No. 1 Duke overcomes injuries to beat Georgia Tech 78-70, advance to ACC semifinals

By Canadian Press on March 13, 2025.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kon Knueppel scored 28 points as No. 1 Duke overcame injuries to star Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown to beat Georgia Tech 78-70 on Thursday and advance to the ACC Tournament semifinals.

Isaiah Evans scored 14 points on four 3-pointers and Khaman Maluach added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Devils (29-3), who have won nine straight.

Flagg appeared to land awkwardly on Baye Ndongo’s foot as he came down with a rebound late in the first half. The ACC player of the year retreated to the Duke bench and punched a seat in frustration. After being helped to the locker room, Flagg returned to the Duke bench in the second half without a boot on his foot. He did not return to the game.

Brown went down with a shoulder injury in the first half.

Duncan Powell led Georgia Tech (17-16) with 24 points.

NO. 2 HOUSTON 77, COLORADO 69

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Emanuel Sharpe scored 19 points before fouling out, and No. 2 Houston overcame an injury to veteran forward J’Wan Roberts in the second half to beat Colorado and advance to the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

LJ Cryer and Milos Uzan added 14 points apiece for the top-seeded Cougars (28-4), who will play No. 17 BYU — the No. 4 seed in the tournament — on Friday night for a spot in their second consecutive championship game.

Houston’s postseason run a year ago was derailed by injuries, so it made sense that the bench tensed up when Roberts went down right in front of it with about 18 minutes to go. The Cougars’ leading rebounder was helped to the locker room, where he was diagnosed with a right ankle sprain, and Roberts spent the rest of the game watching from the bench.

Andrej Jakimovski had 25 points for the Buffaloes (14-20), who won twice in the Big 12 tourney as its first No. 16 seed to finish a trying season on a high note. Leading scorer Julian Hammond III managed just nine points on 2-for-13 shooting.

NO. 6 ST. JOHN’S 78, BUTLER 57

NEW YORK (AP) — RJ Luis Jr. scored 20 points and No. 6 St. John’s romped to a blowout of Butler in their Big East Tournament quarterfinal.

One game after posting the program’s first triple-double this century, Kadary Richmond finished with 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Red Storm (28-4). Aaron Scott also scored 15 for St. John’s, which has won seven straight games — and 17 of 18 since the new year.

Coming off the school’s first outright Big East regular-season title in 40 years, the Johnnies hold the top seed at the conference tournament for the first time since 1986. They’ll play No. 4 seed Xavier in the first semifinal Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

NO. 9 TEXAS TECH 76, BAYLOR 74

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — JT Toppin had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lift No. 9 Texas Tech to a victory over Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.

The second-seeded Red Raiders never trailed but almost gave up the lead in the final minute after missing their final 10 field-goal attempts. VJ Edgecombe’s attempt at a tying jumper at the buzzer missed off the glass.

Darrion Williams scored 14 points and Elijah Hawkins and Kerwin Walton had 12 each for Texas Tech (25-7), which will face either Kansas or Arizona in Friday’s semifinals.

Norchad Omier had 29 points and 15 rebounds for seventh-seeded Baylor (19-14).

NO. 17 BYU 96, NO. 12 IOWA ST. 92

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Richie Saunders scored 23 points, hitting a crucial 3-pointer with less than a minute to go, and No. 17 BYU overcame a big game from Curtis Jones in a victory over No. 12 Iowa State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

Fousseyni Traore added 15 points and Trevin Knell had 14 for the fourth-seeded Cougars (24-8), who went 18 of 36 from beyond the arc to set a tournament record for made 3-pointers, and advanced to play No. 2 Houston in the semifinals.

Jones hit seven 3s of his own and scored 31 points, and Milan Momcilovic had 18 for the short-handed Cyclones (24-9), who had won their last four games at the Big 12 tourney, including their run to the championship a year ago.

NO. 13 LOUISVILLE 75, STANFORD 73

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Chucky Hepburn’s putback jumper at the buzzer helped No. 13 Louisville overcome a 15-point second-half deficit to beat Stanford and advance the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Terrence Edwards scored 25 points and Hepburn added 20 for the Cardinals (26-6), who’ve won 10 straight. Noah Waterman and James Scott each had 12.

Oziyah Sellers had 22 points and Maxime Raynaud added 17 points for Stanford (20-13), which was playing in its first ACC Tournament.

Stanford led 33-30 at halftime and appeared ready to pull away in the second half, building a 52-37 lead in the second half behind an 11-0 run.

