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Men’s college roundup: Bagley’s big 2nd half leads Duke past UNC

ASSOCIATED PRESS The Cameron Crazies cheer as they await the start of an NCAA college basketball game between North Carolina and Duke in Durham, N.C. on Saturday.

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Marvin Bagley III had 18 of his 21 points in the second half along with 15 rebounds, and No. 5 Duke pulled away to beat No. 9 North Carolina 74-64 on Saturday night.

Grayson Allen added 15 points in his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Gary Trent Jr. had 13 points — including three 3-pointers in the final 10 minutes — to help the Blue Devils (25-6, 13-5) clinch the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Duke was 8 of 15 from 3-point range in the second half — the Blue Devils made just 1 of 10 from that distance in the first half — and outrebounded North Carolina 24-13 after halftime.

Cameron Johnson scored 16 points for the Tar Heels (22-9, 11-7), while Kenny Williams and Luke Maye each had 13. Three weeks after they rallied from a double-figure deficit to beat their fiercest rivals, it was the Blue Devils’ turn to flip the script.

NO. 4 VILLANOVA 97, GEORGETOWN 73

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jay Wright moved into a tie atop Villanova’s career wins list with 413 in No. 4 Villanova’s 97-73 win over Georgetown on Saturday night.

Wright improved to 413-165 since he took the job in 2001 and has led the Wildcats to the 2009 Final Four and 2016 national championship. He matched Al Severance, who went 413-201 from 1936-1961. Wright can top Severance with a win in the Big East Tournament.

The Wildcats head to Madison Square Garden as the No. 2 seed after their run of four straight regular-season conference titles was ended by Xavier.

There’s little worry on the Main Line that Villanova can’t make a deep run in the postseason. The Wildcats (27-4, 14-4 Big East) beat champion Xavier twice this season and will surely be a No. 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

NO. 1 VIRGINIA 62, NOTRE DAME 57

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Devon Hall scored 17 points in his final game at John Paul Jones Arena and No. 1 Virginia outlasted Notre Dame 62-57 on Saturday.

Ty Jerome added 13 points for the Cavaliers (28-2, 17-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their fifth in a row.

Bonzie Colson, playing in just his second game since missing 15 with a broken foot, had 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Irish (18-13, 8-10). Martinas Geben added 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Virginia led 55-54 with just over 3 minutes to play before Hall scored on a tough drive. After Notre Dame missed, Isaiah Wilkins hit a pair of free throws, pushing the Cavaliers’ lead to five. A 3-pointer by Matt Farrell got Notre Dame within 59-57 with 2:24 to play.

OKLAHOMA 82, NO. 6 KANSAS 64

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Kendall Smith scored a career-high 25 points and Mitchell Solomon had 16 points and seven rebounds to help lead Oklahoma State to an 82-64 victory over No. 6 Kansas in the regular season finale for both teams on Saturday.

Smith, who had scored just nine points in each of his two previous outings, hit 20 for the seventh time this season and for the fifth time in the last nine contests.

Oklahoma State (18-13, 8-10 Big 12) swept the season series from Kansas, marking the first time that the Jayhawks have been swept in a home-and-home since 2003-04, a span of 103 series.

NO. 14 AUBURN 79, SOUTH CAROLINA 70

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Bryce Brown scored 29 points, making eight 3-pointers, and No. 14 Auburn claimed at least a share of the Southeastern Conference title with a 79-70 comeback victory over South Carolina on Saturday.

The Tigers (25-6, 13-5) earned the top seed in next week’s SEC Tournament with their first regular-season title since 1999 and third overall. Auburn would win the outright championship if No. 16 Tennessee loses to Georgia, and holds the tiebreaker thanks to a win over the Volunteers.

NO. 15 MICHIGAN 75, NO. 2 MICHIGAN STATE 64

NEW YORK (AP) — Mo Wagner scored 14 of his 15 points after a dreadful first half and fifth-seeded Michigan moved within a game of its second straight Big Ten Tournament title with a 75-64 victory over top-seeded Michigan State in the conference semifinals Saturday, ending the No. 2 ranked Spartans’ 13-game winning streak.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Zavier Simpson also had 15 for the No. 15 Wolverines (27-7), who were also the last team to beat Michigan State (29-4), when they did it on Jan. 13.

SYRACUSE 55, NO. 18 CLEMSON 52

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Oshae Brissett and Tyus Battle each scored 17 points and Syracuse rallied to beat No. 18 Clemson 55-52 on Saturday to remain in the hunt for a postseason berth.

