Beyond that, there are plenty of other noteworthy games on tap. Auburn and Michigan State already advanced in their respective conference tournaments, while Houston and St. John’s will also vie for the top seed line in the NCAA tournament.
Zuby Ejiofor has 31 points, with St. John’s rolling
The Red Storm is up 14 with four minutes left. It will face the winner of Creighton and UConn in the Big East final
Some large halftime leads are getting smaller
Mizzou has pulled within six points of Florida, while UNC has outscored Duke by eight in the second half. Blue Devils still lead by 13, though.
St. John’s rolling so far in second half
Six minutes into the second half, St. John’s has taken a 10-point lead over Marquette. Upset chances are starting to slip away for the Golden Eagles.
Maryland’s still rolling, with hilarious 4-point play
It’s now 81-48 Terrapins, who will face Purdue or Michigan in the Big Ten semifinals.
HALFTIME: Duke 45, North Carolina 24
The Tar Heels went five minutes without scoring to close out the first half, while the Blue Devils went on a 15-0 run to open up a 21-point margin at the break.
Kon Knueppel leads Duke with 12 points, followed by Sion James and Tyrese Proctor both scoring seven. North Carolina is led by Ven-Allen Lubin’s eight points, but the Tar Heels are shooting only 36% and 1-of-10 on 3-pointers.
Duke pulling away from North Carolina
North Carolina made a run to close within six points, but Duke shook that off and has reasserted itself as the first half nears its end.
The Blue Devils are on a 15-0 run to open up a 21-point margin, 45-24.
A 3-pointer from Elliot Cadeau cut Duke’s lead to 30-24. But Patrick Ngongba II answered right back to restore the Blue Devils’ margin to eight points. Caleb Foster soon followed by knocking down two free throws to put Duke back up by 10.
Duke locking down UNC early
Even without Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 Blue Devils are rolling in the first half against the Tar Heels.
HALFTIME: Marquette 37, St. John’s 35
St. John’s has cut Marquette’s 15-point lead to two at the half, which the Red Storm has to feel good about.
But the Golden Eagles did answer when St. John’s tied the game and took 37-35 lead into halftime.
Kam Jones has a game-high 15 points, hitting three 3-pointers. Zuby Ejiofor leads the Red Storm with 10 points and five boards, followed by Kadary Richmond’s nine points and six rebounds.
St. John’s took its first lead at 35-33 on a Zuby Ejiofor layup. But Marquette came right back to tie the score on a Zaide Lowery tip-in. Just over one minute is left in the first half.
And we are tied at 31-31 at Madison Square Garden on a 3-pointer from Deivon Smith for St. John’s.
Here come the Red Storm
St. John’s was too good to be down for so long. They’ve cut Marquette’s lead to 29-28 with a 17-7 run.
Marquette is maintaining its lead with Stevie Mitchell hitting a 3 for a 27-17 lead. The Golden Eagles are shooting 5-of-11 (46%) from long range thus far.
And another one! Kam Jones sinks another 3 to put Marquette ahead, 20-9, at the 14:07 mark of the first half. David Joplin followed with two free throws to extend the Golden Eagles’ lead to 13 points. They’re on an 8-0 run.
Kam Jones off to scorching start
Kam Jones is hot to start off this game. He’s hit two 3-pointers in addition to two layups to tally an early 10 points for Marquette, lifting them to a 12-5 lead.
St. John’s won both regular season matchups with Marquette
St. John’s went 2-0 versus Marquette during the regular season, winning 70-64 and 86-84 in overtime. However, the Golden Eagles are 6-0 against the Red Storm in Big East tournament play
The St. John’s band had an early start on Friday, appearing on the “Today” show to perform at Rockefeller Plaza.
Getting blown out by Tennessee wouldn’t have helped Texas’ chances with the selection committee. And really, the Longhorns were never in Friday’s SEC quarterfinal game, despite what the final score might indicate. They didn’t play like a team whose postseason was at stake.
The Vols move on to play Auburn, who defeated Ole Miss earlier on Friday, in Saturday’s semifinal at 1 p.m. ET. Tennessee lost a close game in their regular season matchup, 53-51.
Texas’ Chendall Weaver rolled his left ankle after grabbing an offensive rebound and looked like he might have to come out of the game.
Weaver down on the floor. Appears to be a left ankle injury. Doesn’t look like he’ll be going back in soon.
However, he stayed in and made two free throws to cut Tennessee’s lead to 75-65 with 3:28 left in the second half.
Texas is showing a bit of life, but it’s likely too late. A ferocious Kadin Shedrick dunk over two defenders pulled the Longhorns to within 75-63, but only four minutes remain in the game.
