No. 1 Duke overcomes injuries to beat Georgia Tech 78-70, advance to ACC semifinals

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — 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.

Brown went down with a shoulder injury in the first half.

Duncan Powell led Georgia Tech (17-16) with 24 points.

NO. 2 HOUSTON 77, COLORADO 69

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Emanuel Sharpe scored 19 points before fouling out, and No. 2 Houston overcame an injury to veteran forward J’Wan Roberts in the second half to beat Colorado and advance to the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

LJ Cryer and Milos Uzan added 14 points apiece for the top-seeded Cougars (28-4), who will play No. 17 BYU — the No. 4 seed in the tournament — on Friday night for a spot in their second consecutive championship game.

Houston’s postseason run a year ago was derailed by injuries, so it made sense that the bench tensed up when Roberts went down right in front of it with about 18 minutes to go. The Cougars’ leading rebounder was helped to the locker room, where he was diagnosed with a right ankle sprain, and Roberts spent the rest of the game watching from the bench.

Andrej Jakimovski had 25 points for the Buffaloes (14-20), who won twice in the Big 12 tourney as its first No. 16 seed to finish a trying season on a high note. Leading scorer Julian Hammond III managed just nine points on 2-for-13 shooting.

NO. 6 ST. JOHN’S 78, BUTLER 57

NEW YORK (AP) — RJ Luis Jr. scored 20 points and No. 6 St….

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/no-1-duke-overcomes-injuries-025832574.html

Author : The Associated Press

Publish date : 2025-03-14 02:58:00

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