bulldogs put Missouri in foul trouble early. Missouri bigs Jeremiah Tilmon and Kevin Puryear fouled out, and Jontay Porter finished with four fouls.
Jontay Porter led Missouri (20-12) with 20 points and eight rebounds. His brother, Michael, a projected lottery pick who played just two minutes in the season opener and later had surgery, finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, but shot just 5 for 17 from the field. NO. 1 VIRGINIA 75, LOUISVILLE 58 » Kyle Guy and the top-ranked Cavaliers looked like healthy favorites in their postseason debut in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Guy scored 19 points in his speedy return from a sprained left knee, and topseeded Virginia (29-2) will take on No. 19 Clemson in the first semifinal tonight. Clemson beat Boston College 90-82. NO. 2 VILLANOVA 94, MARQUETTE70 » Jay Wright became the winningest coach in school history with 414, and the Wildcats (28- 4) opened defense of their Big East tournament championship. Villanova, which faces Butler in the semifinals, made 15 of 29 3s — 11 of 17 in the second half. NO. 3 XAVIER 88, ST. JOHN’S 60 » Trevon Bluiett scored 27 points, Kaiser Gates had 16, and the top-seeded-Musketeers (28- 4) rolled in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. The teams scuffled on the postgame handshake line and had to be separated as the crowd stood for the unexpected fracas. Xavier plays Providence in one semifinal today. NO. 5 DUKE 88, NOTRE DAME 70 » Marvin Bagley III had 33 points and 17 rebounds, and Grayson Allen made his first five 3-pointers as the fifth-ranked Blue Devils rolled into an ACC semifinal with the win over the Fighting Irish (20-14). Allen finished with 23 points, and the second-seeded Blue Devils (26- 6) advanced to play 12th-ranked and sixthseeded North Carolina. Duke, the defending champion after beating Notre Dame in the title game last year, earned its 100th ACC tournament victory. NO. 9KANSAS82, OKLAHOMA STATE68 » Malik Newman scored a career- high 30 points, and the Jayhawks made it to the Big 12 semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri. Top-seeded Kansas (25-7) was swept by the Cowboys (19-14) in the regular season. The Jayhawks advanced to play Kansas State, which beat TCU in overtime. NO. 12 NORTH CAROLINA 82, MIAMI 65 » Theo Pinson scored a career-high 25 points and had 11 rebounds, lifting the No. 12 Tar Heels (24- 9) into the ACC semifinal meeting with Duke. SAN DIEGO COACH RESIGNS » University of San Diego coach Lamont Smith resigned, 10 days after he was arrested for investigation of domestic violence at the end of a road trip. Smith’s resignation came one day after the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said he wouldn’t face charges “at this time” in a domestic violence investigation. THEUS OUT AS COACH AT CS NORTHRIDGE » Reggie Theus is out as men’s basketball coach, and Brandon Martin has been let go as athletic director at Cal State Northridge. Campus police are investigating an alleged physical altercation between the men. According to campus police, Theus filed a complaint of battery against Martin.