Top 25 roundup: No. 3 North Carolina beats No. 4 Duke for share of ACC title
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Freshman Coby White scored 21 points and third-ranked North Carolina hung on to beat fourth-ranked Duke 79-70 on Saturday for a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship with No. 2 Virginia.
Senior Kenny Williams scored a season-high 18 points for the Tar Heels (26-5, 16-2). They led by 15 with about 6 1/2 minutes left but had to hold off a rally from their fiercest rival – who played yet again without injured freshman star Zion Williamson. Duke lost starting big man Marques Bolden early in this one, too.
The Tar Heels bumbled their way to the finish after building their big lead, letting the Blue Devils (26-5, 14-4) get as close as 75-70 on RJ Barrett’s 3-pointer with 2:19 left. Ultimately UNC held on, earning its first regular-season sweep of the Blue Devils since 2009. Barrett scored 26 points for Duke.
No. 2 Virginia 83, Louisville 68
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Ty Jerome scored 24 points, including the go-ahead free throw with 5:34 remaining, and Virginia held off Louisville 73-68 on Saturday to wrap up the top seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Virginia (28-2, 16-2) tied North Carolina for the regular-season title, but got the top seed by virtue of its victory at UNC on Feb. 11.
Kyle Guy added 13 points and Jay Huff also made huge contributions at both ends to help Virginia win its eighth in a row.
Jordan Nwora scored 19 points for the Cardinals (19-12, 10-8).
Auburn 84, No. 5 Tennessee 80
AUBURN, Ala. – Jared Harper made four straight free throws over the final 31 seconds to help Auburn beat Tennessee in its regular-season finale.
Chuma Okeke led Auburn (22-9, 11-7 Southeastern Conference) with 22 points.
Grant Williams had 25 points and nine rebounds for the Vols (27-4, 15-3). They could have clinched at least a share of the SEC regular-season title with a victory, but lost out when No. 10 LSU beat Vanderbilt.
No. 6 Kentucky 66, Florida 57
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tyler Herro scored 16 points and led a big second-half run that helped Kentucky overcome Florida.
The Wildcats (26-5, 15-3 Southeastern Conference) went back and forth with the Gators (17-14, 9-9) early in the second half and trailed 40-39 with 13:46 remaining. Herro had six points during a 15-2 spree, hitting a couple of shots in the lane and adding two free throws, to give Kentucky a 54-42 advantage. The Wildcats capped the seven-minute burst by scoring 10 straight points.
PJ Washington added 15 points for Kentucky. Kevarrius Hayes had 19 points for Florida.
No, 9 Michigan State 75, No. 7 Michigan 63
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Cassius Winston started slow and finished strong, scoring 23 points to help Michigan State beat Michigan.
The Spartans (25-6, 16-4) earned a share of the Big Ten title and top seeding in the conference tournament.
The Wolverines (26-5, 15-5) will be seeded third in Chicago after falling to third place behind their rivals and No. 11 Purdue.
Michigan State’s Xavier Tillman scored 17 points and blocked five shots.
No. 8 Texas Tech 80, Iowa State 73
AMES, Iowa – Jarrett Culver scored a career-high 31 points, Davide Moretti added 20 and Texas Tech beat Iowa State to wrap a share of its first Big 12 regular-season title.
Texas Tech tied Kansas State for the title.
Matt Mooney added 13 points for the Red Raiders (26-5, 14-4 Big 12), winners of nine straight heading into the postseason. Their last league crown came in the defunct Southwestern Conference in 1996.
Lindell Wigginton and Marial Shayok each scored 17 points for the Cyclones (20-11, 9-9).
No. 10 LSU 80, Vanderbilt 59
BATON ROUGE, La. – Tremont Waters had 14 points and eight assists and LSU won the Southeastern Conference regular-season title with a victory over Vanderbilt in the Tigers’ first game without suspended head coach Will Wade.
Darius Days scored a season-high 15 points and Marshall Graves had a season-high 12 – all on 3-pointers – for LSU (26-5, 16-2).
The game came a day after Wade’s indefinite suspension in the wake of published excerpts of a wire-tapped phone call between the coach and a man convicted last year in federal court of funneling illegal payments to the families of college basketball recruits.
