March Madness Roundup: Elite 8 set, Duke to face NC State

DALLAS (AP) — Kyle Filipowski had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Duke advanced to the Elite Eight with a 54-51 win over top-seeded Houston, which played the final 26 minutes Friday night without All-America point guard Jamal Shead after he turned his right ankle.

Even with Shead on the bench, the fourth-seeded Blue Devils had to overcome a physical defence that has been one of the best in the country all season. They won despite a season low in points, and advanced to the South Region final against an Atlantic Coast Conference rival, No. 11 seed North Carolina State, for a spot in the Final Four.

The Wolfpack, the only double-digit seed left in this NCAA Tournament, beat No. 2 seed Marquette 67-58, their eighth win in a row in a streak that included a 74-69 victory over the Blue Devils (27-8) just two weeks ago in the ACC Tournament.

Shead left the game with 6:38 left in the first half after his right foot turned awkwardly on a drive while missing a contested layup. By then, he had been on the floor under the basket for about 15 seconds while play continued at the other end until Houston got the ball after a Duke miss.

The senior guard, who has been part of 120 wins at Houston in his four seasons, reached for his foot when he went down and then pulled his jersey up over his face. He walked gingerly past the Houston bench and to the locker room after getting tended to by an athletic trainer. He sat on the bench throughout the second half, and limped off the court after the Cougars (32-5) became the second No. 1 seed knocked out — a night after North Carolina lost to Alabama.

When Shead exited, the Blue Devils trailed 16-10. They took their first lead when Tyrese Proctor made two free throws to make it 21-20 with 2:46 left in the first half — and they never trailed again, even after L.J. Cryer banked in a short floater at the buzzer to get Houston within 23-21.

Duke never led by more than six points, and Houston still had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds. Emanuel Sharp’s tough 3-point try over Proctor was no good. There was only 0.8 seconds left on the clock when Cougars guard Mylik Wilson was out of bounds on the floor when trying to get the rebound.

LONG-RANGE MAKES

Duke has made a 3-pointer in 1,224 consecutive games, which is the nation’s second-longest active streak. UNLV’s run of 1,227 games making a long-range shot is on hold until next season. The Runnin’ Rebels made five 3s in their season-ending NIT loss Wednesday night.

UP NEXT

Duke is going to its 24th Elite Eight, matching Kansas for the third-most times getting that far in March Madness — trailing Kentucky (38) and North Carolina (29).

(11) NORTH CAROLINA STATE 67, (2) MARQUETTE 58

DALLAS, Texas — DJ Horne scored 19 points and North Carolina State kept its magical NCAA Tournament run alive, beating Marquette 67-58 on Friday night to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1986.

Casey Morsell added 15 points and Mohamed Diarra had 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Wolfpack, who have eight consecutive victories since the start of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, which they had to win even to be a part of March Madness.

On the 50th anniversary of N.C. State's first national championship in 1974 — when the Wolfpack beat the Golden Eagles for the title — it's beginning to look a lot like the second one in 1983.

N.C. State (25-14), the 11th seed in the South Region, will face No. 4 seed Duke on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four.

The last time the Wolfpack went that far 41 years ago, they had to win the ACC Tournament before the late Jim Valvano sprinted around the court trying to find someone to hug after a still-talked-about upset of high-flying Houston for the title.

The lower-key Kevin Keatts is in charge of the latest unlikely crew, with a big personality between the lines in 6-foot-9, 275-pound forward DJ Burns Jr., whose spinning layup and five assists helped the Wolfpack build a 13-point halftime lead.

The No. 2 seed Golden Eagles (27-10) couldn't overcome an unsightly shooting performance in their first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2013. They went 4 of 31 (12.9%) from 3-point range and shot 33.3% overall.

Kam Jones scored 20 points and point guard Tyler Kolek had 17 points and 10 rebounds as a Big East team lost for the first time in eight games in this tournament.

(1) PURDUE 80, (5) GONZAGA 68

DETROIT, Mich. — Purdue big man Zach Edey withstood all the abuse Gonzaga could lay on him Friday night, finishing with 27 points and 14 rebounds to lift the Boilermakers to an 80-68 victory and move them one win from the Final Four.

