The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke held off a furious second half rally by rival North Carolina to beat its rival for the third time this season, 74-71 on Friday night to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game.

Khaman Maluach added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Devils, who played without star Cooper Flagg. Duke (30-3) will play the winner of the second semifinal between No. 10 Clemson and No. 13 Louisville.

After North Carolina (22-13) cut a 24-point deficit to one, Ven-Allen Lubin had two free throws with 4.1 seconds. But he missed the first and had the second made free throw waved off after teammate Jae-Lyn Withers stepped in the lane too early.

Gators triumph

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Walter Clayton Jr scored 18 points, Will Richard and Alijah Martin added 17 apiece and the No. 4 Florida Gators defeated the No. 21 Missouri Tigers 95-81 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The second-seeded Gators (28-4), who never trailed, advance to the semifinals against either Alabama or Kentucky. Florida shot 62% from the floor, including 38% from 3-point range. Tamar Bates scored 16 points to lead the seventh-seeded Tigers (22-11).

Bates was Missouri’s high scorer in both of its SEC Tournament games. Anthony Robinson II and Tony Perkins each scored 13.

No. 2 cruises

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Second-ranked Houston turned to its relentless defense to shut down No. 17 BYU and return to the Big 12 Tournament title game for a second consecutive season.

Houston rolled to a 76-56 victory that was not that dissimilar from the 81-55 romp it enjoyed against BYU in January. Houston did not allow the other bunch of Cougars to score for nearly seven minutes to start the game, resulting in a 15-0 lead that it largely managed to maintain the entire game. Houston did it without big man J’Wan Roberts, too.

He sprained his ankle in the quarterfinals and watched the game from the bench in a walking boot.

St. John’s cruises

NEW YORK — Zuby Ejiofor scored a career-high 33 points, a St. John’s record in the Big East Tournament, and the sixth-ranked Red Storm pulled away from No. 25 Marquette 79-63 to reach the conference championship game for the first time in 25 years.

Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. added 13 points and Ejiofor grabbed nine rebounds as the top-seeded Red Storm wiped out an early 15-point deficit. They advanced to play second-seeded Creighton or No. 3 seed UConn on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

St. John’s has won eight straight — and 18 of 19 since the new year. Kam Jones had 24 points for the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles.

Terps tear it up

INDIANAPOLIS — Rodney Rice scored 26 points, Derik Queen had 19 points and 10 rebounds and No. 11 Maryland routed No. 24 Illinois 88-65 on Friday night in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.

The Terrapins (25-7) will face the winner of the late quarterfinal between Michigan and Purdue in the semifinals. Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 12 points and nine assists for Maryland. Jordan Geronimo scored 11 points and Julian Reese had 10. Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley each had 15 points for the Illini (21-12). Kylan Boswell had 14.

Auburn holds on

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Johni Broome scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as regular-season champion Auburn opened its bid to repeat at the Southeastern Conference Tournament by holding off eighth-seeded Mississippi 62-57 Friday.

The third-ranked Tigers (28-4) will play No. 8 Tennessee, an 83-72 winner over 13th-seeded Texas, in the semifinals Saturday.

Denver Jones also had 13 points as Auburn snapped a two-game skid.

Ole Miss (21-11) has lost two of its last three to top-five teams. Dre Davis and Sean Pedulla each had 12 points, and Malik Dia and Jaylen Murray 10 apiece.

The Tigers showed some rust after being off since losing to Alabama in overtime last week. They led 29-22 at halftime but never were up more than 10.

Lanier leads Vols

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Chaz Lanier scored 17 of No. 8 Tennessee’s first 21 points, and the Volunteers never trailed beating Texas 83-72 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals. The fourth-seeded Volunteers also gave coach Rick Barnes the 832nd victory of his career to move him into sole possession of 10th all-time after being tied with Cliff Ellis. The Vols will play regular season champ and third-ranked Auburn in the semifinals. Auburn beat Ole Miss earlier to advance.