Vanderbilt (9-22, 0-18) became the first team to go winless in the SEC since former league member Georgia Tech in 1954, and the first ever to do so with an 18-game conference schedule.
No. 11 Purdue 70, Northwestern 57
EVANSTON, Ill. – Carsen Edwards scored 21 points and Purdue clinched a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship.
The Boilermakers (23-8, 16-4) secured the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament in Chicago and a share of their second regular-season title in three years. They tied with Michigan State, a winner over Michigan on Saturday night.
A.J. Turner scored 14 points for the last-place Wildcats (13-18, 4-16). Vic Law had 13 before getting carried off the court with an apparent leg injury in the second half.
No. 14 Florida State 65, Wake Forest 57
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Trent Forrest scored 11 points and Florida State reeled off 18 straight points in the second half.
The Seminoles (25-6, 13-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won 12 of their last 13 games.
Brandon Childress scored 13 points for the Demon Deacons (11-19, 4-14).
Georgetown 86, No. 16 Marquette 84
MILWAUKEE – James Akinjo scored 25 points, Mac McClung added 23 and Georgetown beat Marquette, the Golden Eagles’ fourth straight loss to close the regular season.
Jamorko Pickett and Jessie Govan each added 10 points for the Hoyas (18-13, 9-9 Big East)
Markus Howard led Marquette (23-8, 12-6) with 28 points, and Joey Hauser added 16. The Golden Eagles missed a chance to tie Villanova for the conference title.
No. 17 Nevada 81, San Diego State 53
RENO, Nevada – Caleb Martin scored 25 points and twin brother Cody added 14 to lead Nevada to a share of the Mountain West title with Utah State.
The Martin twins combined to shoot 12 of 19 and Nevada (28-3, 15-3 Mountain West) finished at 53.1 percent as a team. Jordan Caroline had 16 points and Trey Porter had 13 as the Wolfpack finished with a perfect regular-season home record (15-0).
Jeremy Hemsley led San Diego State (19-12, 11-7) with 16 points.
No. 18 Kansas State 68, Oklahoma 53
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kamau Stokes scored 19 points and Kansas State eat Oklahoma for a share of the Big 12 regular-season title.
Barry Brown added 15 points, Dean Wade had 11 and the Wildcats (24-7, 14-4) finished atop the conference for the second time in 42 years. Kansas State shared the title with Texas Tech.
Kristian Doolittle scored 14 points for the Sooners (19-12, 7-11).
No. 22 Wofford 99, VMI 72
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Nathan Hoover scored 17 points and Wofford extended its school-record winning streak to 18 games, beating VMI in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament.
Fletcher Magee, the Southern Conference Player of the Year, was limited to 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting for Wofford (27-4). He made two 3-pointers, moving within 13 of breaking the NCAA Division I record of 504 career 3s held by Travis Bader of Oakland.
Wofford will face ETSU in semifinals.
Bubba Parham led the Keydets (11-21) with 22 points.
Seton Hall 79, No. 23 Villanova 75
NEWARK, N.J. – Myles Powell scored 20 points, Myles Cale added 19 and Seton Hall upset Villanova, three days after knocking off No. 16 Marquette to revive its chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament.
Seton Hall (18-12, 9-9), picked to finish eighth in the 10-team conference in the preseason poll, has exceeded all expectations playing with lone senior Michael Nzei. Jared Rhoden had a career-high 15 points.
Villanova (22-9, 13-5) came into the game needing a win to clinch its fifth outright title in six years. Despite the loss, the Wildcats won the crown and the No. 1 seed in next week’s tournament when Georgetown beat Marquette.
Collin Gillespie had 22 points for Villanova.
Temple 67, No. 25 Central Florida 62
PHILADELPHIA – Shizz Alston Jr. scored 21 points, Justyn Hamilton tied a career high with 13 and Temple beat Central Florida in Owls coach Fran Dunphy’s final home game before he steps down at the end of the season.
Quinton Rose broke a 52-all tie with a highlight-reel slam over Dayon Griffin with 4:12 remaining. Rose scored nine of his 11 points in the second half for the Owls (23-8, 13-5 American Athletic Conference).
Aubrey Dawkins led UCF (23-7, 13-5) with a career-high 36 points.