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North Carolina grabs another shot at an NCAA championship with win over Oregon, 77-76
The sequence that vacillated between hope and despair, a crowd of 77,612 disbelieving what was unfolding one way or the other, started with an outstretched hand.
Oregon’s Jordan Bell held the position but North Carolina’s Theo Pinson had the moxie. The Ducks trailed the Tar Heels by one point in an NCAA tournament semifinal Saturday night at University of Phoenix Stadium and needed to grab a missed free throw and go the length of the court with only 5.8 seconds left.
Pinson timed his jump perfectly after teammate Kennedy Meeks’ free throw bounced off the front of the rim, tapping the ball to North Carolina guard Joel Berry II. The Ducks quickly wrapped up Berry, who missed his first free throw. And then his second.
Four consecutive missed free throws had twice opened the door in a nearly inconceivable way for the Ducks. But Meeks closed it for good when he snatched the rebound on Berry’s second miss, outmaneuvering Bell amid a scrum of players under the rim. Meeks flipped the ball to Pinson, who dribbled toward halfcourt before hurling it into the air in triumph at the buzzer.
The Ducks quacked under the might of the moment and a more burly counterpart, falling to North Carolina, 77-76, in a game that will be cursed for eternity in the Pacific Northwest.
“I lost the game,” a despondent Bell said after his team had yielded 17 offensive rebounds. “I had it and I just lost it.”
Bell had seemed to sense the possibility of an unhappy ending several minutes earlier. After Meeks had powered his way to one of his eight offensive rebounds midway through the second half, Bell waved his arm in frustration and muttered something to two teammates, presumably about not letting the Tar Heels stomp their way to so much success around the basket.
Apparently no one listened when it mattered most.
“I wish I had something I could say to make them feel better,” said Oregon Coach Dana Altman, whose team had rallied from nine points down in the final minutes. “It hurts.”
North Carolina (32-7) advanced to play Gonzaga on Monday night in its second consecutive appearance in the championship game. Not that Tar Heels coach Roy Williams was contemplating anything pleasurable after all the missed free throws.
“Oh, jump off a building,” he said of his thoughts.
There were plenty of opportunities for Oregon in the final minutes, some sloppy play by the Tar Heels letting the Ducks (33-6) stay within range of an improbable comeback. But Oregon continually missed three-point shots and misfired on other chances, such as when Dylan Ennis failed to connect with Bell while throwing an errant alley-oop pass.
Oregon did cut its deficit to 77-74 with 42 seconds left after Tyler Dorsey’s three-pointer hit the front of the rim and rolled toward the back before reversing course and dropping through the net. The Ducks had an opportunity to tie the score after Pinson missed a jumper during a disjointed possession for North Carolina.
Oregon never got off a three-pointer, however. Ennis hurled a pass underneath the basket to Keith Smith for a layup with six seconds left. The Ducks fouled Meeks on the inbounds pass and he missed both free throws, starting the madcap final sequence.
“If it wasn’t for Kennedy Meeks, we wouldn’t have been in the basketball game,” Williams said of the forward who finished with 25 points on 11-for-13 shooting to go with 14 rebounds. “To miss those two free throws, it just killed him, but he got the last rebound as well.
“He was sensational until the two free throws. But we’re still playing.”
Meanwhile, the title drought continues for the Pac-12 Conference, which has not produced a national champion since Arizona in 1997 or had a team make the final game of the season since UCLA in 2006. Oregon was trying to get to the championship game for the first time since 1939, when it won the inaugural NCAA tournament.
Dorsey nearly went from Mr. March to Mr. April, scoring 21 points to log his eighth consecutive game with at least 20. Ennis added 18 points in his final college game and Bell finished with 13 points and 16 rebounds. It wasn’t enough.
Ennis could only crouch in disgust near midcourt after an ending that left multiple Ducks feeling culpable.
“The first one got tipped out, they got it,” guard Casey Benson said of the Tar Heels’ late rebounds. “The second one, they got it again. I wish I could have gone up and gotten it. That was on me.”
Twitter: @latbbolch
Another first for Gonzaga: The Bulldogs dispatch South Carolina to make it to the NCAA title game
College roommates often tell each other just about every thought, no matter how outlandish, assuming it will stay among friends. That confidence code apparently doesn’t apply to Gonzaga’s Nigel Williams-Goss, who freely disclosed what Zach Collins had expressed Saturday before the biggest game of their careers.
“He said, ‘Look, I wouldn’t want to be playing against me today,’ ” Williams-Goss said. “I looked at him and I said, ‘All right, let’s do it then.’ ”
They did it as one, Williams-Goss controlling the game with his shotmaking and Collins contributing across the board to help their tiny school come up big in a battle of Final Four newcomers.
The Bulldogs survived a second half of epic momentum swings, holding on for a 77-73 victory over South Carolina in an NCAA tournament semifinal at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Bulldogs will play North Carolina for the national championship on Monday.
Gonzaga (37-1) persevered with some pluck and some luck, Collins’ three-pointer nudging them ahead to stay with 6:42 left after bouncing off the back of the rim and rolling into the basket.
Williams-Goss led all scorers with 23 points on nine-for-16 shooting and Collins was everywhere the Bulldogs needed him to be, finishing with 14 points, 13 rebounds and six momentum-shifting blocks.
“I knew I had a couple of rough games before this,” said Collins, a freshman forward. “And I wanted to come out and just play a lot better for my team. In my head, I just said I had no choice. And that’s when I told Nigel I just felt really good.”
Collins also was head cheerleader after Gonzaga reserve forward Killian Tillie made the first of two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining, chest-bumping his teammate before Tillie’s second free throw dropped through the net to give his team a four-point lead. The Bulldogs surged onto the court in celebration after a halfcourt heave at the buzzer by South Carolina’s PJ Dozier was well off the mark.
It was a victory that was a tribute to Dan Dickau, Adam Morrison and all the other former Bulldogs greats, the school’s 19th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament resulting in the Bulldogs’ first chance to win a title. Just don’t call them the darling underdogs.
“It’s not 1997 anymore,” South Carolina Coach Frank Martin said dryly. “They were Cinderella and all that pretty stuff in ’97. They’ve been in this thing for 20 consecutive years. They’re as high major as high major can get.”
Gonzaga showed some smarts in the final seconds, intentionally fouling South Carolina’s Sindarius Thornwell with 3.5 seconds left with the Gamecocks needing a three-pointer to tie the score.
“I thought we waited a little long to do that, quite honestly,” Bulldogs Coach Mark Few said. “But [Josh Perkins] went out and grabbed him before he was in the shooting motion and as it turned out you couldn’t be any better, you know?”
Thornwell made the first free throw but purposely bounced the second off the back of the rim, allowing Tillie to grab the rebound and make the free throws that put the game out of reach.
The wild ending came after Gonzaga had built a 14-point lead and withstood a 16-0 surge by South Carolina before generating a 7-0 run of its own. Collins’ lob over the top of the Gamecocks defense led to a layup by teammate Przemek Karnowski that gave Gonzaga a 72-67 lead.
Karnowski, who had returned after taking an inadvertent hand to the eye in the first half that resulted in blurry vision, flapped his arms in celebration as he walked toward the bench during the timeout that followed.
The Gamecocks (26-11) closed to within 75-72 thanks in part to a spinning layup by Thornwell and a Dozier putback, getting possession with 12.7 seconds left after Gonzaga’s Johnathan Williams lost the ball out of bounds chasing a rebound. But Perkins’ foul several seconds later thwarted the Gamecocks’ plans to get off a tying shot.
Few, who had long been criticized for building a program that was good but not just good enough to beat its heavyweight counterparts, attempted a handstand in the locker room after the game.
“We’ve been on this team to show some emotion, because there’s always expectations with Gonzaga teams that they should win every game,” Few said. “Sometimes I worry that my guys get, like, it’s a job. And we’ve been on them to show emotion. So they’re always on me to show emotion after a win. So that’s my fairly weak effort of showing emotion.”
Follow Ben Bolch on Twitter @latbbolch
North Carolina has enough in reserve to edge Kentucky, 75-73
Luke Maye’s aspirations for the game’s final sequence matched his pedigree. A bit player for most of his career, the onetime walk-on forward figured maybe he could put himself in position to grab a rebound.
He ended up nudging North Carolina back into the Final Four.
As Tar Heels teammate Theo Pinson drove into the lane, cutting off two Kentucky defenders with the score tied in the closing seconds Sunday evening at FedExForum, Maye backpedaled toward the perimeter. Pinson flipped the ball to Maye, who rose for a jumper that fell through the net and into North Carolina lore.
“I saw an opening and I shot it,” Maye would say later. “I don’t know even if it was a three or a two. I’m still not sure.”
Maye’s long two-pointer with three-tenths of a second left lifted the top-seeded Tar Heels to a 75-73 victory over the second-seeded Wildcats in the NCAA tournament South Regional final, and into a national semifinal against Oregon on Saturday at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
It also served as a rebuttal of sorts to the soul-crushing ending his team had endured against Villanova last season in the national championship game.
North Carolina’s Marcus Paige had made a dramatic three-pointer to tie the score in the final seconds, only to be upstaged by Villanova’s Kris Jenkins, who made a three-pointer at the buzzer.
“For it to work in our favor this time,” said Tar Heels guard Nate Britt, “does feel a little bit better.”
Kentucky’s Malik Monk played the role of Paige on Sunday, grabbing a handoff from Isaiah Briscoe, taking one dribble toward the top of the key and rising for a three-pointer over the flailing arms of two North Carolina defenders to tie the score at 73-73 with nine seconds left. The shot came three months after Monk had made another three-pointer in the final seconds to lift the Wildcats over the Tar Heels in Las Vegas.
As Kentucky players leaped in celebration on the bench and Wildcats fans who had spent most of the game howling at officials roared in delight, the Tar Heels pondered overtime.
“I was kind of like, oh my gosh, he did not just make that shot,” Britt said of Monk’s three-pointer, which capped a wild Wildcats rally from seven points down with 54 seconds left. The comeback included two three-pointers by Monk (12 points) and one by teammate De’Aaron Fox (13).
The Tar Heels (31-7) had a timeout left as they prepared to inbound the ball but knew Coach Roy Williams had no intention of using it because he likes his team to attack if there’s more than six seconds left.
“I was just screaming, ‘Go, go, go!’” Williams said.
“I probably should have called time out,” Kentucky Coach John Calipari said. “It entered my mind, but they got [the ball] in so quick, I couldn’t get to anybody to do it.”
Pinson took the inbounds pass and zipped up the right side of the court before cutting back toward the middle after he crossed midcourt, momentarily ignoring Maye, who was raising his arm and calling for the ball.
Maye was the most unlikely player on the court to emerge as the hero. The sophomore entered the regional having averaged 5.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in only 13.8 minutes per game this season, his first on scholarship after being a preferred walk-on as a freshman.
He flashed his potential with 16 points and 12 rebounds in North Carolina’s victory over Butler in the regional semifinal and was in the game at the end Sunday because he had made five of his first eight shots.
“I don’t think Luke has put together two games like this all season,” North Carolina forward Justin Jackson said of the teammate who finished with a career-high 17 points and was selected most outstanding player of the regional.
Maye also made two free throws as part of North Carolina’s 12-0 run that wiped out the 64-59 deficit it faced with five minutes left. The Tar Heels switched to a zone defense that thwarted Kentucky’s dribble penetration and were emboldened by having completed a similar comeback against Arkansas in the second round last week.
“We’ve got the same situation,” Williams said he told his team. “You have shown that you can do this.”
Maye had played only 10 minutes in that game against the Razorbacks, scoring seven points. After sinking the jumper that provided the go-ahead points against the Wildcats (32-6), Maye pumped his fist and hoisted teammate Joel Berry into the air.
The subsequent full-court inbounds pass from Kentucky’s Derek Willis sailed out of bounds and the celebrating commenced for the Tar Heels. North Carolina fans bellowed “Luuuuuuke!” as Maye climbed a ladder underneath one basket, took two snips and held a strand of net aloft.
A few minutes earlier, as Maye conducted an interview in front of cameras, Pinson walked up from behind, patted his teammate on the back and interjected, “I passed him the ball.” Good things happened from there, the kid whose father once played quarterback for North Carolina’s football team having come of age in front of a nation.
“I came from a small town in North Carolina and always wanted to be in this opportunity,” Maye said, “and now that I’ve had it, it’s an awesome feeling.”
South Carolina knocks off fourth-seeded Florida, 77-70
It’s only right that South Carolina’s first trip to Final Four was earned through its defense.
A team known for a swarming zone used it effectively down the stretch to beat Florida, 77-70, on Sunday and win the East Regional at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
Sindarius Thornwell scored 26 points for the seventh-seeded Gamecocks (26-10) against the fourth-seeded Gators (27-9) in the all-Southeastern Conference matchup.
South Carolina will face Gonzaga, the No. 1-seeded team from the West Regional, in the Final Four on Saturday at Glendale, Ariz.
“Gamecock Nation, we heard you loud and clear,” Coach Frank Martin roared as the team prepared to cut down the nets. “We’ll see you in Phoenix.”
The game was as close as expected until the final minute. There were 14 lead changes and 10 ties. The last lead change came on two free throws by Thornwell with 2:24 left that made it 65-63. Florida managed just three field goals over the final 3:55.
Thornwell, the regional MVP, followed the deciding free throws with a nice assist to Maik Kotsar for a four-point lead. It seemed Thornwell, who scored eight straight points for the Gamecocks, was always where he needed to be during the game, including making a steal with 40 seconds left that turned into a 73-68 lead.
“I just made plays,” Thornwell said. “Plays needed to be made down the stretch and I stepped up and made plays.”
“Thornwell was just being Thornwell,” Florida Coach Mike White said of the SEC player of the year. “He’s one of the best players in the country.”
PJ Dozier added 17 points for the Gamecocks, Chris Silva had 13 and Kotsar 12.
It all totaled to a Final Four trip for Martin, he of the booming voice and terrifying faces.
Justin Leon had 18 points for the Gators who managed a 40-33 halftime lead on seven-for-12 shooting from three-point range. But that was it. Florida missed all 14 of its shots from beyond the arc in the second half, a lot like the 0-for-17 effort the Gators had in their first meeting with South Carolina this season.
South Carolina, which forced Florida into 16 turnovers, finished 23 for 31 from the free-throw line, including a nine-for-10 effort from Thornwell.
Oregon fends off top-seeded Kansas for first Final Four since the first one
Oregon’s Jordan Bell is a mild-mannered forward from Long Beach Poly who has a curious effect on opponents on the basketball court. Eyes widen. Limbs stiffen. The body does things the brain does not want.
With nine minutes left in Oregon’s program-quaking, 74-60, win over No. 1 seeded Kansas that sent the Ducks to the Final Four on Saturday, Bell elicited only one palpable emotion: abject fear.
Oregon was up 13 but looked shaky on offense. A heavy pro-Kansas crowd was latching to any signs of life when Landen Lucas, the Jayhawks’ 6-foot-10, 250-pound forward, raced alone toward the basket. He soared. Bell appeared from behind like a boogeyman. He rejected the layup, hard, his hand somewhere near the square on the backboard.
The ricochet found Kansas’ Devonte’ Graham, who geared up for another try. He dashed into the lane. His eyes landed on Bell. His floater never even reached the rim, even though
Graham was only a couple of feet away.
At the next break, Kansas’ stone-faced point guard, Frank Mason III, looked up at the replay. Mason’s expression didn’t change the entire game. But seeing the block again, his eyebrows twitched.
Bell and his fellow Southern Californian, Maranatha High’s Tyler Dorsey, brutalized the tournament’s hottest team in the Midwest Regional final. Bell scored 11 points and had 13 rebounds. He blocked a game-changing eight shots. There were few Kansas possessions that were not affected by Bell’s strong right hand — or just his presence.
“I’m scared of him when I go to practice, man,” guard Dylan Ennis said.
“He was a dominating figure,” Coach Dana Altman said.
When Bell arrived at Oregon, he said he promised to send Coach Dana Altman to the Final Four. Oregon fell a game short last season. After that game, Bell found Altman.
“I said, ‘Coach, I got you next year, for sure,’” he said.
The last time the Ducks reached the Final Four was also the first Final Four, in 1939. Oregon ended up winning the whole thing, which probably impressed Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. He attended the game.
For the Pac-12 Conference, the drought was shorter but more embarrassing. No conference team had reached the Final Four since UCLA in 2008. This season, it produced three top-tier teams but the many coaches and players felt mostly ignored by the rest of the country.
“They can keep talking, and we’re going to try to keep winning and silence them,” Dorsey, confetti stuck to his neck, said after cutting down the nets. “But we’re not really worried about no respect. I guess they probably respect us now.”
For Kansas, it was another agonizing end in the regional final. The Jayhawks had obliterated their first three opponents by a credulity-straining average of 30 points.
But Oregon owned the game from the start. Were it not for Mason, it might have been a runaway. He scored all 15 Kansas points over one six-minute span in the first half.
But Dorsey made two three-pointers in the final minute of the first half, including a bank shot at the buzzer, to give Oregon a 44-33 halftime lead.
Dorsey had been a rare miss for Kansas in recruiting — to which UCLA and USC could relate.
“We wanted Tyler, bad,” Kansas Coach Bill Self said.
Dorsey had been just good until the postseason began. Since, he has been a star. After ending the regular season with one point against Oregon State, he has accumulated seven 20-point games in a row.
Dorsey finished with 27 points on nine-of-13 shooting. That helped Oregon take an 18-point lead five minutes into the second half.
But then Oregon’s offense short-circuited. Kansas was charging. The lead was down to six with less than two minutes left. A missed Oregon shot came right to Kansas. Josh Jackson leaped. So did Mason. They missed it.
The ball found Bell. He passed to Dorsey. The three-pointer went in, and the Ducks’ party could begin.
Gonzaga topples Xavier, 83-59, to reach Final Four
Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points while orchestrating Gonzaga’s efficient offense, and the Zags finally shook their overrated tag by routing Xavier, 83-59, on Saturday to reach the Final Four for the first time.
Gonzaga (36-1) has been dogged by criticism through the years despite winning consistently, in part for playing in a weak conference but also for never making the Final Four.
On the cusp of history, the Zags took it head on with a superb all-around game to give coach Mark Few the one missing piece of his resume.
Gonzaga found the range from the perimeter after struggling the first three NCAA tournament games, making 12 of 24 from 3-point range. The defense, a soft spot in the past, shut down the underdog and 11th-seeded Musketeers (24-14) to win the West Region.
The Zags will face the winner between South Carolina and Florida in next week’s Final Four in Arizona.
J.P Macura led the Musketeers with 18 points.
The Musketeers brought their turn-the-page jar of ashes to the NCAA tournament, where they burned through a string of upsets to reach their third Elite Eight and first since 2008. They beat Maryland and Florida State and took down No. 2 Arizona in the regional semifinals, setting up a matchup of small Jesuit schools seeking their first Final Four.
