No. 1 Duke overcomes injuries to beat Georgia Tech 78-70

CHARLOTTE, N.C.>> 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.

NO. 6 ST. JOHN’S 78, BUTLER 57>> RJ Luis Jr. scored 20 points and No. 6 St. John’s romped to a blowout of Butler in their Big East Tournament quarterfinal.

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>> JT Toppin had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lift No. 9 Texas Tech to a victory over Baylor in the Big 12 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.

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

NO. 13 LOUISVILLE 75, STANFORD 73>> 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.

TEXAS 94, NO. 14 TEXAS A&M 88>> 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.

NO. 18 WISCONSIN 70, NORTHWESTERN 63>> 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.

NO. 21 MISSOURI 85, MISSISSIPPI STATE 73>> 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 in the first tournament game for the Gators.

NO. 23 OREGON 72, INDIANA 59>> 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 win streak.

NO. 24 ILLINOIS 106, IOWA 94>> 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.

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.

NO. 25 MARQUETTE 89, XAVIER 87>> 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.

Marquette held on to earn a semifinal matchup with top-seeded St. John’s on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.