College Basketball Roundup : Duke Beats North Carolina for Third Time

Danny Ferry didn’t shoot well, but his timing was great.

Ferry made only 8 of 20 field-goal attempts in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship game Sunday at Greensboro, N.C., but his follow shot with 1:25 left and Quin Snyder’s two free throws with four seconds remaining gave eighth-ranked Duke a 65-61 victory over No. 9 North Carolina.

It was Duke’s second ACC tournament title in three seasons and the Blue Devils’ third win over North Carolina this season.

Duke improved its record to 24-6 and gained the league’s automatic National Collegiate Athletic Assn. berth. The Blue Devils will play Boston University at Chapel Hill, N.C., Thursday in a first-round East Regional game. North Carolina (24-6) will play North Texas State Thursday in the West Regional at Salt Lake City.

“This was a great championship basketball game,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Outside of a few breaks and a few individual moves, Carolina could have been the champ.”

North Carolina, which had won the three previous championship meetings between the schools, appeared headed toward another victory when it took a 53-48 lead with 13:04 left on Scott Williams’ two free throws.

But the Blue Devils’ defense helped them rally against the Tar Heels, who got little production from their inside tandem of Williams and J.R. Reid.

Reid scored seven points, all in the second half, and Williams finished with eight points.

“They really fronted J.R.,” said Jeff Lebo, who led the Tar Heels with 16 points. “In the second half, we did a better job of getting him the ball inside. All the big men got some shots around the hoop, but they just didn’t seem to go for them.”

North Carolina missed its last 6 field goal attempts and hit only 7 of 25 shots in the second half. The Tar Heels shot 33.3% for the game, their worst performance of the season.

“I think the defenses were a bit ahead of the offenses today,” North Carolina Coach Dean Smith said.

Ferry led the Blue Devils with 19 points. John Smith had 12, and Kevin Strickland and Snyder scored 11 each.

OTHER TOURNAMENTS

BIG EAST

Syracuse 85, Villanova 68--Stephen Thompson and Rony Seikaly took over the scoring for the 13th-ranked Orangemen in the second half and they pulled away from the Wildcats at New York City.

The Orangemen were making their fifth appearance in the conference championship game and the only other time they prevailed was in 1981 when they beat Villanova, 83-80, in triple overtime.

Villanova, which had beaten St. John’s and upset No. 5 Pittsburgh to reach the final, was making just its second appearance in the title game.

Syracuse (25-8) led, 39-34, at halftime. The Orangemen scored the first seven points of the second half and led, 46-34, with 16:53 to play.

Thompson finished with 25, while Seikaly had 15. Sherman Douglas, who averaged 20 points in the three tournament games, had 24.

Doug West led Villanova (21-12) with 25, and Mark Plansky, the hero of both tournament victories with last-minute three-pointers, had 15.

Syracuse will face North Carolina A&T; in the first round of East Regional at Chapel Hill Thursday, and Villanova will play Arkansas in the Southeast Regional Friday.

BIG EIGHT

Oklahoma 88, Kansas St. 83--Stacy King scored 34 points to lead the fourth-ranked Sooners to a victory over the Wildcats in the tournament final.

The Sooners (30-3) received the league’s automatic invitation to the NCAA tournament. They will play Tennessee-Chattanooga in the first round of the Southeast Regional.

King, a 6-10 junior center, helped turn back a Kansas State rally with 10 points down the stretch. He scored 35 points in a semifinal game Saturday against Missouri and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

King credited much of his success to teammate Harvey Grant.

“A lot of my success revolves around Harvey because if people try to double-team him, that leaves me open,” he said. “I’m sort of an offensive threat now, too.”

Kansas State (22-8) received an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats, who handed Oklahoma one of its three regular-season losses, will meet La Salle in the first round of the Midwest Regional.

Dave Sieger scored 18 points and Grant added 16 for the Sooners.

Steve Henson led Kansas State with 20 points. Mitch Richmond had 19 and Scott added 17.

METRO

Louisville 81, Memphis St. 73--The Cardinals, the first Metro team to defeat the Tigers on their home court at Mid-South Coliseum this season, took the ball away from Memphis State 19 times and registered 21 assists as they earned the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

“Defense was the key to the game for us and getting 21 assists shows that you’re playing well together and that really pleases me,” said Louisville Coach Denny Crum.

Herbert Crook, who hit 8 of 17 shots from the field and 8 of 11 free throws, led Louisville with 24 points and earned tournament MVP honors. Kenny Payne added 18 points for the Cardinals (22-10).

Memphis State (19-11) also was extended a NCAA bid, as was Florida State, which finished second in the Metro Conference during the regular season.

Louisville (22-10) will meet Oregon State in the first round of the Southeast Regional, while Memphis State is paired against Baylor in the Midwest and Florida State plays Iowa in the West Regional at Salt Lake City.

Pervis Ellison scored 17 points for Louisville, and John McLaughlin had 21 for the Tigers.

SOUTHEASTERN

Kentucky 62, Georgia 57--Rex Chapman scored 23 points, including four free throws in the final 16 seconds, as the sixth-ranked Wildcats beat the Bulldogs in the conference tournament championship game.

The Wildcats (25-5) will carry a seven-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament, where they face Southern University Friday in the Southeast Regional.

Georgia, playing for the fourth day in a row, led the Wildcats much of the game before Winston Bennett’s short jumper gave Kentucky the lead for good at 58-57.

The Bulldogs (19-15) forced the Wildcats into a slow tempo contest. Kentucky also slowed it down during one stretch with just over four minutes remaining.

Willie Anderson led Georgia with 18 points.

SOUTHWEST

SMU 75, Baylor 64--Kato Armstrong scored 23 points and had three key late baskets as the Mustangs won the conference tournament championship game at Dallas.

SMU will play Notre Dame in the first round of the East Regional Thursday.

Michael Williams scored 31 points for Baylor, which also got an NCAA bid and will play Memphis State in South Bend, Ind., in the first round Thursday. Arkansas, a third SWC school, will play Villanova at Cincinnati Friday.

SMU won its 27th game, a school record, against six losses while Baylor dropped to 23-9. It was the Mustangs’ first tournament title.

For the Mustangs, it was their ninth NCAA playoff bid while Baylor will be making its fourth NCAA appearance.

Baylor’s Williams made seven three-point field goal shots, tying a tournament record for three-pointers.