The Final Four was the only thing missing on Few’s resume, which includes 18 straight NCAA tournaments, eight trips to the Sweet 16 and a third Elite Eight after surviving West Virginia’s constant pressure in the regional semifinals.
The Zags struggled to find an offensive rhythm against the Mountaineers — who doesn’t? — but had it flowing against Xavier.
Gonzaga came into the Elite Eight hitting 29 percent of its 3-point shots after making 37 percent during the season. The Zags found the range early against Xavier, hitting 8 of 13 from the arc in the first half, mostly against the Musketeers’ zone or on kick-outs from center Przemek Karnowski.
Xavier got off to a good start offensively by working the ball around, but hit a dry spell and made 1 of 5 from 3-point range as Gonzaga stretched to lead to 49-39 by halftime.
Halftime did little to slow the Zags, who pushed the lead to 59-42 on 3-pointers by Williams-Goss and Jordan Mathews. Gonzaga kept the machine rolling in the second half, continuing to make shots while its defense prevented the Musketeers from making any kind of run.
Florida beats Wisconsin, 84-83, with buzzer-beating three-pointer in overtime
Chris Chiozza went end to end and made a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Florida an 84-83 victory against Wisconsin on Friday night in the first overtime game of this NCAA Tournament.
Nigel Hayes had given the Badgers (27-10) a 2-point lead with four seconds left on two free throws. With no timeouts left, the Gators inbounded to Chiozza and the point guard stopped right at the top of the arc and dropped in the winner for Florida (27-8).
Wisconsin’s Zak Showalter forced overtime with a leaning 3-pointer off one leg with 2.1 seconds left in regulation as the Badgers wiped out a 12-point deficit in the last 4:15.
The fourth-seeded Gators will play South Carolina on Sunday in an all-Southeastern Conference regional final at Madison Square Garden. Florida is in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2014, and for the first time with second-year coach Mike White — the man who replaced Billy Donovan in Gainesville.
Wisconsin built a five-point lead in overtime, but with star guard Bronson Koenig hobbled by a leg issue the Badgers couldn’t close out Florida.
After Wisconsin’s Khalil Iverson hit the front of the rim on a breakaway dunk, Chiozza drove by the Badgers defense at the other end for a layup that tied it at 81 with 24 seconds left.
The Badgers put it in Hayes’ hands on their final possession. The senior who scored the winning bucket in Wisconsin’s upset of defending champion Villanova, used a spin move to draw a foul going to the hoop.
Making their fourth straight Sweet 16 appearance, it looked as if the experienced Badgers had once again found a way to survive and advance.
Chiozza then earned himself a spot in the “One Shining Moment” montage with a shot that will go down in Gators’ history.
KeVaughn Allen carried Florida most of the way, breaking out of a slump with a career-high 35 points.
Hayes had 22 in his last game for Wisconsin.
The Wildcats finish off the Bruins, 86-75
The nation’s highest-scoring team found out what it felt like to get overrun at the worst possible time.
UCLA was trampled in the second half Friday night, its star freshmen unable to keep pace with their Kentucky counterparts. Now the Wildcats will move on while at least two Bruins may play their next games in the NBA.
The third-seeded Bruins were no match for the second-seeded Wildcats in a rematch between the teams, an 86-75 setback in an NCAA tournament South Regional semifinal ending their season far short of the intended destination.
Kentucky (32-5) will play top-seeded North Carolina on Sunday in the regional final. The Tar Heels defeated Butler, 92-80, in an earlier regional semifinal.
Kentucky opens a double-digit lead, 73-61, with 4 ½ minutes left
UCLA in need of a comeback in the final minutes
Wildcats maintaining lead over Bruins in second half
Florida erases 11-point deficit to take halftime lead over Wisconsin
TJ Leaf starts strong, but Bruins trail the Wildcats by three points at halftime
UCLA relied on a familiar formula in the early going against Kentucky on Friday night: lots of TJ Leaf.
The power forward who had been so good against the Wildcats in December was strong again in the first half of the Bruins’ NCAA tournament South Regional semifinal at FedEx Forum.
Leaf had 13 points on five-for-eight shooting along with four rebounds to lead third-seeded UCLA, which trailed second-seeded Kentucky, 36-33, at halftime.
Leaf got his team rolling with five early points on a three-pointer and a put-back dunk, helping the Bruins take an early 11-6 lead. But Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox was a sly scorer, making his first five shots on the way to 15 first-half points, including a floating jumper in the seconds before halftime.
The winner will play top-seeded North Carolina on Sunday in the regional final. The Tar Heels defeated Butler, 92-80, in the earlier South semifinal.
Leaf was reprising his role from three months ago, when he had 17 points, 13 rebounds and five assists during the Bruins’ 97-92 victory over Kentucky at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.
UCLA’s Thomas Welsh logged seven points and six rebounds and Lonzo Ball had six points, three assists and two rebounds.
But the Bruins got essentially no contributions from senior guards Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton, who combined for three points in the first half on one-for-six shooting. Hamilton missed a layup in transition after Ball whipped a pass through all five Kentucky defenders.
Lakers executive Magic Johnson was at the game to scout the slew of potential lottery picks, seated three rows in front of UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero. A North Carolina official settled into a seat in front of Johnson during the first half.
The discrepancy in fan support was evident from the moment Alford jogged onto the court ahead of his teammates. The Bruins were greeted by some cheers as the senior guard raised his arm to call for a ball. Moments later, the Wildcats appeared and the roar of the Kentucky fans filled the arena.
It’s a back-and-forth game between UCLA and Kentucky
South Carolina pulls away from Baylor, 70-50, and into East Regional final
Sindarius Thornwell scored 24 points and seventh-seeded South Carolina cruised past third-seeded Baylor, 70-50, on Friday night in the East Regional semifinals, the Bears’ worst NCAA tournament loss.
The Gamecocks (25-10) were in control from the middle of the first half on, mixing defenses and hustling all over the Madison Square Garden court to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time.
South Carolina will meet the winner of the late Wisconsin-Florida game on Sunday with a trip to the Final Four at stake.
DJ Dozier and Chris Silva had 12 points each and Duane Notice added 11 for the Gamecocks.
Johnathan Motley had 18 points, 12 in the second half, for Baylor (27-8), which just couldn’t get any offense going. The Bears missed 11 of their first 13 shots from the field and it didn’t get a whole lot better the entire game. They made only 17 of 56 shots from the field (30.4%), including three of 13 from three-point range.
South Carolina opened the second half on a 12-6 run to get the lead to 49-28. The Gamecocks’ largest lead was 63-41.
Baylor was able to close to 11 points but that was as tight as the game would get.
The Gamecocks went on a 16-0 run that lasted 7:44 in the first half. They turned a 15-15 tie into a 31-15 lead with 2:50 left in the first half. The Bears went 0 for 10 from the field and committed four turnovers in the run. South Carolina’s biggest lead of the half was 37-20 on a three-pointer by Notice with 29 seconds left until halftime before Baylor scored before intermission.
The Bears shot just 25% (eight of 32) from the field in the first half and committed seven turnovers.
North Carolina coasts past Butler, 92-80, to reach Elite Eight
Joel Berry II scored 26 points and Justin Jackson added 24 as top-seeded North Carolina moved to the Elite Eight with a 92-80 victory over Butler in the NCAA South Region on Friday night.
Luke Maye recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, helping fuel a quick start for Carolina (30-7). The Tar Heels never let their lead get under double digits in the second half.
Andrew Chrabascz led the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (25-9) with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Kelan Martin finished with 16 points for Butler, which struggled shooting early and did not recover.
Carolina, which reached the Elite Eight for the 27th time, will face the winner of Friday’s second game between UCLA and Kentucky. The Tar Heels connected on 54.4 percent of their shots, while Butler was at 43.5 percent.
The Tar Heels broke out of the gate early, building a double-digit lead and really weren’t threatened after halftime, although Butler did get within 10 at one point.
North Carolina used early accurate shooting to build a 16-point lead as the Tar Heels connected on 13 of their first 18 shots, including missing only one of seven from outside the arc.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were suffering through a scoring drought the stretched beyond 4 minutes.
That helped Carolina build the advantage to 30-14 when Maye connected on a 3-pointer near the midway point of the first half.
While Butler managed to whittle the deficit to single digits on a couple of occasions before halftime, North Carolina would simply answer with another rally, the last one of the half stretching the Tar Heels lead to 52-32 on its eighth 3-pointer of the half.
By halftime, Jackson had 17 points, and Maye had already reached his career-high in points with 14, plus grabbing nine of the Tar Heels’ 22 boards. That helped Carolina carry a 52-36 lead into the break.
Chrabascz led the Bulldogs with 11 points.
The Tar Heels lead would stretch the lead back to 20 near the 12-minute mark of the second half, but Butler didn’t exactly allow North Carolina to coast home. A 13-4 Bulldog run made a dent in the advantage as Martin had seven in the stretch with Avery Woodson connecting on a 3-pointer. Martin closed out the run with another 3-pointer to pull Butler within 71-60.
But while the Bulldogs would cut the Carolina advantage to 10 points 2 minutes later, they would get no closer the rest of the way.
Xavier upsets No. 2-seeded Arizona, 73-71
Trevon Bluiett scored 25 points, Sean O’Mara scored inside with 40 seconds left and No. 11 seed Xavier upset No. 2-seeded Arizona, 73-71, in a West Regional semifinal on Thursday night.
Xavier (30-13) stayed with the second-seeded Wildcats behind Bluiett’s 18 first-half points and tracked down the Wildcats after they tried to pull away in the second half. O’Mara scored on a power move inside, but missed a free throw to give Arizona (32-5) a final chance.
Allonzo Trier missed a three-pointer in the closing seconds and Xavier was able to dribble out the clock, earning its first trip to the Elite Eight since 2008.
The Musketeers held Arizona scoreless over the final 2:52 to earn a spot in the West final against No. 1-seeded Gonzaga on Saturday.
Trier scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half and Dusan Ristic had 17 for Arizona.
Xavier made an improbable run to its fourth Sweet 16 in eight years under Coach Chris Mack, overcoming a late six-game losing streak and slew of injuries that included the loss of point guard Edmond Sumner to a torn left ACL in late January.
The Musketeers were the lone double-digit seed left in the bracket after knocking off Maryland and Florida State in the first two rounds, setting up their second Sweet 16 game against Arizona in three years.
Arizona won the previous meeting to reach the Elite Eight, putting Coach Sean Miller one up on Mack, his former assistant.
Bluiett kept the Musketeers in San Jose, converting seven of eight shots and both of his free throws to score 18 points in the first half.
Arizona led 37-35 after turning 11 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points.
Xavier came out hot to start the second half, making six of its eight shots to build a 48-45 lead. Arizona answered with a run of its own and Trier started lighting it up, scoring 15 straight points as Arizona built a 67-61 lead.
With super fan Bill Murray cheering them on — his son is an assistant coach — the Musketeers battled their way back with a 7-0 run, tying the score at 71-all with less than two minutes left.
Frank Mason III leads Kansas to a 98-66 rout of Purdue
No team left in the tournament provides the raw, visceral viewing experience that Kansas does.
Witness: In the second half of Jayhawks’ 98-66 victory over Purdue, Lagerald Vick swiped the ball, tooled away, spun 360 degrees in the air and slammed the ball hard — a dunk contest move in the middle of a regional semifinal game.
“I lost my mind,” forward Josh Jackson said. “I forgot I was out there playing for a minute.”
Right now, this tournament belongs to the Jayhawks. They spotted Purdue an eight-point lead late in the first half as if it were charity.
Their average margin of victory in the tournament is now 30 points. They’re the first team since Connecticut in 1995 to score 90 or more points in their first three games.
“I would say we’re pretty good,” forward Svi Mykhailiuk said.
“We’re spoiled,” Coach Bill Self said.
And to think, some questioned point guard Frank Mason III’s ability to play against bigger competition such as Purdue. He scored 26 points, missed just two shots and had seven rebounds and assists.
“He settled a lot of debates a long time ago,” Jackson said. “Tonight, if that didn’t, then I don’t know what to tell you.”
Top-seeded Gonzaga holds off West Virginia, advancing to West Regional final
Jordan Mathews made the go-ahead three-pointer with less than a minute to play as top-seeded Gonzaga survived a rough shooting night for both teams to beat No. 4-seeded West Virginia, 61-58, on Thursday night to advance to the West Regional final.
On a night that featured 51 fouls and only 34 made baskets, Mathews delivered the big shot that sent the Bulldogs (35-1) to their third Elite Eight in school history.
It didn’t come easily.
West Virginia (29-8) had three shots to tie the game, but Tarik Phillip missed a shot from the lane and Jevon Carter missed two three-pointers after Silas Melson made one foul shot.
The Mountaineers rebounded both misses but couldn’t get another shot off before the buzzer.
Despite shooting 26.7% for the game, West Virginia stayed close and took a 58-55 lead on a three-pointer by Carter with 1:47 to play. Nigel Williams-Goss answered with two free throws.
After Daxter Miles Jr. missed two fouls shots and Nathan Adrian was blocked by Josh Perkins on the put-back attempt, Williams-Goss found Mathews in the corner for the open three-pointer that proved to be the game-winner.
Mathews, Przemek Karnowski and Johnathan Williams all had 13 points to lead the Bulldogs.
Carter led the Mountaineers with 21 points.
The game was tied at 30 after a first half that was far from an aesthetic masterpiece with 27 fouls and just 16 baskets. The teams combined for 29% shooting, including 2 of 16 from three-point range.
The Bulldogs created some space early in the second when Mathews hit three-pointers on consecutive trips and added a free throw for a four-point play on the second to make it 41-34. But the Mountaineers fought back and the game stayed tight until the end.
Oregon edges Michigan, 69-68, to advance to NCAA’s Midwest Regional final
How to repay a friend who just saved you from infamy? Dylan Ennis sat in Oregon’s locker room after the Ducks’ 69-68 win over Michigan and considered what he owed Jordan Bell.
“I gotta buy him dinner,” Ennis said. “I definitely gotta buy him dinner.”
Cheesecake Factory, maybe, he said — Bell’s favorite.
“Dylan owes me a car,” said Bell, sitting across the locker room, unimpressed.
Ennis was in no position to negotiate, not after Bell bailed him out after two crucial missed free throws late in Thursday’s first Midwest Regional semifinal.
Two Los Angeles-area guys, Long Beach Poly’s Bell and Maranatha High’s Tyler Dorsey, did mop-up duty for the Ducks to put the Pac-12 Conference one win from the Final Four. A masterpiece the game was not. Only Dorsey and Michigan’s Derrick Walton Jr. dazzled. Each scored 20.
With two minutes left, Walton made a slick jumper that rattled almost in, out, then back in again. It was the kind of roll a team gets after it has been in a minor plane crash, which, coincidentally, Michigan was this month before winning six in a row. The make kept the magic alive. Michigan led by three.
Ennis got his first free throw 12 seconds later. Clank. But Bell wriggled past Michigan’s box-out and scored a putback.
Dorsey hit the go-ahead basket on the next possession.
Ennis’ trials weren’t over. With 15 seconds left, another Bell rebound (he scored 16 points with 13 rebounds) gave Ennis a chance at redemption. Clank.
During a timeout, Ennis thought to himself, “Damn, Dylan. Good job. I almost pissed away the season.”
He looked for sympathy; he found his dad.
“Free throws, Dylan,” his dad said.
Oregon Coach Dana Altman had more pressing issues. He needed Ennis to foul Walton before he could hoist a game-winning shot. The Ducks had fouls to give. Altman made that clear.
Walton pulled up. Ennis played it clean.
“I was a little upset,” Altman said.
He waited. Michigan waited.
“No one else on the team we wanted taking that shot,” guard Zak Irvin said.
Sometimes, a mess of a game can produce pleasing symmetry. Oregon and Michigan finished with the same number of shots: 58. Oregon made 26. Michigan made 25.
Michigan was one short: The magic expired, Walton’s try hit the front rim and Ennis was free.
It’s on to the Sweet 16 for UCLA
The celebrating started with just less than three minutes to play, Bryce Alford holding his hands high and wriggling his fingers to coax cheers from roaring UCLA fans.
The Bruins are headed back to the NCAA tournament’s second weekend.
It took some gutsy play from Alford and teammate TJ Leaf, who shrugged off a horrid first half to help power third-seeded UCLA to a 79-67 victory over sixth-seeded Cincinnati in an NCAA tournament second-round game Sunday evening at the Golden 1 Center.
Alford and Leaf combined for 24 of their 27 points in the second half and got plenty of help from teammate Lonzo Ball, who finished with 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in 38 minutes.
The Bruins rally to take double-digit lead over Cincinnati midway through second half
South Carolina upends second-seeded Duke, 88-81
South Carolina is heading to Madison Square Garden — and not for the NIT.
A Gamecocks program known largely — and mocked often by some — for its back-to-back NIT championships in 2005 and 2006 is now heading to the world’s most famous arena as part of the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16.
They are making their first appearance in the regional semifinals since the bracket expanded after an 88-81 victory Sunday night over No. 2-seeded Duke in the East Regional.
And Sindarius Thornwell says he believes bigger things are ahead.
“We’re not satisfied,” he said. “We’re in it, so why not win it?”
The Gamecocks (24-10) seem capable of anything after this one.
Thornwell had 24 points, Chris Silva scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and Duane Notice had 17 points, 14 in a 65-point second half, as South Carolina rallied from 10 points down.
The 65 points were the most given up in a half by a Mike Krzyzewski-coached Duke team.
The Gamecocks shook off a 20% shooting first half for the win.
“I told the guys at halftime, someone’s got to have the courage and make shots,” South Carolina Coach Frank Martin said.
When the horn sounded, South Carolina players, coaches and staff rushed to the fans at Bon Secours Wellness Arena to celebrate — a crowd that included Houston Texans Pro Bowl defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, a former Gamecock.
Next up is the East Regional where South Carolina takes on third-seeded Baylor, an 82-78 winner over Southern Cal earlier Sunday.
Duke (28-9) was attempting to reach the round of 16 for the sixth time in eight seasons. The Blue Devils, though, could not surmount South Carolina’s stifling defense. Leading scorer Luke Kennard had his second straight subpar shooting game, finishing one of six for 11 points before fouling out.
The Blue Devils made five of their eight three-point attempts in the first half, yet only five of 19 after the break. They had tied a season high with 18 turnovers against the relentless Gamecocks attack.
Silva added 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double this season.
Grayson Allen led Duke with 20 points.
Krzyzewski said South Carolina’s physical nature wore down his team in the second half.
“That’s the most physical team we’ve faced all year,” he said.
Even as South Carolina got in front, Duke believed it could mount a comeback like the several it pulled off last week to become the first ACC champion to win four games on the way to a title.
“We’ve done it before. We thought we could,” Matt Jones said. “The shots just didn’t fall today. We couldn’t find enough energy to muster up that late push.”
Oregon rallies in second half to turn back upset-minded Rhode Island
Once the game ended and Oregon had narrowly advanced with a hard-fought NCAA tournament win, Tyler Dorsey considered his two missed free throws with 3:36 left and how there might have been no celebrations at all.
