DURHAM — Carlik Jones scored seven of his 25 points in overtime, sophomore Quinn Slazinski opened the scoring in OT with a 3-pointer and Louisville fended off Duke 80-73 on Saturday night, halting the Blue Devils’ late-season win streak at four games.
Jones, a graduate transfer from Radford, scored 24 points when Louisville defeated Duke 70-65 on Jan. 23 — marking this the first regular-season sweep for the Cardinals against the Blue Devils.
Jae’Lyn Withers scored 16 points with nine rebounds for Louisville while Samuell Williamson scored 14 with 12 rebounds.
Matthew Hurt led the Blue Devils with a career-high 37 points — tying the most points by a Duke player in the last 15 seasons (Grayson Allen 2017).
Wendell Moore Jr., who scored 13 points, made four straight free throws in the final 1:20 of regulation to give Duke a 65-64 lead with 36.9 seconds left. Jones was fouled on a drive in the lane at 13.5 and made 1 of 2 free throws to tie it before Withers secured the offensive rebound. Jones had another attempt to win it, but his pull-up jumper was off the mark.
The Cardinals (13-5, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) never trailed in overtime.
After Louisville took a 40-28 lead early in the second half, Hurt scored 13 points in a nearly seven minute span as Duke grabbed a 53-52 lead. Williamson wrapped back-to-back layups — each on an assist from Jones — around a Hurt basket as the Cardinals led 58-57.
Duke (11-9, 9-7) still leads the overall series with Louisville, 10-9, but the Cardinals have won three straight. Hurt has been on a late-season tear, entering Saturday’s game averaging 20.8 points during Duke’s four-game win streak.
Duke closes out the regular season with a visit to Georgia Tech on Tuesday and hosting rival UNC on Saturday.
North Carolina A&T 55, North Carolina Central 53
GREENSBORO — Webster Filmore had 12 points as North Carolina A&T narrowly defeated North Carolina Central 55-53 on Saturday night.
Kameron Langley had 12 points and nine rebounds for North Carolina A&T (11-10, 7-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference), which earned its fourth consecutive home victory. Kwe Parker added 11 points.
Tyrone Lyons, the Aggies’ second leading scorer entering the contest at nine points per game, had only four points. He failed to make a shot from behind the arc (0 of 4).
Jamir Moultrie had 14 points for the Eagles (4-7, 2-4), whose losing streak reached four games. Justin Whatley added 12 points. C.J. Keyser had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Deven Palmer, the Eagles’ second-leading scorer heading into the matchup at 10 points per game, shot only 20% for the game (1 of 5).
The Aggies improve to 2-0 against the Eagles on the season. North Carolina A&T defeated North Carolina Central 79-63 on Wednesday.
Elon 80, UNC Wilmington 77
WILMINGTON — Darius Burford scored 23 points and Kris Wooten sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer as Elon narrowly defeated UNC Wilmington 80-77 on Saturday night.
Hunter McIntosh had 17 points for Elon (7-8, 4-7 Colonial Athletic Association), which won its fourth consecutive game. Ikenna Ndugba added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Wooten finished with 12 points.
Joe Pridgen scored a season-high 21 points for the Seahawks (7-9, 1-6), who have now lost four consecutive games. Ty Gadsden added 20 points, and Mike Okauru had 12 points and six rebounds.
Western Carolina 85, Mercer 61
CULLOWHEE — Cory Hightower had 16 points to lead five Western Carolina players in double figures as the Catamounts easily defeated Mercer 85-61 on Saturday. Xavier Cork and Matt Halvorsen added 14 points apiece for the Catamounts. Kameron Gibson chipped in 13 points, and Mason Faulkner had 12. Cork also had 10 rebounds.
Western Carolina (11-15, 4-13 Southern Conference) posted a season-high 23 assists.
Neftali Alvarez had 16 points for the Bears (15-10, 8-9). James Glisson III added 11 points.
Ross Cummings, the Bears’ leading scorer coming into the contest at 15 points per game, scored three points. He made 20% from 3-point range (1 of 5).
