Duke nips at Heels; Villanova holds on
Boise State women win MWC tourney
NEW YORK — This time they clashed up north, and Duke took down Carolina.
Jayson Tatum scored 24 points and No. 14 Duke rallied past No. 6 North Carolina with another lightning-fast surge in the second half, taking advantage of foul trouble for Tar Heels point guard Joel Berry II and beating its fierce rival 93-83 on Friday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals.
Luke Kennard had 20 points and Grayson Allen added 18 off the bench for the Blue Devils (268), who will play for the tournament title tonight in Brooklyn against No. 16 Florida State or No. 22 Notre Dame.
“It’s like night and day from the one stretch when we were 1-4,” said Tatum, averaging 23 points in three ACC tournament games. “We’re clicking at the right time.”
By winning the second game between the teams in seven days, fifth-seeded Duke took two of three in the season series against the top-seeded Tar Heels (27-7). It was their first ACC tournament matchup since the Blue Devils won the 2011 championship game.
No. 2 VILLANOVA 55, SETON HALL 53:
In New York, Josh Hart scored 19 points, including the game-winning basket with 9.6 seconds to play and the Wildcats (30-3) advanced to today’s Big East final against Creighton. Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado, the nation’s leading rebounder, missed a shot from in close with 1 second left that would have tied it. He fell to the court and remained there face down as his teammates tried to console him.
No. 5 OREGON 73, CAL 65:
In Las Vegas, Nev., Tyler Dorsey had 23 points, Dylan Ennis scored on a key three-point play with 22 seconds left, and the top-seeded Ducks (29-4) won in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals. California (21-12) lost leading scorer Jabari Bird 64 seconds into the game to a head injury after a hard fall.
No. 8 KENTUCKY 71, GEORGIA 60:
In Nashville, Tenn., Isaiah Briscoe and De’Aaron Fox each scored 20 points as the rested, topseeded Wildcats (27-5) advanced to the SEC tournament semifinals against Alabama. J.J. Frazier had 15 points for the eighthseeded Bulldogs (19-14).
No. 11 WEST VIRGINIA 51, KANSAS STATE 50:
In Kansas City, Mo., 26-7 West Virginia’s Esa Ahmad made the second of two free throws with 20.2 seconds left, and an off-balance 3-pointer by 20-13 Kansas State’s Kamau Stokes was off at the buzzer in the Big 12 tournament semifinals. The Mountaineers face No. 23 Iowa State in tonight’s final.
No. 12 SMU 81, EAST CAROLINA 77:
In Hartford, Conn., Semi Ojeleye scored a career-high 36 points for SMU (28-4) in American Athletic Conference quarterfinal play. Caleb White had 17 points for the Pirates (15-18).
MICHIGAN 74, No. 13 PURDUE 70 (OT):
In Washington, Michigan advanced to the Big Ten semifinals behind D.J. Wilson’s 26 points. The eighth-seeded Wolverines (2211) got 13 points from Zak Irvin, including their first four of the extra period, against the No. 1 seed Boilermakers (25-7).
No. 15 CINCINNATI 80, TULSA 61:
In Hartford, Kyle Washington scored 21 points and Jacob Evans added 20 to lead the Bearcats (284), who led by as many as 24 points in AAC quarterfinals play. Corey Henderson Jr. had 15 points for Tulsa (15-17).
VANDERBILT 72, No. 17 FLORIDA 62 (OT):
In Nashville, Tenn., Riley LaChance scored five of his 18 points in overtime, and Vanderbilt (19-14) upset the 24-8 Gators in the SEC quarterfinals. The Commodores beat the Gators for the third time this season.
No. 23 IOWA STATE 84, TCU 63:
In Kansas City, Mo., Deonte Burton scored 22 points, Monte Morris had 15 and the fourthseeded Cyclones (22-10) reached their third Big 12 tournament title game in the past four seasons. Vladimir Brodziansky and Jaylen Fisher had 10 points apiece for the No. 8 seed Horned Frogs (19-15).
No. 24 WISCONSIN 70, INDIANA 60:
In Washington, the second-seeded Badgers (24-8) slowed Indiana’s offense and used Ethan Happ’s 14 points and 12 rebounds to beat 10th-seeded Indiana (1815), which scored so easily a night earlier while beating Iowa.
