Zion returns, helps Duke prevail
NO. 5 DUKE 84, SYRACUSE 72
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Zion Williamson made all 13 of his shots, five on high-flying dunks, and scored 29 points in his return to lead No. 5 Duke to an 84-72 victory over Syracuse on Thursday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals.
RJ Barrett added 23 points and six rebounds to help Duke (27-5) set up a semifinal showdown with No. 3 North Carolina. The Tar Heels swept both games from the Blue Devils in the regular season, with Williamson injured in the first minute of the first meeting.
Williamson got off to a rousing start two minutes into the game when he stole a pass and drove the length of the floor before cocking his right hand back and throwing down a highlight-reel dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. He added three more soaring dunks in the first half — including one off an alley-oop pass from Barrett — and finished the first half with 21 points on 9-of-9 shooting and 9 rebounds.
It was Williamson’s first game since his left Nike Paul George shoe broke during a Feb. 20 game against the Tar Heels, causing him to miss nearly six full games with a sprained right knee. Williamson wore modified Nike Kyrie 4’s this time specifically designed to lend extra support to his 6-foot7, 285-pound frame.
Despite Williamson’s highlight-reel display, the Orange battled until the end without leading scorer Tyus Battle, who missed his second consecutive game with a back injury.
Frank Howard scored 28 points, and Buddy Boeheim had 15 for Syracuse (20-13).
NO. 12 FLORIDA STATE 65, NO. 16 VIRGINIA TECH 63, OT
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Terance Mann hit a wild off-balance runner with 1.8 seconds left in overtime to help Florida State beat Virginia Tech.
The fifth-seeded Hokies (24-8) had a final chance, but Nickeil Alexander-Walker missed a long desperation three-pointer at the horn.
NO. 2 VIRGINIA 76, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 56
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kyle Guy scored 29 points, including 7 three-pointers, and No. 2 Virginia rallied to beat North Carolina State.
Big man Jack Salt provided an unexpected offensive boost with a career-high 18 points for the top-seeded Cavaliers (29-2).
NO. 3 NORTH CAROLINA 83, LOUISVILLE 70
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Luke Maye had 19 points and nine rebounds, Coby White added 17 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists and No. 3 North Carolina beat Louisville.
Cameron Johnson scored all of his 14 points in the first half to help the Tar Heels (27-5) extend their winning streak to eight games.
BIG TEN NEBRASKA 69, MARYLAND 61
CHICAGO — James Palmer scored 24 points and Nebraska shut down Maryland for the first big surprise of the Big Ten Tournament.
Nebraska (18-15) earned a second victory in the Big Ten tourney for the first time since 2016 and will face fourth-seeded Wisconsin today.
OHIO STATE 79, INDIANA 75
CHICAGO — Keyshawn Woods scored 18, Kaleb Wesson added 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, and Ohio State hung on to beat Indiana.
Woods scored a key basket in the closing minute.
MINNESOTA 77, PENN STATE 72, OT
CHICAGO — Amir Coffey scored 10 of his 22 points in the final minute, and Minnesota rallied for an overtime victory over Penn State.
Coffey put the Golden Gophers (2012) on top for good 69-66 when he drove for a three-point play, burying the free throw after he got knocked to the floor.
IOWA 83, ILLINOIS 62
CHICAGO — Nicholas Baer made five of Iowa’s 12 three-pointers and scored 17 points, helping the Hawkeyes pull away from Illinois.
Iowa turned up its play in the second half to stop a four-game losing streak and hand Coach Fran McCaffery his first victory since he returned Sunday after a two-game suspension for berating an official.
BIG 12 WEST VIRGINIA 79, NO. 7 TEXAS TECH 74
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Emmitt Mathews scored a career-high 28 points and 10th-seeded West Virginia upset Texas Tech in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.
Jarrett Culver scored 26 points, Tariq Owens had 14, and Matt Mooney had 12 for Texas Tech (26-6).
IOWA STATE 83, BAYLOR 66
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Talen Horton-Tucker hit five three-pointers and scored 21 points and fifth-seeded Iowa State shot past fourth-seeded Baylor.
The Cyclones (21-11) also had key contributions from Marial Shayok who had 18 with 4 three-pointers, Lindell Winginton with 16 points and Tyrese Haliburton with 13.
NO. 15 KANSAS STATE 70, TCU 61
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Xavier Snead scored 19 points, none bigger than a three-pointer as the shot clock sounded in the final minute, and No. 15 Kansas State rallied from a slow start to beat TCU.
Barry Brown added 12 points, Kamau Stokes had 11 and Makol Mawien had 10 for the tournament’s top seed.
NO. 17 KANSAS 65, TEXAS 57
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Devon Dotson scored 17 points, Dedric Lawson added 16 and No. 17 Kansas pulled away in the second half for a victory over Texas.
David McCormack added 13 points and a career-best nine rebounds for the third-seeded Jayhawks (24-9).
PAC-12 WASHINGTON 78, USC 75
LAS VEGAS — Jaylen Nowell scored 24 points, David Crisp added 18 and Washington held off a late charge to beat Southern California.
The top-seeded Huskies (25-7) led by 10 before the Trojans made a run, pulling with 72-71 on Jonah Mathews’ three-pointer with 1:10 left.
COLORADO 73, OREGON STATE 58
LAS VEGAS — McKinley Wright IV scored 17 points and Colorado blew most of a 21-point lead before knocking off Oregon State.
The fifth-seeded Buffaloes (21-11) dominated early, but bogged down when Oregon State turned up the defensive pressure, watching its lead dwindle down to six before coming back.
ARIZONA STATE 83, UCLA 72
LAS VEGAS — Romello White scored 19 points, Rob Edwards added 15 and Arizona State withstood UCLA’s second-half push.
The second-seeded Sun Devils (22-9) dominated the first half and stretched their lead to 23 early in the second, but let UCLA back in it by going nearly nine minutes without a field goal.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONNECTICUT 80, SOUTH FLORIDA 73
MEMPHIS — Christian Vital 25 points and Connecticut used accurate-shooting to build a double-digit lead and then hold on for a victory over South Florida.
Jalen Adams added 19 points and six rebounds for UConn (16-16).
MEMPHIS 83, TULANE 68
MEMPHIS — Jeremiah Martin had 21 points as Memphis defeated Tulane.
Martin made 12 of 15 foul shots and added 7 assists. Caleb Daniels had 19 points and 7 rebounds for Tulane.
SMU 74, TULSA 65
MEMPHIS — Jahmal McMurray had 27 points as SMU defeated Tulsa.
McMurray made 9 of 11 foul shots. Ethan Chargois had 12 points for SMU (15-16).
WICHITA STATE 73, EAST CAROLINA 57
MEMPHIS — Markis McDuffie registered 15 points as Wichita State beat East Carolina.
Jaime Echenique had 14 points and nine rebounds for Wichita State (18-13). Jayden Gardner had 16 points for the Pirates (10-21).