Mar 7, 2018 5 min read

Bonzie Colson banked in a go-ahead, 3-point heave that barely beat the shot clock with two minutes remaining, and Notre Dame rallied from 21 down in the second half to stun Virginia Tech 71-65 Wednesday night at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Matt Farrell scored 22 points for the 10th-seeded Fighting Irish (20-13), who overcame a dreadful start in extending their late push to reach the NCAA Tournament.

Finally healthy after injuries to Colson and Farrell nearly wrecked a promising season, Notre Dame advanced to play Thursday night in the quarterfinals against fifth-ranked and second-seeded Duke, the defending tournament champion.

Do the Irish need to win at least that one, too, in order to make the field of 68?

Hard to say, but they sure woke up the echoes on this snowy night in Brooklyn.

With the Irish stars struggling to make shots, seventh-seeded Virginia Tech (21-11) was cruising along with a 47-26 lead with just under 14 minutes remaining when Farrell drained his second consecutive 3.

That started a ferocious surge that got a feisty Notre Dame squad back into it. The game got a little testy as the Irish picked up the intensity and the Hokies went cold on offense.

A technical foul on Virginia Tech swingman Chris Clarke for shoving Farrell led to four Notre Dame free throws that trimmed it to 54-50 with 7:45 to go. Colson kissed three fingers on each hand and gestured to the crowd after his desperation shot from the right wing gave the Irish a 60-59 edge.

Cameron McGriff scored 18 points, Jeffrey Carroll added 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Oklahoma State pulled away from Oklahoma after squandering most of a 16-point lead for a 71-60 victory in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament.

Kendall Smith had 11 points for the eighth-seeded Cowboys (19-13), who led 58-53 with 6 minutes left before easing away down the stretch to set up a quarterfinal matchup with No. 1 seed Kansas.

Oklahoma State swept the ninth-ranked Jayhawks during the regular season.

Trae Young had 22 points on 7-for-21 shooting to lead the Sooners (18-13), who must now anxiously await their NCAA Tournament fate following their eighth loss in their last 10 games.

The Sooners beat the Cowboys by 20 in early January, back when they were ascending to No. 4 in the nation. But things began to fall apart midway through the conference schedule, beginning with a lopsided loss to Kansas State and an overtime defeat to the Cowboys in Stillwater.

The slump hit its nadir with a six-game skid that put the Sooners on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Louisville 82, Florida State 74: Quentin Snider scored 19 points, Ray Spalding had 18 and Louisville built a huge lead before knocking off Florida State 82-74 in an Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament game with substantial NCAA implications.

Deng Adel added 15 points and eight rebounds for the ninth-seeded Cardinals (20-12), who won for the first time in ACC postseason play and advanced to face top-ranked Virginia in the first quarterfinal Thursday.

Trent Forrest and PJ Savoy each had 14 points off the bench to pace No. 8 seed Florida State (20-11), which trailed by 26 with 11 minutes remaining.

Boston College 91, N.C. State 87: Jerome Robinson made a pull-up jumper with 18 seconds left to break a tie, and then forced a turnover on an inbounds play moments later, and Boston College upset North Carolina State 91-87 in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Robinson scored 26 points and fellow North Carolinian Ky Bowman had 24 for the 12th-seeded Eagles (19-14), who will face No. 4 seed Clemson on Thursday in the quarterfinals at Barclays Center.

Colorado 97, Arizona State 85: McKinley Wright IV had 20 points and 11 assists, and Colorado put a dent in Arizona State’s NCAA Tournament hopes with a 97-85 victory over the Sun Devils in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament.

Colorado (17-14) made 13 of 21 from 3-point range and took control of a close game with a 15-1 run midway through the second half.

Arizona State (20-11) had a pair of long stretches without a field goal in the second half and went 12 for 21 from the free throw line to lose a game it needed to win.

Kansas’ Azubuike to miss Big 12: Kansas forward Udoka Azubuike sprained his left knee during a scrimmage this week, ruling him out of the Big 12 Tournament and putting his availability for the NCAA Tournament in question.

Jayhawks coach Bill Self said after a scrimmage at the Sprint Center that Azubuike sprained his medial collateral ligament near the end of Tuesday’s practice. Azubuike was going for a rebound and a collision occurred under the basket, leaving the 7-footer with a “Grade 1” sprain.

“We did an MRI as soon as practice was over,” Self said Wednesday. “It’s similar to an ankle or whatnot, there’s obviously a ligament that’s sprained or stretched and right now it’s too loose to put him out there, but these are injuries, I’ve been told, the healing process begins quickly.”

The ninth-ranked Jayhawks (24-7) open the Big 12 Tournament Thursday against Oklahoma State, and Self said his sophomore big man won’t be examined by doctors until Sunday.