NORTHWESTERN 72, No. 25 MARYLAND 64:
In Washington, Northwestern roared into the semifinal round of the Big Ten Tournament while disappointing an enthusiastic — and biased — crowd. Scottie Lindsey and Vic Law each scored 17 points for the Wildcats (23-10), who took control with a 20-2 run in the second half.
Maryland (24-8) enjoyed many of the benefits of playing at home following a double bye to start the tournament.
NEVADA 83, FRESNO STATE 72:
In Las Vegas, Nev., Marcus Marshall had 25 of his 28 points in the second half to fuel a huge run and top-seeded Nevada rallied for awin over fourth-seeded Fresno State to reach the Mountain West Conference championship game for the first time.
Cameron Oliver had 18 of his 27 points in the second half as the Wolf Pack (27-6) avenged two regular season losses to the Bulldogs (20-12) to earn a matchup with the winner of Friday’s late San Diego State-Colorado State game. Nevada joined the MWC in 2012 and last made the NCAA Tournament in 2007.
CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD 81, UTAH VALLEY 80 (4 OT):
In Las Vegas, Nev., Jaylin Airington scored 22 points in 49 minutes and helped top-seeded Cal State Bakersfield hold off Utah Valley in a Western Athletic Conference semifinal that took a record four overtimes to decide and was a nail-biter to the very end.
Cal State-Bakersfield advances to the WAC Tournament championship game to meet the winner of No. 2 seed New Mexico State and No. 3 seed UMKC, which played late Friday.
Airington scored 19 of his 22 points in regulation before fouling out in the third overtime. The Roadrunners (22-8) had 49 points sitting on the bench after losing Airington, Matt Smith (14 points) and Shon Briggs (13) to fouls.
Dedrick Basile scored 18 points and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the line with five rebounds in 53 minutes for the Roadrunners.
Utah Valley (15-16) pushed the defending champions down to the wire.
Ivory Young drove for the potential game-winner with two seconds left but missed. Conner Toolson fouled Cal State Bakersfield’s Moataz Aly, who corralled the rebound.
With 0.9 seconds showing, Aly missed both shots and Utah Valley was able to call time with 0.7 seconds left. Toolson launched a nearly full-court shot that appeared on line but was short.
Young and Kenneth Ogbe led the Wolverines with 15 points apiece, Jason Poydras added 13.
Women
MOUNTAIN WEST: In Las Vegas, Nev., tournament MVP Brooke Pahukoa scored 17 points and Boise State beat Fresno State 66-53 on Friday to win its second conference championship in three years and earn an automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Normally a 40 percent shooting team, Boise State (25-7) shot just 33.8 percent from the field, hitting 22 of 65, including a paltry 6 of 20 (30 percent) from 3-point range, while overcoming league defensive player of the year Bego Faz Davalos.
Boise State coach Gordy Presnell’s players found their consistency at the right time, as the fourth-seeded Broncos entered the postseason on a seven-game win streak, and extended it to 10 games with three tournament wins, including a semifinal victory over No. 1 seed Colorado State.
“We’ve just had some competitive people that believe in the system and believe in the university,” Presnell said. “And we’re not going to put up a white flag for anybody. And like I said, we had the rough bracket. If you think about it. New Mexico is a terrific program. And Colorado State is the No. 1 seed. And we just kept plugging away.”
Candice White had 14 points for Fresno State (18-5), and Faz Davalos added 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Pahukoa hit a turnaround jumper with a little over one second left to give Boise State a 64-62 win in the quarterfinals over UNM on Tuesday.
AMERICA EAST: In Albany, N.Y., senior Imani Tate scored 21 points and the University at Albany (21011) won 66-50 over Main (18-16) to win the league tournament for a record sixth straight time and earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
No. 20 DRAKE 64, ILLINOIS STATE 40:
In Moline, Ill., Lizzy Wendell scored 17 points and the 26-4 Bulldogs tied a Missouri Valley Conference record with their 20th consecutive victory. The Bulldogs (26-4) play No. 5 seed Wichita State, a 73-60 winner over Southern Illinois on Friday, today in a semifinal.
UC-COLO. SPRINGS 89, ENMU 73:
In NCAA Division II South Central Regional play in Pueblo, Colo., Dasia Johnson scored a career-high 18 points for Eastern New Mexico (20-9). UCCS is 24-8.