Frosh Williamson powers Duke to ACC crown, likely No. 1 seed
Freshman Zion Williamson scored 21 points as fifthranked Duke found the necessary energy to finish off another run through the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, winning 73-63 against No. 12 Florida State on Saturday night in Charlotte, N.C.
Duke collected its ACCrecord 21st tournament championship, winning the title for the second time in three years. It was the fifth time the Blue Devils won the championship in Charlotte.
With Williamson returning following a three-week layoff because of a sprained knee suffered Feb. 20, the Blue Devils clicked at times in winning three games in three days. They’re likely in line for a No. 1 regional seed when those are revealed Sunday.
Freshmen accounted for all but six of Duke’s points, with Tre Jones pouring in 18, RJ Barrett finishing with 17 and Cam Reddish adding 11.
Mfiondu Kabengele scored 14 points and Terance Mann added 12 to pace Florida State (27-7), which was aiming for its first tournament crown since 2012. The Seminoles had lost since just once since a 1-4 start in league play.
Third-seeded Duke (29-5) had the challenge of regenerating the energy level after an emotional one-point semifinal victory against North Carolina in Friday night’s late semifinal. Fourth-seeded Florida State was trying to knock off two top-five teams in consecutive days after dismissing second-ranked Virginia. SEC >> Lamonte Turner made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 31 seconds left and No. 8 Tennessee held on to defeat No. 4 Kentucky 82-78 in the semifinals of the SEC tournament
in Nashville, Tenn.
The third-seeded Volunteers (29-4) will play No. 22-ranked and fifth-seeded Auburn, which defeated eighth-seeded Florida in Saturday’s other semifinal, in the tournament title game. The second-seeded Wildcats are 27-6.
Admiral Schofield scored 21 points, Grant Williams had 20 and Jordan Bone added 18 to lead Tennessee.
Kentucky led by eight points with less than three minutes remaining, but Williams scored five straight points.
BIG TEN >> Cassius Winston scored a game-high 21 points and dished out six assists despite an ankle injury as No. 6 Michigan State led wire-to-wire in a 67-55 defeat of No. 19 Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament in Chicago.
Kenny Goins added a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double for the topseeded Spartans (27-6), who will meet rival Michigan for the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Xavier Tillman chipped in 17 points.
Ethan Happ scored 20 points to pace the fourthseeded Badgers (23-10), who are expected to earn an atlarge berth when the NCAA field is announced.
BIG EAST >> A 7-0 run late in the second half enabled No.
25 Villanova to hold off Seton Hall 74-72 for the Big East Tournament championship at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Eric Paschall scored 17 points to lead four players in double figures for the top-seeded Wildcats (259), who earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. AMERICAN EAST >> Anthony Lamb scored 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Vermont over UMBC 66-49 in the America East championship game in Burlington, Vt. It was a rematch of the 2018 conference title game.
MEAC >> North Carolina Central beat Norfolk State 5047 to the capture the MidEastern Athletic Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It will be the third straight NCAA Tournament appearance for NC Central (18-15). MOUNTAIN WEST >> Tournament MVP Sam Merrill poured in 24 points to lead second-seeded Utah State to a 64-57 victory over fourth-seeded San Diego State in the Mountain West tournament title game at Las Vegas.
Neemias Queta added 17 points and eight rebounds as the Aggies (28-6) won for the 17th time in 18 games to earn an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 2011.
SWAC >> Gary Blackston and Dennis Jones scored 17 points apiece in Birmingham, Ala., to help topseeded Prairie View A&M (22-12) down second-seeded Texas Southern 92-86 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament title contest, and claim the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998.
BIG SKY >> Sayeed Pridgett scored 18 points as topseeded Montana (26-8) defeated third-seeded Eastern Washington 68-62 to win the Big Sky tournament title at Boise, Idaho, and reach the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. CONFERENCE USA >> Xavier Green sank three 3-pointers and scored 16 points to lead top-seeded Old Dominion past second-seeded Western Kentucky 62-56 in the Conference USA tournament final at Frisco, Texas. Old Dominion (26-8) is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC >> No. 11 Houston survived a second-half onslaught from host Memphis to secure a 61-58 victory in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament, despite a field-goal drought that lasted the final 9:56 of the game.
The top-seeded Cougars, who will play secondseeded Cincinnati in today’s title game, improved to 31-2. The fifth-seeded Tigers dropped to 21-13. The Bearcats, ranked 24th in the nation, topped sixthseeded Wichita State 66-63 in the other semifinal. DUNLEAVY SR. OUT AT TULANE >> Tulane fired head coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. after a 4-27 season. Dunleavy, 64, compiled a 2469 record in three seasons with the Green Wave.