Sports
Duke Completes Sweep Over UNC, Kentucky’s Epic Comeback, Top Highlights
Gerry Broome/Associated PressThe second meeting between the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels did not carry as much drama as the first. Duke avoided any potential of an upset by storming past North Carolina with its talented freshmen once again leading the charge. Vernon Carey Jr. and Cassius Stanley combined for 44 points, while senior…
Gerry Broome/Associated Press
The second meeting between the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels did not carry as much drama as the first.
Duke avoided any potential of an upset by storming past North Carolina with its talented freshmen once again leading the charge.
Vernon Carey Jr. and Cassius Stanley combined for 44 points, while senior Justin Robinson added 13 in a result that better reflected the positions of the two teams in the ACC standings than the overtime affair Duke won February 8.
The Kentucky Wildcats had a much more difficult Saturday, as they went down by 18 points to the Florida Gators before storming back to win.
John Calipari‘s team earned the victory without Ashton Hagans in the lineup and with Immanuel Quickley dealing with foul trouble.
The victories by two of men's college basketball's top programs highlighted a wild Saturday in which the first two NCAA tournament bids were handed out to the Utah State Aggies and Belmont Bruins.
Saturday Top 25 Scores
No. 1 Kansas 66, Texas Tech 62
No. 3 Dayton 76, George Washington 51
West Virginia 76, No. 4 Baylor 64
Utah State 59, No. 5 San Diego State 56
No. 6 Kentucky 71, Florida 70
No. 7 Florida State 80. Boston College 62
No. 11 Creighton 77, No. 8 Seton Hall 60
No. 22 Virginia 57, No. 10 Louisville 54
No. 12 Duke 89, North Carolina 76
No. 13 Oregon 80, Stanford 67
No. 14 Villanova 70, Georgetown 69
No. 17 Auburn 85, Tennessee 63
Northwestern 80, No. 20 Penn State 69
No. 24 Wisconsin 60, Indiana 58
Obi Toppin's In-Between-Legs Dunk
Dayton Basketball @DaytonMBB
RIDICULOUS 😵😵😵
@otoppin1 In-between the legs dunk. https://t.co/wVT06jqQa7
Kamar Baldwin's Game-Winner
NCAA March Madness @marchmadness
KAMAR BALDWIN CALLED GAME 😱
He caps off a 36-point night with this @ButlerMBB game-winner!
https://t.co/HhoM7Q61Ro
Sam Merrill Clinches Utah State's NCAA Tournament Berth
NCAA March Madness @marchmadness
SAM MERRILL. ICE IN HIS VEINS. ❄️
Cc: @USUBasketball
https://t.co/zxjMk87UfS
Kentucky Erases 18-Point Deficit To Beat Florida
CBS Sports @CBSSports
COMEBACK COMPLETE
No. 6 @KentuckyMBB erases an 18-point deficit on the road to win at Florida. https://t.co/c3QZvnKrxA
Cincinnati Completes Comeback to Stay Alive On Bubble
CBS Sports Network @CBSSportsNet
CINCINNATI ESCAPES!
What a finish. On senior night @GoBearcatsMBB pulls off the comeback victory. https://t.co/qRrjFsolhw
Austin Reaves' 41-Point Game For Oklahoma
Oklahoma Basketball @OU_MBBall
They had us in the first half, not gonna lie…
And then Austin Reaves dropped 4️⃣1️⃣ to fuel the largest road second-half comeback in Big 12 history.
Recap: https://t.co/4hNoAjzXvU https://t.co/AY3WEbE7pl
Jonah Matthews Wins It For USC
CBS Sports @CBSSports
JONAH MATHEWS, ICE IN HIS VEINS https://t.co/Gob3jbfslJ
Onyeka Okongwu's Thunderous Slam
CBS Sports @CBSSports
OKONGWU WITH THE HAMMER https://t.co/IklPYAKABj
Cassius Stanley Rises For Slam
ACC Network @accnetwork
It's a bird. It's a plane. It's @cassius_stanley 💥 https://t.co/iJn5xxLAYv
Quenton Jackson's 1-Handed Finish
SEC Network @SECNetwork
Wendell Mitchell lobs it ⬆️
Quenton Jackson SLAMS it ⬇️ #SCtop10 https://t.co/kMzc7WqUyC
Duke Completes Season Sweep of UNC
Duke celebrated its final home game by placing the seniors in the starting lineup, and Robinson delivered with 13 points over 25 minutes.
