No. 1 Blue Devils Struggle In Conquering Virginia
Top 25
A new year brought more struggles for Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Overcoming a first half in which they missed 16 of their last 19 field-goal attempts and shot 35 percent, the top-ranked Blue Devils (28-2) overpowered Virginia (11-19) in the second half for a 63-41 victory Thursday night in Greensboro, N.C.
Duke forced turnovers on seven of Virginia’s first eight possessions in the second half and converted them into eight points, fueling an 11-0 run that sent the Blue Devils into Saturday’s semifinals.
UNLV 54, (5) Utah 51
Tyrone Nesby hit a 3-pointer with 1:24 left to give the Runnin’ Rebels (17-12) the lead, then sealed the win with a pair of free throws as they upset the Utes (25-3) in the Western Athletic Conference tournament at Las Vegas.
(6) Connecticut 64, Providence 55
The top-seeded Huskies (27-4) overcame a bad shooting performance by closing the game with a 13-4 run to beat the Friars (12-16) in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament in New York.
The Huskies will play Rutgers (14-14), which upset Georgetown 61-60, in tonight’s semifinals.
(13) TCU 71, SMU 69
Lee Nailon had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the the Horned Frogs (27-4) extended their winning streak to 16 games by defeating the Mustangs (18-10) in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Las Vegas.
(14) Cincinnati 64, Louisville 50
Kenyon Martin intimidated the Cardinals (12-20) with above-the-rim blocks and blunted their second-half rallies with clutch baskets, leading the Bearcats (24-5) to victory in the Conference USA tournament in Cincinnati.
(20) New Mexico 60, Tulsa 59
Also at Las Vegas, freshman Kevin Henry, playing because of an injury to Royce Olney, hit a trio of 3-pointers to get the Lobos (22-6) back in the game, then a final one with 21 seconds left to give them a win over the Golden Hurricane (19-12) in the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
(22) Syracuse 69, Villanova 66
The second-seeded Orangemen (23-7) didn’t have a field goal over the final 4:13 but were 6 of 6 from the free throw line in the last 37 seconds to hold off the Wildcats (12-17) in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament in New York.
(24) Temple 76, St. Joseph’s 52
The Owls (21-7) got 17 points from freshman guard Lynn Greer and a career-high 11 from Keaton Sanders as their bench outscored the Hawks (11-17) 36-3 to gain a win in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament in Philadelphia.
Elsewhere
Navy 93, Lafayette 85
At Annapolis, Md., Skip Victor’s steal and layup with 1:22 left gave Navy the lead and the Midshipmen (19-10) held on to win the Patriot League championship with a victory over the Leopards (19-9).
Navy won its third title in five years.