Wells helps Maryland upset Duke
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Dez Wells slapped the floor – and knocked No. 2 Duke out of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Wells scored a career-high 30 points and Maryland upset the Blue Devils 83-74 on Friday night in the ACC tournament quarterfinals.
Wells was 9 of 13 from the field and 10 of 10 from the free throw line to lead the seventh-seeded Terrapins (22-11).
In delivering the first big shocker of the week in Greensboro, they never trailed, held the league’s best team from 3-point range to 4-of-25 shooting from beyond the arc, and bolstered their NCAA tournament credentials with their second straight win over Duke.
Mason Plumlee had 19 points to lead the second-seeded Blue Devils (27-5), whose quest for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament took a jolt.
Syracuse 58, Georgetown 55: Brandon Triche scored the go-ahead basket early in overtime and No. 19 Syracuse advanced to the Big East championship game with a 58-55 victory over No. 5 Georgetown on Friday night in the final conference clash of their storied heavyweight rivalry.
The fifth-seeded Orange (26-8) will make their 15th appearance in the tournament title game and go for their sixth crown Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Triche, James Southerland and backup center Baye Moussa Keita all had 13 points for Syracuse, trying to close its Big East tenure with one more championship before bolting for the ACC next season.
Miami 69, Boston College 58: Shane Larkin scored 20 points and Miami pulled away to beat Boston College, 69-58, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Kenny Kadji added 15 points and Trey McKinney Jones finished with 12 for the top-seeded Hurricanes (25-6).
They withstood a serious scare from eighth-seeded BC (16-17), letting an early 13-point lead disappear before making all the plays down the stretch to avoid becoming the ACC’s first No. 1 seed to lose its tournament opener since 1997.
Patrick Heckmann finished with 15 points for the Eagles. His 3-pointer with 3½ minutes left tied it at 55.
Indiana 80, Illinois 64: Cody Zeller scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Indiana past Illinois, 80-64, in the Big Ten quarterfinals.
The top-seeded Hoosiers (27-5) are off to a good start after claiming their first outright conference title in two decades and earning a first-round bye.
They took control midway through the first half and withstood a mild push in the second, avenging a two-point loss at Illinois (22-12) last month. That set up a matchup with Michigan or Wisconsin in Saturday’s semifinals.
Wisconsin 68, Michigan 59: Ben Brust scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half and Wisconsin knocked off Michigan, 68-59.
Traevon Jackson had 16 points for the Badgers (22-10), who will play top-seeded Indiana in the semifinals on Saturday. Ryan Evans added 12 points, six rebounds and six assist.
Trey Burke had 19 points and seven assists for Michigan (26-7), but the Big Ten player of the year was 8 for 22 from the field. Tim Hardaway Jr. shook off a leg injury in the first half and finished with 14 points and nine boards.
Ohio State 71, Nebraska 50: DeShaun Thomas and Sam Thompson had 19 points apiece, helping Ohio State rout Nebraska, 71-50, in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals on Friday night.
The Buckeyes turned a close game into a runaway with an impressive 30-5 spree spanning halftime that included a little bit of everything. LaQuinton Ross connected on three consecutive 3-pointers, Aaron Craft made a couple of nifty passes and Thompson had two jams to go along with a 3-pointer.
Kansas 88, Iowa State 73: Perry Ellis scored a career-high 23 points, and seventh-ranked Kansas pulled away in the second half to beat Iowa State, 88-73, and reach the Big 12 tournament title game.
Jeff Withey and Elijah Johnson added 14 points each, and Ben McLemore finished with 10 for the top-seeded Jayhawks (28-5), who advanced to play No. 11 Kansas State or No. 14 Oklahoma State tonight for its sixth Big 12 tournament championship.
Florida 80, LSU 58: Erik Murphy scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds to help Florida take the first step toward trying to add a Southeastern Conference tournament title to their regular season championship by beating LSU, 80-58.
Ninth-seeded LSU (19-12) tried to keep up with the rested Gators but looked a step slow with too many shots just short a day after beating Georgia to advance.
Saint Louis 72, Charlotte 55: Dwayne Evans played through foul trouble to score 25 points on near-perfect shooting, and top-seeded Saint Louis pulled away early to beat Charlotte, 72-55, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament.
Virginia Commonwealth 82, St. Joseph’s 79: Treveon Graham scored 17 points, and VCU beat Saint Joseph’s, 82-79, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament.
Memphis 85, Tulsa 74: Chris Crawford scored 30 points while connecting on eight 3-pointers to set new career highs in both categories for the second straight game, D.J. Stephens had 10 points and 10 rebounds after attending his grandmother’s funeral earlier in the day and Memphis reached the Conference USA championship by beating Tulsa, 85-74.