NEW YORK — With its leading scorer, Kyle Guy, back following a brief injury scare, the nation’s No. 1 team is off to a strong postseason start.
Guy and his Virginia teammates looked like healthy favorites Thursday, beating Louisville 75-58 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Guy scored 19 points in his speedy return after a sprained left knee and the top-seeded Cavaliers (29-2) weathered a second-half charge. They’ll play 19th-ranked and fourth-seeded Clemson in the first semifinal Friday night in Brooklyn.
“I think we know we’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” Virginia guard Devon Hall said.
Hall had 14 points and five assists as Virginia methodically dismantled a Louisville team seeking a major upset to augment its NCAA tournament credentials. Instead the ninth-seeded Cardinals (20-13) will sweat out Selection Sunday hoping for an at-large bid.
(2) VILLANOVA 94, MARQUETTE 70: Jay Wright became the winningest coach in school history with 414 and Villanova (28-4) opened defense of its Big East tournament championship by beating Marquette (19-13) at New York.
Wright improved to 414-165 since he took the job in 2001 and has led the Wildcats to the 2009 Final Four and 2016 national championship. He was tied with Al Severance, who went 413-201 from 1936-1961.
(3) XAVIER 88, ST. JOHN’S 60: Trevon Bluiett scored 27 points, Kaiser Gates had 16 and Xavier (28-4) looked every bit the top seed in the Big East tournament in a win over St. John’s (16-17) at New York.
The teams scuffled on the postgame handshake line and had to be separated as the crowd stood for the unexpected fracas. The Musketeers dominated in the second half on the Red Storm’s home court at Madison Square Garden. Xavier will play Providence in a tourney semifinal Friday. Providence beat Xavier 81-72 on Jan. 6.
(5) DUKE 88, NOTRE DAME 70: Marvin Bagley III had 33 points and 17 rebounds, Grayson Allen made his first five 3-pointers and Duke (26-6) rolled to a victory over Notre Dame (20-14) in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals at New York.
Allen finished with 23 points for the second-seeded Blue Devils.
(9) KANSAS 82, OKLAHOMA STATE 68: Malik Newman scored a career-high 30 points, Svi Mykhailiuk added 13 and Kansas (25-7) beat Oklahoma State (19-14) at Kansas City, Missouri, to reach the Big 12 semifinals.
Devonte Graham added 10 points, four rebounds and nine assists for the top-seeded Jayhawks, who were swept by the Cowboys in the regular season but broke through when it mattered.
(14) TEXAS TECH 73, TEXAS 69: Keenan Evans scored 25 points, including a pretty fadeaway jumper in the closing minutes, and Texas Tech (24-8) held off Texas (19-14) in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals at Kansas City, Missouri.
Jarrett Culver added 13 points for the deep and talented Red Raiders, who had lost four of their last five in the regular season but appeared to recapture their mojo.
(15) ARIZONA 83, COLORADO 67: Allonzo Trier scored 22 points, Dusan Ristic had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Arizona (25-7) used a big second-half run to roll over Colorado (17-15) in the Pac-12 quarterfinals at Las Vegas.
Arizona wasn’t crisp on offense and the Pac-12 player of the year, Deandre Ayton, had a quiet day. The Wildcats made up for it with scrappiness, earning a semifinals spot Friday against UCLA.
(19) CLEMSON 90, BOSTON COLLEGE 82: Gabe DeVoe scored 25 points and Shelton Mitchell had 21 as Clemson (23-8) beat Boston College (19-15) at New York to advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals for the first time since 2011.
(22) NEVADA 79, UNLV 74: Jordan Caroline had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Nevada (27-6) over UNLV(20-13) in a quarterfinal matchup between in-state rivals in the Mountain West Conference tournament at Las Vegas.
Top-seeded Nevada used a 22-6 run early in the second half to erase a 12-point deficit and seize momentum after a dismal offensive performance in the first half.
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