CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Freshman Coby White scored 21 points and third-ranked North Carolina hung on late Saturday night to beat fourth-ranked Duke 79-70 and clinch a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship.

Senior Kenny Williams scored a season-high 18 points for the Tar Heels (26-5, 16-2), who led by 15 with about 6½ minutes left but had to hold off a rally from their fiercest rival, who played again without injured freshman star Zion Williamson. Duke also lost starting big man Marques Bolden early in this one.

The Tar Heels bumbled their way to the finish after building their big lead, letting the Blue Devils (26-5, 14-4) get as close as 75-70 on RJ Barrett’s 3-pointer with 2:19 left. Ultimately UNC held on, earning its first regular-season sweep of the Blue Devils since 2009.

Barrett scored 26 points to lead the Blue Devils, who shot just 23 percent after halftime.

(2) VIRGINIA 73, LOUISVILLE 68: Ty Jerome scored 24 points, including the go-ahead free throw with 5:34 remaining, and Virginia (28-2, 16-2) held off Louisville (19-12, 10-8) at Charlottesville, Virginia, to clinch the top seed in next week’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

AUBURN 84, (5) TENNESSEE 80: Jared Harper made four straight free throws over the final 31 seconds and two late 3-pointers to help Auburn (22-9, 11-7 Southeastern) beat visiting Tennessee (27-4, 15-3) in a regular-season finale.

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(6) KENTUCKY 66, FLORIDA 57: Tyler Herro scored 16 points and led a big second-half run that helped Kentucky (26-5, 15-3 Southeastern) overcome Florida (17-14, 9-9) at Lexington, Kentucky.

(8) TEXAS TECH 80, IOWA STATE 73: Jarrett Culver scored a career-high 31 points, Davide Moretti added 20 and Texas Tech (26-5, 14-4) clinched its first Big 12 regular-season title by beating Iowa State (20-11, 9-9) at Ames, Iowa.

(11) PURDUE 70, NORTHWESTERN 57: Carsen Edwards scored 21 points and Purdue (23-8, 16-4) clinched a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship by beating Northwestern (13-18, 4-16) at Evanston, Illinois.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

(1) BAYLOR 101, TEXAS TECH 61: Kalani Brown and NaLyssa Smith scored 14 points each to help Baylor (29-1) rout Texas Tech (14-17) at Oklahoma City for its 21st straight victory in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals.

(2) CONNECTICUT 92, EAST CAROLINA 65: Napheesa Collier scored a season-high 37 points as UConn (29-2), playing without injured All-American Katie Lou Samuelson, pulled away from East Carolina (16-15) in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament at Uncasville, Connecticut.

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(3) LOUISVILLE 78, (9) NORTH CAROLINA STATE 68: Asia Durr scored 22 points, and Louisville (29-2) advanced to the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship game by beating North Carolina State (26-5) in a semifinal at Greensboro, North Carolina.

(4) NOTRE DAME 91, (18) SYRACUSE 66: Jackie Young had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Notre Dame (29-3) advanced to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game by routing Syracuse (24-8) in a tournament semifinal at Greensboro, North Carolina.

(5) MISSISSIPPI STATE 71, MISSOURI 56: Teaira McCowan had 27 points and 16 rebounds to lead Mississippi State (29-2) into the Southeastern Conference tournament finals for a fourth straight season with a victory over Missouri (23-10) at Greenville, South Carolina.

(8) MARYLAND 73, MICHIGAN 72: Kaila Charles made two free throws with 10.3 seconds left to help Maryland (28-3) top Michigan (21-11) in a Big Ten semifinal at Indianapolis for the program’s 1,000th victory.


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