COLLEGE BASKETBALL : NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Duke Gets ACC Title and Rest, 83-77

Eighth-ranked Duke beat No. 4 North Carolina, 83-77, Sunday at Chapel Hill, N.C., to win the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship and a first-round bye for this weekend’s ACC tournament.

Duke (25-6 overall, 11-3 in the ACC), led, 46-36, at halftime, and a 10-4 run gave it a 67-48 lead. The run started and finished on three-pointers by Bobby Hurley, who had 18 points.

North Carolina (22-5, 10-4) came back with a 14-4 run to get within 71-62 when the Blue Devils went cold from the field but stayed in front by making 10 of 13 free throws in the last 4:29.

Rick Fox’s three-pointer pulled North Carolina to within 78-74 with two minutes left, but Thomas Hill countered with a basket for Duke with 1:17 left.

North Carolina closed to 80-78 with 1:08 to play, but Greg Koubek and Hill combined for three free throws as North Carolina missed three three-pointers in the last 28 seconds.

No. 2 Ohio State 65, Michigan State 64--Jamaal Brown’s free throw with one second left got the Buckeyes past Michigan State at Columbus, Ohio, to clinch at least a tie for their first Big Ten Conference title in 20 years.

The victory was the eighth in a row for Ohio State (25-1, 15-1) since suffering its only loss of the season at Michigan State.

Michigan State (17-10, 10-7) pulled even, 64-64, on Matt Steigenga’s three-point shot with 39 seconds left.

Jim Jackson had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Ohio State. Steve Smith scored 23 points for Michigan State.

Texas 99, No. 3 Arkansas 86--Benford Williams scored 22 points at Austin, Tex., and the Longhorns rallied to upset the Razorbacks, who were playing their final Southwest Conference game before moving to the Southeastern Conference next season.

As the final minutes ticked away, Texas fans chided the Razorbacks with chants of “SEC, SEC.”

Arkansas (28-3, 15-1) has clinched its third consecutive SWC championship.

Texas (20-7, 13-3) trailed, 55-45, at halftime after Arkansas finished the half with a 16-6 run, capped by Arlyn Bowers’ three-pointer.

Arkansas’ lead grew to 61-47 with 17:39 left, but Texas fought back and went ahead to stay, 73-72, with 9:46 remaining.

No. 6 Syracuse 62, Georgetown 58--Billy Owens scored 21 points, including two free throws with four seconds left, and the Orangemen further damaged Georgetown’s chances of making the NCAA tournament in a Big East Conference game at Syracuse, N.Y.

Syracuse (26-4, 12-4) beat the Hoyas (16-11, 8-8) for the fourth consecutive game despite missing four other free throws in the final minute.

Alonzo Mourning had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Hoyas.

No. 15 Nebraska 85, No. 10 Kansas 75--Tony Farmer had 18 points and 13 rebounds as the Cornhuskers held on when Kansas missed eight consecutive free throws down the stretch at Lincoln, Neb., to blow its chance for an outright Big Eight Conference championship.

Kansas (21-6, 10-4) tied Oklahoma State for the title. Nebraska (24-6, 9-5) was third.

Nebraska made seven of eight free throws, while the Jayhawks went cold from the line, to build a 77-69 lead. Adonis Jordan broke the cold spell with two free throws with 1:44 left to make it 77-71, but Nebraska ran off eight consecutive points to settle the issue.

No. 19 East Tennessee State 101, Appalachian State 82--Keith Jennings scored 15 points in the final 8 1/2 minutes and the Buccaneers’ record-setting offense overwhelmed Appalachian State in the finals of the Southern Conference tournament at Asheville, N.C.

The second-seeded Bucs (28-4) set a team record for victories and will receive the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. Appalachian State finished 16-14.

TOURNAMENTS

P.J. Brown had 17 points, 17 rebounds and six blocked shots, leading Louisiana Tech (21-9) to a 61-56 victory over New Orleans (23-7) at New Orleans. Louisiana Tech gainedthe automatic bid to the NCAA tournament awarded to the American South Conference tournament champion.