College basketball: Michigan’s wild ride continues with win over Purdue; Duke tops UNC

Two days after its airplane’s scary abandoned takeoff, Michigan’s wild journey carried right on into the Big Ten semifinals with a 74-70 overtime upset of 13th-ranked Purdue behind D.J. Wilson’s 26 points Friday in Washington.

The eighth-seeded Wolverines (22-11) got 13 points from Zak Irvin, including their first four of the extra period, against the No. 1 seed Boilermakers (25-7).

It was a back-and-forth afternoon affair, the most engaging game of the week so far. The teams combined for 14 ties and 17 lead changes in regulation alone, and they headed to overtime tied at 66 after Zak Irvin pulled Michigan even on a layup with 4.2 seconds left, before Wilson blocked a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

Michigan next faces No. 4-seeded Minnesota on Saturday.

Caleb Swanigan, the second-leading scorer in the Big Ten, fouled out in OT with 13 points and 13 rebounds for Purdue — his 26th double-double, tying Jerry Lucas and Brad Sellers for the league’s single-season record.

Minnesota 63, Michigan State 58: Reggie Lynch returned from taking a forearm to the face and scored 16 points to lead the fourth-seeded Gophers to the win. The Big Ten defensive player of the year was dynamic at each end of the court, and his return sparked an 8-0 second-half run for Minnesota (24-8).

Freshman Miles Bridges led Michigan State (19-14) with 20 points but was 7 of 20 from the floor. He was a big part of the Spartans’ perimeter problems as they shot 20 percent from three-point territory.

No. 24 Wisconsin 70, Indiana 60: Showing signs that its late-season swoon might be over, the Badgers slowed Indiana’s offense and used Ethan Happ’s 14 points and 12 rebounds to beat the Hoosiers. Bronson Koenig scored 16 points to lead five Badgers in double figures. James Blackmon Jr. led 10th-seeded Indiana (18-15) with 17 points, but freshman De’Ron Davis had only two points on one-of-six shooting after making all seven of his shots for 15 points in a win over Iowa on Thursday. No. 2-seeded Wisconsin (24-8) will play Northwestern in the semifinals.

Northwestern 72, No. 25 Maryland 64: Making itself right at home on a court that was anything but neutral, the Wildcats roared into the semifinals with the upset. Scottie Lindsey and Vic Law each scored 17 points for Northwestern (23-10), which took control with a 20-2 run in the second half. Melo Trimble scored 20 points for the Terrapins (24-8) but committed six turnovers. Freshman Kevin Huerter had 19 points and Cowan added 13.

ACC

No. 14 Duke 93, No. 6 North Carolina 83: Jayson Tatum scored 24 points and the Blue Devils rallied past the Tar Heels (27-7) with another lightning-fast surge in the second half while taking advantage of foul trouble for UNC point guard Joel Berry II to win in the conference tournament semifinals in New York. Luke Kennard had 20 points and Grayson Allen added 18 off the bench for Duke (26-8), which will play for the title Saturday night at Barclays Center against No. 22 Notre Dame.

No. 22 Notre Dame 77, No. 16 Florida State 73: Steve Vasturia and Bonzie Colson each scored 18 points and the third-seeded Fighting Irish (25-8) will get another shot at eliminated Duke from the conference tournament. Dwayne Bacon led Florida State (25-8) with 18 points. Notre Dame has eliminated Duke from the tournament each of the last two seasons, including a semifinal victory in 2015 on the way to the Irish’s first conference tournament championship.

BIG 12

No. 23 Iowa State 84, Texas Christian 63: Deonte Burton scored 22 points, Monte Morris had 15 and the Cyclones reached their third conferendce tournament title game in the last four seasons. Fourth-seeded Iowa (22-10) clearly wasn’t impressed by the Horned Frogs’ victory against top-ranked Kansas in the quarterfinals as it used two big first-half runs to assume control. Vladimir Brodziansky and Jaylen Fisher had 10 points apiece for the No. 8 seed Horned Frogs (19-15), but nobody seemed to have much pep in their step after their heart-stopping win over the Jayhawks.

