College Basketball | Eastern Washington adds game against Saint Mary's

CHENEY — Saint Mary's has added a game to its schedule to get recovering star Patrick Mills more playing time.

The Gaels (24-5) scheduled Eastern Washington for a home game March 13 after the West Coast Conference tournament and before the NCAA tournament.

Mills, who is averaging 18.7 points per game, has missed the past nine games with a broken hand. The Gaels were 18-1 and in the Top 25 when he was injured at Gonzaga, but have gone 6-4 since.

Eastern Washington (12-17) thought its season ended March 1 when a loss to Portland State kept the Eagles from playing in the Big Sky Conference tournament.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for us to go play a very, very good team with a player who is most likely a lottery pick in the NBA draft," said Eastern coach Kirk Earlywine. "They are a team that is most likely going to be in the NCAA tournament and are capable of making a good run in the tournament."

Both the Eagles and Gaels are able to utilize different NCAA schedule exceptions to enable them to add a game at this late date. Eastern has played in the NCAA limit of 29 games, but EWU's game at Hawaii in December is exempt from that restriction. Saint Mary's played three of its 29 games in the 76 Classic in Anaheim, putting it one game short of the alternative NCAA limitation of 27 games plus one qualifying regular-season multiple team event.

Earlywine told his players about the possibility late Thursday afternoon, and joyous EWU players quickly hit the court as Earlywine and his staff resumed their recruiting efforts at high school and junior college tournaments.

"Needless to say, they were really excited about it — the whole team was," Earlywine said. "That was one of the conditions that I had set in my mind for us to go play the game — all the players had to want to play and it had to be unanimous. I thought they would be, but I wasn't 100 percent sure."

Duke's Smith out of

Carolina game

DURHAM, N.C. — Seventh-ranked Duke will be short-handed when it travels to No. 2 North Carolina this weekend.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Friday that point guard Nolan Smith will miss Sunday's game as he continues to deal with a mild concussion suffered at Maryland last week. Krzyzewski also said junior forward Lance Thomas is still uncertain due to a sprained ankle suffered against Florida State on Tuesday.

However, 7-foot-1 junior Brian Zoubek will play despite a broken nose suffered against the Seminoles.

The Blue Devils' injury situation is another variable in the latest installment of the backyard rivalry. North Carolina (26-3, 12-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) has clinched a share of the league title and will win it outright by beating the Blue Devils (25-5, 11-4) for a second time this season.

"Look, that's your hand, let's play it and try to win with it," Krzyzewski said during a news conference. "That's why I don't do a lot with injuries [publicly]. I don't want any excuses. We're going to go there and if Lance plays, he plays. If he doesn't, we still feel we have a chance to win."

Top 10 women

No. 4 Maryland 72,

Wake Forest 70

In Greensboro, N.C., Kristi Toliver scored 10 of her 15 points in the second half, and No. 4 Maryland rallied from 12 points down to beat Wake Forest in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

No. 6 Auburn 71,

Mississippi 65

In North Little Rock, Ark., DeWanna Bonner became Auburn's career scoring leader, and the Tigers held on for a victory over Mississippi in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Bonner finished with 32 points, giving the senior 2,084 for her career. Becky Jackson, who played during the early 1980s, held the previous record at 2,068.

No. 8 Duke 76,

No. 24 Virginia 53

Abby Waner scored 16 points to help Duke beat No. 24 Virginia in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Joy Cheek scored 10 of her 12 points after halftime for the third-seeded Blue Devils (25-4), who won their tournament opener for the 15th straight year. Duke has reached at least the semifinals every year since 1995.

Notes

• Louisiana State guard Latear Eason went down hard under the Mississippi State basket and had to be taken out on a stretcher during a night quarterfinal in the Southeastern Conference women's tournament. There was no immediate word on Eason's injury or condition.

• Oklahoma State guard Andrea Riley has been suspended for the Cowgirls' regular-season finale against Nebraska today for violating team rules. No explanation was given.