College basketball: Blue Devils earn double-bye with win over Heels

Published 11:16 pm Saturday, March 4, 2023

Associated Press

CHAPEL HILL — Kyle Filipowski had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Duke pulled out a 62-57 win over North Carolina in their regular-season finale on Saturday.

The Blue Devils (23-8, 14-6), won their sixth straight game and clinched a double-bye in the ACC Tournament that begins Tuesday in Greensboro, N.C. UNC (19-12, 11-9) will be the seventh seed.

Filipowski’s double-double was the 14th for the freshman. Tyrese Proctor added 13 points and Jeremy Roach and Mark Mitchell 10 apiece.

Armando Bacot had 17 points and 11 rebounds for his 68th career double-double. With 1,795 points, he passed Michael Jordan (1,788) for 14th on UNC’s career scoring list. RJ Davis also scored 17 points and Caleb Love had 11.

There were eight lead changes and four ties over the final nine minutes starting when UNC claimed its first lead since early on with a Davis 3-pointer that made it 46-45.

Filipowski gave Duke its final lead with two free throws at 1:38 and Roach made it a three-point edge on a drive with 48 seconds left. Davis couldn’t convert on a drive and Duke got the ball on a foul during a struggle for the rebound. Filipowski couldn’t make the one-and-one but Love missed a 3-pointer and Filipowski iced the game with a layup after Dereck Lively II cleared the rebound.

UNC didn’t have a field goal over the first six minutes of the second half as Duke, which led 33-31 at halftime, took the game’s largest lead of seven.

Duke shot 38% to 30% for UNC, which made just 5 of 23 from the arc and was outscored 30-16 in the paint.

Duke got its first regular-season sweep of UNC since 2019-20.

Wake falls to Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Jesse Edwards celebrated his Senior Night with a 20-20 double-double and Syracuse defeated Wake Forest 72-63 on Saturday.

Edwards had 27 points and 20 rebounds (eight on offense) for the Orange. His stat line also included five steals and two blocks. Fellow senior Joe Girard had 16 points and freshman Judah Mintz scored 17 for Syracuse (17-14, 10-10 ACC).

Wake Forest senior Tyree Appleby had 21 points and eight assists to become the first player in ACC history to lead the conference in both categories. Daivien Williamson added 11 points for the Demon Deacons (18-13, 10-10).

A personal 8-0 run by Edwards turned an eight-point Syracuse lead into a 16-point blowout at the midway point of the second half. A 3-pointer by Appleby stopped the run but Wake Forest had scored only seven points in a seven-minute stretch. The Demon Deacons knocked nine points off their deficit and trailed 70-63 with 48 seconds remaining before Mintz added two free throws for Syracuse to cap the scoring.

Mintz scored 13 points and Edwards had 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead Syracuse to a 39-29 halftime lead. Girard added 10 points in the half and Appleby led Wake Forest with 11 points.

Syracuse honored its 2003 national championship team and retired the jerseys of Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick.

 

Charlotte falls 93-91 to UAB in double overtime

CHARLOTTE (AP) — Jordan Walker scored a career-high 41 points and UAB defeated Charlotte 93-91 in double overtime on Saturday.

Walker also contributed six assists for the Blazers (23-8, 14-6 Conference USA). Trey Jemison added 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. KJ Buffen had 11 points and eight rebounds. The Blazers picked up their sixth straight victory and held on to third place in the conference.

Brice Williams finished with 32 points, six rebounds and three blocks for the 49ers (18-13, 9-11). Lu’Cye Patterson added 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals for Charlotte and Jackson Threadgill had 13 points.

CAA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Miguel Ayesa had 23 points in William & Mary’s 73-51 win over Elon on Saturday in the second round of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament.

Ayesa shot 8 for 15, including 7 for 14 from beyond the arc for the Tribe (13-19). Matteus Case scored 11 points while going 4 of 10 (2 for 3 from distance), and added seven rebounds. Tyler Rice recorded 11 points and shot 2 for 4 from beyond the arc and 5 of 5 from the free throw line.

Sam Sherry led the way for the Phoenix (8-24) with 15 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks. Elon also got 14 points from Sean Halloran. Torrence Watson also had seven points.

William & Mary led 34-27 at halftime, with Ayesa racking up 14 points. William & Mary pulled away with a 15-1 run in the second half to extend a 10-point lead to 24 points.

Southern Conference

ASHEVILLE  (AP) — Tyzhaun Claude had 15 points in Western Carolina’s 69-57 victory over East Tennessee State on Saturday night in the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Claude had five rebounds for the Catamounts (18-14). Bernard Pelote and Tre Jackson added 14 points each.

The Buccaneers (12-20) were led in scoring by Jalen Haynes, who finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. East Tennessee State also got 18 points from Jordan King.

Western Carolina led 41-26 at halftime, with Pelote racking up nine points. Western Carolina extended its lead to 52-35 during the second half, fueled by a 7-0 scoring run. Claude scored a team-high 11 points in the second half.

Big South

CHARLOTTE (AP) — Anthony Dell’Orso scored 23 points and buried a jumper with one second left to rally Campbell to a 72-71 victory over Radford on Saturday, sending the Fighting Camels to the Big South Conference Tournament championship game.

Dell’Orso made 7 of 16 shots from the floor with three 3-pointers for seventh-seeded Campbell (16-17), which will play top-seeded UNC Ashville for the title on Sunday with an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament on the line. Ricky Clemons sank all five of his shots and scored 13. Jay Pal added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

DaQuan Smith led the third-seeded Highlanders (19-14) with 22 points. Bryan Antoine added 13 points and two blocks. Josiah Jeffers tallied nine points, four assists and two steals.

Dell’Orso scored 14 second-half points to help the Fighting Camels overcome a 44-37 halftime deficit.

Drew Pember’s 31 points led UNC Asheville over South Carolina Upstate 66-62 on Saturday in the other Big South Conference Tournament semifinal.

Pember had 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs (26-7). Tajion Jones scored 10 points and added six rebounds. Nicholas McMullen was 3 of 6 shooting and 3 of 6 from the free throw line to finish with nine points, while adding seven rebounds. It was the sixth win in a row for the Bulldogs.

Trae Broadnax led the way for the Spartans (16-15) with 16 points and two steals. South Carolina Upstate also got 15 points from Justin Bailey. In addition, Jordan Gainey had eight points.

Pember scored 15 points in the second half to help .