A pair of major conference tournament semifinals will feature Cinderella entrants, as NC State stunned No. 11 Duke and Providence outlasted No. 8 Creighton in the ACC and Big East tournament quarterfinals respectively Thursday.
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NC State stuns No. 11 Duke in ACC quarterfinals
Duke’s struggles against fellow Tar Heel State foes continue. After finishing the regular season with a home loss to mortal rivals North Carolina, the Blue Devils crashed out of the ACC quarterfinals with a surprising 74-69 setback against No. 9 seed NC State.
A pair of offensively-reliant teams limped to a surprisingly slow start Thursday, combining to squander their first 12 possessions before Duke’s Jared McCain swished a pair of free throws to break the deadlock at the 16:37 mark. D.J. Horne would provide a timely pair of shock paddles, scoring ten points in as many minutes, including an and-one jumper to give NC State a 17-10 lead at the under-12 timeout, and ultimately finish with a team-high 18. Kyle Filipowski single-handedly clawed Duke back into contention, however, leading all scorers with 28 and leveling the score at 24 with a slam finish.
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NC State pushed its half-time lead to 35-32, and another conversion at the rim from Horne capped off a crucial 6-0 Wolfpack spurt out of the locker room. Duke trailed the entire second half, toeing the abyss down nine with just 44 seconds remaining, but late-game blunders gave the Blue Devils a slim chance down the stretch — the Wolfpack missed 5/6 free throws and committed a live-ball technical foul for hanging on the rim. Another Filipowski layup slimmed the deficit to 71-69 with 20 seconds to play, but Horne converted effortlessly at the line and NC State corralled a Tyrese Proctor miss, securing its upset victory.
Providence outlasts No. 8 Creighton into Big East semis
72 hours from Selection Sunday with quickly fleeting chances at the NCAA tourney, Providence ravenously latched onto one last opportunity for a marquee win, dominating No. 8 Creighton in the final 30 minutes to claim a crucial 78-73 victory and advance to the Big East semifinals.
The Friars’ Big East journey began a day earlier at the Mecca of Basketball, surging to a 20-7 lead over Georgetown and cruising to victory against the overmatched Hoyas, but another strong start escaped a sputtering PC offense — Creighton capitalized on a Providence technical to complete a five-point possession and take an early 13-6 lead. Coach Kim English’s outburst immediately provided the desired effect, as star point guard Devin Carter, who led all scorers with 22 points, converted three free throws and sparked a spirited 23-7 Friar surge.
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Rich Barron scored all eight of his points in a blazing two-minute stretch out of the locker room to keep the high-flying Blue Jays at bay to begin the second -half, but a collective scoring approach from Creighton — Steven Ashworth joined Creighton’s big thee of Trey Alexander, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Baylor Scheierman, each scoring at least 16 points — finally wore the Friars down and Alexander finished at the rim to give CU its first lead in over 20 minutes at 64-63.
A fiercely competitive bout raged through the final media timeout before Carter once again found separation and snuck a layup past Kalkbrenner, who finished with five blocks, and restored PC’s two-possession lead. An untimely three-minute scoring drought saw the Blue Jays fall behind 74-68 before Ashworth completed an and-one try, but Carter finished a perfect 4-4 at the line and clinched the upset win