Instead, Dorsey delivered two clutch three-pointers to send the Ducks back to the Sweet Sixteen for a second straight year and third in five years.
Dorsey hit a contested go-ahead three-pointer from the top of the arc with 38.4 seconds left, then E.C. Matthews airballed a long three-pointer in the waning moments trying to force overtime, and third-seeded Oregon rallied in the second half to beat upstart No. 11 Rhode Island 75-72 on Sunday and reach the Midwest Regional.
“During the game I had to let it go. There was two minutes left, I dropped them and I had to keep playing, and we kept playing and kept fighting and hit the glass and got crucial offensive rebounds,” Dorsey said. “I just hit some big shots.”
With Oregon’s season on the brink, Dorsey and Dillon Brooks came through in the clutch as they have so many times this season.
Dorsey also tied the score with a three-pointer with 1:45 remaining on the way to 27 points before Brooks took a charge on the other end for Oregon (31-5).
Brooks found his shooting stroke as he typically does and scored 19 points despite a seven-for-20 shooting day. Dorsey made nineof 10 shots with four three-pointers.
Rhode Island nearly scrapped and hustled its way into the next round, with Stanford Robinson matching his career high of 21 points as the Rams (25-10) had their nine-game winning streak snapped to end the season.
Dorsey missed two free throws with 3:36 left but made up for it.
The Ducks led early behind Dorsey’s fast start, but Rhode Island grabbed momentum late in the first half.
URI closed the first half on a 14-2 run — including 7-0 over the final 1:30 with Matthews’ three-point play at 52.6 — in the last 3:23.
Robinson helped the bench contribute 30 points. He grinned from ear to ear after sinking a mid-range jumper at the 14:02 mark of the second half and Rhode Island appeared poised for another upset after stunning Creighton in the first round two days earlier.
The Rams kept crashing the offensive glass to create extra chances. They hit the court for loose balls. But Rhode Island missed a big stat line from star Hassan Martin, who had no points or rebounds playing just 14 minutes because of foul trouble.
Oregon committed 14 turnovers and failed to secure key defensive rebounds playing again without injured big man Chris Boucher, who tore the ACL in his left knee during the Pac-12 tournament semifinals.
“That defense we faced is as good as any defense we faced all year,” Oregon Coach Dana Altman said. “We were very fortunate today with our turnovers to get that done.”
Rhode Island exhibited the kind of good, old-fashioned hustle fifth-year coach Dan Hurley’s dad taught: Like Kuran Iverson’s putback with 10:53 left and a block of Brooks’ shot moments later on the other end.
Robinson, a transfer from Indiana who sat out last season, responded after being held to two points on one-for-five shooting against Creighton. The junior guard had gone just two of nine over his two previous games, but shot 10 for 12 on his biggest stage yet.
Hurley hugged and comforted his distraught players, who captured the Atlantic 10 championship to earn the program’s first NCAA bid in 18 years then won the first NCAA Tournament game by the school since advancing to the 1998 Elite Eight and losing to Stanford.
“An amazing season for us, conference champions, the run we’ve been on, the heart we showed today and the high level of play,” Hurley said.
UCLA struggles in the first half and trails Cincinnati, 33-30
UCLA was not winning in style points or on the scoreboard at halftime Sunday evening.
The gritty, grind-it-out way the game was going favored sixth-seeded Cincinnati, which held a 33-30 lead over the third-seeded Bruins at the midpoint of their NCAA tournament second-round game at the Golden 1 Center.
UCLA struggled to make shots or play the frenzied style it liked. The Bruins made only 37.5% of their shots and 28.6% of their three-pointers, with power forward TJ Leaf going scoreless while missing all five shots.
The winner will advance to play second-seeded Kentucky in a South Regional semifinal on Friday at FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn. Coach Steve Alford is trying to guide the Bruins to that round for the third time in his four seasons with UCLA.
Alford did not like what he saw from his team’s offense for stretches in the first half, yelling “Move the ball!” after his team ran back in front of him to play defense after another lost possession.
UCLA had trailed by six points when Cincinnati’s Jarron Cumberland drove for a layup but surged ahead, 27-26, on freshman goard Lonzo Ball’s three-pointer. Ball and center Thomas Welsh led the Bruins in the first half with seven points apiece.
Leaf struggled mightily, picking up two fouls in a matter of seconds and going to the bench with 10:01 left in the first half after having missed all four of his shots. He returned with 6:22 left and quickly had a shot blocked by Cincinnati’s Gary Clark.
UCLA reserve forward Ike Anigbogu returned after sitting out the Bruins’ previous game against Kent State because of a sprained foot. He played the final 2:40 of the first half, scoring three points.
Guard Kevin Johnson scored 11 points for the Bearcats, who made 50% of their shots and four of six three-pointers (66.7%). UCLA was still well within striking distance largely because it forced eight turnovers and committed only one.
Baylor holds off USC to advance to Sweet 16
Manu Lecomte of Baylor hadn’t scored a single point during game against USC in the NCAA tournament’s second round on Sunday.
Instead, the game was going according to USC’s NCAA tournament schedule: Early deficit, a halftime awakening and, at least until Sunday, a win.
It held until Lecomte launched a three-pointer with four minutes and 39 seconds left from the top of the key. USC was leading. It would not lead again. The three-pointer went in. He was fouled, and he made the free throw too. Then he ripped away a steal from Jordan McLaughlin, made another pair of free throws and a layup on the next possession.
USC had flirted with collapse in its first two tournament games. In each, down big, it did what it has done so many times this season: Woke up, tightened its defense and rallied furiously. The Trojans won 13 times this season after falling behind by double-digits, exactly half its win total.
Third-seeded Baylor and Lecomte smashed the formula to defeat No. 11 USC, 82-78, denying the Trojans of their first regional semifinal appearance since 2007.
USC trails Baylor at halftime, 36-31
For USC fans keeping score at home, they can make a note of two minutes and eight seconds. That was the time USC reached a familiar milestone: down double-digits in the first half of an NCAA tournament game.
If anything, USC can be happy it is making progress. Baylor’s 36-31 lead over USC in Sunday’s Eastern Regional second-round game was USC’s smallest halftime deficit yet.
On Friday, trailing by eight against SMU, Coach Andy Enfield said his halftime message was simple: “This is awesome!”
He will need more adjustments against the Bears.
Baylor harassed USC with its length. USC outshot the Bears: 52% to 43%. But the Bears grabbed 10 more rebounds, forced three more turnovers and generated 10 more shots.
They took the paint away from USC. Twice, Jonah Mathews airballed close-range shots, trying to loft a shot over a thicket of Baylor defenders’ arms. USC forward Chimezie Metu had trouble finding a rhythm until late. He scored seven points. Bennie Boatwright led USC with eight. Elijah Stewart made a pair of three-pointers to help cut the deficit.
Baylor found scoring from an unfamiliar source: King McClure. McClure averages 4.6 points per game but had 14 in Sunday’s first half. He made all four of Baylor’s three-point attempts
Unlike its previous two games, USC’s defense didn’t suffer a total collapse in the first half. The Trojans allowed a 10-0 run starting about five minutes into the game, but otherwise they encountered their biggest problems on the boards.
Top-seeded North Carolina answers Arkansas rally to avoid upset
North Carolina’s players talked all year about their run to last year’s NCAA championship game — that, as painful as the loss was, it prepared them for another Final Four push.
On Sunday, down to a handful of possessions with their season suddenly in peril, the Tar Heels’ experience saved them from a stunningly early exit.
Kennedy Meeks had 16 points and a huge tip-in with 44.2 seconds left, helping top-seeded UNC barely avoid a huge upset by rallying late to beat Arkansas, 72-65, in the second round of the NCAA tournament’s South Region.
“I don’t mind saying I feel a little lucky,” UNC Coach Roy Williams said. “Every now and then, I knock in a long putt, too.”
The team with three returnees who were on the court for Villanova’s title-winning three-pointer at the buzzer last year had enough composure to shake off everything on a day rapidly going wrong.
A blown 17-point first-half lead.
Arkansas’ aggressive and harassing defense.
Even a 65-60 deficit in the final three minutes, which threatened to turn the game into the kind of March Madness moment that had befallen the fellow 1-seeded Wildcats only a day earlier.
Instead UNC closed on a 12-0 run to give Williams his 18th trip to the Sweet 16 dating to his time at Kansas.
“We could’ve easily laid down those three or four minutes and gave in,” junior point guard Joel Berry II said, “but like I said, we’ve got dreams and goals we want to reach. And we just didn’t want to go home.”
Justin Jackson added 15 points for the Tar Heels (29-7), including the win-capping dunk off a turnover with 3.5 seconds left. Senior Isaiah Hicks came up big late, too, with a dunk and four free throws in the final two minutes after being a no-show much of the way.
Daryl Macon scored 19 points before battling leg cramps for the eighth-seeded Razorbacks (26-10), who did just about everything right in the second half — except close out the Tar Heels.
“We came to dance and we didn’t come to do the one-step,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “We wanted to bust up some brackets here today.”
The Razorbacks had UNC wobbling with their aggressive, mistake-forcing defense harassing the Tar Heels all over the court. And when Jaylen Barford scored in transition off a turnover, Arkansas led 65-60 with 3:28 left.
But the Tar Heels responded in a huge way.
Top-seeded Kansas takes over late to put away Michigan State
Everything about Josh Jackson’s demeanor screamed this game was personal, from the back-and-forth chirping with childhood friend Miles Bridges to his emphatic late-game dunk and celebration.
Playing against the school he grew up cheering for, Jackson channeled that emotion into a dominating performance to help top-seeded Kansas advance to the Sweet 16 for a second straight year with a 90-70 victory over Michigan State on Sunday in a Midwest Regional game.
The standout freshman scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half, finishing nine of 16 from the field and ousting a Spartans team from the NCAA tournament that he very nearly joined before signing with the Jayhawks.
“I knew it was going to be a fun game before it even started,” Jackson said. “So, it was just really fun to be able to go out there and play against those guys and I’m really proud to see them here and having success.”
Frank Mason III added 20 points for the top-seeded Jayhawks, who have advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament in nine of Coach Bill Self’s 14 seasons.
But it was Jackson who shook off misses on his first three shot attempts — including an embarrassing failed dunk attempt — who shined the most in his second straight dominating performance in the tournament.
And he did so while matched up for much of the game against Bridges, his former elementary school friend in Michigan.
“It’s always good when going against Josh,” Bridges said. “It gets a little physical at times. We compete every time we play against each other. He’s a great player, so it’s always good playing against him.”
Bridges finished with 22 points to lead Michigan State, doing so despite leaving the game briefly in the first half with a hip pointer before returning.
Nick Ward also finished in double figures with 13 points and Joshua Langford had 10 for the Spartans, who saw their lower-seeded NCAA Tournament magic fail against the high-powered Jayhawks who shot 53.1 percent (34 of 64) in the win.
“Josh is a hell of a player,” Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo said. “ We wanted to beat his brains in today. I’m sure the feeling was mutual. But there’s respect, and respect means there will be a friendship when it’s over.”
Michigan State entered Sunday following a dominating win over Miami in the opening round, a victory that improved the school to 14-10 as a lower seed in the NCAA tournament under Izzo — the most wins by a lower-seeded school in tournament history.
The Spartans certainly played like anything but an underdog well into the second half against the regular-season Big 12 Conference champions, closing Kansas’ lead to 54-53 following a basket by Alvin Ellis.
Jackson took over from there, scoring eight of the next 10 points for the Jayhawks as they pushed their lead back to 64-57. He put the exclamation point on his strong second half with a drive down the middle of the lane and powerful one-handed dunk with 2:05 remaining.
“We’ve got three or four guys that can all do that, you know,” Self said. “And Josh deserves a ton of credit. He was great.”
Kentucky relies on defense to outlast Wichita State, 65-62
Bam Adebayo timed it perfectly, slapping the shot away with his right hand less than a second before the buzzer sounded. For the 13th game in a row, Kentucky’s fabulous freshmen had their hands all over another win.
Wham, bam, move on Wildcats, right into the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16.
The youngest team in March Madness grew up in the closing minutes on Sunday and sent Wichita State to yet another second-round heartbreak, 65-62 in a South Regional game.
“They’re young, but they have a will to win and play with courage and are skilled basketball players and great kids who share,” Coach John Calipari said.
The freshman trio made all of the significant plays in the final minutes.
De’Aaron Fox had 14 points, including a late steal and dunk. Malik Monk blocked a shot and made two free throws in the final 13 seconds. Adebayo had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and he finished it off by swatting away Landry Shamet’s three-point attempt as it left his hand with less than a second left.
“He pump-faked, and I knew he had to shoot it so I just went up and tried to block it,” Adebayo said.
As simple as that.
Kentucky (31-5) moved into the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in nine years. The Shockers (31-5) were wiping away tears after another crushing second-round loss.
It felt familiar.
Three years ago, Wichita State was 35-0 when it lost to Kentucky 78-76 in the second round, crestfallen after Fred Van Vleet’s three-pointer missed at the buzzer. This time, their attempt at a tying three-pointer never had a chance. Shamet finished with 20 points.
Coach Gregg Marshall thought the Shockers were slighted when they got a No. 10 seed. He wasn’t sure what fans would make of another close call against the eight-time national champions.
“How many years do we have to do this to make people respect our program? I don’t know,” Marshall said. “I know that we have the heart of a champion.”
Michigan rallies in second half to upset No. 2-seeded Louisville
Michigan’s amazing March tournament run is headed to the Sweet 16.
Moe Wagner scored a career-high 26 points and spurred a furious second-half rally to send Michigan past second-seeded Louisville 73-69 on Sunday and into the Sweet 16.
The seventh-seeded Wolverines (26-11) have won seven straight — six since a frightening plane accident before the Big Ten Conference tournament. They also earned a ticket to the Midwest Regional in Kansas City, Mo, their first since 2014.
Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points and Deng Adel had 16 points to lead Louisville (25-9), which had made the Sweet 16 in its last four NCAA tournament appearances.
But Wagner bailed out the Wolverines from a poor game.
Trailing 45-36 with 16:09 to play, the German native scored on a layup to start a 17-6 run that gave Michigan its first lead since the opening minutes. And after Wagner’s three-pointer broke a 55-55 tie with 6:39 to go, the Wolverines led the rest of the way.
Afterward, the Michigan players celebrated by jumping around near midcourt, then walking by the pep band and pumping their fists toward fans as the school’s fight song played.
Inside the locker room, coach John Beilein squirted his players with a water gun. It was only his second win in five games against Louisville Coach Rick Pitino.
Early in the second half, it looked like there would be no celebration for the Big Ten tourney champs.
Louisville appeared to have Michigan on the ropes when it opened up a 9-point lead early in the second half. But Wagner was able to get to the basket, draw fouls, make free throws and even hit an occasional outside shot.
Louisville had no answer for him, and once Wagner got started the rest of the team joined in. D.J. Wilson had 17 points and Derrick Walton Jr. had 10 points and seven rebounds on a day he made only three of 13 shots from the field.
Michigan made six of 17 three-pointers just two days after setting a school record for theer-pointers in NCAA tourney games.
March Madness: Sunday’s NCAA tournament results
Second Round
Michigan 73, Louisville 69 (Midwest)
Kentucky 65, Wichita State 62 (South)
Kansas 90, Michigan State 70 (Midwest)
North Carolina 72, Arkansas 65 (South)
Oregon 75, Rhode Island 72 (Midwest)
Baylor 82, USC 78 (East)
South Carolina 88, Duke 81 (East)
UCLA 79, Cincinnati 67 (South)
Purdue outlasts Iowa State in a wild one, 80-76
When Purdue needed him the most, when the Boilermakers were on the brink of a heartbreaking loss, Caleb “Biggie” Swanigan lived up to his nickname — over and over again.
Swanigan had 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and Purdue reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in seven years with a wild 80-76 victory over Iowa State in a Midwest Regional game on Saturday night.
The Cyclones erased a 19-point deficit in the second half, taking their first lead of the game on Deonte Burton’s two free throws with 3:11 left. But P.J. Thompson responded with a critical 3-pointer for the Boilermakers, and Swanigan made several huge plays in the final minutes.
“It was an amazing game,” Thompson said. “I thought we were pretty special tonight, at different moments we were really clutch when we needed to be. A lot of different guys made a lot of different plays tonight.”
After Dakota Mathias missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 11 seconds left and Purdue clinging to a 78-76 lead, Swanigan tracked down the rebound to set up Thompson’s free throws with seven seconds remaining. Monte Morris missed a three-pointer on the other end, and time ran out for Iowa State.
Vince Edwards had 21 points and 10 rebounds for No. 4 seed Purdue (27-7), which will play the winner of Sunday’s Michigan State-Kansas game on Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri. Isaac Haas finished with 14 points, helping the Boilermakers to a 23-5 advantage in bench points.
“I’m excited. I’m ready to get back to campus and get to work and watch the game tomorrow, Kansas-Michigan State, and see who is left,” Swanigan said.
Swanigan’s typically clipped response drew a smile from coach Matt Painter.
“That’s great,” a grinning Painter said. “That’s all we get? That’s beautiful.”
Yup, Swanigan did all his talking with his play. It was the 28th double-double of the season for the Big Ten player of the year.
Fifth-seeded Iowa State (24-11) had won 10 of 11, moving to the brink of its third appearance in the Sweet 16 in four years. But it eventually ran out of gas against the bigger Boilermakers.
Burton scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half, putting on a show in his hometown of Milwaukee. Matt Thomas, another Wisconsin kid, had 20 points on nine-for-11 shooting, and Morris finished with 18 points and nine assists in the final game of his standout career.
“We didn’t rebound that ball at the end,” Coach Steve Prohm said. “But you know, game like this you can look back at a lot of difficult things.”
For a while, it looked as if Iowa State’s storied senior class was headed for a rough ending.
Swanigan helped Purdue pull away at the start of the second half, showing off his well-rounded game. He found Mathias and Edwards for layups on backdoor cuts in the first minute. He made a three-pointer and Edwards got loose for a dunk as the Boilermakers grabbed a 58-39 lead with 14:23 left.
But the Cyclones responded with a furious comeback, backed by a boisterous crowd filled with red and yellow. Two free throws by Burton and a jumper by Thomas tied the score at 71 with 3:45 remaining.
“Once we got on that run, you know, we made things happen and we made it interesting,” Thomas said. “We just were one or two plays short of capping that win off.”
After Burton put Iowa State in front, Thompson rattled in his only three-pointer of the game. Burton then missed a stepback jumper, and Swanigan and Edwards each scored to give Purdue some breathing room at 78-73 with 1:36 left.
“I kept trying to tell myself (to) stay poised, stay calm,” Edwards said. “And we were all just talking out and kept telling each other we got this, we got this. We were able to stick it out and win.”