The son of former NBA great David Robinson has experienced an uptick in minutes over the last three games and may have some importance to the squad in the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski had nothing but praise for the walk-on, per ESPN.com's David M. Hale.
“It's better than ‘Rudy,'” Krzyzewski said. “It's almost like a movie. He's been outstanding, and hopefully he keeps it going.”
The Blue Devils controlled every aspect of the contest, including three-point shooting, as ESPN Stats and Info outlined:
ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfo
A deeper look into Duke's 89-76 win over UNC today:
Duke:
10-of-21 on 3-pointers9-of-9 on contested threes
9-of-15 on open looks
Tre Jones: 21 pts, 11 ast
UNC:
4-of-12 on 3-pointers4-of-17 in transition
6-of-19 on uncontested shots
Cole Anthony: 9 pts (4-of-14) https://t.co/kEaX54T3BX
Although they won Saturday, the Blue Devils were relegated to the No. 4 seed in the ACC tournament after the Virginia Cavaliers beat the Louisville Cardinals.
That means Duke is aligned with the Florida State Seminoles. and if chalk holds, the two would face off in the semifinal round.
North Carolina is in the rare position of the No. 14 seed as the worst team entering this year's edition of the ACC tournament.
The low seeds for both sides marks the first time in ACC tournament history in which neither are among the top three seeds, per David Teel of the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
David Teel @ByDavidTeel
#ACC tournament seeds:
1. #FSU
2. #UVa
3. #UofL
4. #DukeFirst time in league history neither Duke nor #UNC among the top three seeds.
While Duke is safely in the NCAA tournament, the Tar Heels need to win five games in five days to earn the ACC's automatic bid. They won six ACC games and their longest conference winning streak was three.
Kentucky Overcomes 18-Point Deficit To Beat Florida
Kentucky put together a terrific final 10 minutes to head into the SEC tournament with plenty of momentum.
With 11:48 left in the second half, Florida took an 18-point lead on an Andrew Nembhard basket.
Three minutes later, the Wildcats cut the lead to 10 and they took a one-point lead with 12 seconds left through E.J. Montgomery.
The come-from-behind win earned praise from ESPN's Jeff Borzello and CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein due to the circumstances surrounding the program Saturday:
Jeff Borzello @jeffborzello
What a collapse by Florida and unbelievable fight from Kentucky to come back and win.
Gators were up 18 with under 12 minutes left, Wildcats had no Ashton Hagans and Immanuel Quickley fouled out with nine minutes left.
Florida only managed six points in the final eight mins.
Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein
Incredible resolve on the road by Kentucky at Florida without Ashton Hagans.
Cats' first lead of the game was their ONLY lead of the game.
John Calipari = SEC Coach of the Year.
#BBN
Hagans did not travel with the team, Quickley fouled out at the nine-minute mark and Nick Richards struggled to find an offensive rhythm.
Despite all of that, the Wildcats rallied to pull off one of the most improbable wins of their season. Richards noted the team's will to win to The Athletic's Kyle Tucker.
“This team has a will to win. Doesn’t really matter how much we’re down by,” Richards said. “We’re going to fight. We’re going to find a way to win. We’re going to get stops. We’re going to make hard buckets, easy buckets, do whatever it takes to win. That’s just us.”
Kentucky is the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament, and after Saturday's performance, it appears to have enough depth to withstand any absences, which could be scary for any of its future March opponents.
Sunday Top 25 Schedule
No. 25 Michigan at No. 9 Maryland (Noon ET, Fox)
Memphis at No. 21 Houston (Noon ET, CBS)
No. 19 Ohio State at No. 16 Michigan State (4 p.m. ET, CBS)
No. 18 Iowa at No. 23 Illinois (7 p.m. ET, BTN)
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.
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