Hokies stun Duke, steal tourney bid
Duke failed again to deliver Coach K a send-off victory. This time it was Virginia Tech playing party pooper.
Hunter Cattoor scored a career-high 31 points and seventh-seeded Virginia Tech won the ACC tournament for the first time, beating Duke 82-67 on Saturday night in New York to deny Mike Krzyzewski a league title in his final season.
The Hokies (23-12), who came to Brooklyn in need a of a run to make the NCAA Tournament, became just the second ACC team to take the crown with four wins in four days.
The Hokies also are the lowest seeded team to win the most-storied conference tournament in college basketball.
Duke lost Coach K’s final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium to rival North Carolina a week ago, derailing what the school hoped would be a joyful celebration of the winningest coach in Division I men’s college basketball.
The top-seeded and seventh-ranked Blue Devils (28-6) got another chance for a feelgood victory and to add at least one more trophy to the case for the retiring Hall of Fame coach, but again it was not to be.
When Justyn Mutts made a two-hand slam over Duke’s star freshman Paolo Banchero with 2:26 left in the second half, Virginia Tech led 76-64. The Hokies’ first ACC championship since joining the conference in 2004 was sealed.
“I tell them all the time don’t worry about me,” Krzyzewski said. “Even in a moment of defeat I want to be there with them. How do we use it? How do we get better?
Kansas 74, Texas Tech 65
Ochai Agbaji made a pair of clinching foul shots with just over a minute to go, and the sixth-ranked Jayhawks beat the No. 14 Red Raiders to win the Big 12 tournament title in Kansas City, Missouri.
The third-seeded Red Raiders (25-9) trailed
63-58 with about four minutes to go when Terrence Shannon Jr. was called for charging. Kevin Obanor turned it over on the next possession, then stepped over the end line while trying to inbound the ball for another turnover, each of them allowing the top-seeded Jayhawks (27-6) to draw away down the stretch.
Villanova 54, Creighton 48
Collin Gillespie hit consecutive threepointers late in the game, and the No. 8 Wildcats beat the fourth-seeded Bluejays to win the Big East tournament championship at Madison Square Garden in New York. The second-seeded Wildcats (26-7) also won the Big East tournament under coach Jay Wright in 2015, and then three straight from 2017-19.
Arizona 84, UCLA 76
Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points and the top-seeded and second-ranked Wildcats (31-4) used a massive second-half run to beat the second-seeded and No. 13-ranked Bruins (25-7) to win the Pac-12 tournament in coach Tommy Lloyd’s first season.
Texas A&M 82, Arkansas 64
Quenton Jackson scored 20 points and the eighth-seeded Aggies (23-11) took down a ranked opponent for the second straight day, stunning the fourth-seeded and No. 15 ranked Razorbacks (25-8) to reach the SEC tournament championship game.
Tennessee 69, Kentucky 62
Kennedy Chandler scored 19 points, and the second-seeded and ninth-ranked Volunteers (25-7) beat the third-seeded and fifthranked Wildcats (26-7) to reach the SEC tournament final for the third time in five years.
LSU fires Wade, citing NCAA probe
LSU fired coach Will Wade for cause amid “serious” allegations of NCAA violations. The firing comes the day after LSU was bounced from the SEC tournament by Arkansas.