The Boilermakers shot 48.4% (31 for 64) and had 27 assists on 31 field goals. The Cyclones shot 50%, but Naz Mitrou-Long only had five points after averaging 15.4 coming into the game.
Florida clamps down and topples Virginia, 65-39
For a team that puts so much energy and effort into defense, Florida’s performance against Virginia was as close to perfect as possible.
Devin Robinson had 14 points and 11 rebounds, the fifth double-double of his career, and the fourth-seeded Gators handled the No. 5-seeded Cavaliers, 65-39, on Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Justin Leon added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Gators (26-8), who advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the 11th time in school history and fifth in the last seven years. They will play No. 8-seeded Wisconsin in the East Regional semifinals in New York City on Friday.
They can thank stingy defense and a ridiculous run spanning halftime for this trip to Madison Square Garden.
“That’s about as well as we’ve played defensively,” Florida Coach Mike White said. “We put a lot of it together tonight.”
Florida held Virginia (23-11) to a season-low 17 points in the first half and 29.6% shooting on the night. The Cavaliers hadn’t scored fewer than 40 points since December 2013, a 48-38 loss to the Badgers.
The turning point in this game came late in the first half, when the Gators started a 21-0 run that was their most lopsided of the season. Speedy guards Kasey Hill and Chris Chiozza repeatedly broke down Virginia’s “pack line” defense, creating open looks for Leon and Robinson.
“We just had had to get them uncomfortable and play our tempo,” said Robinson, who scored 24 points in his NCAA opener. “We knew if we played at their methodical tempo, it would have been a tough game for us. We tried to stay aggressive on defense and get in transition as best as we can, and that turned to great offense.”
Florida closed the first half with a 12-0 spurt and built a 14-point lead at the break. The Gators came out of the locker room with the same intensity, scoring nine straight points that included two three-pointers from Leon.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett called time out, but it was too little, too late.
The Gators were up 23 points against a team that has dealt with offensive challenges all season.
“If we’re not shooting well, it’s hard for us,” Bennett said.
It surely didn’t help that the Cavaliers played without forward Isaiah Wilkins, who missed the game while dealing with strep throat.
Wilkins leads the team in rebounds, blocked shots and steals, and Bennett called him the “heart and soul of our defense.” Without him, the Gators attacked the post regularly, with Leon and Robinson the beneficiaries.
Arizona rallies late to fend off St. Mary’s, 69-60
Arizona and St. Mary’s are no strangers after scrimmaging during the preseason three times in the last four years. So, the Wildcats weren’t surprised when the Gaels punched them in the mouth early.
Lauri Markkanen and Allonzo Trier shined and No. 2-seeded Arizona rallied to defeat No. 7 St. Mary’s, 69-60, on Saturday night and advance to the West Regional’s Sweet 16.
The Wildcats were on the ropes in the first half, but found life in the second to pull away for the win.
“These guys really knew how Saint Mary’s was,” Arizona Coach Sean Miller said. “In a small way, (the scrimmages) really helped us tonight.
“Not until you’re actually playing against them do you realize how physical they are, how good they are. I look at this as one of the great wins we’ve had in the tournament because of the team that we beat.”
The teams went back and forth in the second 20 minutes until Arizona went on an 11-2 run sparked by Trier, who took over the second half. He scored nine of those 11 points during the stretch with a dribble-drive layup, midrange jumpers and a three-pointer. The run gave the Wildcats a 55-48 lead and St. Mary’s never led again.
Arizona shot 59.1% from the field in the second half.
“Our advantage was driving,” Miller said. “Our advantage eventually was able to get the ball inside. Getting the ball to the basket whether it be on drive or post catch, we delivered. We scored. We got fouled. That was the big difference.”
Markkanen finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Trier scored 14 points. Miller said Trier seemed to lose his confidence early, but was one of the biggest differences in the game once he got going.
Jock Landale battled with Markkanen and Arizona’s bigs throughout and had his 17th double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Gaels. However, he was held to just seven points after halftime. Teammate Calvin Hermanson added 14 points.
“Got a little more comfortable as the game went on,” Markkanen said. “I just tried to be as physical as I can and don’t let (Landale) get the ball.”
St. Mary’s took a 30-29 lead into halftime as the Gaels controlled the tempo and locked down Arizona defensively for much of the half.
The Gaels used a 10-2 run started by Tanner Krebs’ three-pointer to take a 24-14 lead. Everything was going wrong for the Wildcats as their top scorers were held in check and starting guard Rawle Alkins missed much of the half with a dislocated finger.
Nothing came easy for Arizona in the half court on offense and the Gaels kept it from getting out in transition and using their athleticism advantage.
Arizona found life late in the half and finished on a 15-6 run thanks to six points from Markkanen and a three-pointer from Parker Jackson-Cartwright, the Wildcats lone three-pointer of the first half. They shot just 34.5% from the field in the first 20 minutes.
“It seemed like they started hitting some tough shots at the end,” Hermanson said. “We did a pretty good job on defense the first 10, 14 minutes or so.
“And then in the second half it seemed like they were a little more aggressive attacking the paint. We just have to do a better job of limiting that.”
Butler stops Middle Tennessee’s run of upsets
Butler Coach Chris Holtmann had heard enough about Middle Tennessee.
The Blue Raiders were a trendy mid-major pick this year to bust NCAA tournament brackets, a role Butler once assumed with regularity.
This time, the Bulldogs played the role of college basketball Goliath, and they brought Middle Tennessee’s feel-good story to a close.
Kelan Martin scored 19 points, and Butler played smothering defense on Middle Tennessee’s versatile scorers in a 74-65 victory Saturday night to advance to the regional semifinals. The Bulldogs (25-8) are going to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011, when they wrapped up back-to-back appearances in the national title game.
“I had a coach-friend send me a clip saying we weren’t good enough to beat Middle Tennessee. It absolutely burned me up,” Holtmann said. “There’s no question they were the trendy pick to beat us. We’re still here.”
Andrew Chrabascz added 15 points for fourth-seeded Butler, including a three-pointer with 3:25 left that snapped a 7-0 run for Middle Tennessee to get the lead back to 62-56.
The senior forward played an even more important role in helping to lead a sterling defensive effort for the Bulldogs.
Conference USA player of the year JaCorey Williams finished with 20 points, but had to work hard for nearly every bucket for No. 12 seed Middle Tennessee (31-5).
Giddy Potts, who averaged nearly 16 points a game this year, was held scoreless, missing all eight of his shots from the field.
“We knew we (weren’t) going to the Sweet 16 without playing defense,” said guard Kethan Savage, who defended Potts for much of the night.
Two turnovers in the final 43 seconds ended a frustrating night for Middle Tennessee. Senior Reggie Upshaw, playing his final college game, paused briefly before heading down the tunnel, appearing to wipe tears from his face.
He played an instrumental role in helping Middle Tennessee win a school-record 31 games this season and get to two NCAA tourneys in his career.
“Our guys have had a lot of big games, but we were loose with the ball,” Coach Kermit Davis said. “Our team just didn’t play with the identity we’ve played with all year.”
Xavier pulls off another upset, topping third-seeded Florida State
The Xavier Musketeers didn’t have the regular season they hoped to have. They are making up for it now.
The 11th-seeded Musketeers dominated third-seeded Florida State for a 91-66 victory during Saturday’s second round of the NCAA tournament. Their second upset in the West Region put them back into the regional semifinal round for the second time in two years and eighth time in program history.
“I’m so excited for the guys next to me and the guys in the locker room. They earned it,” Xavier Coach Chris Mack said from the postgame podium. “Our team’s gone through a lot of adversity this year, and we stayed the course.”
But the Musketeers (23-13) found little adversity Saturday as they dominated the bigger and more athletic Seminoles throughout the game. Trevon Bluiett led Xavier with 29 points while Kaiser Gates came off the bench to add 14.
Xavier, which knocked off No. 6 Maryland in the first round, hit big shots on perimeter and then forced FSU to try to shoot long range by sitting in a 2-3 zone much of the game. Led by Gates’ four three-pointers, the Musketeers converted 11 of 17 from beyond the arc, nearly 65% shooting.
The Seminoles, meanwhile, made only four of 21 three-point shots as they struggled to make up ground.
“We’ve been a very inconsistent 3-point shooting team this year, and obviously they knew that, and they packed it in,” said FSU Coach Leonard Hamilton, whose team finished second in the ACC this season. “We determined that if we were going to win the game we were going to have to hit from the perimeter, and they did a good job of denying.”
Xavier knew the Seminoles like to slash to the basket and get out on fast breaks in transition. The Musketeers made it difficult for FSU to get into its comfort zone by playing zone and also by limiting their turnovers to just nine to force the Seminoles to have to play half-court offense.
Dwayne Bacon led FSU with 20 points but he missed all five of his shots from three-point range. Xavier Rathan-Mayes was the only Seminoles starter to convert a three-pointer.
The Musketeers, meanwhile, got production on the perimeter from several different areas with Bluiett also knocking down three three-pointers. But Xavier also dominated inside, outscoring the Florida State, 27-17, in the paint with Sean O’Mara coming off the bench to contribute 11 points.
Xavier’s bench outscored the Seminoles’ 27-17.
“That’s the great thing about his team is we’ve got a lot of guys who can play,” said J.P. Macura, who had 10 points and five assists. “If somebody is not stepping up, another person is.”
Gonzaga fends off furious Northwestern rally to advance to Sweet 16
Chris Collins was right. It was goaltending all the way. The Northwestern coach was also wrong. At the worst time possible.
After not getting the call, Collins stomped onto the court and drew a technical foul with 4:54 left in Saturday’s game, sucking the life out of a frenetic comeback that fell short in a 79-73 loss to top-seeded Gonzaga.
What a strange, heartbreaking way to close out the school’s first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament.
Adding to the awkwardness: The NCAA released a statement acknowledging the call was missed, and Collins was sitting at the postgame interview when he learned about it for the first time.
“I appreciate the apology,” Collins said, the venom practically dripping off his tongue. “It makes me feel great.”
Nigel Williams-Goss finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists to power Gonzaga (34-1), which led by as many as 22 points in the first half, then saw the lead dwindle to five with a little more than five minutes left.
The arena, drenched in purple, was rocking, and all the momentum was in Northwestern’s corner.
The Wildcats (24-12) got the ball down to Dererk Pardon for a point-blank shot that was on its way in. Gonzaga 7-footer Zach Collins reached up through the net and deflected the ball out. No whistle blew. Gonzaga got the rebound and started down court. Collins ran onto the court, charged toward the referee and gestured as if he were knocking a ball out of the hoop from the bottom.
An automatic “T.” The NCAA’s postgame statement also said Collins was hit with the technical for violating “bench decorum” rules by stepping onto the court with the ball in play.
On the other end, Williams-Goss made both free throws. Northwestern never got closer after that.
Regrets? If the coach had any, they weren’t apparent in the aftermath.
“If I see a guy from another team put his hand through the rim and block a shot, I’m going to react to it if the play isn’t called,” Collins said. “I think all of you would. Of course. That cuts it to three. We’re all emotional. We’re coming back from 20 down.”
What a comeback it was. Bryant McIntosh scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half, when Vic Law had 15 of his 18, as Northwestern finally found an answer for Gonzaga’s quick guards and smooth-as-can-be ball movement.
Law dunked an offensive rebound to cut the deficit to 63-58, and on the other end, Scottie Lindsey swatted Williams-Goss down low to give Northwestern the ball with a chance to draw within a three-pointer.
Pardon took a pass from McIntosh and went up strong against Zach Collins for what should have been two points. After the game, the Gonzaga center was still unclear about what, exactly, happened.
“I thought I blocked the shot and they thought it was a foul,” he said. “We weren’t really worried about (that). I honestly can’t really remember.”
Gonzaga Coach Mark Few wasn’t pinning Gonzaga’s win on that single turn of events. But he more than understood the emotion of the moment.
“You guys feel it and see it when it comes to these games,” he said. “You lose, your season’s over. You win, in Northwestern’s case, it’s probably the best thing they’ve done in the history of the school. You react spontaneously and stuff happens.”
Gonzaga is onto its third straight Sweet 16, in search of the program’s first trip to the Final Four.
Painful as the late sequence was for the Wildcats, chances are it won’t be the only thing about this magical season that they remember.
“To me, the second half is who that group was,” Chris Collins said.
But losing, especially that way?
“It stinks. That’s the part of the tournament that’s really hard,” he said.
Wisconsin upsets top-seeded Villanova, 65-62
When the season ended suddenly and shockingly, much earlier than Villanova expected, Kris Jenkins bent over in disbelief near mid-court.
There would be no game-winning shot, no confetti-filled celebration, no more games. The defending champions — and No. 1 overall seed — are done.
On Wisconsin.
After two relatively routine days, madness returned to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday as top-seeded Villanova was bounced from the brackets and the East Region, 65-62, by No. 8-seeded Wisconsin, which added another major upset to its resume and stormed into the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year.
Nigel Hayes scored 19 points, dropping a layup in traffic with 11.4 seconds left, and Bronson Koenig shook off foul trouble and added 17 for the tournament-toughened Badgers (27-9), who will play next week at New York’s Madison Square Garden after knocking off a Villanova team that never found its traction in snowy Buffalo.
“Seeds don’t matter,” Wisconsin Coach Greg Gard said. “I told these guys I don’t care where we’re seeded. We have to win six games. Let’s start with these two this weekend.”
Mission accomplished.
Senior Josh Hart scored 19 to lead the Wildcats, but the guard was bottled up and stripped by Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ and Vitto Brown on a drive to the basket in the final seconds. Brown then split two free throws with four seconds left, but Villanova struggled to corral the rebound and then couldn’t get off a final shot.
It was a bitter ending for the Wildcats, who were trying to be the first team to repeat as champions since 2007. But starting with an unimpressive performance against No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s in its opener on Thursday, Villanova looked vulnerable and instead became the first No. 1 seed to be sent home.
“To me, there’s no dishonor in losing in this tournament,” said Coach Jay Wright, whose team lost as a No. 2 in Buffalo three years ago. “We’ve lived through it. You are judged by how you play in this tournament and that’s the reality of it. So, you have to accept it.”
When the horn sounded, Wisconsin’s red-clad fans erupted in celebration and the Badgers stormed the court after taking down a No. 1 seed for the third time in four years. Wisconsin beat Arizona in 2014, Kentucky in 2015 and now can add Villanova to its list.
Flushed with pride, Gard hugged his wife and children as the Badgers’ pep band played their hearts out. A few minutes later, Wisconsin’s players doused each other with water and tore a few signs off the walls in KeyBank Center for souvenirs.
Hayes has been part of all those previous upsets by Wisconsin.
“All of those games we’ve been the underdog,” he said. “You have all types of ranking systems, statistics. The thing with all those algorithms is they can’t calculate heart, will to win, toughness, desire. And that’s the thing we have.”
Villanova came into the NCAA tournament on a roll after winning the Big East Tournament and was expected to at least escape the East but had their hopes busted and will have to relish those moments from last year when they won their first title since 1985.
Wright was concerned about Wisconsin, calling them a “great number eight” seed and compared them to Butler, which beat Villanova twice during the season. As it turned out, the Badgers were more than that, as savvy seniors Koenig and Hayes made several key plays in the closing minutes as Wisconsin overcame a 57-50 deficit.
Super sub freshman Donte DiVincenzo scored 15 and Jalen Brunson added 11 for Villanova. But the Wildcats got little from Jenkins, the hero of last year’s title game when he drained a three-pointer to beat North Carolina. Jenkins couldn’t shake a prolonged shooting slump and made only two of nine shots Saturday and four of 22 in two games.
Jenkins and fellow seniors Hart and Darryl Reynolds finish their career 129-17 in four years, but the sting of their last loss might linger.
“We’re close on and off the court and that bond is never going to be broken,” Hart said.
Jevon Carter leads West Virginia past Notre Dame and into Sweet 16
Don’t be fooled by the Mountaineers referring to themselves as “Press” Virginia as a result of their relentless defensive pressure.
This team can score.
Led by Jevon Carter’s 24 points, West Virginia outshot the Notre Dame in an 83-71 win on Saturday to clinch their third Sweet 16 berth since 2010.
“They thought of us as defensive players,” guard Tarik Phillip said. “But the coaching staff instilled a lot of confidence in us, helped us develop our offensive game, and we became pretty good offensive players.”
The Mountaineers entered the tournament leading the nation in forcing 20.4 turnovers, while also ranking 15th in averaging 82 points. The Mountaineers topped 80 points for the 18th time, while also breaking the single-season school scoring record set by the Jerry West-led 1958-59 squad.
Daxter Miles scored 18 points, and Esa Ahmad had nine rebounds.
Carter led the way in matching a season high, while making eight of 15 shots from the field, including four of five from three-point range.
His last three-pointer all but finished the fifth-seeded Fighting Irish (26-10) as they attempted one final comeback bid.
Notre Dame’s Matt Ryan hit a three-point basket in the right corner to cut West Virginia’s lead to 72-66 with 3:06 left.
Carter responded by crossing through the middle and pulling up to hit a fall-away three-pointer about 25 seconds later.
“Just staying confident,” said Carter, the Big 12’s defensive player of the year. “When we step on the court, we feel like we can beat them. We got hot early and kept going from there. We keep that chip on our shoulder.”
The Mountaineers continue to overcome the sting of last year’s first-round tournament collapse, when they lost to 14th-seeded Stephen F. Austin.
Now they’re off to the round of 16 for the first time since 2015, for the fourth time since coach Bob Huggins took over in 2007, and seventh time since the NCAA field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
Notre Dame was denied a chance to reach the Elite Eight for a third consecutive year .
Bonzie Colson led the Fighting Irish with 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting and eight rebounds. Otherwise, the rest of his teammates were stymied.
Guard Matt Farrell was limited to eight points, while V.J. Beachem made two of 14 attempts and finished with nine points.
Coach Mike Brey said the difference was Notre Dame falling behind 10-0 and eventually getting worn down from attempting to dig out of such a hole. The Irish did eventually cut the lead to 32-29 only to give up two baskets over a 20-second span in a game the Mountaineers never trailed.
“Any time we thought we’d get this thing to four or get it to two possessions, somebody hit a big 3 or they got a putback,” Brey said. “It’s really spirit-breaking after a while.”
Brey had to gamble in keeping Colson in after the star forward picked up his fourth foul with 9:47 left and with West Virginia up 59-47 Colson scored 10 of Notre Dame’s next 14 points over a five-minute span.
“It’s horrible,” said Colson, whose shoulders were heaving in emotion as he left the court. “It’s frustrating when you try to play your tail off and play with everything you have and just leave everything out there.”
March Madness: Saturday’s NCAA tournament results
Second Round
All times Pacific (*time approximate; game will begin 30 minutes after the completion of the previous game):
West Virginia 83, Notre Dame 71 (West)
Wisconsin 65, Villanova 62 (East)
Gonzaga 79, Northwestern 73 (West)
Xavier 91, Florida State 66 (West)
Butler 74, Middle Tennessee 65 (South)
Arizona 69, St. Mary’s 60 (West)
Florida 65, Virginia 39 (East)
Purdue 80, Iowa State 76 (Midwest)
South Carolina defeats Marquette for first NCAA tourney win since 1973
South Carolina Coach Frank Martin had a message for long-suffering fans: It won’t take the Gamecocks 44 years to win another NCAA Tournament game.