Gonzaga leaned on, swatted and grabbed at the 7-foot-4 center — even slapped him across the forehead at one point — but it wasn’t enough to stop either him or his top-seeded team.

On Sunday, Purdue, which last year became history’s second first-round loser as a No. 1 seed, will play the winner of Friday’s later game between Tennessee and Creighton in the Midwest Region. A win there would land the program in the Final Four for the first time since 1980.

Braden Smith had 14 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds for the Boilermakers, though this game, like most of them for Purdue (32-4), came down to the other team’s inability to hold down the nation’s leading scorer.

Fifth-seeded Gonzaga (27-8) gave it a go for 30 minutes, but foul trouble and an ever-shrining basket ended its hopes.

Graham Ike had 18 points and 10 rebounds for coach Mark Few’s Bulldogs, who shot only 38% over the first 15 minutes of the second half and fell to 0-3 vs. Edey and the Boilermakers over the past two seasons. Like all the Gonzaga big men, Ike spent the evening in foul trouble; he got his fifth and trudged off the court for good with 5:07 left.

(2) TENNESSEE 82, (3) CREIGHTON 75

DETROIT (AP) — Dalton Knecht had 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Tennessee moved within a victory of its first trip to the Final Four, beating Creighton 82-75 in a Midwest Region semifinal on Friday night.

Zakai Zeigler added 18 points and six assists for the second-seeded Volunteers. When Tennessee lost last year in the regional semifinals for the second straight season, Knecht was at Northern Colorado and Zeigler was out with a torn knee ligament.

Coach Rick Barnes' Vols (27-8) have matched the longest NCAA Tournament run in school history and hope to get farther than the 2012 team that lost by one point to Michigan State in the Elite Eight.

Tennessee will face top-seeded Purdue, which beat Gonzaga earlier Friday night, on Sunday for the Midwest Region title and a Final Four appearance that has been elusive for both schools.

The third-seeded Bluejays (25-10) reached the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years and fell a win short of equaling their first regional final appearance from last year.

Baylor Scheierman, a third-team All-America wing, had 25 points and some of his teammates struggled against a long and athletic team that plays defense from the logo to the rim.

Steven Ashworth finished with 16 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner had 14 for the Bluejays, who had plenty of fight.

Tennessee went on a breathtaking 18-0 run early in the second half — taking a 55-39 lead — that forced Creighton coach Greg McDermott to call two timeouts because he didn’t want to wait for a TV stoppage to stem the tide.

Scheierman made a 3-pointer to end the drought and later had a three-point play during a 9-0 run that pulled the Bluejays within three points with 6:04 left.

Knecht made a pair of 3-pointers that restored six-point leads and Zeigler set up Tobe Awaka for a three-point play that put the Vols ahead 71-64 with 1:39 to go.

Tennessee survived the first weekend of the tournament, edging Texas by four points after opening with a rout of Saint Peter’s, with Knecht combining for 41 points in those games. The Bluejays advanced to the second weekend of the tournament with a rout of Akron and a double-overtime win over Oregon.

In the Sweet 16, Scheierman had 15 points in the first half and his second assist was a lob that Kalkbrenner slammed to put the Bluejays ahead 35-34.

Knecht was at his best during the pivotal burst early in the second half.

The 6-foot-6 wing, who transferred from Northern Colorado after playing at Northeastern Junior College, became the first former junior college player to earn All-America recognition since Larry Johnson in 1991.

Knecht had 10 points in a closely contested first half with eight lead changes, three ties and neither team going ahead by more than four points.

The Vols were pesky on defense, playing chest-to-chest 40 feet from the basket, and forced a team that averages 10-plus turnovers to lose possession four times in the opening five minutes.

Tennessee took advantage, scoring eight points off those turnovers.

Perhaps fittingly, both teams didn’t get much breathing room on the court or scoreboard.

BIG PICTURE

Creighton: A year after a heartbreaking, one-point loss to San Diego State prevented the program from its first Final Four, the Bluejays will have another long offseason to wonder what they could have done to get over the hump.

Tennessee: Barnes had his team prepared and made sound adjustments, but he needs another win to quiet his critics.

UP NEXT

The Vols will play in front of a pro-Boilermakers crowd when Purdue tries to make its first Final Four since 1980.