Zion goes 13-for-13 from field in return
Zion Williamson made all 13 of his shots from the field and scored 29 points in his return to the lineup to spark No. 5 Duke to an 84-72 victory Thursday against Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina. Williamson, who also grabbed 14 rebounds, was 9-for-9 and scored 21 points in the first half.
It was Williamson’s first game since the Nike shoe he was wearing on his left foot broke open in the first minute of a game Feb. 20 against North Carolina, causing him to miss nearly six full games with a sprained right knee. The Blue Devils (27-5) went 3-3 in those games.
RJ Barrett added 23 points to help Duke set up a semifinal showdown against the No. 3 Tar Heels. Frank Howard led the Orange (20-13) with 28 points.
Northern Illinois 80, Toledo 76
Eugene German scored 27 points and Dante Thorpe 18, including two clinching free throws with 4.8 seconds left, to lift the seventh-seeded Huskies (17-16) to an upset of the second-seeded Rockets (25-7) in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament in Cleveland.
The result enabled NIU to reach the semifinals of the tournament for the first time since 2003. The Huskies will play third-seeded Bowling Green on Friday.
With the score tied at 68, German made his fifth three-pointer with 2:22 left to give NIU the lead for good.
Big Ten tournament at the United Center
Keyshawn Woods scored 18 points, Kaleb Wesson added 17 points and 13 rebounds in his return from a three-game suspension for violating athletic-department policy and eighth-seeded Ohio State (19-13) earned a 79-75 victory against ninth-seeded Indiana (17-15) in the second round.
C.J. Jackson also scored 17 points for the Buckeyes, whose 20-point lead dwindled to two before they held on to end a three-game skid. Devonte Green scored 26 points — including eight three-pointers — for the Hoosiers, who had a fourgame winning streak broken.
Amir Coffey scored 10 of his 22 points in the last minute of overtime, including a tiebreaking three-point play, and seventhseeded Minnesota (20-12) overcame an eight-point deficit with just less than five minutes left in regulation for a 77-72 victory against 10th-seeded Penn State (14-18) in the second round.
James Palmer scored 24 points, and 13th-seeded Nebraska (17-15) held fifth-seeded Maryland (22-10) to 36 percent shooting en route to a 69-61 victory in the second round.
New Mexico State 86, Chicago State 49
Eli Chuha led a balanced attack with 14 points, and the top-seeded Aggies (28-4) routed the eighthseeded Cougars (3-29) in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Las Vegas.
Anthony Harris was the only player in double figures with 10 points for Chicago State.