Freshman guard Coby White ignited a second-half surge and finished with 21 points as third-ranked North Carolina defeated fourth-ranked Duke 79-70 Saturday night in Chapel Hill, N.C., to claim a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference title.
Mar 9, 2019; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Coby White (2) reacts in the second half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
North Carolina will be the second seed, and Duke will be the No. 3 seed for the ACC Tournament in Charlotte. There could be a semifinals rematch Friday night.
Senior guard Kenny Williams scored 18 points in his last home game; Cameron Johnson, another senior, netted 14 points, and Garrison Brooks tallied 10 points. Nassir Little scored all nine of his points in the first half for the Tar Heels.
RJ Barrett pumped in 26 points and Cam Reddish scored 17 of his 23 in the first half for Duke.
No. 2 Virginia 73, Louisville 68
The Cavaliers clinched a share of the ACC regular-season title with their win over the Cardinals in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers wrapped up their fourth regular-season conference title in the last six seasons ahead of next week’s ACC Tournament in Charlotte, where they are the defending champions. No. 3 North Carolina beat No. 4 Duke later Saturday to claim the other share of the regular-season championship.
Junior guard Ty Jerome led all scorers with 24 points and added six assists and four rebounds. Louisville (19-12, 10-8) gave the Cavaliers all they wanted as the Cardinals put four players in double figures led by Jordan Nwora, who scored 19 points.
Auburn 84, No. 5 Tennessee 80
Chuma Okeke scored 22 points and notched four steals to help the host Tigers upset the Volunteers in their Southeastern Conference matchup.
Jared Harper had 16 points and eight assists, and senior guard Bryce Brown also scored 16 points for the Tigers (22-9, 11-7).
Grant Williams had 25 points and nine rebounds for the Volunteers (27-4, 15-3).
No. 6 Kentucky 66, Florida 57
The Wildcats pulled away in the second half against the Gators in Lexington, Ky., as Tyler Herro scored 16 points.
With Tennessee losing to Auburn earlier Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats (26-5, 15-3 SEC) looked to claim a three-way share of the league title. But LSU beat Vanderbilt later Saturday night to spoil Kentucky’s hopes.
Sophomore forward PJ Washington added 15 points and nine rebounds for Kentucky. Freshman guards Keldon Johnson and Ashton Hagans each had 14 points. Senior center Kevarrius Hayes led the Gators (17-14, 9-9) with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
No. 9 Michigan State 75, No. 7 Michigan 63
Cassius Winston overcame a poor shooting night to score 23 points and lead the host Spartans over the Wolverines in East Lansing, Mich.
Michigan State (25-6, 16-4 Big Ten) clinched a share of the Big Ten championship with Purdue while locking up the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament. Michigan (26-5, 15-5) finished a game out of first place and will be the third seed in the conference tournament.
Winston also handed out seven assists for the Spartans while Xavier Tillman scored 17 and Kenny Goins had nine points and 16 rebounds. Ignas Brazdeikis scored 20 for the Wolverines, but he fouled out with 5:10 left in the game. Jordan Poole added 15 points.
No. 8 Texas Tech 80, Iowa State 73
Improved shooting fueled a timely run and led the Red Raiders past the Cyclones to earn a share of the Big 12 Conference championship for the first time in league history.
Brandone Francis drained a clutch 3-pointer with 3:37 to snap a 65-65 tie and Jarrett Culver followed with a basket for two of his game-high 31 points to supply enough breathing room to hold on for the win.
Davide Moretti continued to quietly operate as one of the Big 12’s off-the-radar standouts with 20 points and joined Culver with four 3-pointers as the Raiders finished 11 for 26 from outside the arc. Matt Mooney scored 13 and led Tech with five assists, while Tariq Owens snared 14 rebounds.
No. 10 LSU 80, Vanderbilt 59
Playing without suspended head coach Will Wade and two of its top four scorers, the Tigers routed the Commodores in Baton Rouge, La.
Tremont Waters scored 14 points and had eight assists as LSU (26-5, 16-2) captured its first outright regular-season SEC title since 2009. Vanderbilt was paced by Saben Lee with 16 points.
With the sellout crowd waving “Free Will Wade” signs, LSU easily dispatched Vanderbilt (9-22, 0-18), which lost its last 19 games of the season and was the first team since Georgia Tech in 1953-54 to go winless in SEC play.
No. 13 Kansas 78, Baylor 70
Dedric Lawson recorded his 20th double-double, posting 23 points and 14 rebounds as the Jayhawks got past the Bears in Lawrence, Kan.
Although the Jayhawks (23-8, 12-6 Big 12) were eliminated from the Big 12 title chase earlier in the week, they finished undefeated at home for the 21st time.
Freshman guard Devon Dotson and freshman center David McCormack added 15 and 12 points, respectively. Jared Butler led Baylor (19-12, 10-8) with 31 points.
