Associated Press
The college basketball roundup …
CLEMSON, S.C. ó Clemson point guard Demontez Stitt was hurt, angry and wanted out last spring. Nearly a year later, the Tigers senior leader couldn’t be happier he stayed.
Jerai Grant scored 17 points and Stitt 15 as Clemson clinched a first-round bye in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament with a 69-60 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Clemson (20-10, 9-7) reached 20 victories for the fifth straight season, a first in school history. The Tigers achieved a winning ACC mark for the fourth consecutive year, also a program first.
Now, they’ll wait until March 12 to see if they’ll celebrate a landmark fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance.
Virginia 74, Maryland 60
COLLEGE PARK, Md. ó Marylandcouldn’t have picked a worse time to be mired in its longest losing streak of the season.
Sammy Zeglinski scored a career-high 25 points, and Virginia beat the Terrapins 74-60 to cap a disappointing regular season for the defending ACC co-champions.
ACC WOMEN
GREENSBORO ó Karima Christmas scored a season-high 20 points to lead Duke over Georgia Tech 74-66 in the semifinals of the ACC tournament.
Jasmine Thomas added 12 points for top-seeded Duke (28-3), which reached todayís championship game for the fourth time in as many tries under coach Joanne P. McCallie.
No. 19 UNC 83, No. 10 Miami 57
Jessica Breland had a season-high 28 points and 10 rebounds to lead North Carolina. Cetera DeGraffenreid and Krista Gross added 14 points apiece for the sixth-seeded Tar Heels (25-7).
BIG SOUTH FINAL
CONWAY, S.C. ó Chris Stephenson scored 14 points, John Williams had 10 points and nine rebounds and North Carolina-Asheville beat Coastal Carolina 60-47 on Saturday in the Big South Conference title game.
The third-seeded Bulldogs (19-13) knocked off the top seed on the Chanticleers’ home court to reach the NCAA tournament for the second time.
It’s the second year in a row that Coastal Carolina (28-5) was the tournament’s top seed and lost the title game. The Chanticleers will get an automatic bid to the NIT.
A-SUN FINAL
MACON, Ga. ó Mark Hedgepeth scored 23 points and had nine rebounds as top-seeded Belmont earned a berth in the NCAA tournament with an 87-46 victory over North Florida in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament championship game Saturday night.
Belmont (30-4) won its fourth Atlantic Sun title in six years.
SOCON
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ó Noah Dahlman scored 21 points to lead Wofford past Appalachian State 69-56 in the Southern Conference tournament quarterfinals on Saturday.
The Terriers, who won last year’s tournament and entered this year’s event on a five-game winning streak, will face Western Carolina in Sunday’s first semifinal.
Brad Loesing and Cameron Rundles added 12 points apiece for Wofford (19-12) and Jamar Diggs had 11.
WCU 77, UNC-G 66
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ó Harouna Mutombo scored 20 points to lead Western Carolina to a 77-66 win over North Carolina-Greensboro.
OVC FINAL
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ó Demonte Harper had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and Morehead State won the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship by beating Tennessee Tech 80-73 on Saturday night.
Kenneth Faried notched his 27th double-double this season with 24 points and 15 rebounds in helping the Eagles (24-9) earn their second NCAA tournament berth in three years.