Top 25 roundup: Zion, Duke outlast UNC in thriller

[March 16, 2019]  Zion Williamson scored off a rebound of his own missed shot with 30.3 seconds left as fifth-ranked Duke defeated third-ranked North Carolina 74-73 in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals Friday night in Charlotte, N.C.

North Carolina's Cameron Johnson was off the mark on a 3-pointer with 14 seconds to play. Duke's RJ Barrett missed two free throws at the 12.4-second mark, before a jumper from North Carolina's Coby White bounced away and an attempt for a tip-in failed.

Williamson finished with 31 points as Duke (28-5) avenged two regular-season losses. Barrett added 15 points and Tre Jones had 11 points.

Third-seeded Duke meets fourth-seeded Florida State in Saturday night's championship game. Duke won the lone regular-season meeting with the Seminoles. North Carolina fell to 27-6.

No. 12 Florida State 69, No. 2 Virginia 59

David Nichols scored 14 points off the bench as the Seminoles knocked off the Cavaliers in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals in Charlotte, N.C.

Phil Cofer added 11 points, while Trent Forrest and Mfiondu Kabengele each had 10 points for Florida State (27-6), which led for most of the game.

De'Andre Hunter (13 points), Kyle Guy (11 points) and Ty Jerome (10 points) paced Virginia (29-3), which was the defending tournament champion. The Cavaliers' only other two losses this season came to Duke.

No. 4 Kentucky 73, Alabama 55

Tyler Herro scored 20 points as the Wildcats won their SEC tournament opener over the Crimson Tide in the quarterfinals in Nashville, Tenn.

Kentucky (27-5), the tourney's No. 2 seed, had a bye through the tournament's first two rounds. The Wildcats will face No. 8 Tennessee in the second semifinal on Saturday.

The Crimson Tide, seeded 10th and a 62-57 winner against seventh-seeded Ole Miss in the second round Thursday, fell to 18-15.

No. 6 Michigan State 77, Ohio State 70

Freshman guard Foster Loyer scored a career-high 14 points and sparked the Spartans past the Buckeyes in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament in Chicago.

Michigan State (26-6), the tournament's top seed, advanced to Saturday's semifinals, where it will face No. 19 Wisconsin.

Loyer made his first four 3-pointers and played a career-best 18 minutes. Cassius Winston, named Big Ten Player of the Year this week, rebounded from a slow start to score 18 points while grabbing seven rebounds and handing out five assists. Matt McQuaid added 12 points for the Spartans. Ohio State fell to 19-14.

No. 8 Tennessee 83, Mississippi State 76

Guard Admiral Schofield scored 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting to lead the Volunteers over the Bulldogs in the SEC tournament quarterfinals at Nashville, Tenn.

Forward Kyle Alexander recorded 16 points and nine rebounds for third-seeded Tennessee (28-4). Forward Grant Williams added 16 points, point guard Jordan Bone had 14 points and nine assists, and guard Jordan Bowden scored 10 points.

Forward Aric Holman was 5 of 5 from 3-point range while scoring 20 points for sixth-seeded Mississippi State (23-10). Guard Quinndary Weatherspoon had 17 points, guard Lamar Peters added 15 points and four steals, and forward Reggie Perry contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Florida 76, No. 9 LSU 73

With his team's NCAA Tournament hopes still teetering, freshman point guard Andrew Nembhard sunk a 3-pointer with one second left to break a 73-73 tie, lifting the Gators over the Tigers in Nashville, Tenn.

Florida will face No. 22 Auburn in a semifinal Saturday. Nembhard led five Gators in double figures with 20 points as Florida (19-14) rallied back from down 10 points at halftime to pick up a win that should secure an NCAA Tournament berth.

Freshman forward Naz Reid led top-seeded LSU (26-6) with 26 points and 14 rebounds. With the Tigers down 73-70, Reid hit a 3-pointer to tie the score with 16 seconds left before Nembhard's big shot.

No. 10 Michigan 74, Iowa 53

Freshman Ignas Brazdeikis led five players in double figures with 15 points, and the Wolverines romped past the Hawkeyes in Chicago.

Michigan (27-5), the third seed, won the last two conference tournaments and looked poised for a three-peat during a dominating performance. The Wolverines will play seventh-seeded Minnesota in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon.

Luka Garza and Tyler Cook had 14 points apiece for sixth-seeded Iowa (22-11).

No. 11 Houston 84, Connecticut 45

Corey Davis Jr. scored 22 points and the Cougars used a 45-20 second half to destroy the ninth-seeded Huskies in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Memphis.

Top-seeded Houston (30-2) held UConn without a field goal for nearly 13 minutes in the second half to turn a 14-point halftime lead into a laugher. UConn ends its season at 16-17.

Three other players finished in double figures for Houston: Galen Robinson (16 points), Armoni Brooks (11 points, eight rebounds) and Nate Hinton (15).

Minnesota 75, No. 13 Purdue 73

Senior Jordan Murphy had 27 points and eight rebounds to lead the Golden Gophers past the Boilermakers in Chicago, removing all doubt about Minnesota's shot at an NCAA Tournament bid.

Murphy's personal 5-0 run gave Minnesota a 74-71 lead with 1:17 to play. After the teams traded free throws, Purdue had one last chance to win, but junior Carsen Edwards missed a 3-pointer as time expired.

