No. 1 Virginia rolls in ACC quarters; SMU wins in AAC
NEW YORK — Kyle Guy and No. 1 Virginia looked like healthy favorites in their postseason debut, beating Louisville 75-58 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Guy scored 19 points in his speedy return from a sprained left knee and the top-seeded Cavaliers (29-2) weathered a second-half charge. They’ll play 19th-ranked and fourth-seeded Clemson in the first semifinal Friday night in Brooklyn. In other ACC games: • Marvin Bagley III had 33 points and 17 rebounds, and No. 5 Duke rolled to an 88-70 victory over Notre Dame. The second-seeded Blue Devils (26-6) advanced to play 12thranked and sixth-seeded North Carolina, an 82-65 winner over third-seeded Miami, in the second semifinal Friday night.
• Gabe DeVoe scored 25 points as No. 19 Clemson beat Boston College 90-82 to advance to the ACC tournament semifinals for the first time since 2011.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC
Ben Emelogu scored 23 points to lift SMU to an 80-73 win over Connecticut in the first round of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Orlando, Fla. The Mustangs (17-15) advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal game against No. 1 seed Cincinnati. …
Kyrie Davenport scored 27 points, and Memphis held off a late push from South Florida for a 79-77 win. No. 5 seed Memphis (20-12) advances to meet fourth-seeded Tulsa (19-11). …
Shizz Alston Jr. hit three free throws in the final minute, and Temple held off Tulane 82-77. Temple advances to face second-seeded Wichita State. …
Central Florida defeated East Carolina 66-52 and will face No. 3 seed Houston.
PAC-12
Allonzo Trier scored 22 points, and No. 15 Arizona rolled over Colorado 83-67 in the Pac-12 quarterfinals in Las Vegas. Arizona (25-7) earned a spot in the semifinals Friday against UCLA, an 88-77 winner over Stanford. …
Chimezie Metu had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Southern California smothered Oregon State defensively to beat the Beavers 61-48. The Trojans move on to face the OregonUtah winner.
Jay Wright became the winningest coach in Villanova history with 414 victories, and the No. 2 Wildcats opened defense of their Big East tournament title by routing Marquette 9470 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Villanova (28-4) will face the winner of Butler, a 75-74 winner over Seton Hall, in Friday’s semifinals. …
Trevon Bluiett had 27 points, and No. 3 Xavier looked every bit the top seed in the Big East tournament in an 88-60 win over St. John’s. The Musketeers (28-4) will play Providence, a 72-68 winner in overtime over Creighton, in a semifinal.
CONFERENCE USA
C.J. Burks scored 29 points, and fourth-seeded Marshall beat fifth-seeded UTSA 95-81 in a Conference USA tournament quarterfinal game in Frisco. Marshall (22-10) advances to play No. 9 seed Southern Mississippi in a semifinal contest Friday night. The Golden Eagles upset top-seeded Middle Tennessee 71-68 in overtime.
ODDS AND ENDS
Pittsburgh coach Kevin Stallings was let go by the university just two days after the Panthers completed an 8-24 season that included an 0-19 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Stallings went just 24-41 in two years at Pitt after replacing Jamie Dixon in March 2016. …
San Diego coach Lamont Smith resigned Wednesday night, 10 days after he was arrested for investigation of domestic violence at the end of a road trip. Smith’s resignation came one day after the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said he wouldn’t face charges “at this time” in a domestic violence investigation. Assistant coach Sam Scholl coached the Toreros (18-13) in their loss to BYU in the opening round of the West Coast Conference tournament on Saturday. Scholl will be a candidate to replace Smith, athletic director Bill McGillis said.