Syracuse slides into title game
NEW YORK — 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.
The Orange held top-seeded Georgetown (25-6) to 22 percent shooting from 3-point range with their trademark 2-3 zone and got a big game from their bench to avenge two previous losses to the Hoyas this season.
No. 4 LOUISVILLE 69, No. 24 NOTRE DAME 57 — Russ Smith scored 20 points and Peyton Siva added 12 to lead Louisville to a victory over Notre Dame, the third straight year the Cardinals beat the Fighting Irish in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.Siva, the tournament MVP last year when Louisville won its second Big East title, had six assists and seven steals, which tied the tournament record in another solid defensive outing by the Cardinals.
ACC TOURNAMENTMARYLAND 83, No. 2 DUKE 74 —Dez Wells scored a career-high 30 points and Maryland upset Duke in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.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)..NO. 9 MIAMI 69, BOSTON COLLEGE 58 —Shane Larkin scored 20 points and Miami pulled away to beat Boston College 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).
BIG TEN TOURNAMENTNo. 3 INDIANA 80, ILLINOIS 64 — Cody Zeller scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Indiana past Illinois 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.No. 22 WISCONSIN 68, No. 6 MICHIGAN 59 — Ben Brust scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half and Wisconsin knocked off Michigan.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.
No. 8 MICHIGAN STATE 59, IOWA 56 — Adreian Payne had 18 points and 10 rebounds, leading Michigan State to a rugged victory over Iowa in the Big Ten quarterfinals.Keith Appling and Gary Harris had 13 points apiece for the Spartans (25-7), who trailed by 12 midway through the second half. They advance to play Ohio State in the next round in a rematch of last season’s tournament championship, won by Michigan State.
NO. 10 OHIO STATE 71, NEBRASKA 50 — DeShaun Thomas and Sam Thompson had 19 points apiece, helping Ohio State rout Nebraska 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.
BIG 12 TOURNAMENTNO. 7 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 and reach the Big 12 tournament title game.
No. 11 KANSAS STATE 68, No. 14 OKLAHOMA STATE 57 — Rodney McGruder scored Kansas State’s first nine points of the second half and led the Wildcats past Oklahoma State in the Big 12 semifinals, setting up a title match on Saturday against rival Kansas.
SEC TOURNAMENTNo. 13 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.
PAC 12 TOURNAMENTNo. 21 UCLA 66, No. 18 ARIZONA 64 — Jordan Adams scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half and UCLA beat Arizona for the third time this season, a victory that sends the Bruins to the Pac-12 tournament championship game.