TEXAS 94, NO. 14 TEXAS A&M 88

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tre Johnson made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:08 left in the second overtime and the Texas Longhorns extended their first visit to the Southeastern Conference Tournament by beating old foe No. 14 Texas A&M to reach the quarterfinals.

Texas (19-14) came in as the SEC’s No. 13 seed with the Longhorns needing victories to play their way into the NCAA Tournament. They will face No. 4 seed and eighth-ranked Tennessee on Friday.

Johnson finished with 20 points. Tramon Mark had 15, Kadin Shedrick added 14 and Jordan Pope had 13 for Texas.

Mark’s short jumper hit off the rim just before the buzzer to force overtime and a thrilling finish.

Wade Taylor IV led the Aggies (22-10) with 29 points and was 17 for 18 at the free throw line, becoming the SEC’s career tournament scoring leader. Manny Obaseki had 17 before fouling out. Aderss Garcia added 13 and Henry Coleman III had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

NO. 18 WISCONSIN 70, NORTHWESTERN 63

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Nolan Winter and John Tonje each scored 18 points to lead No. 18 Wisconsin to a victory over Northwestern in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.

The Badgers (24-8), seeded fifth, will face No. 4 seed UCLA in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Winter hit 4 of 5 shots and 9 of 10 free throws.

Nick Martinelli led the No. 13 seed Wildcats (17-16) with 22 points. Jordan Clayton added 10 points for Northwestern.

Leading by eight points, Wisconsin’s Max Klesmit hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 53-42. Kamari McGee followed that with a 3-pointer to push the lead to 56-42 with 8:58 remaining. Two more 3-pointers by Tonje gave the Badgers a 62-46 edge.

NO. 21 MISSOURI 85, MISSISSIPPI STATE 73

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tamar Bates scored 25 points and No. 21 Missouri beat Mississippi State to reach the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

Tony Perkins added a season-high 20 for the seventh-seeded Tigers (22-10), who will face No. 4 Florida on Friday night in the first tournament game for the Gators.

Josh Hubbard paced Mississippi State (21-12), which was the No. 10 seed in the SEC, with 24 points and Keshawn Murphy added 18.

Caleb Grill hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the first half, putting the Tigers up 39-34.

Thursday’s game was much closer than the only regular-season matchup against the Tigers, an 88-61 victory for Missouri in Starkville.

NO. 23 OREGON 72, INDIANA 59

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jackson Shelstad had 18 points and TJ Bamba scored 17 to help No. 23 Oregon pull away late for a victory over Indiana in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.

The Ducks (24-8) head into Friday’s quarterfinal round against No. 7 Michigan State, the Big Ten regular-season champs, riding an eight-game winning streak.

Indiana (19-13) lost to Oregon for the second time in nine days and now must wait until Sunday to see if it makes the 68-team NCAA Tournament field.

NO. 24 ILLINOIS 106, IOWA 94

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kylan Boswell scored a career-high 24 points and four other Illinois players finished in double figures as the 24th-ranked Fighting Illini beat Iowa in a wild second-round Big Ten Tournament game.

Tre White had 22 points and Tomislav Ivisic added 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as Illinois (21-11) won its fourth straight. The Illini face No. 11 Maryland in Friday’s third quarterfinal game in Indianapolis.

Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery wasn’t on the bench when Iowa guard Payton Sandfort tied the league’s single-game tourney record for 3-pointers. McCaffery was ejected with 13:33 left to play after drawing two technical fouls when he left the coach’s box to argue with referees.

Sandfort made eight 3s, matching a mark done twice previously, to tie a career high with 30 points. Josh Dix added 21 points.

NO. 25 MARQUETTE 89, XAVIER 87

NEW YORK (AP) — Kam Jones scored 28 points and No. 25 Marquette rallied past Xavier in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.

After trailing by 14 early in the second half, the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (23-9) took the lead for good at 81-80 on Jones’ layup with 1:16 remaining.

David Joplin connected on a pivotal 3-pointer with 26 seconds left, and Marquette held on to earn a semifinal matchup with sixth-ranked and top-seeded St. John’s on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

Ryan Conwell scored a career-high 38 points for Xavier (21-11), a school record for a Big East Tournament game. The fourth-seeded Musketeers, perched precariously on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament bid, had won seven straight.

Conwell shot 13 of 18 from the field and 7 for 11 on 3-pointers — including a long one he tossed in at the buzzer. Zach Freemantle had 15 points and Dailyn Swain added 11.

Chase Ross and Stevie Mitchell scored 16 points apiece for Marquette. Joplin finished with 14.

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The Associated Press

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