Sindarius Thornwell had 29 points and 11 rebounds to lead seventh-seeded South Carolina to a 93-73 victory over Marquette to close first-round play in the East Region on Friday night.
When Martin took the job five years ago, you could hear about every instruction he called out, the cavernous, 18,000-seat home arena was so empty. This time, the host arena about two hours north of campus was filled with boisterous Gamecock fans.
“We’re not there yet,” Martin said after the cheers died down. “But it’s fun right now.”
It might get less fun come Sunday. If the Gamecocks (23-10) want an NCAA winning streak, they will have to beat No. 2-seeded Duke, which blew past Troy, 87-65, in an earlier game.
South Carolina last won a game in the NCAAs when it topped Southwestern Louisiana 90-85 in a regional consolation game on March 17, 1973. Exactly 44 years later, the drought — the Gamecocks were one-and-done in their next five appearances — finally came to end in front of a boisterous, South Carolina crowd who traveled the 2 hours north from Columbia to witness the end of an ugly run they couldn’t have imagined would last this long.
“This is a great day for Gamecock basketball,” said Alex English, the Denver Nuggets great who scored 22 points in that long-ago South Carolina win.
Marquette (19-13) gave fans some serious worries in the opening half, going up by 10 points. But the Gamecocks used an 11-0 run midway through the second half to take control. When Thornwell, voted Southeastern Conference player of the year by league coaches, nailed his third three-pointer with 6:37 to play, South Carolina was up 76-67 and pulling away.
P.J. Dozier had 21 points, 13 in the South Carolina’s second-half rally.
Jujuan Johnson had 16 points to lead Marquette.
South Carolina’s win spoiled a made-for-TV second-rounder between Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski and his former Blue Devils point guard and longtime assistant, Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski.
Wojciechowski said his team could not match the Gamecocks’ physicality in the second half. “We couldn’t sustain that as long as we needed to and they created separation,” he said.
The Golden Eagles could not keep up with the Gamecocks defensive pressure or high-tempo play in the second half.
Marquette came out firing — Rowsey opened the game with a four-point play — and moved in front 26-16. South Carolina, though, cut things to 40-39 at the half on Maik Kotsar’s layup with 42 seconds left.
Kentucky stomps out Northern Kentucky, 79-70
Kentucky’s freshmen showed the new kids on their block how it’s done at tournament time.
Bam Adebayo had 15 points and 18 rebounds on Friday night as Kentucky overcame plenty of freshmen mistakes and beat stubborn Northern Kentucky, 79-70, in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament .
The second-seeded Wildcats (30-5) won their 12th straight and got their first-game jitters out of the way. They also wound up with a surprisingly close finish after pulling ahead by 18 points in the second half, showing their inexperience on the March stage.
“Well, that’s freshmen, so I will tell you this is all a learning curve,” coach John Calipari said. “We know we’ve got to play better, no question. I expect that we will.”
The Norse (24-11) closed within 75-68 on Drew McDonald’s 3-pointer with 35 seconds left. Malik Monk made four free throws to close it out. Monk, the SEC’s player of the year, missed all of his six shots from beyond the arc and finished with 12 points, eight below his average. Freshman De’Aaron Fox scored 19 points.
Northern Kentucky reached the tournament in its first year of eligibility, only the seventh team to do so since 1970. For the Norse, the tournament was more of a starting point than the end of a season.
Norse players shook some of their fans’ hands before leaving the court.
“I looked up and I saw my dad specifically, and he gave me a thumbs-up,” McDonald said. “And that’s what put a tear in my eye really, just to realize the impact we’ve put on our community and the university as a whole. It just struck me.”
The contingent of Northern Kentucky fans dressed in black and gold enjoyed the start. Cole Murray had a chance to give the Norse a lead late in the first half, but missed on a 3-point try. The Wildcats outscored the Norse 15-3 the rest of the half , and they were in control until the closing flurry.
Northern Kentucky went only 8 of 32 from beyond the arc, well below its norm.
“We were the best shooting team in the Horizon League the entire season,” coach John Brannen said. “Tonight was not our night from the 3-point line. I’d liked to have seen what happened if we had made a few more.”
Kent State puts up a fight, but UCLA pulls away for the win
For more than 30 minutes Friday night, UCLA appeared in danger of a first this season: a bad loss.
The Bruins struggled mightily on defense against a heavy underdog, allowing Kent State to hang around until an amazing run of accuracy carried third-seeded UCLA to a 97-80 victory over the 14th-seeded Golden Flashes in an NCAA tournament first-round game at the Golden 1 Center.
The Bruins made 12 consecutive field goals and 13 of 14 starting midway through the second half, finally pulling away toward the end of the run after their lead had remained stuck in single digits because of their inabilty to get stops.
UCLA power forward TJ Leaf had 23 points and six rebounds and point guard Lonzo Ball had 15 points and three assists while playing through a bruised right hip sustained late in the first half and with white tape over the left thumb he strained last week.
UCLA pulling away from Kent State
Bruins leading by 10 midway through second half
Michigan State has no letdown in beating Miami, 78-58
Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo wasn’t sure if his talented but inexperienced freshmen were ready to abandon their more comfortable up-tempo ways and play “smash mouth” basketball.
Two of those freshmen showed they could play any way they wanted in their NCAA tournament debuts, leading the ninth-seeded Spartans (20-14) to an opening-round 78-58 win over No. 8-seeded Miami on Friday night.
Freshman forward Nick Ward led the way for Michigan State, scoring 19 points on eight-of-nine shooting, while fellow newcomer Miles Bridges was eight-of-12 shooting and added 18 points in the win.
“I was worried about whether these freshmen would handle the big stage, even though they’ve been on one, but it’s still the NCAA tournament, and the difference now is it’s one-and-done time,” Izzo said. “ What a cool thing to watch happen, and I’d like to keep it going a little while.”
The win came a year after the Spartans suffered a shocking first-round NCAA tournament loss as a No. 2 seed, and after they trailed 17-5 early in the game. Michigan State blitzed past the stunned Hurricanes (21-12) after that, using a 20-2 first half run to take control for good and shooting 64% (16 of 25) in the second half.
Ward made his first six shots and capped his night with a putback dunk in the closing minutes, and Joshua Langford added 13 points in a win that improved Izzo’s record to 47-18 in the NCAA tournament.
Ja’Quan Newton scored 16 points to lead Miami, which had won at least one tournament game in each of its previous three trips. Davon Reed added 12 points and Bruce Brown 11 for the Hurricanes, who shot just 40.4% (21 of 52) and struggled to slow Michigan State’s tandem of Ward and Bridges.
“Miles Bridges and Nick Ward basically made every shot they took,” Miami Coach Jim Larranaga said. “ We just couldn’t stop them.”
The injury-riddled and youthful Spartans suited up only three players on Friday who saw action in last year’s opening-round loss as a No. 2 seed to Middle Tennessee State.
That inexperience showed early in the first half against an experienced Miami team that reached the Sweet 16 last season, one that had won at least one NCAA tournament game in five of its six previous appearances.
With Brown hitting his first three shots and the Spartans committing six early turnovers, the Hurricanes bolted out to a 17-5 lead in the early minutes of the game and appeared comfortable against a Michigan State team that narrowly earned its 20th straight tournament appearance.
It was all Sparty from there.
Michigan State followed its early stumble by outscoring Miami 33-10 to close out the half, including a 20-2 run at one point, and took a 38-27 halftime lead — one it only added to in the second half.
“When we feed off each of each other, we’re hard to beat,” Ward said.
TJ Leaf leads UCLA to a 47-39 halftime lead over Kent State
TJ Leaf made the Golden 1 Center his personal showcase in the first half of UCLA’s NCAA tournament opener on Friday evening.
The Bruins power forward threw down a vicious one-handed dunk in transition, made two three-pointers, an up-and-under layup and made a running jumper while getting fouled.
Leaf’s 16 points powered third-seeded UCLA to a 47-39 halftime lead over 14th-seeded Kent State in a first-round game in which the Bruins more closely resembled the run-and-fun team from earlier in the season than the largely joyless one from the Pac-12 Conference tournament.
UCLA freshman point guard Lonzo Ball also got off to a strong start with 10 points in the first half on four-for-four shooting and appeared to escape injury after landing awkwardly on his hip shortly before halftime. The Bruins were in control practically from tipoff, scoring the game’s first eight points while Kent State missed 10 of its first 11 shots.
But the Golden Flashes closed the half hot after trailing by as many as 17 points. Jaylin Walker scored 12 points and Jimmy Hall and Kevin Zabo had 10 each for the Golden Flashes, who shot 38% to UCLA’s 61% but held a 10-3 edge in offensive rebounds and an 11-2 advantage in second-chance points.
UCLA played without freshman forward Ike Anigbogu, who had sprained his left foot in practice Tuesday. He was listed as day to day, meaning he could possibly play should the Bruins advance to a second-round game against Cincinnati on Sunday.
Cincinnati gets offensive in defeating Kansas State, 75-61
Cincinnati has made a name for itself with a stifling defense, turning every opponent’s possession into a grind.
A little-known fact outside of the American Athletic Conference: The Bearcats can play some offense, too.
Working the ball inside to open things up on the perimeter, Cincinnati shot its way past Kansas State, 75-61, on Friday night in the South Region of the NCAA tournament.
“They saw the fruits of trying to work harder to get that ball closer to the basket,” Cincinnati Coach Mick Cronin said. “From there, you’re in a tough spot what do you do because you over help and we got guys on this team that can make shots.”
Cincinnati (30-5) was knocked out in the first round a year ago and No. 6 seeds were 0-3 before the Bearcats took the court, with Maryland, Creighton and SMU all losing to No. 11 seeds.
The Bearcats took care of their business and the No. 6 jinx with an impressive shooting display, hitting 62% from the field. Cincinnati is known for its defense and did that, too, preventing Kansas State (21-14) from making much of a run after building a 17-point lead.
Troy Caupain scored 23 points and Kyle Washington added 16 for the Bearcats, who move on to play the winner between No. 3-seeded UCLA and No. 14-seeded Kent State on Sunday.
“We had a sense of calm the whole time,” Washington said. “We have a whole bunch of guys that are experienced and ready to play. We were ready.”
Kansas State has had a knack for mounting comebacks this season, yet could never get over the hump against Cincinnati. Just when it appeared the Wildcats were on the verge of a run, the Bearcats would string a few baskets together or swat a shot away on defense.
Wesley Iwundu led Kansas State with 19 points.
“We didn’t play our best game, there is no doubt,” Kansas State Coach Bruce Weber said. “Some of that’s them, the way they played. They made some shots.”
Cronin was not pleased with his team’s seeding nor the travel all the way to California to play its opening game.
Kansas State had an even tougher trip, having two days between games after traveling from Dayton to Sacramento following a 95-88 win over Wake Forest in the First Four.
The Wildcats had to switch gears quickly in style of play, too. While Wake Forest likes to play at a fast pace, the Bearcats have the nation’s fourth-stingiest scoring defense at 60.4 points allowed a game.
Cincinnati was solid defensively, as expected, but the offense stole the show early. The Bearcats hit their first eight shots to go up nine midway through the first half and only slowed slightly.
Caupain made all five of his shots to score 14 points and Cincinnati hit 15 of 23 to lead 39-28.
“Right away off the bat we took jump shots and they got layups,” Weber said. “We talked about coming and doubling early. We probably weren’t quite in sync.”
Kansas State made a run at the Bearcats early in the second half, cutting the lead to six.
The Bearcats pushed the lead back to 13 points behind their offense and with a tightened-up defense after those early baskets by Kansas State. Cincinnati made 12 of 20 shots in the second half.
Wichita State shakes off Dayton, 64-58
NCAA tournament flash: Wichita State can play a little defense, too. Just ask the stunned Flyers.
The Shockers’ powerful offense stalled out until the closing minutes, but their defense carried them through to a 64-58 victory over Dayton on Friday night in the South Regional.
Make it 16 consecutive wins for the Shockers (31-4), who brought their reputation for piling up the points on the way to Indianapolis, along with the feeling that they’d been slighted by their No. 10 seed.
They made the gritty plays in a game lacking style points.
“It was definitely something a little brand new to us from what we’ve seen in the Missouri Valley,” said Zach Brown, who had 12 points, including a late three-pointer. “But I don’t know — we’ve just grinded it out. It was a tough game.”
And they were the tougher team.
Dayton (24-8) came in with a wealth of experience, playing in its school-record fourth consecutive NCAA tournament. The Flyers start three seniors and have five overall, with a lot of shared tournament moments. This one ranks at the bottom.
The seventh-seeded Flyers were held to a season low in points and shot a season-low 31% from the field. They also got rebounded, 48-29, and had eight shots swatted away.
“Of course you’ve got to give them credit because they’re the ones defending, but I think it’s more about us,” said point guard Scoochie Smith, who had 25 points. “We just had to step up and make shots, and a lot of people on our team couldn’t get their shots to fall, couldn’t get a flow.”
Brown’s 3-pointer put Wichita State up 51-45 with 5:38 left, the biggest lead by either team up to that point, and Dayton never threatened again. Landry Shamet led the Shockers with 13 points.
The Shockers haven’t lost a game since Jan. 14, going two months with nothing but postgame high-fives. They have relied on their offense to carry them, averaging 82.1 points a game. Feeling slighted by their tournament seed, they showed they’re more than a one-trick team.
“All in all, it was a big grind,” Brown said. “And I’m proud, proud of everybody.”
Duke has no problem turning back Troy, 87-65
Grayson Allen has embraced his role as Duke’s sixth man over the last three weeks.
“It just to give the team that extra boost,” he said.
“And score points,” Blue Devils Coach Mike Krzyzewski interjected.
Allen did both to keep second-seeded Duke’s postseason perfect in an 87-65 victory over Troy in the NCAA tournament on Friday night to start the East Region.
Allen had 21 points off five of Duke’s 13 three-pointers and Jayson Tatum contributed 18 points and 12 rebounds.
“I’m coming in with fresh legs off the bench,” Allen said. “I’m coming in to explode really.”
Shrugging off the chorus of bad-boy boos each time he touched the ball, Allen helped the Blue Devils (29-7) improve to 34-7 all-time in opening NCAA games. They’ll face either No. 7-seeded South Carolina or No. 10-seeded Marquette and its coach, former Blue Devils point guard and assistant Steve Wojciechowski, on Sunday.
Jordon Varnado had 18 points to lead Troy, which made its first NCAA appearance since 2003. Varnado said the players came out sluggish and could not fight their way out of it. “We’ve got to use this motivation and fire we had before the game to come back hard” next year, the sophomore said.
Duke, which averaged eight three-pointers a game this season, hit 10 in the opening half to quickly pull away from the Trojans. Tatum opened the game with a three-pointer. A short time later, Frank Jackson, Luke Kennard and Matt Jones had long-range baskets on consecutive possessions as the Blue Devils jumped to a 16-4 lead less than five minutes in.
The lead shrunk to nine points in the second half, the final time at 59-50 on Wesley Person Jr.’s basket with 14:32 to go. But Jones and Allen followed with three-pointers and the Trojans (22-15) could not rally.
Duke finished with 13 three-pointers, its highest total in nine games since hitting the same amount in a win over Wake Forest on Feb. 18.
Jones finished with 14 points off three three-pointers and Jackson 12 with two three-pointers. The Blue Devils’ outside touch offset the poor performance of leading scorer Kennard, who was only three-of-12 shooting for eight points — snapping a streak of 19 games scoring in double figures.
Kansas wins in dominating fashion over UC Davis, 100-62
Josh Jackson insisted a season’s worth of distractions wouldn’t take away from his focus in his first, and likely last, NCAA tournament.
The standout Kansas freshman proved true to his word in an opening-round 100-62 victory over UC Davis on Friday night, scoring 17 points on eight-of-12 shooting from the field in his return from a one-game suspension for an accumulation of embarrassing incidents.
Jackson scored the first field goal for the Jayhawks (29-5) and 11 of their first 31 points after missing last week’s Big 12 Conference tournament. His hot start helped Kansas recover from missing its first four shots, and it helped the Jayhawks win their opening game of the tournament for an 11th consecutive year.
“I’ve been really excited to play for a while now, been itching to play for about a week and a half, so just coming out there today felt really good to get back out there with the guys,” Jackson said. “When I step out there on that court, I’m really not thinking about anything else but basketball, something I’ve been doing for most of my life.”
The win ensures top seeds will remain perfect since the tournament expanded, with the schools now 132-0 against No. 16 seeds.
It also puts an end to a dream run for the Aggies (23-13), who were in their first NCAA tournament and had advanced to face Kansas after winning a First Four play-in game against North Carolina Central.
Chima Moneke scored 20 points to lead UC Davis, while Brynton Lemar added 17 and Siler Schneider 10 in the loss. However, only two days removed from their victory in Dayton, the Aggies were unable to slow a Kansas team making its 28th straight NCAA tournament appearance — the longest active streak in the nation.
“We just had as emotional a locker room as I’ve ever been a part of, and I’ve been a part of a lot of teams,” UC Davis Coach Jim Les said. “They accomplished a lot of wonderful feats, and I don’t want this game to take away from (that). There’s a lot to be grateful for.”
While Jackson’s return boosted the Jayhawks, senior Frank Mason III proved as reliable as ever while scoring 22 points and adding eight assists on Friday.
All five starters finished in double figures for Kansas, with Svi Mykhailiuk and Devonte’ Graham adding 16 points each and Landen Lucas finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Jayhawks outrebounded UC Davis, 45-27, and shot 56.3% (36 of 64) in the win.
The last time Kansas lost an opening-round game of the NCAA tournament was as a No. 4 seed in 2006 to a Bradley team led by Les.
Despite Les’ experience and past success as a lower seed against the Jayhawks, the weary Aggies began to fade midway through the first half against a rested Kansas team.
The Jayhawks hadn’t played in eight days since losing to TCU in the Big 12 Conference tournament quarterfinals, and they closed the half on a 29-7 run to lead 50-28.
“We were a little nervous early, anxious early, and they certainly made it very difficult to score early on,” Kansas Coach Bill Self said. “And then, I thought from about the 12-minute mark of the first half, the lid came off the basket and I thought we executed very well.”
Did you see that? Bill Murray cheering his son’s team, Xavier, to victory
Bill Murray was like every other proud parent with a son in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
But when you’re a world-famous actor-comedian, you have a tendency to stand out.
And he did, cheering, rooting and fist-pumping every Xavier highlight in support of son Luke, an assistant coach for the Musketeers.
“I think just like anyone, to have the support of your family, particularly your parents with what you do for a living is obviously a great feeling,” said Luke Murray, a second-year assistant on Chris Mack’s staff. “He is the guy who introduced me to basketball pretty much as a young kid. To have him be here, and to have a chance to watch us win an obviously really challenging game for us was special.”
