Category: Basketball

Basketball News

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Duke survives, beats UNC for third time

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.

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No. 2 Houston leans on its defense to shut down No. 17 BYU and return to Big 12 title game

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.

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No. 1 Duke holds off furious North Carolina rally to win 74-71, reach ACC title game without Flagg

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.

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No. 2 Houston shuts down No. 17 BYU for a 74-54 victory in Big 12 Tournament semifinals

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.

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Ejiofor powers No. 6 St. John’s past No. 25 Marquette 79-63 into 1st Big East final since 2000

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.

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Woods’ 20 lead Tulane over Florida Atlantic 83-76 in American Athletic Conference Tournament

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.

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Josh Hart says Knicks are ‘moving on’ from Draymond Green’s comments about Karl-Anthony Towns

The Knicks are in the Bay Area to take on the Golden State Warriors on Saturday in what will be the final game of their five-game West Coast road trip. While the game itself is enough for NBA fans to want to tune in, the controversy surrounding Draymond Green and his comments about Karl-Anthony Towns has added a layer of intrigue to the matchup.

The outspoken Warriors forward made news when he suggested Towns did not want to play Golden State when the two teams matched up last week at The Garden. On his podcast, Green said Towns wanted to avoid Jimmy Butler.

Of course, Towns missed that game due to the loss of a family friend. When Green was asked about his comments after Golden State's game against the Brooklyn Nets on March 7, Green was surprised and offered condolences but didn’t apologize for his baseless accusation.

Josh Hart was asked about Green’s comments Friday and said the team is ready to move on, but wishes the former Defensive Player of the Year was more responsible. 

“I think KAT handled it the right way,” Hart told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “For me, I have my own podcast and all that stuff. Whenever I’m wrong about something, I’ll sit there and say I was (wrong). For me, I wish he kind of did that - just apologized. You don’t got to be embarrassed or feel like apologizing is when you’re wrong isn’t manly. I wish he did. Now that’s in the past and we’re moving on.”

Bondy asked Towns earlier this week for his reaction, and the first-year Knick stayed positive.

“I choose to approach that with love and not hate. That’s all I really care about,” Towns said. “I hope no one has to go through what I went through and those kids—and what those kids had to go through. Losing a parent is tough."

The Knicks enter Saturday’s matchup with a 2-2 record on the road trip and hope to finish it on a high note without their captain, Jalen Brunson who is out for a few weeks due to an ankle sprain. Entering Friday, the Knicks (42-23) sit five games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.