GREENSBORO, N.C. – Craig Smith had 23 points and 15 rebounds while 11 Boston College shot 61 percent in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Jared Dudley scored 21 points for the third-seeded Eagles (26-6), who have won 10 of 11 games to extend their late-season surge in their first ACC tournament. Boston College advanced to face No. 3 Duke in Sunday’s championship.
Tyler Hansbrough had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the second-seeded Tar Heels (22-7), who had won 11 of 12 coming in but failed to reach the tourney finals for the fifth straight season.
Duke 78, Wake Forest 66
GREENSBORO, N.C. – With J.J. Redick hobbled by a knee injury, freshmen Greg Paulus and Josh McRoberts stepped in to carry Duke to familiar territory – the final of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Paulus had a career-high 18 points, McRoberts added 13 and the third-ranked Blue Devils survived a tense, emotional game to beat Wake Forest 78-66 Saturday.
It’s only the second time this season that both of the first-year players reached double figures in points.
Redick, the ACC’s iron man who averages more than 37 minutes of playing time, left for about 4 minutes in the first half after he fell trying to draw a charge. He went to the locker room before returning with a black knee brace, but noticeably limped his way to 20 points on 6-of-17 from the floor.
Of course, he was healthy enough to drive by defender Michael Drum for a three-point play with 1:35 remaining to give Duke (29-3) a 77-63 lead. Duke plays Boston College in Sunday’s final.
Eric Williams had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Demon Deacons (17-16), the first No. 12 seed in the 52-year history of the tournament thanks to expansion. They still became the first last-place team to win two games in the event since Virginia in 1977 and solidified their hold on an NIT bid.
Justin Gray added 15 points and six assists for Wake Forest.
No. 5 Memphis 57, No. 24 UAB 46
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Shawne Williams scored 18 points and Joey Dorsey had 10 points and 12 rebounds as Memphis won the Conference USA tournament.
The Tigers (30-3), who also won the league’s regular-season title, led from the start by jumping to a 7-0 advantage. Memphis staged a 13-2 run for a 17-point lead, their largest of the game, with about 8 minutes to play. Rodeny Carney tipped in a Tiger miss to make the score 49-32.
Carney, the Tigers’ leading scorer and the conference player of the year, managed only eight points, missing 11-of-14 shots, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range. The Blazers (24-6) were led by Paul Delaney with 14 points.
No. 7 Ohio St. 52, Indiana 51
INDIANAPOLIS – J.J. Sullinger had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Matt Sylvester made a layup with 37.4 seconds left to lead Ohio State to its first Big Ten tournament championship game since 2003.
Ohio State (25-4), the regular-season conference champion, has won seven straight and now faces No. 20 Iowa on Sunday. The top two seeds will meet for only the second time ever in the title game.
Roderick Wilmont led Indiana (18-11) with 16 points but he missed a short jumper at the buzzer that would have won it. The loss ended Indiana’s five-game winning streak. Marco Killingsworth had 10 points and 10 rebounds but also missed a short hook shot with about 5 seconds left that would have given the Hoosiers the lead.
No. 8 Texas 74, Texas A&M 70
DALLAS – P.J. Tucker had a season-high 26 points and 13 rebounds in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.
The Longhorns (27-5) set a school record for victories while avenging a 46-43 loss 10 days earlier at Texas A&M. In that game, Tucker was dribbling around after a timeout when the shot clock ran out with 5.9 seconds left. Acie Law then hit a 3-poitner at the buzzer for the Aggies.
Josh Carter led Texas A&M (21-8) with 25 points and seven rebounds. The Aggies had their eight-game winning streak snapped. Texas plays Kansas in the final Sunday.
No. 13 UCLA 71, California 52
LOS ANGELES – Jordan Farmar led four UCLA players in double figures with 19 points and the 13th-ranked Bruins won their first Pac-10 tournament title since 1987.
The Bruins (27-6), the regular-season champions for the first time since 1997, earned the conference’s automatic NCAA bid – their second straight trip under coach Ben Howland.
The Golden Bears (20-10) were led by Ayinda Ubaka with 18 points and Leon Powe with 17 points and eight rebounds in their first tourney final. They haven’t won a conference title of any kind since 1960.
No. 16 Florida 81, No. 17 LSU 65
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Taurean Green scored 18 points to lead five Gators in double-figures and Florida advanced to the Southeastern Conference tournament title game for the third straight year and sixth time overall.
LSU, the regular-season champs, hadn’t won a tournament title since 1980 or played in the championship game since 1993. With freshman Tyrus Thomas resting his sprained left ankle for the NCAA tournament, the Tigers (23-8) snapped a seven-game winning streak.
Joakim Noah scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Gators (26-6). Florida will play South Carolina on Sunday.
No. 17 Kansas 79, Nebraska 65
DALLAS – Mario Chalmers had 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds, leading Kansas to the Big 12 tournament final.
After a rough and tumble, one-point quarterfinal victory over Oklahoma State that went down to the buzzer, the Jayhawks (24-7) used the finesse of 3-point shooting to turn this one into a rout before halftime.
Kansas won for the 14th time in 15 games. While the Jayhawks will have another chance to impress the selection committee by playing No. 8 Texas in the Big 12 final Sunday, that game tips off about the time the bracket is being finalized, making it tough for that result to be factored in. Jason Dourisseau led Nebraska (19-12) with 16 points.
No. 20 Iowa 53, Michigan St. 48
INDIANAPOLIS – Jeff Horner scored 14 points and Greg Brunner added 12 as Iowa advanced to the Big Ten tournament final for the first time since 2002.
Maurice Ager led Michigan State with 21 points and was the only Spartans player to make a field goal in the final 8 minutes.
Michigan State (22-11) set season lows for points and field-goal percentage (28.3 percent).
Shannon Brown, the Spartans’ second-leading scorer this season, shot 3-for-16 and was held to eight points, 10 below his average.
Second-seeded Iowa (24-8) plays Ohio State in Sunday’s final.
Comments are no longer available on this story