Bill Murray the sports fan is on a roll.
The well-documented sports fanatic’s Chicago Cubs are the reigning world champs. And he got to watch his son advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Wearing Xavier colors and a Musketeers baseball cap, it was clear Murray was fully engaged in the action.
But he apparently didn’t want to be the center of attention, politely declining interview requests.
As late as Thursday morning, Luke wasn’t even sure his dad was going to make it to the game, in which he saw Luke help guide the 11th-seeded Musketeers to an upset win over No. 6 Maryland.
The 66-year-old Murray was in Charleston, S.C., and had a business trip to Hawaii on Friday. But he found his way to Orlando on Thursday to support his son and Xavier, and he returned to Charleston in time to board his flight to Hawaii on Friday.
“For him to come to Orlando and get back to get on a flight to Hawaii was probably something he didn’t plan on doing, but he just decided to come to the game,” said Luke, who is now preparing for a matchup with third-seeded Florida State on Saturday. “He thought it would be cool to see the matchup.”
It turned out to be a good day for the Murrays.
Rhode Islands pulls off the upset over No. 6-seeded Creighton, 84-72
Jeff Dowtin scored a career-high 23 points with a perfect day at the free-throw line, upstart Rhode Island answered every threat and the Rams ran right into the next round of the NCAA tournament by stunning cold-shooting No. 6-seeded Creighton, 84-72, on Friday in the first round of the Midwest Region.
Kuran Iverson scored 17 points and Hassan Martin had 12 points and eight rebounds as 11th-seeded Rhode Island (25-9) earned its ninth consecutive victory.
The program won an NCAA tournament game for the first time since advancing to the Elite Eight and losing to Stanford in 1998.
Ronnie Harrell Jr. scored a career-high 15 points for Creighton, who shot 40% from the field.
Fifth-year Rhode Island Coach Dan Hurley couldn’t wait to build happier memories in Sacramento, where his older brother Bobby survived a life-threatening car wreck as an NBA rookie with the Kings in December 1993. His team hit the court for loose balls, crashed the boards with energy and found a way to withstand every spurt by the Bluejays (25-10).
The Rams made a lot of free throws too.
E.C. Matthews coolly converted two chances from the line with 2:32 on his way to 16 points. Dowtin hit all 10 from the line as the Rams finished an impressive 28 of 31 on free throws.
And what fun for all those blue-clad Rams fans who traveled cross-country from Kingston through a major Northeast snowstorm for California’s capital to witness the program’s milestone moment. Oh yes, and Bobby Hurley was there in the stands at Golden 1 Center — along with the rest of their basketball-crazed system. The older Hurley is the Arizona State head coach.
In one moment that perfectly captured what Dan Hurley has worked so hard to build, Martin pulled his arms around teammates in a close-knit huddle during the second half to keep the Rams together. When the final buzzer sounded, junior Jared Terrell skipped in joy. The team posed for a quick photo on the court before exiting.
Khyri Thomas stole the ball from Jarvis Garrett and hit Harrell for a one-handed slam with 8:55 to play that trimmed the Rams’ lead to 53-48.
But Creighton missed key chances, including Justin Patton’s missed putback try from close range after he rebounded a three-point try by Toby Hegner.
Bluejays 7-footer Patton missed seven of his first nine shots before a late dunk before halftime. He scored five straight points to pull Creighton within 33-26 at halftime.
North Carolina easily dispatches Texas Southern, 103-64
Justin Jackson never lost confidence, even if he maybe started pressing a bit, when his shot suddenly stopped falling late in North Carolina’s season.
Trust the work you put in, he told himself.
Friday offered a reminder of why, and maybe a bit of reassurance, too.
The Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year broke out of a shooting slump with 21 points to help the top-seeded Tar Heels roll past Texas Southern, 103-64, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s South Region.
“It was a good feeling,” Jackson said. “I haven’t shot the ball the way I’ve wanted to the past four games, so I got back in the gym as much as I possibly could, trying to get back to where I was. My teammates found me; they set a bunch of screens for me, and they just fell for me tonight.”
The 6-foot-8 junior had made just 20 of 60 shots (33 percent) and 7 of 31 3-point attempts (23 percent) in his last four games. But he had 19 points by halftime in this one, helping the Tar Heels (28-7) quickly eliminate any chance of an unprecedented upset.
Jackson finished 8 of 13 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range with seven rebounds.
“I just tried to put the work in on the court, away from practice and away from the games and trust that preparation,” Jackson said. “Whether I felt it or not, I go into every game thinking I’m going to hit shots, but having that preparation definitely helps a little bit.”
He had also spoken recently with coach Roy Williams to remain confident and stick with what helped him to a big year.
“I told him all he had to be was be Justin,” Williams said, “and I think that’s what he was today.”
Isaiah Hicks added 17 points and Kennedy Meeks had 13 for the Tar Heels, who are a No. 1 regional seed for an NCAA-record 16th time.
Kevin Scott scored 19 points to lead the 16th-seeded Tigers (23-12), the champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
SWAC player of the year Zach Lofton struggled, finishing with nine points on 2-for-11 shooting.
“Once you have a mistake and two you look up at the shot clock, you’re down 10,” Texas Southern’s Marvin Jones said. “All of a sudden you look up, and you’re down 15.
“It’s hard to come back from that because a team like that, they’re going to constantly keep doing the same thing over and over and over and over again.”
Oregon players pick up the slack in 93-77 defeat of Iona
Star big man Chris Boucher carefully stood with his bulky knee brace to pump his arms and cheer his teammates at every chance. He shimmied his shoulders in delight to celebrate the Oregon Ducks and what they were doing on the big stage without him.
Not quite the shot-blocking menace on the sidelines that he is on the floor for Oregon. He’s doing his part.
The Ducks advanced in the NCAA tournament in large part because each player committed to do all the little things that Boucher brings on both ends.
Tyler Dorsey scored 24 points to lead four players in double figures, and No. 3-seeded Oregon beat 14th-seeded Iona, 93-77, on Friday in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region.
The Ducks (30-5) showed they have depth and sheer athleticism to make a special March run, just as coach Dana Altman hoped this week when he challenged role players to make larger contributions in Boucher’s absence.
“Him being on the sideline is just like him being on the floor chemistry-wise,” Dylan Ennis said. “He’s physically not there but he’s so much a part of our team encouraging us. Obviously not having him out there, it’s a different look. If all of us just stay active on defense, hopefully we can make up for him being out.”
Iona star Jordan Washington gave his team a huge scare when he went down hard under Oregon’s basket, screaming in pain and grabbing his lower left leg with 1:12 to go before halftime. But the senior forward returned to start the second half and finished with 22 points on 10-for-16 shooting and 11 rebounds in his final college game for the Gaels (22-13).
Boucher was relegated to a cheerleading role for the Ducks, who shared the Pac-12 regular-season crown with Arizona then lost by three points to the Wildcats in the conference tournament final after Boucher tore his left ACL in the semifinals.
While this is hardly the kind of finish Boucher envisioned for his final collegiate season, his teammates appreciate the way he keeps contributing.
Oregon, which had its 27-point lead trimmed to 13 in the second half before holding on, shot 63.6% with only three turnovers in the first half to take control, began the second half with a 10-1 burst and went 55.6% from the floor overall.
Dillon Brooks scored 18 points and Payton Pritchard 16 points and Jordan Bell 17 with 12 boards.
“We have a lot of guys who are very confident in their ability to score a basket,” Altman said.
For Iona, Washington limped off with help just before halftime at first-year Golden 1 Center, home of the NBA Sacramento Kings.
He brought energy on both ends to lead the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champs, driving for a pretty spin move with 11:46 left in the first half then taking a charge from Dorsey moments later. He then drew another one.
Washington scored 14 of his team’s initial 18 points, but Oregon led 55-37 at halftime. He had an X-ray, believing he injured his shin.
Sam Cassell Jr., son of the former NBA star, scored 16 points in his final collegiate game. He pumped his arms and kicked out a leg when Oregon called timeout after Iona pulled to 29-26 with 8:35 to play in the first half on consecutive three-pointers by Cassell and E.J. Crawford.
“They got out in transition. Our bad shots led to their fast-break layups,” Cassell said.
Bell delivered back-to-back layins as the Ducks answered, then his putback with 4:27 left in the half extended Oregon’s lead to 41-33.
“This year we have a confident bunch,” Brooks said. “We’re thinking about one goal and one goal only.”
It’s another frenzied comeback, and win, for USC against SMU
Elijah Stewart has had a streaky season, on then off again, but his heat was rising when he camped out in the corner next to USC’s bench with 36 seconds left, the Trojans down by two points, in an NCAA tournament first-round game against Southern Methodist on Friday.
Jordan McLaughlin penetrated the lane, then found Stewart, who caught the ball with the laces straight. He eyed the rim. The ball hit only net on the way through the rim.
The Trojans trailed for almost all of Friday’s game, until it mattered. The 11th-seeded Trojans used a familiar formula — early deficit, furious comeback — to shock No. 6-seeded SMU, 66-65.
The final 2 minutes 8 seconds were high-level basketball. Bennie Boatwright gave USC its first lead of the game, 63-62, when he made a three-pointer with 2:10 left. But SMU answered with a three of its own on the next possession from Shake Milton.
Stewart’s three-pointer was decisive, thanks to two dramatic missed free throws. SMU’s Ben Moore dew a foul with 12.3 seconds left, down one, but missed the first half of a one-and-one. USC’s Chimezie Metu was fouled after the inbound pass, but he, too, missed, giving SMU a final chance. But Milton’s shot hit the rim and bounced out.
Louisville bounces past Jacksonville State, 78-63
Louisville had a full weekend planned for its return to the NCAA tournament.
It may have taken a little longer and little more work than expected, but eventually they got the job done Friday. Now they’ll have to do it all over again on Sunday.
Mangok Mathiang scored 18 points, Deng Adel and Quentin Snider each had 16 and the second-seeded Cardinals pulled away from Jacksonville State, 78-63, in the first round of the Midwest Regional.
“We created a lot of turnovers off our press,” Snider said. “Once we got on our breaks, that’s when we did our best.”
Clearly, they learned some lessons from last week’s one-and-done experience at the ACC tournament.
They avoided foul trouble. They kept their foot on the gas. And when they were challenged, the Cardinals kept finding answers that got the mostly red-and-black clad crowd on its feet.
Louisville took full advantage of its opportunities, outscoring the Gamecocks 44-14 in the paint, 24-3 on second-chance points and 11-0 edge on fast-break points. That was more than enough to ensure the Cardinals, who had lost three of their previous five, of their fifth consecutive opening-round win.
They sat out last season’s tourney because of school-imposed postseason ban for alleged recruiting violations.
“The game was determined by our inability to rebound the ball. It wasn’t because of a lack of effort,” Jacksonville State Coach Ray Harper. “Their length and their athleticism caused us some problems.”
It sure wasn’t as easy as most expected, though.
Louisville (25-8) gave up the first eight points and trailed for the first 13 minutes.
When the Cardinals got their defense fixed and Jacksonville State (20-15) flummoxed — the devastating combination quickly turned an interesting contest into a decidedly one-sided affair.
Jacksonville State came into the game full of confidence after four straight wins.
And 7-foot center Norbertas Giga played did everything he could to keep the Ohio Valley Conference tourney champs close. He had a career-high 30 points, nine rebounds and was 11 of 13 from the field and five of five on three-pointers. Malcolm Drumwright added 12 points and Greg Tucker had 11.
But it wasn’t nearly enough to pull the upset.
Louisville flipped the game with an 8-2 run late in the first half to take its first lead. The Cardinals closed the half on a 9-4 run to make it 38-31 and opened the second half on a 10-2 run to make it 48-33.
Jacksonville State cut the deficit to 10 midway through the second half, then got within 61-52 with 6:53 to go before running out of steam.
“When they shoot 50%, go 10 for 19 from the three and you still win by 15, you have to take it,” Pitino said.
USC escapes with 66-65 win over SMU
USC trailing by two with three minutes left
USC making a comeback, but in foul trouble early in the second half
USC trails SMU by eight at halftime
Southern Methodist took a commanding double-digit lead about 12 minutes into USC’s NCAA tournament first round on Friday. For the Trojans, the game could unofficially begin.
USC’s slow starts and furious rallies have become a trademark. Friday was no different. SMU had hardly had an empty possession. The Mustangs were scoring 1.5 points per possession. In other words, USC would’ve been better off fouling each time SMU touched the ball.
Once again, USC tightened up. At halftime, USC had eaten into the deficit slightly, 38-30.
The Mustangs staked their early lead with a 14-3 run over the middle portion of the period. At the end of the run, they led by 12.
USC trailed Providence by 17 points in the “First Four” round on Wednesday. Like that game, USC played a substantial portion of the first half without forward Bennie Boatwright. This time, Boatwright picked up two fouls quickly and was benched.
He played just six minutes and scored four points. Elijah Stewart led the team with 11 points.
For SMU Semi Ojeleye scored 11 points and Sterling Brown scored 10.
The Trojans called a timeout when SMU’s lead reached 12. The game was in danger of rolling out of their control. Players knew SMU, a more prolific offensive team than Providence, was not likely to squander a similar lead.
“If they happen to be up 17, they’re probably not going to look back,” forward Chimezie Metu said on Thursday.
USC returned with tighter defense. SMU scored just two points over the next five minutes.
Trojans trail the Mustangs at the half, 38-30
Arkansas holds off Seton Hall, 77-71
Arkansas did just enough in the final minute to push its way through the NCAA tournament’s first round — aided by a couple of eye-catching calls and noncalls by the officiating crew, too.
Jaylen Barford hit the go-ahead layup with 57.8 seconds left to help Arkansas hold off Seton Hall, 77-71, on Friday in the first round of the South Region.
Barford had 12 of his 20 points after halftime for the eighth-seeded Razorbacks (26-9), who erased an eight-point second-half hole and scored the final seven points of the game to earn the program’s third straight opening-game NCAA win.
“Coach (Mike Anderson) told us to keep chipping away,” said Dusty Hannahs, who scored 14. “He knows we don’t lose our head. We’ve been down a lot this year.”
Barford’s layup off Khadeen Carrington’s turnover at the other end pushed Arkansas ahead for good. Then came a critical sequence, which started with Carrington’s travel while being harassed by a double team near midcourt with 24.6 seconds left.
Hannahs threw the ball to Daryl Macon near the Seton Hall bench. As defenders converged, Macon stutter-stepped past them in an apparent travel that went uncalled.
Instead, Macon threw the ball to Barford, who was knocked to the floor on a foul by Desi Rodriguez as Rodriguez tried to stop the clock with 18.3 seconds left. Officials reviewed the play — which showed Rodriguez’s hands touching only Barford’s left shoulder and back, while his left foot clipped Barford’s in an accidental trip — and changed it to a flagrant foul.
“I thought it was no play on the ball. That’s as simple as that,” Anderson said, adding: “It just came at a bad time, probably the right time for us.”
Barford hit both free throws, then Macon added another to make it a 75-71 game.
Carrington missed a three-pointer at the other end in what amounted to the last gasp for the ninth-seeded Pirates (21-12).
“I think I made a basketball play,” he said. “I didn’t foul intentionally to hurt anyone. The officials called it another way, and that’s that.”
Nick Rakocevic takes a tumble, but is OK. Trojans trail, 32-28, late in the first half
USC trailing by 12 late in the first half
USC trails SMU, 21-15, midway through first half
USC trails SMU, 10-6, with Bennie Boatwright leading with four points
Freeman scores 21 as Baylor tops New Mexico State
After two years of surprise early NCAA Tournament exits, Baylor finally broke through.
Al Freeman came off the bench to score 21 points, and the third-seeded Bears defeated No. 14 seed New Mexico State, 91-73, on Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament’s East Regional.
Reserve forward Terry Maston scored 19 points, Jo Lual-Acuil scored 16 and Johnathan Motley added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Baylor (26-7), which suffered upset losses to Georgia State and Yale in the first round the previous two years. The Bears advanced to play USC on Sunday.
Motley said the previous losses served as motivation.
“No one wants to leave the tournament early,” he said. “Our ultimate goal was to come in and just win it, so we want to just take every game for what it is and make sure we come in and just play our hardest, play desperate, because after this, you lose, you go home. So we knew one team was going home today, and we made sure it wasn’t us.”
Ian Baker and Braxton Huggins each scored 19 points for New Mexico State (28-6). In the end, Baylor’s athletic ability, length and depth were too much for the Aggies to handle. Baylor blocked seven shots .
“We beat a lot of teams this year that we weren’t supposed to beat, we beat a lot of teams that were flat-out better than us,” New Mexico State Coach Paul Weir said. “We were trying to do it against one more team tonight, and we were trying to do that with what I think we showed for 20 minutes, which is a team that just plays really hard, a team that plays together.”
It looked like Baylor might be headed for another disappointing early exit. Huggins made a three-pointer at the buzzer to give New Mexico State a 40-38 lead at the half. The Aggies made six of 14 three-pointers before the break to counter Baylor’s 55 percent shooting.
Baylor took control for good with a 14-3 run early in the second half that gave the Bears a 58-47 lead and forced a New Mexico State timeout. The Bears held the Aggies to 37 percent shooting after the break.
“We know the tournament is about making runs,” Motley said. “They made their run, and it was our job to come back and make our own run. So we went in at halftime and made some adjustments, made sure we carried out those adjustments, and good things happen when you follow the game plan.”
Michigan delivers three-point punch to knock out Oklahoma State
Derrick Walton Jr. stuck to the plan Friday.
He kept running the Michigan Wolverines offense against an aggressive Oklahoma State defense and eventually things fell into place. Again.
Walton scored 26 points and had 11 assists as the Wolverines made a school record 16 three-pointers in an NCAA tournament game, getting past Oklahoma State, 92-91, in the first round of the Midwest Regional.
“We haven’t played a team that got up into us in a minute. It’s hard to simulate that in practice,” Walton said. “In the second half, I settled down. I wanted to make the right play consistently.”
Coach John Beilein had no complaints.
Seventh-seeded Michigan needed every point it could muster in a game that ended with a parade to the free-throw line, a buzzer-beating 3-pointer and a foe that refused to go away.
The difference: Poise and emotion, the same components that helped Michigan (25-11) overcome last week’s harrowing plane mishap to sweep four games in four days at the Big Ten Tournament.
Early Friday, it looked like Michigan’s momentum was waning. The Wolverines (25-11) looked out of sync and out of sorts in the first half.
But rather than change the game plan, Walton followed the script, steadied his team and the shots started going.
While Michigan made only five shots inside the arc in the second half, it went 11 of 15 from three-point range — drawing increasingly louder roars from the crowd and more bewilderment from first-year Cowboys coach Brad Underwood.
Walton wound up 6 of 9 on three-pointers, and Zak Irvin made four more in front of his hometown crowd. Irvin finished with 16 points.
