DURHAM, N.C. — Kendall Marshall felt dissed by Duke. The Blue Devils played the highlights of their last-second win over North Carolina on the video scoreboard, and Marshall didn't like it, so he brought his Tar Heels into a quick huddle.
"I told my teammates I thought that was disrespectful, and we need to go out here and prove a point," Marshall said.
Did they ever.
North Carolina (27-4, 14-2 ACC), never trailed in an 88-70 rout of No. 4 Duke (26-5, 13-3) on Saturday night, claiming the conference's regular-season title behind 20 points and 10 assists from its motivated point guard.
For the second straight year, the Tar Heels rolled in a season finale with the ACC tournament's top seed on the line.
"My team's had some bounce-back to them all year long," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "We go down to Florida State and lose by 3 million and everybody's jumping off the bandwagon … but our team kept playing. We lose to Duke and everybody's got a great opinion of how stupid we are … (and) my team kept playing."
NO. 2 SYRACUSE 58, NO. 19 LOUISVILLE 49: The Orange (30-1, 17-1 Big East) set a conference record for league victories and held the Cardinals (22-9, 10-8) to their fewest points this season.
NO. 3 KANSAS 73, TEXAS 63: Thomas Robinson had 25 points and 14 rebounds in his likely Allen Fieldhouse finale for the Big 12 champion Jayhawks (26-5, 16-2).
NO. 7 MIzzou 81, TEXAS TECH 59: Kim English scored 20 for the visiting Tigers (27-4, 14-3 Big 12), who hit a season-best 16 3-pointers and set a school record for wins.
NO. 8 MARQUETTE 83, NO. 11 G'TOWN 69: Jae Crowder had 26 points and 14 rebounds, helping the host Golden Eagles (25-6, 14-4 Big East) rout the Hoyas (22-7, 12-6) and clinch the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
IOWA ST. 80, NO. 9 BAYLOR 72: The host Cyclones rallied for their second win over a top-10 team this season. The Bears (25-6, 12-6 Big 12) fell to the fourth seed for the conference tournament.
NO. 12 MURRAY ST. 54, TENN. ST. 52: Jewuan Long's layup with 4.4 seconds left helped the Racers (30-1) rally from seven down in the final 5:28 to win the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship in Nashville.
ILLINOIS ST. 65, NO. 15 WICHITA ST. 64: Tyler Brown hit two free throws with 6.4 seconds left for the Redbirds in the Missouri Valley tournament semifinals in St. Louis. The Shockers (27-5) had won nine in a row.
NO. 21 SAN DIEGO ST. 98, TCU 92, OT: Jamaal Franklin scored a career-high 35, including a go-ahead three-point play in overtime, and the visiting Aztecs (24-6, 10-4) claimed a share of their second straight Mountain West title with New Mexico.
NO. 23 TEMPLE 80, FORDHAM 60: Juan Fernandez scored 19, and the visiting Owls (24-6, 13-3 Atlantic 10) won the outright regular-season title for the first time since 1989-90.
NO. 25 CREIGHTON 99, EVANSVILLE 71: Gregory Echenique had a season-best 20 points for the second-seeded Bluejays (27-5) in the Missouri Valley tournament semifinal.
CALHOUN RETURNS: Defying doctor's orders, Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun returned from a monthlong medical leave and was on the sideline during the host Huskies' 74-65 win over Pittsburgh.
ATLANTIC SUN: Belmont (27-7) rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to beat Florida Gulf Coast 83-69 in the tournament championship game in Macon, Ga.
BIG SOUTH: Host UNC Asheville (24-9) beat VMI 80-64 in the title game to earn its second straight NCAA Tournament berth.
State
MIAMI 77, BC 56: Kenny Kadji and Durand Scott scored 14 each for the host Hurricanes (18-11, 9-7 ACC), who stayed in the hunt for a first-round bye in the conference tournament.
UCF 71, UAB 63: The host Knights (21-9, 10-6 C-USA) clinched fourth place in the league and a first-round bye in the conference tournament.
SSC TOURNAMENT: Third-seeded Saint Leo (18-10) beat No. 2 Eckerd (20-8) 73-67 in the semifinals in Lakeland. The Lions face fifth seed Florida Southern, a 108-80 winner over top seed Tech, for the championship at 1 p.m. today.
Loading...