Some of the conference big boys, including the biggest of them all, two-time defending champion Duke, lost on a wild Friday night of tournament play.
The eighth-ranked Blue Devils will be in the unaccustomed position of accepting an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament after falling 69-66 to Georgia Tech in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.Also falling in the ACC were No. 10 Florida State, 87-75 to Clemson, and No. 12 Wake Forest, 61-57 to Virginia. Only top-ranked North Carolina was not upset, routing Maryland 102-66 at Charlotte, N.C.
Other ranked teams losing were No. 21 Oklahoma State, No. 23 Tulane and No. 25 Brigham Young.
Oklahoma State was beaten 81-62 by Missouri in the Big Eight. Tulane fell to Virginia Tech 64-55 in the Metro. BYU was knocked off by New Mexico 68-59 in the Western Athletic semifinals.
Most of those losers will get invited to the NCAA on Sunday. One of the usual celebrants that might not be included is Georgetown, which for 14 consecutive years had made the field.
No. 9 Seton Hall beat the Hoyas 83-69 in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, leaving Georgetown (16-10) little chance of an at-large bid to the final 64.
In other games involving ranked teams, No. 4 Kentucky crushed Tennessee 101-40, No. 5 Vanderbilt took Alabama 76-59; No. 7 Kansas beat Colorado 82-65; No. 11 Cincinnati defeated DePaul 78-69; No. 14 Arkansas downed Georgia 65-60; and 22nd-ranked Xavier beat Duquesne 67-41.
Atlantic Coast
No. 1 N. Carolina 102, Maryland 66
At Charlotte, N.C., Dean Smith tied Henry Iba as college basketball's third-winningest coach, gaining his 767th victory as top-ranked North Carolina beat Maryland in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Smith trails Adolph Rupp of Kentucky, whose teams won 876 games, and Clarence "Bighouse" Gaines, the former Winston-Salem State coach whose teams won 828 games over 47 years before he retired at the end of this season.
Ahead for the Tar Heels is a tournament semifinal game on Saturday against Virginia. The Cavaliers upset 12th-ranked Wake Forest 61-57 in the opening game.
North Carolina (27-3) beat Maryland for the eighth time in 11 tournament meetings, as well as the third time this season. It was the fourth-biggest victory in ACC tournament history, and the Tar Heels biggest victory margin in the tourney, surpassing the 76-41 rout of Clemson in the 1971 quarterfinals.
The Terrapins (12-16) haven't played in the ACC tournament semifinals since 1984, the season when they won the conference title.
Georgia Tech 69, No. 8 Duke 66
Two-time defending NCAA champion Duke lost its first postseason game in two years, falling to Georgia Tech on an upset-filled day in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
It was the first time since 1987 that Duke, the third seed, had been ousted in the first round of the ACC tournament. The Blue Devils had won their last 15 postseason games.
Earlier Friday, second-seeded Florida State lost to Clemson and fourth-seeded Wake Forest fell to Virginia.
James Forrest scored 27 points and hit the go-ahead basket with 1:09 left after Duke had come back from a 10-point deficit with 7:17 remaining to tie the game.
Forrest, who didn't start because he was late for a team meeting, made his first seven shots and finished 13 of 15 from the field.
Clemson 87, No. 10 Florida State 75
Clemson (16-11) won for the fourth time in five games. The Tigers came in having lost 16 of their previous 18 ACC tournament games. Clemson had not defeated a higher seed in the event since 1962.
"We've really begun to believe in ourselves the last few games," Devin Gray said. "All we needed was that little bit of confidence, and now we just keep feeding off of it."
The Seminoles (22-9) lost for the third time in four games.
Virginia 61, No. 12 Wake Forest 57
Cory Alexander scored 20 points, including a driving layup with 1:21 left to lead the comeback for the Cavaliers (19-8). After Doug Smith's 3-pointer pulled the Cavaliers within one, Alexander hit a free throw, and his baseline layup gave Virginia the lead for good at 59-57.