The Gophers (21-12) advanced to Saturday's semifinals, while regular-season co-champion Purdue (23-9) will await its NCAA Tournament seeding.

San Diego State 65, No. 14 Nevada 56

Devin Watson scored 20 points to lead the Aztecs over the Wolf Pack in a Mountain West Conference tournament semifinal game at Las Vegas.

Fourth-seeded San Diego State (21-12) beat top-seeded Nevada (29-4) for the fourth time in the past five meetings and kept the Wolf Pack from a school-record 30th win.

The Aztecs will play second-seeded Utah State on Saturday for the Mountain West tournament championship, after the Aggies routed third-seeded Fresno State later Friday evening.

Iowa State 63, No. 15 Kansas State 59

Marial Shayok hit back-to-back three-point baskets to erase a three-point deficit and give the Cyclones a three-point lead, which was enough to beat the Wildcats in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship at Kansas City, Mo.

Shayok scored 21 points for fifth-seeded Iowa State (22-11), which will play third-seeded and 17th-ranked Kansas in Saturday's championship game.

Iowa State will be looking to extend its perfect record in Big 12 Championship finals to 5-0. The Cyclones trailed 55-50 with 2:47 left, before closing the game on a 13-4 run. Kansas State fell to 25-8.

No. 17 Kansas 88, West Virginia 74

Forward Dedric Lawson scored 24 points, and guard Quentin Grimes added 18 before leaving with a second-half injury as the Jayhawks thumped the Mountaineers at Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas (25-8), the No. 3 seed, will bid to repeat as tournament champion Saturday against Iowa State. Both schools have captured three Big 12 tournament championships the past six years.

Point guard Devon Dotson added 13 points and six assists as the Jayhawks reached their 14th Big 12 tournament final. West Virginia fell to 14-20.

No. 18 Buffalo 85, Central Michigan 81

Senior guard CJ Massinburg scored 21 points, and junior guard Davonta Jordan added 16 points as the Bulls survived a scare to defeat the Chippewas and advance to the Mid-American Conference championship game at Cleveland.

Buffalo, the conference's top-seeded team, will face third-seeded Bowling Green for the tournament championship on Saturday.

Senior forward Nick Perkins scored 14 points as the Bulls trailed the first 11:49 of the second half, finally taking the lead on a follow-up layup by Montell McRae for a 69-68 advantage. After trading buckets, Buffalo (30-3) never trailed again. Central Michigan fell to 23-11.

No. 19 Wisconsin 66, Nebraska 62

The Badgers held off the Cornhuskers in a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal in Chicago, advancing to meet Michigan State in the semifinals.

The magical run ended for Tim Miles and Nebraska (18-16). Entering the game against fourth-seeded Wisconsin, the Cornhuskers were rolling, having won two games in two days to rekindle some postseason hope around the program.

But a final surge from the Badgers (23-9), sparked by a D'Mitrik Trice 3-pointer with 58 seconds left in the game, offset Nebraska's late run.

No. 22 Auburn 73, South Carolina 64

Jared Harper gave the Tigers the lead for good on a layup with 15:43 remaining in the game, and they withstood several challenges before pulling away from the Gamecocks in Nashville, Tenn.

Auburn (24-9), the fifth seed in the tournament, remained tied with South Carolina (16-16) at 42-all in the fifth minute of the second period before Harper's layup. The fourth-seeded Gamecocks were able to get within a point on subsequent occasions.

But Harper dropped in another layup, and Danjel Purifoy buried a 3-pointer for a six-point lead with 7:30 to play, and the Tigers were never seriously threatened after that.

Seton Hall 81, No. 23 Marquette 79

Junior guard Myles Powell scored 18 of his 22 points after halftime to spark a balanced attack and lead the Pirates past the Golden Eagles in a Big East tournament semifinal at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Third-seeded Seton Hall (20-12) advanced to face No. 25 and top tournament seed Villanova in the tournament championship game on Saturday night, as Marquette's Markus Howard missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

Howard hurt his left wrist in the first half and finished just 1 of 15 from the field. He still managed 21 points for Marquette (24-9) by going 18 of 24 from the line. The chippy game featured a combined eight technical fouls and 85 free throws.

No. 24 Cincinnati 82, SMU 74

Jarron Cumberland poured in 26 points, and Tre Scott added 17 points and 12 rebounds as the Bearcats came from behind to beat the short-handed Mustangs in the American Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals in Memphis.

Cincinnati (26-6), the second seed, will play sixth-seeded Wichita State, an 80-74 winner over Temple on Friday, in the semis Saturday afternoon. SMU, the 10th seed, ends its season at 15-17.

The game was tied at 66 with just under five minutes to play, but the final two and a half minutes belonged to the Bearcats. Cumberland had a three-point play and then added a free throw with 1:11 left to push the Cincinnati lead to 76-68, more than enough to carry the Bearcats to the finish line.

No. 25 Villanova 71, Xavier 67 (OT)

Phil Booth scored 28 points, and Jermaine Samuels drilled key 3-pointers late in regulation and overtime to propel the Wildcats over the Musketeers at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Fourth-seeded Xavier (18-15) missed a pair of tying 3-point attempts in the final nine seconds, as the Wildcats (24-9) earned their fifth successive trip to the conference tournament championship game.

Samuels had 17 points and nine rebounds for Villanova. Eric Paschall (12 points) and Saddiq Bey (10) also finished in double figures.

--Field Level Media

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