Category: NCAA Basketball

North Carolina nearly completed a comeback from a 24-point deficit against top-ranked Duke in the ACC tournament, only to see it slip away on the most unusual of mistakes. With the Tar Heels trailing by one with 4.1 seconds left, Jae'Lyn Withers committed a lane violation to negate Ven-Allen Lubin's tying free throw. The Blue Devils then closed out a 74-71 win in Friday night's semifinals.

Christian Ings scored 19 points and top-seeded Norfolk State held off No. Morgan State 58-55 Friday night to earn a spot in Saturday's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament championship game. The Spartans will face second-seeded South Carolina State, which beat sixth-seeded North Carolina Central, in Saturday's championship contest.

Wright shot 7 for 16 (3 for 11 from 3-point range) and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line for the Mean Green (24-7). Jasper Floyd added 11 points while shooting 3 of 5 from the field and 4 for 4 from the line while they also had five assists. Brenen Lorient had 10 points and shot 4 of 7 from the field and 2 of 4 from the free-throw line.

North Carolina had a prime chance to strengthen its case for March Madness. Instead the Tar Heels crumbled again and should miss the NCAA Tournament.

As good as Duke’s first half was, the Blue Devils’ second half was nearly a disaster. Duke survived North Carolina’s second-half rally to win 74-71 in an ACC tournament semifinal game on Friday night at Spectrum Center. Duke (30-3) will face the winner of Friday night’s second semifinal, which is between 2-seed Louisville and 3-seed Clemson.

UNC lost its game against Duke, and possibly an NCAA tournament berth, in one of the worst ways possible.

Houston was forced to play BYU in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals without injured big man J'Wan Roberts. Turns out the second-ranked Cougars still had plenty of guys capable of playing some defense. Whether it was Big 12 player of the year LJ Cryer making life miserable for BYU guard Richie Saunders, or the length of Milos Uzan disrupting passes on the perimeter, coach Kelvin Sampson's team simply shut down a bunch from Provo, Utah, that had set a Big 12 Tournament record with 18 3-pointers and piled up 96 points in a quarterfinal win over Iowa State.

Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke held off a furious second half rally by North Carolina to beat its rival for the third time this season, 74-71 on Friday night to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game. Khaman Maluach added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Sion James had 12 points for the Blue Devils, who played without star Cooper Flagg. Duke (30-3) will play the winner of the second semifinal between No. 10 Clemson and No. 13 Louisville in the title game.

Tony and Andrew analyze the setbacks Michigan Wolverines basketball has been contending with as the team heads into the Big Ten tournament.

Emanuel Sharpe scored 26 points, LJ Cryer had 20 and second-ranked Houston stifled No. 17 BYU in a 74-54 victory Friday night that moved the Cougars into the Big 12 Tournament championship game for the second consecutive season. Milos Uzan added 14 points and Mylik Wilson pulled down 13 rebounds, helping the tournament's top seed jump to a big early lead and roll into Saturday night's matchup with ninth-ranked Texas Tech or Arizona on a 12-game win streak. Houston (29-4) played without J'Wan Roberts, its leading rebounder, after he sprained his ankle early in the second half of the Cougars' quarterfinal win over Colorado.

Zuby Ejiofor scored a career-high 33 points, a St. John's record in the Big East Tournament, and the sixth-ranked Red Storm pulled away from No. 25 Marquette 79-63 on Friday night to reach the conference championship game for the first time in 25 years. Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. added 13 points and Ejiofor grabbed nine rebounds as the top-seeded Red Storm (29-4) wiped out an early 15-point deficit. Kadary Richmond had 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for St. John's, which has won eight straight — and 18 of 19 since the new year.

Rodney Rice scored 26 points, Derik Queen had 19 points and 10 rebounds and No. 11 Maryland routed No. 24 Illinois 88-65 on Friday night in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. The Terrapins (25-7) will face the winner of the late quarterfinal between Michigan and Purdue in the semifinals. Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 12 points and nine assists for Maryland.

Dejour Reaves had 23 points in Iona's 81-73 victory over top-seeded Quinnipiac on Friday in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament. Reaves added six rebounds for the Gaels (17-16). Adam Njie scored 21 points while going 6 of 13 from the floor, including 1 for 3 from 3-point range, and 8 for 8 from the line and added six assists.

Wisconsin Badgers vs. Michigan State Spartans Game Preview

Asher Woods had 20 points in Tulane's 83-76 win against Florida Atlantic on Friday in the American Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals. Woods shot 6 for 10 (2 for 3 from 3-point range) and 6 of 8 from the free-throw line for the Green Wave (19-13). Kaleb Banks added 17 points while shooting 7 for 11 (3 for 4 from 3-point range) and 0 of 3 from the free-throw line while he also had five rebounds.