ACC tournament roundup: Ryan Conwell plays hero, Louisville beats SMU
Ryan Conwell scored five of his 16 points in the final 77 seconds as No. 24 Louisville overcame SMU for a 62-58 victory in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament's second round Wednesday afternoon in Charlotte, N.C.
The Cardinals, playing without freshman standout Mikel Brown Jr., received lifts from Adrian Wooley's 14 points and Isaac McKneely's 10 points. SMU didn't score in the final 2:43.
Sixth-seeded Louisville (23-9) meets third-seeded Miami (24-7) in Thursday's quarterfinals in a rematch from Saturday's regular-season finale won by the visiting Cardinals.
Jaron Pierre Jr.'s 17 points led No. 11 seed SMU (20-13), while Jaden Toombs had 13 points and nine rebounds and Corey Washington added 10 points. Scoring leader Boopie Miller (19.5 ppg) was held to eight points on 4-of-17 shooting, missing all eight of his 3-point attempts, while the Mustangs were 9-for-27 overall from 3-point range (33.3%).
North Carolina State 98, Pitt 88
Quadir Copeland collected 24 points and eight assists in the Wolfpack's victory over the Panthers in a second-round game.
Ven-Allen Lubin racked up 18 points, Paul McNeil Jr. had 15, Tre Holloman notched 14 and Darrion Williams and Matt Able both scored 12 as the Wolfpack shot 60.8% from the field. NC State made 13 of 23 shots from 3-point range. Seventh-seeded NC State (20-12), which won for only the second time in eight games, will meet No. 10-ranked and second-seeded Virginia in Thursday's first quarterfinal.
Cameron Corhen poured in 27 points on 9-for-12 shooting for No. 15 seed Pitt (13-20), which had won four of its previous six games. Nojus Indrusaitis, who hit five 3-point shots, and Omari Witherspoon each scored 19 points and Barry Dunning Jr. added 11 points, but the Panthers' 57.1% shooting wasn't enough.
Florida State 95, Cal 89
Robert McCray V delivered 30 points and eight assists to propel the eighth-seeded Seminoles to a victory over the ninth-seeded Golden Bears.
Lajae Jones scored 15 points and Chauncey Wiggins added 14 for the sizzling Seminoles (18-14), who have won 10 of their last 12 under first-year coach Luke Loucks. Kobe MaGee came off the bench to score all 13 of his points in the first half as Florida State advanced to a quarterfinal matchup with top-seeded Duke on Thursday in Charlotte.
Dai Dai Ames scored 27 points to pace Cal (21-11), which likely saw its hopes dashed for an NCAA Tournament berth. The Golden Bears were listed among the "next four out," in ESPN's bracket predictions to begin the week. Chris Bell scored 17 points, Justin Pippen tallied 15, John Camden had 11 and Lee Dort added seven points and 18 rebounds for Cal.
Clemson 71, Wake Forest 62
RJ Godfrey supplied 11 points and eight rebounds to lead a balanced attack as the fifth-seeded Tigers topped the 13th-seeded Demon Deacons.
Nick Davidson, Ace Buckner, Butta Johnson and Dillon Hunter added eight points each as the Tigers (23-9) advanced to a quarterfinal matchup with fourth-seeded North Carolina on Thursday night. Chase Thompson contributed nine points for Clemson, which is pursuing its first ACC tournament title since the event was established in 1954.
The Tigers used their trademark physical defense to force 12 turnovers and limit the Demon Deacons to 44.0% accuracy from the field. Clemson committed just four turnovers and its reserves outscored those of Wake Forest 34-20. Juke Harris scored 22 points to pace the Deacons (17-16).