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Freshman Harrison Barnes had a season-high 40 points as No. 6 North Carolina escaped again at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, rallying past Clemson 92-87 in overtime in yesterday’s semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Barnes hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:13 left as part of a 9-0 spurt to open the extra period, which helped the top-seeded Tar Heels (26-6) complete their second straight comeback from a big deficit. A day after rallying from 19 down in the second half to beat Miami, the Tar Heels trailed the Tigers (21-11) by 14 in the first half and rallied from seven down in the final 4 minutes of regulation to force overtime.
Barnes capped the run with a three-point play, then added his sixth 3-pointer to beat the shot clock with 1:14 left. He finished with the most points by any player in the ACC tournament in 16 years and the most by a UNC player in more than four decades.
Duke 77, Va. Tech 63
Nolan Smith scored 27 points and No. 5 Duke claimed a spot in the championship game by beating Virginia Tech (21-11). Kyle Singler added 13 points and 11 rebounds and Seth Curry had 10 points for the second-seeded Blue Devils (29-4).
MOUNTAIN WEST
San Diego St. 72, BYU 54
In Las Vegas, Billy White put on an offensive display and bedeviled national scoring leader Jimmer Fredette in leading No. 7 San Diego State past No. 8 BYU for the Mountain West Conference title.
BIG 12
Kansas 85, Texas 73
In Kansas City, Mo., Tyshawn Taylor and Marcus Morris sparked a quick start and No. 2 Kansas (27-7) raced past No. 10 Texas (32-2) in the Big 12 title game.
SEC
Kentucky 72, Alabama 58
In Atlanta, Brandon Knight finally got rolling at the Southeastern Conference tournament and No. 15 Kentucky (24-8) looked like a young team peaking at just the right time with a semifinal victory over Alabama (21-11).
Florida 77, Vanderbilt 66
Kenny Boynton scored 24 points, Erving Walker added 17 and No. 12 Florida (26-6) recovered from another slow start to beat Vanderbilt (23-10).
BIG TEN
Ohio St. 68, Michigan 61
In Indianapolis, Jared Sullinger had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 1 Ohio State (31-2) boosted its bid for the NCAA tournament’s top overall seed with a victory over Michigan (20-13) in the Big Ten semifinals.
Penn St. 61, Michigan St. 48
Talor Battle scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half to help Penn State (19-13) defeat Michigan State (19-14) and advance to the final for the first time.
ATLANTIC 10
Richmond 58, Temple 54
In Atlantic City, Kevin Anderson scored 22 points and Richmond (26-7) beat three-time defending champions Temple (25-7) in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.
Dayton 64, St. Joseph’s 61
Chris Wright had 17 points, 15 rebounds and five assists and Dayton (22-12) advanced to the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament championship game for the first time since 2004 with a victory over stubborn Saint Joseph’s (11-22).
PAC 10
Washington 77, ‘Zona 75 (OT)
In Los Angeles, Isaiah Thomas hit a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer, lifting Washington (23-10) past No. 16 Arizona (27-7) for the Pac-10 tournament championship in the first overtime title game in league history.
USA
Memphis 67, UTEP 66
In El Paso, Texas, Joe Jackson made two free throws with seven seconds left, and Memphis (25-9) rallied past UTEP (25-9) to win the Conference USA championship.
AMERICA EAST
BU 56, Stony Brook 54
In Boston, John Holland hit two free throws with 2.4 seconds left to cap a 27-point performance and lift Boston University (21-13) into the NCAA tournament with a victory over Stony Brook (15-17).
