Mar 11, 2021 4 min read

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KANSAS CITY – Avery Anderson III hit the go-ahead bucket for Oklahoma State with less than a minute to go, and Sean McNeil’s tying 3-pointer came a split-second after the final buzzer, allowing the No. 12 Cowboys to escape with a 72-69 win over No. 10 West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals Thursday.

Anderson and Big 12 player of the year Cade Cunningham had 17 points apiece for the fifth-seeded Cowboys (19-7), who have won seven of their last eight games – including two against the Mountaineers – with the only loss to No. 2 Baylor.

Isaac Likekele and Bryce Williams each added 10 points to help the Cowboys reach the semifinal round, where they will face the top-seeded Bears or No. 9 seed Kansas State for a spot in Saturday’s championship game.

Taz Sherman had given West Virginia (19-8) a 69-68 lead with his 3-pointer with 1:12 to go, but Anderson answered at the other end for Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers squandered a chance to retake the lead when Miles McBride and Emmitt Matthews missed near the bucket, and Williams calmly hit two free throws with 21.3 seconds left to extend the lead.

The Mountaineers drew up a play to get Sherman an open 3 from the corner in the final seconds, but he misfired and the ball found its way to McNeil. He threw a pump fake to get a defender in the air, and the moment it took to do that cost him a chance at the winner – the buzzer had sounded by the time he released his own 3 and it splashed through the net.

McBride and Sherman finished with 19 points apiece for West Virginia. Derek Culver added 11 points and nine boards.

The teams split their regular-season meetings with West Virginia rallying from 19 down to win in Stillwater and Oklahoma State edging the Mountaineers last week in Morgantown without Cunningham or Likekele at their disposal.

Made sense that they would play another nip-and-tuck affair in the Big 12 Tournament.

ACC

Duke arrived at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament hoping to make an unprecedented run to extend its long NCAA Tournament streak.

Instead, the Blue Devils abruptly had to pull out of the tournament and end its season because of a positive COVID-19 test and the resulting quarantining and contact tracing.

The ACC announced that the Blue Devils’ quarterfinal game against No. 15 Florida State for Thursday night was canceled. And athletics director Kevin White said Duke’s season is over, ending the Blue Devils’ streak of 24 consecutive NCAA appearances that began in 1996.

In a statement, White said the positive test for someone within the program came after Wednesday’s win against Louisville, the Blue Devils’ second win in as many days in Greensboro. Before this, there had been no positive tests all season for a player or coach, he said.

The Blue Devils (13-11) failed to live up to their lofty standards, but coach Mike Krzyzewski said he loved this young team and was honored to coach it.

Big East

Patrick Ewing and Georgetown are making some noise at Madison Square Garden again.

It has been a while.

The Hoyas are back in the Big East Tournament semifinals for the first time in six years, with the former Georgetown and Knicks star leading the way.

Dante Harris made two free throws with 4.7 seconds left to cap a perfect game from the line for Georgetown, and the Hoyas upset No. 14 Villanova 72-71 in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

The eighth-seeded Hoyas (11-12) will play fifth-seeded Seton Hall on Friday night. Georgetown last reached the Big East semifinals in 2015. The Hoyas have not won the tournament since 2007.