No. 1 Duke holds off North Carolina to reach ACC title game

CHARLOTTE, N.C.>> Top-ranked Duke played without Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown for Friday night’s win against rival North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament because of injuries.

The Blue Devils hung on to win 74-71 in the semifinals despite blowing nearly all of a 24-point second-half lead. Both players were on the bench, wearing black warmup suits and standing at the back of the huddles during timeouts.

The team announced the status for each player a little less than two hours before the start of the semifinal. Both players were hurt in Thursday’s quarterfinal against Georgia Tech, with Flagg spraining his left ankle and Brown re-injuring a dislocated left shoulder.

Neither player was expected to play, both due to the nature of the injuries and the start of March Madness looming next week with Duke as a Final Four favorite.

No. 2 Houston 74, No. 17 BYU 54>> Emanuel Sharpe scored 26 points, LJ Cryer had 20 and second-ranked Houston stifled No. 17 BYU in a 74-54 victory that moved the Cougars into the Big 12 Tournament championship game for the second consecutive season.

Milos Uzan added 14 points and Mylik Wilson pulled down 13 rebounds, helping the tournament’s top seed jump to a big early lead and roll into Saturday night’s matchup with ninth-ranked Texas Tech or Arizona on a 12-game win streak.

Houston (29-4) played without J’Wan Roberts, its leading rebounder, after he sprained his ankle early in the second half of the Cougars’ quarterfinal win over Colorado. Roberts watched from the bench with his right foot in a walking boot.

No. 3 Auburn 62, Ole Miss 57>> Johni Broome scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as regular-season champion Auburn opened its bid to repeat at the Southeastern Conference Tournament by holding off eighth-seeded Mississippi 62-57.

The third-ranked Tigers (28-4) will play either No. 13 seed Texas or eighth-ranked Tennessee in the semifinals Saturday.

Denver Jones also had 13 points as Auburn snapped a two-game skid.

Ole Miss (21-11) has lost two of its last three to top-five teams. Dre Davis and Sean Pedulla each had 12 points, and Malik Dia and Jaylen Murray 10 apiece.

No. 4 Florida 95, Missouri 81>> Walter Clayton Jr scored 18 points, Will Richard and Alijah Martin added 17 apiece and the No. 4 Florida Gators defeated the No. 21 Missouri Tigers 95-81 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The second-seeded Gators (28-4) never trailed and advance to the semifinals on Saturday against either Alabama or Kentucky.

Florida shot 62% from the floor, including 38% from 3-point range.

Tamar Bates scored 16 points to lead the seventh-seeded Tigers (22-11).

No. 6 St. John’s 79, No. 25 Marquette 63>> Zuby Ejiofor scored a career-high 33 points, a St. John’s record in the Big East Tournament, and the sixth-ranked Red Storm pulled away from No. 25 Marquette 79-63 to reach the conference championship game for the first time in 25 years.

Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. added 13 points and Ejiofor grabbed nine rebounds as the top-seeded Red Storm (29-4) wiped out an early 15-point deficit. They advanced to play second-seeded Creighton or No. 3 seed UConn on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Kam Jones had 24 points for the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (23-10), who lost all three matchups with the Red Storm this season and fell to 1-6 against them at the Big East Tournament.

No. 7 Michigan State 74, No. 23 Oregon 64>> Jase Richardson scored 17 points and Jeremy Fears Jr. added 11 points and five assists to lead No. 7 Michigan State past No. 23 Oregon 74-64 in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal.

The Spartans (27-5) have now won eight straight, matching a season best. The league’s regular-season champion will face either No. 18 Wisconsin or fourth-seeded UCLA in Saturday’s first semifinal game.

Nate Bittle finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Ducks (24-9).

No. 8 Tennessee 83, Texas 72>> Chaz Lanier scored 17 of No. 8 Tennessee’s first 21 points, and the Volunteers never trailed, beating Texas 83-72 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The fourth-seeded Volunteers (26-6) also gave coach Rick Barnes the 832nd victory of his career, moving him into sole possession of 10th all-time after being tied with Cliff Ellis. The Vols will play regular season champ and third-ranked Auburn, a 62-57 winner over Ole Miss, in the semifinals Saturday.

No. 11 Maryland 88, No. 24 Illinois 65>> Rodney Rice scored 26 points, Derik Queen had 19 points and 10 rebounds and No. 11 Maryland routed No. 24 Illinois 88-65 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.

The Terrapins (25-7) will face the winner of the late quarterfinal between Michigan and Purdue in the semifinals.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 12 points and nine assists for Maryland. Jordan Geronimo scored 11 points and Julian Reese had 10.

No. 16 Memphis 83, Wichita State 80>> PJ Haggerty scored a career-high 42 points and led the go-ahead run for 16th-ranked Memphis in an 83-80 win over Wichita State in a quarterfinal game at the American Athletic Conference tournament.

The 42 points by Haggerty, a sophomore named this week as the AAC player of the year after being the top freshman last season, matched the highest-scoring AAC tournament game. That was one point shy of the record for most scored in any league game.

No. 18 Wisconsin 86, UCLA 70>> John Tonje matched his career high with six 3-pointers on his way to 26 points, and No. 18 Wisconsin tied the Big Ten Tournament single-game record by making 19 3s in an 86-70 victory over fourth-seeded UCLA.

Tonje also had nine rebounds and four assists. He was 9 of 10 from the field and a perfect 6 for 6 on 3s as the Badgers (25-8) advanced to Saturday’s first semifinal game against No. 7 Michigan State.

No. 22 Michigan 86, No. 20 Purdue 68>> Danny Wolf had 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, and No. 22 Michigan snapped a three-game losing streak with a 86-68 win over No. 20 Purdue in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal.

The second-seeded Wolverines (23-9) allowed the game’s initial six points, then led for the final 37 minutes in an impressive bounce-back win to advance to a semifinal against No. 11 Maryland (25-7) on Saturday.

Eight Michigan players scored at least six points. — The Associated Press