Hawkins, No. 11 UConn hold off Providence 73-66 in Big East Kansas’ Self to miss Big 12 tourney after medical procedure Filipowski scores 22, hot-shooting No. 21 Duke blasts Pitt No. 22 TCU routs No. 12 K-State 80-67 in Big 12 tourney Iowa State knocks out No. 10 Baylor 78-72 in Big 12 quarters Cal fires coach Mark Fox after school’s worst-ever season

NEW YORK. Playing in front of a crowded house full of Huskies fans, fourth-place UConn looked like the favorite to win the Big East – at least for a while.

Jordan Hawkins scored 19 and No. 11 UConn pulled off a furious second-half draw to beat Providence 73-66 on Thursday in the Big East quarterfinals.

The Huskies (25-7) took the lead to take on top seed Marquette in the semi-finals Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

UConn led by 26 players with 12:30 left against the Friars.

“For 28-30 minutes we were the best version of ourselves,” said trainer Dan Hurley.

The brothers (21-11) stepped up the pressure and in the last few minutes they reduced the lead to five times.

“I’m really proud of how we responded,” said Providence coach Ed Cooley. “Many teams would have lost 35-40 points.”

Alex Karaban made a 3 from the flank for UConn with a minute left to extend the lead to 71-63. Noah Locke (14 points) called Providence 3 to cut the deficit to five, but the Friars scored no more as UConn extended their winning streak to six games.

“Can you name a team in America that plays better than the team we just played?” Cooley said.

The Huskies are in the semi-finals of the Big East Tournament for the third time in a row since rejoining the conference in the 2020-21 season. They have won this tournament seven times, second only to Georgetown eight times, but they have not played in the championship since 2011.

Bryce Hopkins scored 16 points to lead fifth-placed Providence, who lost three games in a row and four out of five.

The first meeting of the Big East tournament since 1998 between the two original participants of the conference showed their recent trajectories within 33 minutes.

The Huskies received contributions up and down the line-up and found attractive looks throughout the hall.

Andre Jackson Jr. had an active all-around with nine points, 11 rebounds and six assists, while Tristen Newton scored 16 points with four triples.

Providence fell behind defensively and was content with 3 that missed the target (6 of 23).

Jackson’s transition dunk spurred a final 8-1 series in the first half for UConn, and Carabane and Newton’s 3s started the second half as the Huskies’ lead reached 21 before many even had time to return to their seats.

Jackson turned the Providence hoax into another fast break dunk, making it 47–23 with 16:23 left. Cooley took time out to try and slow down the Huskies and regroup his team.

Providence managed to cut the lead to five with 3:33 left, and his pressure rocked the Huskies. UConn flipped it 18 times.

“They enjoyed our mistakes,” Hawkins said.

Locke’s corner 3 to the Friars was followed by a backcourt interception and a layup by Cory Floyd to make it 63–58 and forced Hurley to take a timeout as the Providence fans rallied.

Cooley came out of the timeout, waving his arms to cheer the crowd and try to get his team back.

But UConn responded. Hawkins made a long three that woke up the UConn fans.

“You just have to stay calm in this situation, stay with your team, stay in this tight crowd and just have faith,” Hawkins said.

BIG PICTURE

Providence: The brothers head into the postseason hoping a late-season skid won’t cost them an NCAA Tournament bid.

“We’ll sit out the Sunday selection and see where the monks go,” Cooley said. “Don’t be surprised if you see us in the Final Four.

Defense was a problem. Four of Providence’s last five opponents, including twice UConn, have shot over 50% from the field.

UConn: The Huskies have won nine out of 10 and despite being seeded, it looks like they could be the favorites to win this tournament.

SENDING A MESSAGE

Newton usually starts, but on Thursday he came off the bench.

Hurley didn’t go into details, saying only that he wanted to send a “small message” to Newton and fellow senior quarterback Naheem Alleyn, who is usually the first defenseman on the bench but was the last man in the rotation against Providence.

“Whether you’re playing in the Big East or a regular season game, you have to stick to the principles and try to teach the bigger lessons,” Hurley said.

Newton had seven assists and made two last-minute free throws to seal the Husky’s win.

NEXT

Providence: This is probably the second NCAA Tournament appearance in a row.

UConn: The Huskies parted ways with Marquette during the regular season and each team won at home.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri. Kansas coach Bill Self will miss the Big 12 tournament after going to the emergency room Wednesday night for what doctors called “standard procedure” and it is not known if he will return to the NCAA tournament.

Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer for the University of Kansas Health System, said Self did not have the heart attack that some media reported, but remained a patient on Thursday. Stites also did not describe the nature or extent of the procedure, although Self is expected to make a full recovery.

“We didn’t actually let the guys know until this morning because there was nothing concrete about what was going on,” said Kansas assistant Norm Roberts, who led the No. 3 Jayhawks to a 78-61 win over West Virginia in the quarterfinals. round.

“The coach is doing well,” added Roberts. “I talked to him on the phone (after the game). He is fine. He already wants to watch movies and everything. He is fine. He’s better.”

Kansas officials announced that Self had been ill about five hours before Thursday’s announcement and that Roberts would be the acting coach. He played this role at the beginning of the season, when Self served a four-game suspension imposed by the school.

The Jayhawks are the reigning champions of the Big 12 tournament and are trying to secure the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they will try to defend the national championship they won last April.

“Just get through it all together. Coach Self obviously would like that,” said Kansas defenseman Grady Dick. “A lot of what he preaches with us is about the next person, and in this case it was the coach. And it’s a bit like the start of the season. Obviously things are a little more serious now with Coach Self, but we hear that everything is fine.”

The 60-year-old Hall of Famer coach led Kansas to the regular season championship in the nation’s toughest conference this season despite losing several key players from the team that beat North Carolina for the national title last April.

On Wednesday, he attended a shootout at the T-Mobile Center and appeared healthy. He met with reporters about 20 minutes outside the locker room and said his team was ready for another March run.

“We’ve been talking about going to Kansas City to try and put ourselves in a position to win this case, but knowing we’re better off playing one game at a time,” Self said Wednesday. “I put emphasis on ‘Let’s play our best.’ What a tournament (Big 12) does, it can confirm what your regular season was like. And this is an opportunity to prove it.”

Self is 581-130 in two decades at Kansas and 788-235 in 30 seasons as a head coach, including stops in Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois. He led the Jayhawks to two national championships, defeating Memphis for the title in 2008, and the Big Twelve regular season title was his 17th in 20 seasons at Lawrence.

With the retirement of Syracuse coach Jim Boheim on Wednesday, Self moved up the list of the most successful current coaches in men’s college basketball behind Bob Huggins, John Calipari and Rick Pitino.

“Coach Self has always treated me very well. I have a lot of respect for him and I respect their program,” said Iowa State Coach T.J. Otzelberger, whose team will face the Jayhawks in the Big 12 semi-finals on Friday night. “Of course, I want to wish him all the best. I wrote to him this morning and let him know that we are thinking of him.”

GREENSBORO, North Carolina. Duke’s recent success formula is focused on solid defense and rebounding.

If the Blue Devils can score the same way they did on Thursday, they could be heading for another big win in the NCAA Tournament.

Kyle Filipowski overcame an early ankle injury to score 22 points, Tyrese Proctor added 11 points and 10 assists, and No. 21 Duke beat Pittsburgh 96-69 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Duke set a season high in scoring and shooting percentage (62%), and made 13 three-pointers after an ACC tournament-high 27 assists.

Derek Lively II had 13 points and Mark Mitchell added 12 for the fourth-place Blue Devils, who took a 48-32 lead at halftime en route to their seventh straight win. This is the longest active streak of any ACC team.

Filipovski said the win sends a message.

“We’re going,” Filipovsky said. “We follow those who stand in our way. We are still not respected. We have this chip on our shoulder. No matter who we face, we still have something to prove to them.”

Pitt coach Jeff Capel said Duke has the potential to turn heads in March.

“I really think they can get away,” Capel said. “They have size, they have athleticism. They have really gotten better defensively and if they hit the ball the way they do today, especially out of three, then it will be even harder to defend them.”

Nike Sibande scored 17 points and Guillermo Diaz Graham scored 14 from Pitt (22-11).

The Blue Devils (24-8) scored in their first four possessions to take a 12-0 lead with Filipovski hitting a three-pointer from the right corner and left flank.

“The beginning we started with was incredibly important to us,” Duke coach John Scheier said.

Filipowski gasped at Duke fans in the crowd as he appeared to twist his left ankle after crashing into Blake Hinson Pitt less than three minutes later. He had to be helped to get to the bench, but he returned around six…