The Catamounts leveled the season series against the Bears. Mercer defeated Western Carolina 78-76 on Jan. 16.
Davidson 65, VCU 57
DAVIDSON — Luka Brajkovic registered 15 points as Davidson defeated VCU 65-57 on Saturday.
Kellan Grady had 13 points for Davidson (12-7, 7-4 Atlantic 10 Conference). Hyunjung Lee added 10 points.
VCU scored 27 first-half points, a season low for the team.
Jamir Watkins had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Rams (17-6, 10-4). Vince Williams Jr. added 11 points. Hason Ward had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
UNC Greensboro 85, East Tennessee State 74 (OT)
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) — Isaiah Miller had a career-high 32 points as UNC Greensboro beat East Tennessee State 85-74 in overtime on Saturday.
Kaleb Hunter had 16 points for UNC Greensboro (18-8, 13-5 Southern Conference). Keyshaun Langley added 14 points. Hayden Koval had 13 points and three blocks.
Ledarrius Brewer had 18 points and six rebounds for the Buccaneers (12-11, 8-7). Vonnie Patterson added 13 points. David Sloan had 12 points. Damari Monsanto and Silas Adheke each had nine points and 12 rebounds.
The Spartans leveled the season series against the Buccaneers. East Tennessee State defeated UNC Greensboro 71-61 on Jan. 2.
Georgia Southern 65, Appalachian State 57
STATESBORO, Ga. — Elijah McCadden posted 18 points and nine rebounds as Georgia Southern topped Appalachian State 65-57 on Saturday.
Gedi Juozapaitis had 16 points for Georgia Southern (13-12, 7-9 Sun Belt Conference). Zack Bryant added 12 points. Mackenzie McFatten had four blocks.
Adrian Delph had 19 points for the Mountaineers (13-11, 7-8). Justin Forrest added 12 points and six rebounds. Michael Almonacy had 10 points.
The Eagles registered their first win in four tries against the Mountaineers this season. In the most recent matchup, Appalachian State defeated Georgia Southern 84-78 on Friday.
High Point 65, South Carolina Upstate 60
HIGH POINT — John-Michael Wright had 24 points and 10 rebounds as High Point edged past South Carolina Upstate 65-60 in the Big South Conference tournament on Saturday.
High Point (9-14) advances to play top-seeded Winthrop on Monday.
Lydell Elmore had 15 points and eight rebounds for High Point. Emmanuel Izunabor added 11 rebounds and three blocks.
Nevin Zink had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Spartans (5-18). Everette Hammond added 17 points and Bryson Mozone had 11.
The Panthers improve to 2-1 against the Spartans on the season. In the most recent matchup, South Carolina Upstate defeated High Point 60-51 on Dec. 31.
No. 16 Virginia Tech 84, Wake Forest 46
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Keve Aluma scored 23 points, Tyrece Radford had 15 and 16th-ranked Virginia Tech pounded Wake Forest 84-46 on Saturday.
Fresh off a 69-53 loss to Georgia Tech on Tuesday night, Virginia Tech recorded its largest margin of victory for an Atlantic Coast Conference game. The previous record for the Hokies was a 94-65 win over Wake Forest in 2011.
Aluma hit 9 of 11 from the floor, including a career-high five 3-pointers. Nahiem Alleyne added three 3s and finished with 13 points.
Virginia Tech shot 68% (19 of 28) from the field in the first half and led by 27 at the break. The Hokies (15-5, 9-4) won for the fourth time in six games and remain in third place in the ACC standings.
Jonah Antonio led the Demon Deacons (6-13, 3-13) with 12 points. Wake Forest has lost five straight games.
UTEP 70, Charlotte 47
EL PASO, Texas — Efe Odigie and Souley Boum scored 15 points apiece and UTEP easily beat Charlotte 70-47 on Saturday.
Tydus Verhoeven added 10 points for UTEP (11-10, 7-8 Conference USA), which earned its fourth straight home victory. Christian Agnew had six rebounds.
Jahmir Young had 12 points for the 49ers (9-12, 5-8), whose losing streak reached five games. Caleb Stone-Carrawell added 10 points.
