C.J. Leslie, who led the Wolfpack with 22 points, fouled out with more than eight minutes remaining. North Carolina (29-4) lost its top scorer when Tyler Zeller picked up his fifth late in the game after scoring 23 points.
But it was a couple of non-calls that sent North Carolina State into a tizzy.
Alex Johnson went flying on Marshall’s drive, but no whistle from the officials. The Wolfpack (22-12) got one more crack with 1.2 seconds left and Richard Howell thought he was fouled trying to get off a shot. A frustrated Howell had to be pulled away from going after an official by a couple of teammates after the play.
In Atlanta, Atlanta, Florida State lost a 10-point lead in the second half before recovering to beat Duke and reach the second ACC tournament championship game in the program’s history.
Michael Snaer scored 16 points, including a 3-pointer with 3:27 remaining that gave the Seminoles the lead for good. But No. 17 Florida State (23-9) had to survive some last minute scares — including missed 3-point attempts by Duke’s Austin Rivers and Seth Curry in the final six seconds.
Florida State will face fourth-ranked North Carolina, the top seed, in Sunday’s championship game.
The second-seeded Seminoles ended a run of three straight ACC tournament championships for Duke (27-6). Rivers led the Blue Devils with 19 points. Curry had 13.
In New Orleans, Anthony Davis had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Kentucky held off the Gators in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Terrence Jones added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats (32-1), who’ve won 24 straight games and will play Vanderbilt for the league title Sunday.
Doron Lamb scored 16 points and Marquis Teague added 15, with each hitting a pair of key free throws in the last 15 seconds to secure the win against a Florida team which shot 48 percent, including 11 of 22 from 3-point range.
Erik Murphy had 24 points, on 9 of 12 shooting, and nearly lifted Florida (23-10) to the upset with nine of his points in the final minutes. Bradley Beal added 20 points.
In Indianapolis, Draymond Green scored 14 points and had 16 rebounds Saturday to lead Michigan State into the Big Ten tournament championship game.
It’s the first time the Spartans (26-7) will play for the league’s postseason title since 2000.
Wisconsin (24-9) was led by Jordan Taylor with 19 points and Ryan Evans with 18, but couldn’t avoid their third loss of the season to the Spartans.
Michigan State rallied from a 20-9 first-half deficit to take a 35-25 halftime lead, then extended the margin to 19 early in the second half. It sealed the win with a late 13-2 run.
In Indianapolis, Jared Sullinger scored 24 points to help Ohio State rout Michigan.
Deshaun Thomas scored 22 points and William Buford added 10 for the third-seeded Buckeyes (27-6), who advanced to play No. 8 Michigan State in the final on Sunday.
The Buckeyes shot 49 percent from the field to earn a shot at their third straight Big Ten tournament title.
Tim Hardaway, Jr., led No. 2 seed Michigan with 13 points, but he made just 3 of 10 shots. Trey Burke, Michigan’s other star player, scored five points on 1-for-11 shooting and had eight turnovers
The Wolverines (24-9) shot 31 percent from the field, made just 4 of 25 3-pointers and committed 18 turnovers in one of their worst offensive performances of the season.
