Here is the latest ACC sports news from The Associated Press
Source: Colorado Springs Gazette
Author: Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Ben Middlebrooks scored a career-high 21 points and 11th-seeded North Carolina State surged past sixth-seeded Texas Tech 80-67 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Wolfpack, who won five games in five days in the ACC Tournament, won their first March Madness game in nine years behind Middlebrooks' boost off the bench and another bruising performance by center DJ Burns Jr. The 6-foot-9, 275-pound Burns finished with 16 points. Mo Diarra had 17 points and 12 rebounds for N.C. State, and DJ Horne also scored 16. The Wolfpack will face 14th-seeded Oakland in the South Region on Saturday. Joe Toussaint led the Red Raiders with 16 points.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Armando Bacot had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and No. 1 seed North Carolina beat 16th-seeded Wagner 90-62 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Jae'Lyn Withers had a season-high 16 points and matched his best rebounding work with 10 boards for the West Region's headliner. RJ Davis added 17 of his 22 points after halftime for the Tar Heels, who next face Michigan State and Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo. Melvin Council Jr. and Julian Brown each had 18 points for the 16th-seeded Seahawks, who played with just seven available scholarship players.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Duke guard Caleb Foster will miss the NCAA Tournament with a right ankle injury. Coach Jon Scheyer says Foster has been diagnosed with a stress fracture. The fourth-seeded Blue Devils face 13 seed Vermont on Friday night in the South Region at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Foster has missed the last five games, but Duke was hoping he might be able to return for the postseason. The 6-foot-5 freshman averaged 7.7 points and shot 40.7% from 3-point range.
DALLAS (AP) -- ACC-bound SMU has fired Rob Lanier after two seasons as its men's basketball coach. The move Thursday came a day after the Mustangs ended their final season before moving into the basketball-rich Atlantic Coast Conference. The Mustangs finished the season 20-13 after a 101-92 loss at Indiana State in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament. They were 30-35 overall in their two seasons under Lanier, including a 16-20 record in American Athletic Conference games. The Mustangs haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2017. That was only their third appearance since their last tourney win in 1988.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- Miami's Katie Meier announced her retirement from coaching on Thursday. Meier led Miami to 10 NCAA women's basketball tournaments and guided the Hurricanes to the Elite Eight last season. She spent 19 seasons at the school and 23 seasons overall as a head coach. Meier won the 2011 Associated Press national coach of the year award and was USA Basketball's coach of the year in 2013. She coached at Miami for 19 seasons and went 362-208 in that span. Meier plans to remain at the school as a special adviser to the athletic department.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Jamal Mashburn Jr. feels the New Mexico Lobos are peaking at the right time. They don't care some believe they were seeded 11th. They dismiss the idea the Mountain West Conference tournament champs face extra pressure to make a deep run to follow San Diego State's amazing run to the national championship game a year ago. The Lobos earned the program's 16th NCAA Tournament berth and first in a decade by knocking off a trio of teams. So New Mexico isn't worried about trying to measure up to anyone else Friday when they play sixth-seeded Clemson.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Marquette is determined to do more with a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament than it did last year. The Golden Eagles squandered their high seed a year ago, losing in the second round to 10th-seeded Michigan State. Their first task is to play like a big favorite against No. 15 seed Western Kentucky in the first round of the South Region on Friday. Marquette should be closer to full strength with the return of point guard Tyler Kolek, who's expected to play after missing six games with an oblique strain. Elsewhere in the South Region, fourth-seeded Duke won't have Caleb Foster because of an ankle injury.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- An early season injury to the smallest Texas player blew a huge hole in the Longhorns lineup. So big it two took two players to fill. No one knew what to expect when 5-foot-6 point guard Rori Harmon suffered a season-ending torn ACL in her knee in late December. But Madison Booker moved from forward to point guard, Shay Holle became the team's top perimeter defender, and here the Longhorns are, 30-4 and a No. 1 seed as the NCAA Tournament begins on Friday. If the Longhorns, winners of 12 of their last 13 games, defeat No. 16 Drexel (19-14) on Friday, they face the winner of No. 8 Alabama (23-9) and No. 9 Florida State (23-10).