COLUMBUS, Ohio, 8 March 2005 — Matt Sylvester buried a three-pointer with 5.1 seconds remaining and Ohio State held on to shock top-ranked and previously unbeaten Illinois, 65-64, at Value City Arena.
Sylvester finished with a game-high 25 points and Terence Dials added a big block down the stretch for Ohio State (19-11, 8-8 Big Ten). Dials ended with 21 points and eight rebounds.
Dee Brown paced Illinois with 13 points. Luther Head added 12 points in the loss for the Illini (29-1, 15-1), who were trying to become the first Big Ten team to finish a regular season undefeated since Indiana in 1976.
In Chapel Hill, Marvin Williams converted a three-point play with 17 seconds remaining to lift second-ranked North Carolina to a thrilling 75-73 victory over No. 6 Duke at the Smith Center.
With the win, the Tar Heels (25-3, 13-2 ACC) won their first outright ACC title since 1993. North Carolina will now be the top seed in next week’s conference tournament.
Sean May had a monster game for the Tar Heels, as he posted 26 points and a career-high 24 rebounds in Carolina’s seventh straight victory. Jackie Manuel chipped in 12 points, Raymond Felton netted 11 and Williams finished with nine.
Shelden Williams registered 22 points to lead the Blue Devils (22-5, 11-5), who had a four-game winning streak against North Carolina halted. Duke defeated the Tar Heels, 71-70, at home on Feb. 9.
In Santa Clara, California, sophomore Adam Morrison scored 25 points and added eight assists as 12th-ranked Gonzaga thumped San Diego, 90-74, in the semifinals of the Western Coast Conference tournament.
Morrison connected on 10-of-17 attempts from the field and grabbed four rebounds. J.P. Batista added 24 points and 10 rebounds for the top-seeded Bulldogs (24-4), who have reached the WCC title game for the eighth straight year.
In Gainesville, Anthony Roberson scored a game-high 21 points and converted both ends of a one-and-one with 15.2 seconds remaining to give Florida a 53-52 victory over third-ranked Kentucky at the O’Connell Center.
David Lee contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Gators, while Matt Walsh scored five of his 11 points in the closing minutes to help Florida rally from a four-point deficit. Kentucky held a 49-45 lead with just over two minutes to play after a basket by Chuck Hayes.
In Raleigh, Chris Paul made an off-balance runner at the buzzer to lift fourth-ranked Wake Forest to a 55-53 victory over North Carolina State at the RBC Center. Justin Gray finished with 15 points for the Demon Deacons (26-4, 13-3 ACC), who will be the second seed when the ACC Tournament gets under way this Thursday. Wake Forest came into Sunday with a chance to win a share of the regular-season conference title, but that ended when North Carolina beat Duke to earn the championship outright.
In Columbia, Thomas Gardner scored a game-high 23 points and Jimmy McKinney added 21, as Missouri upset seventh-ranked Kansas, 72-68, in the regular-season finale for both teams at Mizzou Arena.
Linas Kleiza collected 15 points and 14 rebounds for Missouri (15-15, 7-9 Big 12), which notched its biggest win of the season en route to snapping a two-game slide. Kleiza ended 12-of-18 from the line in the win.
Wayne Simien paced Kansas with 17 points and nine rebounds. J.R. Giddens and Aaron Miles each added 13 points for the Jayhawks, who played all but three minutes without Keith Langford.
In St. Louis, Tamarr Maclin poured in 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in leading the fifth-seeded Southwest Missouri State Bears to a 65-61 victory over the top-seeded Southern Illinois Salukis in the semifinal round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
