NEW YORK (AP) -- Russ Smith figured the best way he could honor Jack Curran on Thursday night was by leading Louisville to a win.
Smith scored 28 points in a bittersweet homecoming, carrying the fourth-ranked Cardinals into the Big East tournament semifinals with a 74-55 victory over Villanova only hours after the death of his esteemed high school coach.
"Today was definitely Coach Curran day for me, and it will be the rest of my life," he said.
Smith and the defending champion Cardinals (27-5) harassed Villanova into 25 turnovers and advanced to play familiar nemesis Notre Dame in the late game Friday night at Madison Square Garden. The 24th-ranked and sixth-seeded Fighting Irish beat third-seeded Marquette 73-65.
Notre Dame outlasted Louisville 104-101 in a five-overtime epic Feb. 9 in South Bend, the Cardinals' only loss in their last 12 games. But last Saturday, Louisville rolled to a 73-57 romp against the Irish at home.
Luke Hancock added 12 points off the bench for second-seeded Louisville, which has won eight straight -- seven by at least 14 points. Peyton Siva, the tournament MVP last year, scored 10.
JayVaughn Pinkston had 21 points for the seventh-seeded Wildcats (20-13), confident they'll receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament Sunday thanks to a string of high-profile wins against top-notch opponents this season. Mouphtaou Yarou added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
"I think we've got a good enough resume, but I haven't followed it to know it well enough," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We'll regroup on Saturday, and then we'll see where we are."
Back home in New York, Smith received sad news early in the day about Curran, the longtime coaching great at Archbishop Molloy High School, who died Thursday at 82. He was among the nation's winningest prep coaches in basketball and baseball.
"It was really hard for me for about 45 minutes when I was on the bus crying and stuff," Smith said. "It was almost heartbreaking to think about it.
"I'm going to miss him. He was everything to me, and to my mom, my family. He treated everyone with respect. He taught me a lot of things."
Top 25
NO. 5 GEORGETOWN 62,
CINCINNATI 43
NEW YORK -- Conference player of the year Otto Porter Jr. scored 18 points as top-seeded Georgetown advanced to the Big East tournament semifinals by pulling away from Cincinnati.
Porter made all 11 of his free throws to offset a 3-for-9 performance from the field.
Markel Starks had 14 points and reserve D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera added 13, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer that sparked a game-turning run for the Hoyas (25-5). Georgetown will face No. 19 Syracuse in the semifinals.
Cashmere Wright hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points for ninth-seeded Cincinnati (22-11).
NO. 19 SYRACUSE 62,
NO. 17 PITTSBURGH 59
NEW YORK -- James Southerland had a second straight great effort from 3-point range and Michael Carter-Williams scored Syracuse's last seven points as the 19th-ranked Orange held off Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
Southerland had 20 points as he did in the second-round win over Seton Hall. The senior was 6 for 6 on 3s against Pittsburgh, a day after going 6 for 9 from beyond the arc against Seton Hall.
Carter-Williams had 11 points and seven assists for the fifth-seeded Orange (25-8), who will meet top-seeded Georgetown in the semifinals.
Lamar Patterson had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Panthers (24-8).
NO. 24 NOTRE DAME 73,
NO. 12 MARQUETTE 65
NEW YORK -- Pat Connaughton scored 18 points on six 3-pointers and Jack Cooley had two big offensive rebounds in Notre Dame's game-changing run as the Fighting Irish beat Marquette to reach the Big East tournament semifinals for the fourth straight year.
Unfortunately for the Irish (25-8) the road has ended there each time -- the last two times against No. 4 Louisville, which they will face in tonight's semifinals. The second-seeded Cardinals, the tournament's defending champions, advanced with a 74-55 win over Villanova.
Jamil Wilson had 16 points and Junior Cadougan added 14 for the third-seeded Golden Eagles (23-8), who shared the regular season title with Louisville and top-seeded Georgetown.
BIG 12 TOURNAMENT
NO. 7 KANSAS 91, TEXAS TECH 63
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Ben McLemore scored 24 points to lead Kansas to a rout of Texas Tech, setting up an intriguing date with Iowa State in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament.
The regular-season co-champion, Kansas was pushed by Texas Tech in their meeting in Lubbock earlier this season, but used a big run early in the second half to put this one away early.
The Jayhawks (27-5) shot 66 percent from the field (31 of 47), the best mark by any team in a Big 12 tournament game, advancing to face the Cyclones tonight. Kansas needed overtime to beat them in both of their regular-season games.
Dejan Kravic scored 20 points and Dusty Hannahs added 15 for the Red Raiders (11-20).