“You go 11 for 15, that’s hard enough to do in a gym by yourself,” Underwood said. “We shot 55% in the NCAA Tournament and just lost in the first round, outrebounded an opponent 40-21 and you lose.”
For Michigan there was no victory celebration — only relief after winning the highest-scoring game in this year’s tourney.
The Wolverines have won six in a row and need one more to reach their first Sweet 16 since 2014.
Juwan Evans scored 23 points and Jeffrey Carroll had 19 to lead Oklahoma State (20-13), but the nation’s eighth-highest scoring team just couldn’t keep up with Michigan’s three-point barrage.
The 10th-seeded Cowboys finished the season with four straight losses and haven’t won an NCAA game since 2009.
Michigan erased a six-point second-half deficit with a run of four 3s, the last from Walton with 12:28 to go to take a 62-61 lead. They made three more in another flurry to take a 76-68 lead with 6:47 to go.
But the Cowboys rallied, cutting the deficit to two twice in the final eight seconds — only to watch the Wolverines close it out at the free-throw line.
“Shooting the ball from 3 is part of our package,” Beilein said. “Today we were really good at hitting the open man. We valued every possession.”
Friday’s NCAA tournament results
First round
All times Pacific (*time approximate; game will begin 30 minutes after the completion of the previous game):
Michigan 92, Oklahoma State 91 (Midwest)
Baylor 91, New Mexico State 73 (East)
Arkansas 77, Seton Hall 71 (South)
Oregon 93, Iona 77 (Midwest)
Louisville 78, Jacksonville State 63 (Midwest)
USC 66, SMU (East)
North Carolina 103, Texas Southern 64 (South)
Rhode Island 84, Creighton 72 (Midwest)
Kansas 100, UC Davis 62 (Midwest)
Wichita State 64, Dayton 58 (South)
Duke 87, Troy 65 (East)
Cincinnati 75, Kansas State 61 (South)
Michigan State 78, Miami 58 (Midwest)
Kentucky 79, Northern Kentucky 70 (South)
South Carolina 93, Marquette 73 (East)
UCLA 97, Kent State 80 (South)
March Madness: Arizona easily handles North Dakota, 100-82
Arizona’s freshman combination of Lauri Markkanen and Rawle Alkins didn’t act their age Thursday night in their NCAA tournament debut. The pair combined for 40 points as the Wildcats began what’s expected to be a deep postseason run.
Markkanen scored 20 points as second-seeded Arizona cruised to a 100-82 victory over No. 15 North Dakota in the first round of the NCAA tournament’s West Regional. It was just the third time Arizona has scored 100-plus points in its NCAA tournament history.
“I’m so proud of these two guys,” Arizona Coach Sean Miller said. “I’ve answered a lot of questions on how we’ve weathered a lot of the obstacles and adversity that we dealt with this season. A lot of times I answered by, we have three freshmen that are excellent players, but bring no drama to the table and they do their job and are consistent.
“Tonight was a great example. First round of the NCAA tournament, you’d expect freshmen sometimes to have a struggle. Lauri and Rawle were our two best players tonight.”
Arizona used a 13-1 run early in the first half to take 24-13 lead. The Wildcats (31-4) led, 53-37, at halftime thanks to a dominant 16-point half from Markkanen and a 61.1 shooting percentage in the first 20 minutes.
The Wildcats will face seventh-seeded St. Mary’s in the second round on Saturday. The Gaels beat VCU, 85-77.
It was almost as if Arizona’s players were taking turns scoring. Allonzo Trier continued his late-season success and had a highlight tomahawk dunk to push the lead to 44-27. He finished with 18 points.
Alkins was aggressive early and scored 20 on eight-for-eight shooting while Dusan Ristic started hot in the second half and added 12 points.
“We just wanted to play hard and show that we belong here,” Alkins said.
Markkanen, who’s expected to be a high first-round NBA draft pick, was a constant as North Dakota couldn’t match his size (7-foot, 230 pounds) or skill.
Quinton Hooker led the Fighting Hawks (22-10) with 25 points and Drick Bernstine added 20.
“They really dominated the paint in the first half,” North Dakota Coach Brian Jones said. “We thought we did a good job of fighting and trying to make them battle for catches further out on the floor. But they were so big. They would go and counter it and shoot right over the top of us.”
North Dakota played with energy throughout but was simply overmatched. Arizona was bigger and outscored the Fighting Hawks, 54-34, in the paint. North Dakota never seemed to be able to get easy baskets.
“It was good for us to just let them know that it wasn’t going to be easy coming to play North Dakota,” Hooker said. “It was going to be a fight.”
March Madness: Florida State hangs on against Florida Gulf Coast, 86-80
Florida State made the most of its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2012, beating a Sunshine State opponent.
The third-seeded Seminoles held off No. 14 Florida Gulf Coast, 86-80, in a West Region game Thursday night despite some sloppy play that allowed a late double-digit lead to disappear. The Seminoles made clutch free throws and came up with enough stops in the waning moments to spoil the Eagles’ upset bid.
“There is some satisfaction because we won,” said Dwayne Bacon, who led the Seminoles with 25 points. “All that other stuff, how the game looked, that doesn’t matter when you win.”
The victory sets up a second-round matchup between the Seminoles and No. 11-seeded Xavier on Saturday. FSU knows it must play better if it doesn’t want to be the next upset for the Musketeers, who stunned No. 6 Maryland earlier Thursday night.
The Seminoles missed some free throws down the stretch Thursday that helped create some drama at the end.
“When we hit our free throws, we don’t have an issue,” said FSU Coach Leonard Hamilton, whose team improved to 26-8. “We didn’t shoot free throws very well down the stretch, and if you don’t knock those free throws down, you put yourself in position where this stuff can happen. It makes everything look bad.”
It marred a narrative in which the Seminoles dominated a game with two athletic teams that get up and down the floor and finish well around the rim. The Seminoles beat the team known as “Dunk City” at its own game most of the night.
The crowd was mostly behind the Seminoles with many fans making the trip from the north part of the state.
Both teams like to dominate the paint, but the Eagles found that hard to do with 7-foot-1 Michael Ojo and 7-4 Christ Koumadje taking turns protecting the rim. That forced FGCU to rely heavily on its perimeter shooting, which wasn’t the Eagles strength Thursday night.
The Seminoles had nine blocked shots on the night while holding the Eagles to 29% shooting from three-point range and 41% from the field. FSU shot nearly 56% from the field while shooting primarily high-percentage shots.
Brandon Goodwin led the Eagles with 28 points and Zach Johnson added 17.
“It’s hard to simulate what [the Seminoles] do,” said FGCU Coach Joe Dooley, whose team ends its season at 26-8. “You can’t simulate height and length and athleticism like they have.”
In addition Bacon, FSU got big production from Jonathan Isaac (17 points and 10 rebounds) along with Terance Mann (11 points) and Xavier Rathan-Mayes (10).
March Madness: Monte Morris leads Iowa State to 84-73 victory over Nevada
Monte Morris delivered another solid all-around performance. Deonte Burton, Naz Mitrou-Long and Matt Thomas took turns coming up with big plays.
A little experience goes a long way this time of year.
Morris had 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Iowa State outlasted Nevada, 84-73, on Thursday night to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.
“He’s the best point guard in the country,” Iowa State Coach Steve Prohm said. “He’s a winner.”
Burton added 14 points and eight rebounds as the fifth-seeded Cyclones won for the 10th time in their last 11 games, building on their impressive run through the Big 12 Tournament. Mitrou-Long and Thomas had 13 points apiece.
Iowa State (24-10) will try for its third Sweet 16 appearance in four years when it takes on No. 4-seeded Purdue on Saturday. It was Nevada’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament in a decade, and the difference in experience was noticeable, especially during the Wolf Pack’s slow start.
“We lost to a team that’s really good,” Coach Eric Musselman said. “I thought in the first half that their experience really showed. Their seniors played really well and that was the difference in the ballgame. We really struggled to score in the first half.”
Cameron Oliver scored 22 points for Nevada (28-7), which had won nine straight by an average of 15 points. Jordan Caroline had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Marcus Marshall finished with 16 points on 5-for-16 shooting.
“We just couldn’t get over the hump this time,” Oliver said.
It was a triumphant homecoming for Burton, Darrell Bowie and Donovan Jackson, three Milwaukee natives who have played a key role in Iowa State’s success this season. Jackson scored 12 points on a perfect shooting performance, and Bowie finished with eight points and five boards.
“That’s how you put on for your city,” Bowie said. “That’s what you call a home-court advantage. We just wanted to give the crowd a reason to get loud and be proud of us.”
Iowa State led by as many as 15 in the first half before Nevada got back in the game by rediscovering its shooting touch. The Wolf Pack used Caroline’s two foul shots and tip-in to close to 55-51 with 9:56 left, plenty of time for the Mountain West’s regular-season and tournament champions.
But the Cyclones responded with nine straight points. Burton started and finished the run with layups, and Thomas had a 3-pointer during the surge. Morris then helped Iowa State finish it off with seven free throws in the final 3 minutes.
“We want more,” Burton said. “This is one stepping stone until we get where we want to be, so we have to keep our focus until we get where we want to be.”
March Madness: Wisconsin takes care of Virginia Tech, 84-74
There’s little left for Bronson Koenig to accomplish at Wisconsin. Over four years, he has done it all, seen it all.
He’s not ready for his run to end.
Koenig made a school-record eight three-pointers and scored 28 points and fellow senior Nigel Hayes added 16 as NCAA tournament-tested Wisconsin advanced in the East Region with an 84-74 victory over Virginia Tech on Thursday night.
With Koenig and Hayes leading the charge, the eighth-seeded Badgers (26-9) made all the big plays in the closing minutes to set up a meeting with top-seeded Villanova on Saturday. The Wildcats shook off a sluggish and strange first half and downed Mount St. Mary’s, 76-56.
Koenig made five three-pointers in the second half and the Badgers needed every last one.
“I’ve seen him do a lot of things,” Wisconsin Coach Greg Gard said. “I’ve watched him win two state championships. Obviously, I’ve watched him for four years here with us. He’s a heck of a player.”
No team understands the survive-and-advance mentality in this tourney better than Wisconsin, the only school in the country to make the Sweet 16 in the last three years. And the Badgers turned to Koenig and Hayes, two of their four senior starters, to get them within one win of another trip to the third round.
“I think it definitely helped a lot for us to have the older guys that we have to have been through some of the runs that we’ve had in the tournament,” said Hayes, who added 10 rebounds. “I think it showed with Bronson, the way he responded to each time they went on a run. Each time they hit a big shot he responded with a big shot. And it’s something that you need.”
Zach Leday scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half to pace the ninth-seeded Hokies (22-11), whose first NCAA visit since 2007 ended quickly.
Wisconsin has won 12 NCAA games in the last four tournaments, a testament to the Badgers’ consistency as Koenig and Hayes have helped push the Big Ten power among the nation’s elite programs.
Koenig’s seventh three-pointer — and fourth of the second half — put the Badgers ahead 63-59 with 8:21 remaining, and after Virginia Tech got within one, he dropped another corner three-pointer — that one hitting the front of the rim and bouncing off the backboard before dropping through the net.
“I was feeling it a little bit,” he said with a shrug.
Koenig couldn’t miss, but while he did his damage from the outside for Wisconsin, the Hokies attacked inside with Leday muscling for layups off nice feeds from Seth Allen and Justin Robinson.
Virginia Tech was still within 74-73 when Hayes, who leads all active players with 146 tournament points in his career, scored underneath and completed a three-point play to give Wisconsin breathing room.
After Allen missed a three-pointer, Koenig was off the mark, but junior center Ethan Happ scored on a put-back, giving Wisconsin a 79-73 lead. Virginia Tech missed a few deep shots and Hayes came up with a huge tap-back rebound before Koenig was fouled and dropped both free throws to make it 81-74.
Ty Outlaw scored 16 points and Robinson had 11 for the Hokies. Allen shook off a toe injury and finished with 10, but made only three of 10 shots from the field.
“We fought as hard as we could,” Leday said. “At the end of the day, they made more winning plays than us. We gave it our all, we just came up short.”
March Madness: St. Mary’s turns away VCU, 85-77
St. Mary’s Coach Randy Bennett sounded relieved to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday night and grateful, even, to be done with Virginia Commonwealth.
Jock Landale had 18 points and 13 rebounds as seventh-seeded St. Mary’s held on for an 85-77 victory over No. 10 VCU in the opening round of the NCAA tournament’s West Region.
“They’re hard to put away,” Bennett said. “We’re happy to get this one done.
“We did a really good job of handling their pressure. They just keep coming, they’re so quick and aggressive. It’s hard to play against (them). Pressure’s hard to play against.”
The Gaels led most of the way, but had to fight to hold on after the VCU defensive pressure started to become too much in the second half.
Joe Rahon and Calvin Hermanson finished with 16 points apiece for St. Mary’s.
JeQuan Lewis paced VCU with 30 points.
St. Mary’s (29-4) took a 46-31 lead into halftime thanks to a 23-6 run highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers from Hermanson. The Gaels shot 64% in the first half and hit 4 of 9 from behind the arc as VCU (26-9) struggled to disrupt their halfcourt offense. On top of that, St.Mary’s was the team able to get out on the break and score in transition. That’s VCU’s style of play, but the Rams managed just two fast-break points in the first half.
“Press break is something we work on every practice,” Rahon said. “We’re kind of ingrained to be in the right spots and just read and react.
“We’ve been in this situation before. We were able to use our experience and kind of respond.”
The next 20 minutes were a stark contrast.
St. Mary’s began turning the ball over from VCU’s increased pressure, which led to fast-break opportunities for the Rams. Once it began scoring more consistently, VCU was able to set up its vaunted press and cause havoc.
“There is no shame in losing to St. Mary’s,” VCU Coach Will Wade said. “They are a tremendous team both offensively and defensively.
“Our guys fought extremely hard. We are really tough to knock out, but we could never get over the hump and get the lead in the second half.”
The Gaels’ offense that was so crisp in the first half struggled to find rhythm after the break, but VCU kept fouling and sending them to the line for free points. The freebies kept the Rams from getting over the hump and their last lead was at 18-17.
“They made big plays when they needed to,” VCU forward Mo Alie-Cox said, “and every time we would go on a run, they would make a big play. They just took advantage of all our overaggressive mistakes the whole time.”
March Madness: Purdue finally comes up a winner with 80-70 victory over Vermont
Vincent Edwards scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and Purdue held off Vermont, 80-70, on Thursday night for its first victory in the NCAA tournament in five years.
Caleb Swanigan contributed 16 points, 14 rebounds and four assists for the fourth-seeded Boilermakers (26-7), who were upset by Arkansas-Little Rock in double-overtime in the first round of last year’s tournament. Dakota Mathias made three three-pointers and finished with 13 points.
Next up for Purdue is a second-round game against the winner of Nevada-Iowa State.
It was Vermont’s first loss of 2017. The Catamounts (29-6), the regular-season and tournament champions in the America East, had the nation’s longest active win streak at 21 games. But they were unable to make up for a huge disadvantage inside against the bigger, stronger Boilermakers.
Anthony Lamb had 20 points and nine rebounds for Vermont, and Trae Bell-Haynes finished with 15 points, seven boards and six assists.
With Swanigan and 7-foot-2 center Isaac Haas, Purdue had a huge size advantage around the rim. But the Catamounts played tough perimeter defense, turning post passes into a risky proposition, and stayed right with the Boilermakers with opportunistic baskets on offense.
But the combination of Edwards and Swanigan was too much to overcome down the stretch. Edwards scored Purdue’s first eight points of the second half, helping the Boilermakers open a 45-38 lead.
Every time Vermont made a charge in the second half, Purdue had an answer.
Darren Payen made a jumper and Ernie Duncan sank a three-pointer to get the Catamounts within one before Swanigan responded with a three-pointer for the Boilermakers. A jumper by Lamb trimmed Purdue’s lead to five, but Edwards and P.J. Thompson each made a three-pointer to give the Boilermakers their biggest lead of the game at 76-65 with 1:56 remaining.
The Boilermakers finished with a 38-28 rebounding advantage and outscored the Catamounts, 42-24, in the paint. It was their first NCAA tournament win since they beat Saint Mary’s in the first round in 2012.
March Madness: Sluggish Villanova eventually shakes off No. 16-seeded Mount St. Mary’s
For 20 minutes, Villanova looked ordinary, vulnerable, may be even a little scared. The Wildcats finished like champions.
Donte DiVincenzo scored 21 points and the NCAA tournament’s top-seeded team shook off a shocking start and stumbled forward in the East Region Thursday night with a 76-56 victory over No. 16-seeded Mount St. Mary’s.
Leading by just one at halftime, the Wildcats (32-3) opened the second half with a 21-6 run and took their first step toward defending their championship. Villanova is trying to be the first back-to-back titlist since Florida in 2007, and the Wildcats will have to play better to make history.
“I’m not annoyed,” Villanova Coach Jay Wright said. “I really am shocked, not how Mount St. Mary’s played, but that we didn’t start the game with energy. We don’t have time to figure it out.”
Since the NCAA went to seeding in 1985, No. 1 seeds are 130-0 against No. 16s. The historic upset remains elusive, but for a while it looked like it could happen inside KeyBank Center.
Freshman Miles Wilson scored 22 points as the Mountaineers (20-16), who edged New Orleans in a First Four matchup on Tuesday, gave the defending champions all they could handle in the first half.
“I was thinking we could get the win,” Mount St. Mary’s Elijah Long said.
But the Big East champions, who entered this tourney with more wins than any past champion, regrouped at halftime and reserved a date with either Wisconsin or Virginia Tech on Saturday.
It wasn’t easy. It’s not supposed to be.
“They outplayed us,” Wright said. “At the end, we had more size and some more talented players who made plays. They deserve a lot of credit.”
Jalen Brunson scored 14 points and Mikal Bridges had 13 for the Wildcats.
Villanova not only survived a tough test from the Mountaineers but a horrendous shooting night by senior Kris Jenkins. The hero of last year’s NCAA title game, when his three-pointer at the horn defeated North Carolina, Jenkins missed his first 10 shots and finished just two of 13.
“I’m not worried about him at all,” Wright said. “
The Mount St. Mary’s players wear warmups with “Mayhem” written on the back, and they caused quite a commotion in the early going.
Showing no fear against a team the smart-money guys in Las Vegas said would beat them by 25, the Mountaineers jumped to a 10-2 lead against the Wildcats, who missed their first eight shots, committed two turnovers and had three shots blocked in the opening five minutes.
“I thought we were capable of coming out and, you know, missing some shots, coming out and making some mistakes,” Wright said. “But the level of energy we started the game with, I just didn’t think we were capable of that. I’m in a little bit of shock myself.”
Villanova’s players looked nervous and played that way, and when Long threaded a no-look pass to Chris Wray for an easy basket to put the Mountaineers ahead 23-20, two seminarians — one of them clutching Rosary beads — from the tiny school in Emmitsburg, Maryland, high-fived in the stands.
