Duke Clinches Tie For Top Seed In Acc

Top 25

It didn’t matter to Jeff Capel that a freshman also played a starring role on senior night.

Capel bid farewell to Cameron Indoor Stadium with 18 points, and Mike Chappell gave No. 7 Duke a glimpse of the future with 10 points in an 81-69 victory over No. 16 Maryland on Thursday night in Durham, N.C.

Getting over a mistake-riddled first half, the Blue Devils (23-6, 12-3) clinched at least a tie for the top seed in next week’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

(4) Utah 68, Texas-El Paso 55

Andre Miller and Keith Van Horn each scored 12 points as the No. 4 Utes beat the Miners in Salt Lake City.

Utah (22-3, 14-1 Western Athletic Conference) used strong runs on both sides of intermission to put the Miners (12-13, 5-10) away.

(9) Cincinnati 80, Marquette 74

Danny Fortson scored 26 points and the ninth-ranked Bearcats (24-5, 12-1 Conference USA) seriously damaged the Eagles’ (17-8, 8-5) NCAA hopes with an 80-74 victory in Milwaukee.

(11) New Mexico 90, BYU 48

The Lobos defeated the Cougars 90-48 in Provo, Utah. New Mexico (22-5, 11-4) held BYU (1-24 overall, 0-15 Western Athletic Conference) scoreless for the first 5-1/2 minutes of the second half while scoring 17 points to open a 55-25 lead.

(14) Xavier 83, St. Bonaventure 59

Darnell Williams, one of Xavier’s most valuable defensive players, scored all of his 16 points in the first half as the 14th-ranked Musketeers rolled to an 83-59 victory over the Bonnies in Cincinnati.

Williams had nine points during a 21-5 spurt that put Xavier (21-4, 12-3 Atlantic 10) in control.

(20) Charleston 89, Centenary 71

Stacy Harris scored 22 points to lead the No. 20 Cougars to an 89-71 victory over the Gentlemen in the first round of the Trans America Athletic Conference in Charleston, S.C.

Notable

Northern Kentucky’s Paul Cluxton set an NCAA record Thursday in Edwardsville, Ill., by making his 75th straight free throw.

Mike Hall of Adams State had held the record of 74 straight since 1992.