Positive virus test ends Duke’s season
Duke pulled out of the ACC tournament and ended its season Thursday after a positive coronavirus test in its men’s basketball program.
The ACC announced that the Blue Devils’ quarterfinal game versus No. 15 Florida State was canceled, and Duke athletic director Kevin White said the team’s season is over, ending the Blue Devils’ streak of 24 NCAA appearances that began in 1996.
Florida State advanced to the ACC semifinals, where it will face North Carolina.
Duke (1311) was considered on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament berth after beating Louisville on Wednesday.
“I feel deeply for our players, who have done a terrific job all season in taking care of each other and the team,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a statement.
In conference tournaments across the land:
ACC: Reece Beekman hit a 3-pointer as time expired to help No. 16 Virginia (18-6), the ACC tournament’s No. 1 seed, win 72-69 over Syracuse (16-9) in the quarterfinals in Greensboro, N.C. In other games, fourth-seeded Georgia Tech defeated Miami 70-66 to earn a meeting with Virginia and sixth-seeded North Carolina (18-9) won 81-73 over No. 22 Virginia Tech (15-6), which was the No. 3 seed.
Big East: Dante Harris made two free throws with 4.7 seconds and eighth-seeded Georgetown (11-12) — 23for-23 from the foul line in the game — won 72-71 over No. 14 Villanova (16-6) in New York to reach the conference tournament semifinals. Villanova, the No. 1 seed, had a chance to win but Caleb Daniels missed a long 3-point attempt at the buzzer. In other quarterfinals, No. 17 Creighton (19-7) won 87-56 over Butler, Seton Hall topped St. John’s 77-69 and UConn beat DePaul 94-60. Big Ten: In Indianapolis, Duane Washington Jr. and Justice Sueing each scored 16 points to lead No. 9 Ohio State (19-8) to a 79-75 win over Minnesota (14-15) that moved the fifth-seeded Buckeyes into a quarterfinal matchup with No. 20 Purdue, the No. 4 seed. In other games, Maryland bested Michigan State 68-57, Rutgers won 61-50 over Indiana, and Wisconsin edged Penn State 75-74.
Big 12: In Kansas City, Mo., MaCio Teague scored 24 points, Davion Mitchell added 23 and No. 2 Baylor (22-1) held for a 74-68 win over ninthseeded Kansas State (9-20) in the quarterfinals. Baylor, the No. 1 seed, advances to face No. 12 Oklahoma State (19-7) after the fifth-seeded Cowboys won 72-69 over 10thranked West Virginia (18-9), which was the fourth seed . ... In the other quarterfinals, No. 11 Kansas (20-8) won 69-62 over No. 25 Oklahoma (15-10) and Matt Coleman hit the tying and winning free throws with two seconds left as 13thranked Texas (18-7) advanced with a 67-66 over No. 20 Texas Tech (17-10).
Mountain West: Terrell Gomez scored 20 points and No. 19 San Diego State (21-4), the top seed, beat eighth-seeded Wyoming 69-66 in Las Vegas to advance to the semifinals. In other quarterfinals, No. 5 seed Nevada beat fourth-seeded Boise State 89-82 and second-seeded Utah State topped No. 7 seed UNLV 74-53. Fresno State met Colorado State in the fourth quarterfinal.
SEC: In Nashville, Iverson Molinar scored eight of his 21 points in the final 3:07 to help ninth-seeded Mississippi State erase a five-point deficit and the Bulldogs (15-13) won 74-73 over No. 8 seed Kentucky (9-16) in the second round . ... In other SEC second-round games, fifth-seeded Florida beat No. 12 seed Vanderbilt 69-63; seventh-seeded Missouri topped No. 10 seed Georgia 73-70 and No. 6 seed Mississippi downed 11thseeded South Carolina 76-59.