No. 11 West Virginia 51, Kansas State 50: Esa Ahmad made the second of two free throws with 20.2 seconds left to give the Mountaineers (26-7) the victory after an off-balance three-pointer by the Wildcats’ Kamau Stokes missed at the buzzer. Tarik Phillip tied the score for West Virginia with a three-pointer with 1:41 left before the Wildcats (20-13) came up empty at the other end. Ahmad was fouled during a mad scramble for a rebound moments later, and he clanked his first free throw before making his second.

BIG EAST

No. 2 Villanova 55, Seton Hall 53: Josh Hart scored 19 points, including the game-winning basket with 9.6 seconds to play, and the Wildcats advanced to the conference tournament final. Hart’s three-point play on a rebound was the fifth lead change of the final four minutes plus there were two ties. There was almost a third as Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado, the nation’s leading rebounder, missed a shot from in close with 1one second left. The Wildcats (30-3), four-time defending regular-season champion, will face Creighton for the title on Saturday.

Creighton 75, Xavier 72: Marcus Foster hit a game-winning three-pointer with eight seconds left and the sixth-seeded Creighton Bluejays (25-8) advanced to the title game with a magnificent shooting exhibition from long range. Creighton had to watch hot shooting P.J. Macura’s game-tying attempt from 25 feet hit off the front rim before it could celebrate its second trip to the title game in four years. Foster and Justin Patton each had 21 points for Creighton, which made 13 of 20 from long range, including seven straight in one stretch. Macura had 22 points, making six three-pointers, for seventh-seeded Xavier (21-13).

SEC

No. 8 Kentucky 71, Georgia 60: Isaiah Briscoe and De’Aaron Fox each scored 20 points to lead the Wildcats into the conference semifinals with the win in Nashville, Tenn. No. 1-seeded Kentucky (27-5) offset 38% shooting by holding Georgia to 19 of 57 from the field (33%). J.J. Frazier had 15 points and Yante Maten added 12 for the eighth-seeded Bulldogs (19-14).

Alabama 64, South Carolina 53: Braxton Key had 18 points, Riley Norris added 12 and the Crimson Tide (19-13) made 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. Sindarius Thornwell had 16 points for South Carolina (22-10), which shot 37% from the field. The Crimson Tide plays Kentucky on Saturday in the semifinals.

Vanderbilt 72, No. 17 Florida 62: Riley LaChance scored five of his 18 points in overtime as the Commodores (19-14) beat the Gators (24-8) for the third time this season and second in seven days. First-year Coach Bryce Drew has Vanderbilt in the semifinals for the first time since 2013 with a win that should push his Commodores firmly into the NCAA tournament for a second straight year.

Arkansas 73, Mississippi 72: Manuale Watkins drove for a layup with 1:28 left to put the Razorbacks (24-8) ahead, 71-70, while Daryl Macon hit two free throws with 23.8 seconds left to pad the lead before the Rebels (20-13) missed a flurry of shot in the final 10 seconds before Justas Furmanavicius’ layup just before the buzzer. Officials reviewed the play before ruling the game over. The Razorbacks play Vanderbilt on Saturday in the semifinals.

AAC

No. 12 Southern Methodist 81, East Carolina 77: Semi Ojeleye scored a career-high 36 points, making 12 of 19 shots, and had 12 rebounds to lead the Mustangs (28-4) to victory in the conference quarterfinals. Kentrell Barkley had 22 of his 24 points in the second half to lead East Carolina (15-18).

Central Florida 84, Memphis 54: Matt Williams had 19 points, including five three-pointers to lead the Knights (21-10). UCF has won six in a row heading into a semifinal matchup against SMU. Brothers Dedric and K.J. Lawson combined for 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for Memphis (19-13), but were held to seven-of-24 shooting from the field and 20 points below their combined average.

Connecticut 74, Houston 63: Jalen Adams scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half to lead the sixth-seeded Huskies (16-16) to the upset. Rodney Purvis added 18 points, while freshmen Christian Vital and Vance Jackson each had 12. Rob Gray Jr. scored 25 points for the Cougars (21-10), Galen Robinson Jr. added 17 and Damyean Dotson 15.

No. 15 Cincinnati 80, Tulsa 61: Kyle Washington scored 21 points and Jacob Evans added 20 to lead the Bearcats (28-4) to victory. Corey Henderson Jr. had 15 points and Sterling Taplin scored 10 for Tulsa, which lost three of its final four games to finish the season 15-17.