NO. 11 KANSAS ST. 66, TEXAS 49
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Rodney McGruder scored 24 points and sparked an 11-0 run in the second half, lifting Kansas State past Texas in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.
McGruder also had a team-leading seven rebounds as the second-seeded Wildcats (26-6) whipped the Longhorns for the third time this year. Kansas State, which tied No. 7 Kansas for its first regular-season conference title since 1977, faces No. 14 Oklahoma State in the semifinals.
Julien Lewis scored 13 points and Jonathan Holmes had 10 for Texas (16-17).
NO. 14 OKLAHOMA ST. 74,
BAYLOR 72
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Phil Forte hit two free throws with 2.9 seconds left and Oklahoma State survived after blowing a 20-point lead to beat Baylor in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
Marcus Smart scored 21 points and LeBryan Nash had 14 for the Cowboys (24-7).
PAC-12 TOURNAMENT
NO. 21 UCLA 80, ARIZONA ST. 75
LAS VEGAS -- Shabazz Muhammad scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, Travis Wear hit a jumper with 11 seconds left and UCLA rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat Arizona State in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament.
Larry Drew II had 20 points and Wear finished with 15 to send the Bruins (24-8) into the semifinals against No. 18 Arizona tonight.
NO. 18 ARIZONA 79, COLORADO 69
LAS VEGAS -- Nick Johnson scored 18 points and hit a contested shot with 34 seconds left, helping Arizona beat Colorado in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals.
Lyons had 14 points and Solomon Hill 13 for Arizona (25-6), which faces No. 21 UCLA in the semifinals.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 18 points and Andre Roberson added 15 points and 11 rebounds for fifth-seeded Colorado, which now must wait to see it if makes the NCAA tournament.
CONFERENCE USA TOURNAMENT
NO. 20 MEMPHIS 81, TULANE 68
TULSA, Okla. -- Chris Crawford scored 24 points and Adonis Thomas added 17 to lead Memphis past Tulane in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament.
The top-seeded Tigers (28-4) will face Tulsa in the semifinals.
Josh Davis had 21 points and 15 rebounds to lead eighth-seeded Tulane (19-14), which could never get closer than 10 in the second half.
MAC
KENT ST. 70, BUFFALO 68
CLEVELAND -- Chris Evans scored six of his 25 points in the final 2 1/2 minutes to help fourth-seeded Kent State hold off eighth-seeded Buffalo.
The Golden Flashes (20-12) took a 62-61 lead on two Darren Goodson free throws with 3:15 to play. Evans added a jumper with 2:20 left for a three-point lead, and then layup and two foul shots down the stretch to maintain the advantage.
Evans added a career-high 15 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season for the Golden Flashes (20-12) while Randal Holt chipped in 17 points and Goodson finished with 12. Kent will face top-seeded Akron tonight at 6:30 p.m.
Tony Watson paced the Bulls (14-20) with 23 points and 11 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes for the sixth straight game. Javon McCrea managed 20 points, breaking Buffalo's single-season record with 593 points.
W. MICHIGAN 70, E. MICHIGAN 55
CLEVELAND -- Shayne Whittington scored 23 points and Western Michigan pulled away from Eastern Michigan.
Darius Paul added 14 points, David Brown 12 and Brandon Pokley 11 for third-seeded Western Michigan (20-11), which plays No. 2 seed Ohio in today's semifinals.
Daylen Harrison's 14 points and Da'Shonte Riley's 10 rebounds led Eastern Michigan (16-18).
OHIO COLLEGES
BUTLER 73, DAYTON 67
NEW YORK -- Rotnei Clarke scored 21 points, and Butler advanced at the Atlantic 10 tournament with a first-round victory over Dayton.
The fifth-seeded Bulldogs will need to win four games in four days if they want a conference tourney title in their first -- and perhaps last -- season in the A-10.
Clarke shot 6 of 12 from behind the 3-point arc and added five assists. Fellow senior Andrew Smith had 18 points and six rebounds.
Josh Benson had 18 points to lead 12th-seeeded Dayton (17-14, 7-9).
The Bulldogs (25-7, 11-5) will face fourth-seeded La Salle in today's quarterfinals.
SAINT JOSEPH 58, XAVIER 57
NEW YORK -- Langston Galloway hit two free throws with 1.4 seconds left to lead Saint Joseph's past Xavier in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament.
Galloway scored 14 points for the 10th-seeded Hawks (18-12, 8-8), which face No. 25 VCU in today's quarterfinals.
Travis Taylor led seventh-seeded Xavier (17-14, 9-7) with 16 points and nine rebounds.
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