Duke and Texas Tech advance.
BOSTON — Chris Beard has done it to Purdue again.
The Texas Tech coach knocked the Boilermakers out of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years, this time leading the third-seeded Red Raiders to a 78-65 victory in the Sweet 16.
Keenan Evans scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, when Texas Tech scored 11 straight points to pull away.
The Red Raiders (27-9) will play No. 1 seed Villanova on Sunday in the East regional final for a spot in the Final Four.
The Wildcats advanced earlier Friday night with a 90-78 victory over West Virginia.
Beard is in his second year in Lubbock after leaving Arkansas-Little Rock, where he led the Trojans to a double overtime upset over fifth-seeded Purdue in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
This time, No. 2 seed Purdue (30-7) was hoping to join Villanova in the Elite Eight, getting 30 points from Carsen Edwards and 12 points and 13 rebounds from Vincent Edwards. But Beard was in their way again. Texas Tech trailed for most of the first before scoring the last 10 points of the half to turn a five-point deficit into a 30-25 lead.
The Red Raiders led 58-55 with 5:44 left when Evans hit two free throws and then a three pointer to start an 11-0 run that put the game away.
Purdue star center Isaac Haas, the team’s No. 2 scorer and rebounder, could only be a cheerleader — and a one-armed cheerleader, at that.
After breaking his right elbow in the firstround game against Cal State-Fullerton, he tried to convince Painter he could play; the Purdue engineering department even pitched in, designing a special brace for his right arm.
But Haas remained on the bench, replaced by Matt Haarms, a redshirt freshman who at 7-foot-3 measures an inch taller but at 40 pounds lighter is hardly the force under the basket of that his senior teammate has been.
Haarms finished with four points and three rebounds.
NO. 2 DUKE 69, NO. 11 SYRACUSE 65
In Omaha, Neb., Duke found a way to crack Syracuse’s zone defense, and now the Blue Devils are back in the Elite Eight for the first time since the 2015 team won it all.
Gary Trent Jr., made two clutch free throws with 6.3 seconds left to help second-seeded Duke hold off the 11th-seeded Orange in a 69-65 chess match of a victory in the Midwest Region semifinals Friday night.
All that talk about busted brackets and the maddest March ever — not happening in the Midwest.
The win by Duke (29-7) set up a 1 vs. 2 showdown Sunday against Kansas, which also escaped with a four-point win earlier against Clemson.
Syracuse (23-14), the last at-large team invited to the tournament, saw its unlikely run to the Sweet 16 end — unable to overcome 16 turnovers against a Mike Krzyzewski-designed zone that was every bit as pesky as Jim Boeheim’s vaunted 2-3.
Krzyzewski tore off his jacket and threw it to the floor, frustrated after calling a timeout early in the second half.
“It set the tone for me,” he said. “You could see. I coach,’em, so I could see, they were real young. They had young looks. Thank goodness they got out of it.”
Syracuse was looking for a near-repeat of two seasons ago when it made the Final Four as a 10 seed.
This year, the Orange was an 11, but the Elite Eight already has one of those — Loyola-Chicago in the South.
Syracuse is no typical 11, and this was a zonecentric battle of wits between two of the most renowned coaches in the game.
No lead ever reached double digits, and not until Trent Jr. swished his free throws was the game sealed for Duke.
Freshman Marvin Bagley III scored 13 of his 22 points and had all eight of his rebounds in the second half. Seven of those boards were on the offensive end and led to second-chance baskets.
Tyus Battle led the Orange with 19 points.