No. 14 Florida State 65, Wake Forest 57
The Seminoles won their 12th game in 13 tries by closing out the regular-season schedule with a win over the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Guard Trent Forrest had 11 points and five assists for the Seminoles (25-6, 13-5 ACC). Senior forward Phil Cofer added nine points in the victory, which set a school record for conference wins since the Seminoles joined the ACC in 1992.
Wake Forest fell to 11-19 overall and 4-14 in ACC play. The Demon Deacons were paced by guard Brandon Childress, who scored a game-high 13 points. Wake Forest guard Chaundee Brown added 11 points.
Georgetown 86, No. 16 Marquette 84
James Akinjo racked up 25 points, five rebounds and five assists as the Hoyas denied the Golden Eagles a share of the Big East title.
The 16th-ranked Eagles (23-8, 12-6) could have pulled even with Villanova after the Wildcats lost to Seton Hall earlier in the afternoon. But they instead dropped their fourth straight heading into the conference tournament.
Mac McClung supplied 23 points for the Hoyas (19-12, 9-9), while Jessie Govan and Jamorko Pickett had 10 points apiece. Markus Howard’s 28 points led Marquette. Joey Hauser had 16 points, Sacar Anim added 12 and Brendan Bailey tossed in 11.
No. 17 Nevada 81, San Diego State 53
Caleb Martin recorded 25 points, seven assists and six rebounds and the Wolf Pack earned the top seed in next week’s Mountain West Conference tournament by blowing out the Aztecs in Reno, Nev.
Jordan Caroline added 16 points and 12 rebounds to extend his Mountain West double-double record to 45. Cody Martin scored 14 points and senior power forward Trey Porter added 13 for the Wolf Pack (28-3, 15-3). Senior guard Jeremy Hemsley scored 16 points for San Diego State (19-12, 11-7).
Nevada tied with Utah State for first place in the conference. The two teams split their regular-season matchups, but the Wolf Pack win the tiebreaker because they swept third-place Fresno State while the Aggies split with the Bulldogs.
No. 18 Kansas State 68, Oklahoma 53
The Wildcats got a combined 45 points from its three seniors to knock off the Sooners on Senior Day in Manhattan, Kan.
The victory gave the Wildcats a share of their first Big 12 regular-season title since they shared the 2013 title with Kansas. Texas Tech defeated Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, earlier to claim a share.
The Wildcats, who will be the No. 1 seed at next week’s Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, were led by Kamau Stokes with 19 points. Barry Brown added 15 and Dean Wade added 11. Kristian Doolittle led Oklahoma (19-12, 7-11) with 14 points, and Jamal Bieniemy added 12.
No. 22 Wofford 99, Virginia Military Institute 72
Six Terriers players scored in double figures as they opened Southern Conference Tournament play by trouncing the Keydets in the quarterfinals in Asheville, N.C.
Nathan Hoover led Wofford (27-4, 18-0) with 17 points, while Chevez Goodwin notched 14 and Keve Aluma added 12. The Terriers will play East Tennessee State in Sunday’s semifinals.
Bubba Parham, the conference’s leading scorer, notched 14 of his 22 points in the first half for VMI (11-21, 4-14).
Seton Hall 79, No. 23 Villanova 75
Myles Powell scored 20 points and Sandro Mamukelashvili added 12 points and 18 rebounds as the host Pirates toppled the Wildcats in Newark, N.J.
Seton Hall (18-12, 9-9 Big East) remained on the NCAA Tournament bubble while preventing Villanova (22-9, 13-5) from earning the outright conference regular-season title, but only until Marquette lost to Georgetown later in the day.
Myles Cale scored 19 points, Jared Rhoden had 15 and Michael Nzei delivered 10 for Seton Hall. Collin Gillespie led Villanova with 22 points, while Phil Booth scored 16, Saddiq Bey had 13 and Jermaine Samuels had 10.
Temple 67, No. 25 UCF 62
Guard Quinton Rose scored nine of his 11 points over the last nine minutes of the game to spark the Owls’ upset of the Knights in their American Athletic Conference game in Philadelphia.
Guard Shizz Alston Jr. scored 21 points to lead the Owls (23-8, 13-5), who moved into a tie for third place with the Knights (23-7, 13-5) and kept alive their hopes for a No. 3 seed in next week’s league tournament in Memphis.
Rose’s late heroics and Alston’s steady play overcame a huge game from UCF junior guard Aubrey Dawkins, the son of Knights coach Johnny Dawkins, who was a game-time decision to play after hurting his back two nights earlier. Dawkins scored a career-high 36 points.
Murray State 77, Belmont 65
The Racers punched the first ticket to this year’s NCAA Tournament by rallying to beat the Bruins in the Ohio Valley Conference championship game in Evansville, Ind.
Prized NBA prospect Ja Morant scored 36 points to help Murray State advance. The Racers trailed 31-26 at halftime but outscored Belmont 51-34 in the second half.
Murray State (27-4, 16-2) closed the game with 11 straight points against Belmont (26-5, 16-2).
—Field Level Media