The Demon Deacons (19-8) lost their sixth straight ACC tournament game, the third-longest slide of any conference school.
Big East
No. 9 Seton Hall 83, Georgetown 69
At New York, Terry Dehere scored 23 points and Arturas Karnishovas added 22 for the Pirates (25-6), who won the regular-season conference title at 14-4.
Seton Hall, which plays Providence in Saturday's semifinals, led 53-51 with 10:23 left when Othella Harrington scored for the Hoyas (16-12). A 3-pointer by Danny Hurley started a 22-9 run that sent Seton Hall to its ninth consecutive victory.
"We put ourselves in this position," Georgetown coach John Thompson said. "We would do well if we got in, but we put ourselves in this position."
Georgetown's record probably won't impress the selection committee because three victories were over non-Division I programs.
Providence took Connecticut 73-55, St. John's was a 76-56 winner over Boston College, and Syracuse, which is not eligible for the NCAA tournament, defeated Pitt 55-50.
Big Eight
No. 7 Kansas 82, Colorado 65
At Kansas City, Mo., Steve Woodberry's 3-pointer triggered a 23-4 second-half run. The Jayhawks (25-5), who play Kansas State in Saturday's semifinals, held the Buffaloes to four field goals in the second half, two in the final 16 minutes. Kansas State (18-9) edged Nebraska 47-45 when Askia Jones rebounded a missed shot and banked home a 2-footer at the buzzer.
Missouri 81, No. 21 Okla. St. 62
Mark Atkins scored 20 points and Chris Heller helped shut down Big Eight Player of the Year Bryant Reeves, who had only 13. The Tigers (17-13) handed the Cowboys (19-8) their worst loss of the year.
Great Midwest
No. 11 Cincinnati 78, DePaul 69
At Memphis, Tenn., Nick Van Exel scored 30 points, but Cincinnati (23-4) blew a 17-point lead midway through the second half, when the Blue Demons went on a 20-3 run keyed by back-to-back technical fouls against the Bearcats. The Bearcats' full-court man-to-man defense shut down DePaul the rest of the way.
Metro
Virginia Tech 64, No. 23 Tulane 55
At Louisville, Ky., freshman Jim Jackson scored 14 points in the second half and Virginia Tech (10-17) made 17 of 20 free throws down the stretch. The Hokies were last in the conference during the regular season and had lost seven straight.
Thomas Elliott had 16 points and 16 rebounds for Virginia Tech, which plays Virginia Commonwealth in Saturday's semifinals. Anthony Reed had 20 points for Tulane (21-8), which has lost four of its last five.
VCU beat South Florida 79-72, and NC Charlotte downed Southern Mississippi 68-60.
Southeastern Conference
No. 5 Vanderbilt 76, Alabama 59
At Lexington, Ky., Billy McCaffrey scored 22 points for the Commodores (26-4), who led 31-27 at halftime before assuring their ninth straight victory with a 26-8 run. Alabama (16-12) made just 19 of 56 shots, including 5 of 25 on 3-point attempts.
In another game, Louisiana State beat Mississippi 89-70.
No. 14 Arkansas 65, Georgia 60
Scotty Thurman made the go-ahead basket and followed with a 3-pointer as the Razorbacks (20-7) withstood a second-half rally by Georgia (15-13).
The Bulldogs trailed 41-23 with 17:24 remaining and went ahead 46-45 on Shaun Golden's jumper at 6:43. After Cleveland Jackson's baseline drive gave Georgia a 51-50 lead with 3:42 to go, Thurman came back 27 seconds later with a 10-footer that put Arkansas ahead for good.
In another game, Louisiana State beat Mississippi 89-70.
Midwestern Collegiate
No. 22 Xavier 67, Duquesne 41
At Indianapolis, the Musketeers (23-4) forced Duquesne into an awful shooting performance. At one point, the Dukes were 6 for 32.
Brian Grant had 14 points and 14 rebounds for Xavier, Ohio.