It was an opportunity for Syracuse (19-12, 8-10 Atlantic Coast Conference) to fill the biggest void on its resume — the lack of a marquee win — and the Orange capitalized. They were coming off a 15-point loss at Boston College, which put a big dent in their postseason hopes.

Marcquise Reed had 21 points and Elijah Thomas 18 to lead Clemson as the pair accounted for every Clemson point in the second half. Gabe DeVoe was 2 of 13, 0 of 6 from beyond the arc, for four points.

TEXAS 87, NO. 20 WEST VIRGINIA 79 (OT)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Matt Coleman and Kerwin Roach II each scored 22 points and Texas used an 11-0 run early in overtime to pull away from No. 20 West Virginia for an 87-79 win Saturday that was critical for the Longhorns’ NCAA Tournament hopes.

West Virginia led 48-42 early in the second half before Texas ripped off a 15-2 run keyed by a pair of 3-pointers from Dylan Osetkowski, who made five in the game. The Mountaineers forced overtime on Jevon Carter’s driving reverse layup with 1.6 seconds left in regulation.

No. 3 XAVIER 65, DEPAUL 62

CHICAGO (AP) — Trevon Bluiett scored 22 points, and No. 3 Xavier set a school record for regular-season wins while clinching the top seed in the Big East with a 65-62 victory over DePaul on Saturday.

The Musketeers (27-4, 15-3 Big East) hung on for their 12th win in 13 games after DePaul’s Eli Cain and Max Strus missed 3-pointers in the closing seconds. That ended Villanova’s four-year run of first-place finishes.

Bluiett became the school’s all-time leader in 3-pointers, making four to give him 310 in his career.

Brandon Cyrus led DePaul (11-19, 4-14) with a career-high 20 points. Cain scored 14 as the Blue Demons lost for the fifth time in six games.

FLORIDA 80, NO. 23 KENTUCKY 67

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jalen Hudson scored 22 points, Chris Chiozza broke the school’s all-time assist record and Florida beat No. 23 Kentucky 80-67 on Saturday, ending the Wildcats’ four-game winning streak.

The Gators won their third straight, swept Kentucky for the first time in four years and secured the No. 3 seed in next week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament.

The Wildcats (21-10, 10-8 SEC) will be seeded fourth or fifth depending on the outcome of the Arkansas-Missouri game later Saturday. No team seeded lower than third has won the SEC Tournament since it went to a 14-team format in 2013.

Regardless, the loss won’t sit well with coach John Calipari, whose team failed to match Florida’s energy and effort on “Senior Day.” The Gators honored Chiozza, Egor Koulechov and injured center John Egbunu before the game.

NO. 12 TEXAS TECH 79, TCU 75

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Keenan Evans scored 23 points and No. 12 Texas Tech stopped a four-game losing streak with a 79-75 win over TCU in a Big 12 regular-season finale on Saturday.

Evans had his first double-digit scoring game since a toe injury that sidelined him at halftime of a loss to Baylor that started the skid when the Red Raiders (23-8, 11-7) were in sole possession of the Big 12 lead.

NO. 19 ARIZONA 66, CALIFORNIA 54

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Deandre Ayton had 26 points and 20 rebounds, helping No. 19 Arizona clinch the Pac-12 regular-season title outright with a 66-54 victory over California on Saturday night.

Arizona closed the game with a 13-1 run, finishing off its fifth Pac-12 title in six seasons in the final home game for seniors Dusan Ristic, Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Keanu Pinder.

NO. 16 TENNESSEE 66, GEORGIA 61

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Admiral Schofield scored 23 points to lead Tennessee’s second-half comeback Saturday as the 16th-ranked Volunteers rallied past Georgia 66-61 to win a share of the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship.

The Vols (23-7, 13-5) share the SEC regular-season title with No. 14 Auburn, which defeated South Carolina 79-70 on Saturday. Because Auburn won 94-84 at Tennessee on Jan. 2 in their lone regular-season matchup, the Tigers (25-6, 13-5) get the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament that starts Wednesday in St. Louis.

MARSHALL 76, NO. 24 MIDDLE TENNESSEE 67

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Jon Elmore scored 23 points and Marshall swept two games from No. 24 Middle Tennessee with a 76-67 win on Saturday night.

The Thundering Herd (21-10, 12-6 Conference USA) was the only C-USA team to beat the Blue Raiders (24-6, 16-2) this season as they ended Middleás 11-game winning streak.

Marshall redshirt freshman Jannson Williams came off the bench to record a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

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