Smith leads Duke to ACC Tournament title

Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler headed to a celebrating Duke bench and found their Hall of Fame coach waiting for them. Smith jumped into Mike Krzyzewski's arms for a big hug, followed immediately by Singler.

The seniors who led the fifth-ranked Blue Devils to last year's national championship have yet another Atlantic Coast Conference title to savor. Beating their fiercest rival only made it sweeter, too.

Smith had 20 points as the Blue Devils ended No. 6 North Carolina's run of big comebacks at the ACC Tournament, beating the Tar Heels, 75-58, in Sunday's final.

Singler added 11 points for the Blue Devils (30-4), who led the entire way for a record 19th tournament title. They won their third straight tournament and their 10th in 13 years.

"I love the ACC. The ACC has made me a better coach," Krzyzewski said. "I just feel that when you are a part of something that's bigger than you and you're in a tournament representing that conference, you should try to be at your best. That's my attitude with it.''

Only a week ago, North Carolina (26-7) handled Duke with relative ease in a winner-take-all game for the outright regular-season title.

Ohio State 71, Penn State 60: Jared Sullinger had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the No. 1 Buckeyes in the Big Ten Tournament final. Sullinger, the tournament's most outstanding player, averaged 16.3 points and 14 rebounds in the tournament to help the top-seeded Buckeyes (32-2) repeat as champions.

William Buford scored 18 points and Jon Diebler added 15 for the Buckeyes, who also won the league's regular-season title. Talor Battle scored 24 points and Jeff Brooks added 19 for Penn State (19-14), which reached the final for the first time.

Kentucky 70, Florida 54: Brandon Knight scored 17 points, tournament MVP Darius Miller hit two crucial three-pointers and Kentucky (25-8) cruised to another SEC Tournament title. The 12th-ranked Gators (26-7), the regular-season champs, had a miserable day shooting, especially guards Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker. They combined to go 7-for- 26 from the field.

Richmond 67, Dayton 54: Kevin Anderson capped a tournament MVP performance with 23 points and Richmond finished the job this season, winning its first Atlantic 10 title.

Justin Harper added 18 points as the third-seeded Spiders (27-7) won their seventh straight game. They also ended ninth-seeded Dayton's hopes for an NCAA bid. Despite upsetting top-seeded Xavier in the quarterfinals, the defending NIT champion Flyers (22-13) probably needed to win the tournament to get in the NCAA field.

Arkansas axes Pelphrey

Arkansas has fired coach John Pelphrey. Pelphrey was 69-59 in four seasons with the Razorbacks, including an 18-13 record this season. Arkansas lost to Tennessee in the opening round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday. Pelphrey replaced Stan Heath as coach of the Razorbacks in 2007-08 and finished 23-12. Arkansas advanced to the NCAA Tournament that season, defeating Indiana before losing to North Carolina.

-- AP