Huffman’s Jacksonville State team falls in ASUN semifinals; big Brooks milestone; Kessler Wooden Award finalist

While conference tournament play starts this week for many, it has already ended in frustration for Brandon Huffman’s Jacksonville State team. But Garrison Brooks hit a big career milestone and Walker Kessler was named as a Wooden Award finalist. The Gamecocks, the tournament’s top seed, lost Saturday at home 54–51 in the ASUN Tournament semifinals to Jacksonville, with Huffman scoreless for the third game this season but for the first time since Jan. 8. He contributed four rebounds, one block and one steal.

Tar Heels in NBA: Johnson to miss Suns game; Anthony scores 19; Green has four steals

If you were looking forward to watching Cameron Johnson on national TV Sunday after his career-best game on Friday night, that unfortunately won’t happen. Johnson had 38 points and nine 3-pointers off the bench in Phoenix’s 115–114 home victory Friday over New York and banked in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. But he’ll miss the Suns’ 3:30 Sunday game at Milwaukee (ABC) with a contusion to his right quad.

Historic win over Duke makes UNC’s path to the ACC final easier

DURHAM — After a historic Carolina victory over No. 4 Duke that can only be topped by a Final Four win against the Blue Devils, the Tar Heels guaranteed that they won’t have to deal with their rivals until the ACC Tournament final. Before UNC’s impressive 94–81 victory Saturday to ruin Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, a semifinal matchup in Brooklyn appeared likely.

UNC crashes K’s party with big second half to upset Duke

DURHAM — Many nights, the question is when or if Caleb Love will flip the offensive switch and whether it will be enough. It came late Monday and pushed Carolina to an overtime win over Syracuse. Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium, that switch flipped on Love’s jumper with 12:33 left after hitting only 1 of his first 12 shots. He scored nine points in the next three minutes to help Carolina take control before going on to a 94–81 upset Saturday of No. 4 Duke

Tar Heels in NBA: On career night, Johnson overcomes confrontation with Randle, makes history with winning 3 at buzzer

Cameron Johnson did it all for league-leading Phoenix on Friday night, scoring 38 points and nine 3-pointers, both career-highs, in only 28 minutes off the bench. He banked in a game-winning, buzzer-beating 3 to push the host Suns to a 115–114 victory over New York. Johnson joined Portland’s Damian Lillard (2019) as the only players in NBA history to hit a game-winning 3-pointer with at least nine 3s in a game. Johnson’s previous career-high was 24 points but he scored 21 Friday in the fourth quarter alone.

UNC forces OT with buzzer-beater but Hokies win it at line

GREENSBORO — Kids can lighten up even the most frustrating days and Coach Courtney Banghart’s three children soothed her and the team after No. 16 Carolina’s unexpected early exit from the ACC Tournament. With one seven-year-old twin son, Eli, on her lap, the other, Tucker, on Alyssa Ustby’s lap and Banghart’s six-year-old daughter Gray on Deja Kelly’s lap, the coach and players talked in the postgame press conference about how Friday’s quarterfinal game with No. 21 Virginia Tech went awry in overtime for an 87–80 quarterfinals loss.

Tar Heels in NBA: Barnes overcomes Kings’ travel issues with big game in win; Bullock has good all-around game in Mavs’ win over Warriors

It was a big night in Texas for a pair of Tar Heels as Harrison Barnes scored 27 points in Sacramento’s victory at San Antonio and Reggie Bullock had a good all-around game in Dallas’ home victory over Golden State. Barnes collected four 3-pointers, five rebounds and two assists while making 11 of his career-high-tying 14 free-throw attempts in the Kings’ 115–112 win. The victory capped a crazy 24 hours for Sacramento full of plenty of frustrations.

Better defense important for UNC’s women against Hokies

GREENSBORO — The obvious goal for No. 16 North Carolina in Friday’s quarterfinal matchup with No. 21 Virginia Tech is to make it more like their first regular-season game and less like the rematch. The No. 4-seed Tar Heels (23–5) blew out the No. 5-seed Hokies 71–46 on Jan. 6 in Chapel Hill with a potent transition game and suffocating defense. In Blacksburg on Feb. 13, though, hot-shooting Virginia Tech (22–8) won a much-more physical game 66–61.

Few surprises likely as UNC’s women face Hokies after splitting regular-season meetings

GREENSBORO — As expected, No. 16-ranked North Carolina will have to deal with No. 21 Virginia Tech and ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
The No. 5-seed Hokies (22–8), who easily dispatched No. 13-seed Clemson 82–60 in Thursday’s second round, face No. 4-seed UNC (23–5) at 11 a.m. Friday (regional sports networks) after the teams split two regular-season meetings.

Tar Heels in NBA: Johnson leads Suns to win without Paul, Booker; Barnes scores 19 in loss

Without Phoenix’s All-Star backcourt, some would have figured that the Suns might have a tough time winning on Wednesday night. But they didn’t figure Cameron Johnson into the equation. After the Suns has lost two consecutive games with Johnson in the starting lineup, he came off the bench to score 20 points, four 3-pointers and dish out four assists as they blew out Portland 120–90 at home for their 50th win of the season.