North Carolina rallies past Duke
Associated Press
North Carolina trailed by nine points with 3 minutes left, the kind of margin that might have been insurmountable for the Tar Heels in recent years.
"Last year, we would have probably given up," center Sean May said.
For this year's team, it wasn't an option.
Dynamic freshman Marvin Williams converted a three-point play with 17 seconds left to cap an 11-0 game-closing run and give the second-ranked Tar Heels a 75-73 victory over No. 6 Duke yesterday at Chapel Hill, N.C.
North Carolina (26-3, 14-2), playing without the ill Rashad McCants for the fourth straight game, won its first ACC regular season championship since 1993, the same year of its most recent national title.
May had 26 points and 24 rebounds to record his eighth straight double-double for North Carolina, and his final rebound was the most important. After J.J. Redick missed a long 3-pointer that would have won it for the Blue Devils, teammate Daniel Ewing had a final chance from just inside the arc.
But his shot was short, and May leaped high for the carom. He cradled the ball in his hand while the clock ran out, then hurled it into the stands. Hundreds of the 22,125 fans — the largest crowd ever at the Dean E. Smith Center — rushed the court to celebrate the Tar Heels' third victory over their Tobacco Road rival in the past 16 meetings.
Shelden Williams had 25 points and six blocks for Duke (22-5, 11-5), which played without guard Sean Dockery for the third straight game. Redick scored all 17 of his points in the first half.
Florida 53, No. 3 Kentucky 52: Anthony Roberson scored 21 points, including two free throws with 15 seconds remaining, and the Gators ended an eight-game losing streak to Kentucky at Gainesville, Fla. Roberson, the Southeastern Conference's leading scorer, stripped the ball from Patrick Sparks with about 12 seconds to play, trailing 52-51. Sparks fouled Roberson as he headed the other way. Roberson stepped to the line and calmly made both ends of the 1-and-1 for Florida (20-7, 12-4). Kentucky (23-4, 14-2) still had a chance to win it, but Kelenna Azubuike's 3-pointer just before the buzzer bounced off the left side of the rim.
No. 4 Wake Forest 55, N.C. State 53: Chris Paul hit a running shot at the buzzer to lift Wake Forest (26-4, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) past North Carolina State at Raleigh, N.C. Ilian Evtimov scored 19 points to lead the Wolfpack (17-12, 7-9), who had several chances to win the game and improve their uncertain NCAA prospects.
Missouri 72, No. 7 Kansas 68: Thomas Gardner matched his career best with 23 points and Linas Kleiza tied his career high with 14 rebounds as the Tigers (15-15, 7-9) denied Kansas (22-5, 12-4) the outright Big 12 title at Columbia, Mo. Wayne Simien had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Jayhawks, who were bumped to the second seed in this week's conference tournament behind co-champion Oklahoma.
No. 12 Gonzaga 90, San Diego 74: Adam Morrison had 25 points and a career-high eight assists to help Gonzaga (24-4) rout San Diego (16-13) in the West Coast Conference semifinals at Santa Clara, Calif., for the Bulldogs' 11th straight victory. The Bulldogs will play St. Mary's tonight. The Gaels beat Santa Clara, 69-64.
WOMEN
Summitt one win shy of Dean Smith's mark
Tennessee coach Pat Summitt moved within a game of Dean Smith's record 878 career victories, after the Lady Vols beat top-ranked LSU, 67-65, at Greenville, S.C., for their first Southeastern Conference tournament title in five years.
Shyra Ely, who had 25 points, made a fastbreak layup with 34.1 seconds left to give No. 5 Tennessee a 66-65 lead.
On the next possession, a wide-open Sylvia Fowles couldn't handle Temeka Johnson's pass beneath the basket. Alexis Hornbuckle collected the loose ball for Tennessee (26-4) and made a foul shot.
Scholanda Hoston's 3-point try hit hard off the rim and bounced away, ending the Lady Tigers' 16-game winning streak — and possibly their hopes for landing the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament.
Seimone Augustus had 23 points to lead LSU (29-2) while Johnson had 13 points and 12 assists.
No. 2 Stanford 73, Southern California 69: Kelley Suminski scored 17 points, making three key 3-pointers, and Stanford (28-2) held on to advance to the Pac-10 tournament title game at San Jose, Calif. Eshaya Murphy had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Southern Cal (19-10). Stanford aims for its third straight Pac-10 tournament title tonight against Arizona State, a 54-47 winner over Oregon.
No. 4 North Carolina 78, Virginia 72: Ivory Latta scored a career-high 32 points, including a spinning jumper with 34 seconds left in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The Tar Heels (26-3) rallied from a 17-point, second-half deficit to advance to the finals for the fourth consecutive year. North Carolina will play No. 6 Duke for the title today. Tiffany Sardin led Virginia (20-10) with 21 points.
No. 6 Duke 74, Maryland 44: Duke (28-3) continued to roll toward a record sixth straight Atlantic Coast Conference title, getting 14 points apiece from Mistie Williams and Chante Black at Greensboro, N.C. Maryland is 21-9.
No. 8 Michigan St. 83, No. 23 Penn St. 76: Kelli Roehrig had 19 points and Kristin Haynie added 18 to lead Michigan State to its first Big Ten tournament final at Indianapolis. Michigan State (27-3), winner of 11 straight, will face No. 15 Minnesota tonight. Penn State is 19-10.
No. 9 Rutgers 69, St. John's 45: Chelsea Newton had 21 points as Rutgers (24-5) cruised into the semifinals of the Big East tournament at Hartford, Conn. The Scarlet Knights will play Villanova tonight. St. John's is 19-10.
No. 10 Notre Dame 70, West Virginia 59: Jacqueline Batteast scored 16 points to lead Notre Dame into the semifinals of the Big East tournament. The Fighting Irish (26-4), who have reached the semifinals in six of nine years, will face the Connecticut tonight. West Virginia is 17-12.
No. 14 Connecticut 82, Syracuse 56: Jessica Moore had 14 points and 10 rebounds in only 20 minutes and UConn (21-7) easily advanced to the semifinals of the Big East tournament at Hartford, Conn. Syracuse is 13-16.
No. 15 Minnesota 66, No. 3 Ohio State 63: Janel McCarville scored the last four points in regulation and teamed with Jamie Broback to score Minnesota's first eight in overtime in Indianapolis The Gophers (24-6) knocked off the Big Ten regular-season co-champs to reach their first finals. Ohio State is 28-4.
No. 16 Temple 64, Xavier 61: Candice Dupree scored 24 points and Ari Moore made two late free throws to lead Temple (26-3) into the final of the Atlantic 10 tournament at Washington against George Washington tonight. Xavier is 20-9.
Villanova 41, No. 22 Boston College 37: Kate Dessart Mager scored 15 points and Liad Suez added 11 to help upset Boston College (19-9) in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament at Hartford, Conn. The Wildcats (19-10) will face Rutgers in today's semifinals.
Santa Clara 77, No. 24 Gonzaga 66: Host Santa Clara (17-13) snapped Gonzaga's 23-game winning streak — the longest in the nation — to win the West Coast Conference tournament and earn an NCAA automatic bid. Ashley Burke had 28 points for Gonzaga (27-3).
