Dons advance to CBI finals series
USF will play for its first postseason title since it won the 1956 NCAA Tournament after the Dons held off Campbell 65- 62 in the semifinals of the CBI on Thursday night.
The Dons (21-15) will open a best- of-three game series against North Texas (18-17) on Monday at War Memorial Gym.
Thursday, the host Dons saw four players score in double figures, led by Frankie Ferrari’s 18 points.
Matt McCarthy added 15 points with 14 rebounds and Chase Foster and Jordan Ratinho scored 12 points each. NCAATOURNAMENT » Everything seems to be in place yet again for Kansas, which for the second straight year needs just two wins in a gym that its rabid fans can reach in less than half a day’s drive tomake it to the Final Four.
It didn’t work for the Jayhawks a year ago, though, and winning this year’s Midwest Region could be an even bigger challenge.
Top-seeded Kansas (29-7) faces fifth-seeded Clemson (25-9) tonight in a Sweet 16 matchup just 200 miles up the interstate from Allen Fieldhouse. A year ago, the top-seeded Jayhawks lost to Oregon in nearby Kansas City in the Elite Eight. In 2016, Jayhawks were eliminated in the regional finals by eventual national champion Villanova in Louisville.
Also tonight in Omaha, second-seeded Duke (28-7) takes on 11th-seeded Syracuse (23-13) in an Atlantic Coast Conference match up. In the East Region at TD Garden in Boston, it will be top seed Villanova (32- 4) against No. 5West Virginia (26-10), and No. 2 Purdue (30- 6) against No. 3 Texas Tech (26-9).
The Jayhawks face a redhot Clemson team picked to finish 13th out of 14 teams in the ACC a team that routed Auburn 84- 53 last weekend in the third-biggest blowout by a lower-seeded team since 1979. The Tigers are playing in their first regional semifinal in 21 years, and as such have almost nothing to lose.
The night cap will feature good friends Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim squaring off when secondseeded Duke faces ACC rival Syracuse, the No. 11 seed that has once again advanced deep into the tournament behind its lockdown defense.
• Purdue coach Matt Painter has all but ruled out 7-foot-2 senior Isaac Haas for the Sweet 16 after the star center fractured his right elbow in the Boilermaker’s first-round NCAA Tournament win. MIAMI » Sophomore guard Bruce Brown Jr. has decided to declare for the NBA draft but won’t retain an agent, leaving him the option of continuing his college career. COLORADO STATE » Former Colorado State assistant coach Niko Medved is returning to Fort Collins to lead the Ramsmen’s basketball program after spending a year as Drake’s head coach. UCONN » Rhode Island’s Dan Hurley agreed to become UConn’s coach, joining a team that is under NCAA investigation and fired Kevin Ollie this month.