Villanova, though, recovered and took its first lead at 26-25 when Eric Paschall powered home a dunk with 2:33 left in the half.
The Mountaineers left the court at halftime down only 30-29 and full of confidence.
It didn’t last.
Villanova senior Josh Hart, who sat more than eight minutes in the first half with two fouls, opened the second half with a layup and DiVincenzo, who added 13 rebounds, made a three-pointer to cap a 13-2 burst that knocked the air out of Mount St. Mary’s.
Before long, the Wildcats were having their way, and except for DiVincenzo missing two breakaway dunks, Villanova showed why many believe they can win it all again.
March Madness: Xavier knocks off sixth-seeded Maryland, 76-65
Trevon Bluiett doesn’t spend a lot of time worrying about missed shots because knows makes will eventually come.
After missing his first seven shots and contributing only three points in the first half, Bluiett found his rhythm Thursday night to lead No.11-sedeed Xavier to a 76-65 upset of sixth-seeded Maryland in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Bluiett made six of seven shots from the field during the final 20 minutes to finish with 21 points.
“Once I get a couple to go in and get a rhythm going then everything starts to fall,” said Bluiett, the Musketeers’ leading scorer. “Everything you shoot just feels good.”
Bluiett made four three-pointers in the second half to help Xavier come back from a six-point deficit.
The Musketeers move on in the West Region, marking the third straight year they have advanced to the second round. Maryland, which started three freshmen for much the season, lost in the first round for the first time since 1997.
Maryland came in favored after finishing second in the Big Ten during the regular season but the Terps seemed to be one of the more vulnerable No. 6 seeds in the tournament, primarily because of their youth. Maryland’s young players struggled at times as Xavier shifted from zone to man-to-man. Kevin Huerter finished with 19 points but was just five of 13 from the field and star junior Melo Trimble couldn’t find a rhythm against the Musketeers zone, going one for nine from three-point range to finish with 13 points, three assists and three turnovers.
“I just believe in my players,” said Xavier Coach Chris Mack. “Maryland is really good against man-to-man offensively. We don’t want Quentin Goodin to be chasing Melo Trimble all over the floor so zone is fairly effective at times.”
Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon said his players had difficulty trying to beat Xavier’s defense. The Terps went long stretches without making baskets and shot just 26% from three-point range, worse in the second half as Xavier played mostly zone.
“The changing defenses gave us more problems than anything tonight,” Turgeon said. “I think they got hot and we kind of got rushed a little bit.”
The Terps also had no answer for Xavier big man Sean O’Mara, who had a career night off the bench, forcing his way in the paint. O’Mara, who finished with 18 points on five-of-six shooting from the field while making eight of nine free throws, dominated as Bluiett struggled and kept the pressure on the Terps’ two big men.
“My teammates got me the ball in great positions and pretty much all I had to do was throw up five foot hook shots and make a couple of back-to-the-basket moves to score,” O’Mara said.
The Musketeers also got a huge contribution from Kaiser Gates off bench with 11 points. Xavier’s bench outscored the Terprapins, 30-13, and outrebounded them 11-4 in a game that was fairly close throughout.
“When you get production like that with those two it just makes us that much tougher to defend,” Mack said.
March Madness: Northwestern gets its first NCAA tournament win in wild finish over Vanderbilt
At Northwestern, the party goes on. At Vanderbilt, there is only one question: What was he thinking?
Northwestern’s first-ever NCAA tournament victory, 68-66 over Vanderbilt, came after Commodores guard Matthew Fisher-Davis inexplicably grabbed Bryant McIntosh of the Wildcats on purpose, sending McIntosh to the free-throw line for the go-ahead points with 15 seconds left.
“I actually thought we were down one,” Fisher-Davis explained after Thursday’s heartbreaker in the West Region. “Coach pointed at him, but he was just telling me that was my matchup. I took it as (I should) foul. It was just a dumb-ass foul.”
And though Fisher-Davis scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half to help ninth-seeded Vanderbilt (19-16) rally from 15 points down, his mistake was the main takeaway from this game — maybe not as bad as Chris Webber calling a timeout that Michigan didn’t have or Georgetown’s Fred Brown throwing the pass to James Worthy of North Carolina in the final, but certainly not one for the “One Shining Moment” video, either.
“An honest mistake,” Northwestern Coach Chris Collins called it. “You feel bad for players. He was tremendous today. Certainly, I was surprised.”
The sequence was set up after Riley LaChance made a layup with 18 seconds remaining to put the Commodores up by one.
But seconds after the in-bounds pass, Fisher-Davis reached out and grabbed McIntosh around the waist while the Northwestern guard was dribbling up the backcourt. That put eighth-seeded Northwestern in the double bonus, and McIntosh went to the line and calmly swished the free throws with 15 seconds left for a 67-66 lead.
“When he grabbed me, I had thought we were down one, and I’m thinking maybe I made a mistake,” he said. “I had to put my mind on making the free throws at the end.”
Northwestern forced LaChance to miss a three-pointer on the next possession and the Wildcats sank (24-11) another free throw.
Fisher-Davis heaved a desperation shot at the buzzer, but it missed, and he sunk his head and reached down to his shoes in despair before heading to the sideline where his teammates hugged him.
While the Wildcats doused Collins with water to celebrate a win that extends the program’s first trip to March Madness by at least one more game, there were red eyes in the Vanderbilt locker room. But Fisher-Davis’ teammates had his back.
“He’s the type of person (who’s going to) feel some blame,” forward Luke Kornet said. “But in the second half, we have no chance if he doesn’t make the shots that he made. We’re with him no matter what.”
Coach Bryce Drew, who enjoyed a much different moment decades ago as a player , said certainly he and his star guard would talk more in the near future. His message in the aftermath was simple: “From Day 1, we teach our guys that we’re a team and one play at the end doesn’t win or lose the game.”
Fisher-Davis, a junior who led the SEC in three-point shooting last season, tried to keep it in perspective.
“We all love each other like brothers,” he said. “They know I didn’t do that on purpose, obviously. We had a great season. Nothing to be ashamed of.”
March Madness: Middle Tennessee State pulls off first upset with 81-72 victory over Minnesota
Middle Tennessee took down another Big Ten team in the NCAA tournament, though the latest victory didn’t really feel like an upset.
The Blue Raiders stood up to Minnesota’s rugged defense, then blew past the foul-prone Golden Gophers for an 81-72 victory on Thursday.
Middle Tennessee proved it was no one-year wonder after shocking Michigan State as a No. 15 seed last March.
“We think we belong on a national stage,” Coach Kermit Davis said. “I knew we’d play well and we did so today.”
Reggie Upshaw scored 19 points and Giddy Potts added 15 for the Blue Raiders (31-4), who move on to face fourth-seeded Butler in the second round of the South Region on Saturday.
No longer a mystery team in March, Middle Tennessee played like seasoned NCAA veterans with the way they held off the Gophers’ comeback attempt from a 17-point deficit in front of a loud and large contingent of Minnesota fans.
Upshaw, a senior captain, responded with seven straight points, including a three-pointer and a reverse layup during a 7-3 run to help give Middle Tennessee a 10-point lead with 3:40 left.
“I don’t think so at all,” Davis said when asked if he would classify the win as an upset. “We have a lot of respect for Minnesota, but I think our record speaks for itself, and what we’ve done all year long.”
The Blue Raiders set a school record for victories and a Conference USA record with 17 league wins.
A season of redemption came to an end for fifth-seeded Minnesota (24-10), which bounced back from an eight-win season in 2015-16 to return to the NCAA tournament.
Amir Coffey had 17 points to lead Minnesota, while Dupree McBrayer added 16.
“We don’t believe in moral victories, but honestly I’m so proud of this team and this is probably one of the most historical Gopher teams,” center Reggie Lynch said.
Trailing 37-31 at halftime, Minnesota was still in relatively good shape given that Lynch played just nine minutes because of foul trouble. The Gophers had just two first-half turnovers, but shot 38% from the field (10 of 26) during that time.
March Madness: Florida pulls away in second half to defeat East Tennessee State, 80-65
Devin Robinson tied his career-high with 24 points, Kasey Hill added 14 and No. 4 seed Florida used a second-half surge to beat 13th-seeded East Tennessee State, 80-65, in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday.
Robinson, an NBA prospect who had been relatively quiet late in the season, scored his most points in nearly two months. He made 10 of 17 shots and chipped in seven rebounds. The speedy Hill reached double figures for the fourth consecutive game. He also added six rebounds and five assists for his most complete game in a month.
Kevarrius Hayes, filling in for injured center John Egbunu, finished with seven points, seven rebounds and six steals. He broke the school record for steals in an NCAA Tournament game.
Florida (25-8) needed all those contributions, especially since Coach Mike White got so little from leading scorer KeVaughn Allen and Southeastern Conference sixth man of the year Canyon Barry. Allen and Barry scored seven points apiece. They were two of 15 combined.
Allen and Barry will have a chance to bounce back Saturday when the Gators play fifth-seeded Virginia in the second round of the East Region.
T.J. Cromer led the Buccaneers (27-8) with 19 points on seven-of-13 shooting.
Florida blew open a close game with a barrage of three-pointers in the second half. Robinson hit consecutive threes, and then Allen followed with a wide-open look from the top of the arc. Chris Chiozza added two more a few minutes later, and the rout was on.
It was a stark contrast from the first half in which the Gators couldn’t find their range. They missed their first eight three-pointers and finished one of 10 from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes.
March Madness: West Virginia turns back Bucknell’s upset bid, 86-80
Nathan Adrian had 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead West Virginia to an 86-80 win over Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Tarik Phillip scored 16 points for the West Region’s fourth-seeded Mountaineers, who struggled at times with the outside-shooting Bison.
West Virginia (27-9) avoided a repeat of last year’s first-round meltdown when the third-seeded Mountaineers lost to Stephen F. Austin.
This win sets up a meeting against the region’s fifth-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who hung on for a 60-58 win over Princeton earlier Thursday.
Kimbal Mackenzie made five of seven three-point attempts and led the Patriot League-champion Bison with 23 points. Bucknell (26-9) entered the tournament having won six in a row and 14 of 16.
After squandering double-digit leads in both the first and second half, the Mountaineers finally pulled away in the final two minutes.
Phillip made all four free throws over the final minute, and the Bison’s hopes realistically ended when Nate Jones missed a three-pointer with 35 seconds lef that kept the West Virginia lead at 81-74.
West Virginia forced 15 turnovers but did allow more than 70 points for the 17th time this season. The Mountaineers entered the game 7-9 when surrendering 70 or more points.
The Bison showed perseverance in facing and even overcoming the Mountaineers stifling press defense. Each time it appeared West Virginia was poised to blow the game out, Bucknell charged back.
The Bison overcame a 27-12 deficit in the first half to close the gap to 36-33 on Avi Toomer’s layup.
Then after Elijah Macon completed a three-point play to put the Mountaineers up 45-33 in the opening seconds of the second half, the Bison eventually closed the margin to 63-60 on Mackenzie’s contested 3-point basket from the left corner with 8:58 left.
It didn’t help that Bucknell’s top player, Nana Foulland, missed a five-minute stretch of the second half after picking up his fourth foul with 9:37 left.
The Patriot’s league’s MVP and defensive player of the year finished with 18 points and seven rebounds in just 30 minutes.
UCLA vs. Kent State: How they match up
After a one-year absence, UCLA is back in the NCAA tournament, intent on making a deep run in what will almost surely be freshman point guard Lonzo Ball’s only college season.
The Bruins will enjoy size and skill advantages at almost every position against the Golden Flashes, who won four games in the Mid-American Conference tournament with their guard-heavy lineup to advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008.
Both teams are relatively hot; UCLA has won 10 of its last 11 games, and Kent State nine of its last 10.
March Madness: Gonzaga slowly pulls away from South Dakota State
Jordan Mathews scored 16 points to help Gonzaga slowly pull away from South Dakota State for a 66-46 victory and avoid the first 1 vs.16 upset in the history of the NCAA Tournament.
It looked possible for a while.
The Jackrabbits (18-17), champions of the Summit League, led for the first 17 minutes of Thursday’s game in the West region and stayed in range for most of the game.
They did it without a breakout game from Mike Daum. The nation’s second-leading scorer finished 7 for 16 from the floor with 17 points — more than eight below his average.
Daum did a nice job on Gonzaga’s 7-foot-1 center, Przemek Karnowski, holding him to four points over the first 32 minutes.
But Karnowski, who finished with 10 points, scored three straight buckets for the Bulldogs (33-1) to help them expand the lead to 20 with 5 minutes left, and it was over.
March Madness: Butler cruises past Winthrop
Avery Woodson scored 18 points and tied a career high with six three-pointers in his NCAA tournament debut to lead Butler to a 76-64 win over Winthrop on Thursday.
Woodson, a graduate transfer from Memphis, hit five three-pointers in the first half to help the fourth-seeded Bulldogs build a 14-point halftime lead.
A 12-2 run in the middle of the second half gave Butler a 60-43 lead with less than 8 minutes left and put the game out of reach for the 13th-seeded Eagles.
Xavier Cooks had 23 points to lead Big South champion Winthrop (26-7).
Butler (24-8) looked comfortable all afternoon at the Bradley Center, the home of Big East rival Marquette. The last time the Bulldogs played in Milwaukee, Woodson scored 17 points in a 68-65 victory over Marquette last month. One more win in Milwaukee and Butler could advance to their fifth Sweet 16 since 2003.
March Madness: Perrantes, Shayok carry Virginia to 76-71 win against UNC Wilmington
London Perrantes scored 24 points, Marial Shayok added a career-high 23 off the bench and No. 5 seed Virginia rallied from 15 points down to beat 13th-seeded UNC Wilmington, 76-71, in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday.
Perrantes scored 19 points in the second half as the Cavaliers (23-10) got their slow-paced offense going. His biggest bucket was a driving bank shot with 1:37 remaining, which put the Cavs up, 71-66.
UNCW (29-6) wouldn’t go away, though. Chris Flemmings drained a three-pointer from the elbow, and then Devontae Cacok hit a layup to make it 73-71 with less than a minute to play. But Shayok answered on the other end, banking in a runner that gave the Cavs some breathing room in the closing seconds.
Virginia advanced past the first round for the fourth consecutive year and won as a No. 5 seed for the first time in four tries. The Cavs can thank Perrantes and Shayok for making it happen.
March Madness: Notre Dame avoids upset against Princeton
Bonzie Colson scored 18 points and Notre Dame survived a first-round NCAA tournament scare by pulling out a 60-58 win over Princeton.
The West Region’s 12th-seeded Tigers had a chance to pull ahead on their final possession, but Devin Cannady missed an open three-pointer just before the final horn. Notre Dame’s Steve Vasturia pulled down the rebound and was fouled.
The Fighting Irish (26-9) nearly squandered an 11-point second half lead. Guard Matt Farrell scored 16 points, but missed the front end of a one-and-one with Notre Dame up 59-58.
Spencer Weisz led the Tigers with 15 points. The Ivy League champion Tigers (23-7) had a 19-game winning streak going into the NCAA tournament.
March Madness: Thursday’s NCAA tournament first-round results
First round (regions)
Virginia 76, UNC Wilmington 71 (East)
Notre Dame 60, Princeton 58 (West)
Butler 76, Winthrop 64 (South)
Gonzaga 66, South Dakota State 46 (West)
West Virginia 86, Bucknell 80 (West)
Florida 80,. Eastern Tennessee St. 65 (East)
Middle Tennessee 81, Minnesota 72 (South)
Northwestern 68, Vanderbilt 66 (West)
Xavier 76, Maryland 65 (West)
Villanova 76, Mount St. Mary’s 56 (East)
Purdue 80, Vermont 70 (Midwest)
St. Mary’s 85, VCU 77 (West)
Florida State 86, Florida Gulf Coast 80 (West)
Wisconsin 84, Virginia Tech 74 (East)
Iowa State 84, Nevada 73 (Midwest)
Arizona 100, North Dakota 82 (West)
First Four results
Wednesday
UC Davis 67, North Carolina Central 63
USC 75, Providence 71
Tuesday
Mount St. Mary’s 67, New Orleans 66
Kansas State 95, Wake Forest 88
USC shakes off woeful first half to defeat Providence
Providence needed to regroup. After taking USC to the woodshed for most of the First Four play-in game of the NCAA tournament on Wednesday, USC was storming back.
An 11-1 run had helped turn a 15-point USC deficit into a small lead. Providence called a timeout and huddled on the court. USC forward Chimezie Metu, riding the go-ahead score and a scintillating block, sauntered straight into the mass of Friars, flexed and yelled something.
The Providence coaching staff protested, unsuccessfully to the officials, but the message was clear: After a dismal first half and a sleepy start to the second, the Trojans were in control.
USC saved its season with a torrential second half. The Trojans won, 75-71, and advance to play on Friday in Tulsa, Okla., against Southern Methodist, a team USC defeated in November.
Trojans complete the comeback -- and win -- against Friars
USC is in control with less than 20 seconds left against Providence
USC leads Providence by 5 points, 69-64, with less than three minutes left in second half
Trojans move into the lead, 61-60, with less than 7 minutes to play
USC now within striking distance of Providence
Trojans keep deficit at single digits halfway through the second half
USC cuts deficit to 46-37 four minutes into second half
The Trojans have work cut out for themselves in second half against the Friars
USC’s NCAA tournament experience is threatening to be a short one.
After one half against Providence, little has gone right for the Trojans, who trail 44-29 in the First Four play-in game.
The damage came during a 15-0 run by the Friars midway through the half that turned a USC-controlled game into a nightmare.
There was no malaise early. USC started the game with a steal and a layup by Jordan McLaughlin. Bennie Boatwright made a three-pointer on the next possession. Providence Coach Ed Cooley called a timeout before the first minute had elapsed.
Boatwright poured in buckets in the opening minutes. He made four of five shots for 10 points in about five minutes. But USC Coach Andy Enfield rested him after the first television timeout, and he wouldn’t return for about five minutes.
The game turned while he was out. USC’s offense stagnated. It did little better when Boatwright returned. The Trojans went nearly five minutes without scoring a point during Providence’s scoring run.
USC let up 1.4 points per possession, about 30% more than the Friars’ usual output. They brutalized USC at the three-point line. Providence made eight of 15 long-range shots, led by Jalen Lindsey and Emmitt Holt, who each made four.
USC made only three of nine from beyond the arc.
USC has had a tendency to start sluggishly. A healthy chunk of its wins, 11 in all, have come after trailing by 10 points or more. It will require another sizeable comeback or face the end of its season.
Providence has a 15-point lead over USC at halftime
The Friars stretch lead over Trojans to 34-21 late in first half
Providence rallies to take a four-point lead with seven minutes left in first half
The Trojans lead midway through the first half
Fast start for Boatwright and USC, which leads 12-9 after five minutes
UC Davis beats North Carolina Central in First Four, 67-63
Chima Moneke had 18 points and 12 rebounds as UC Davis won in its first NCAA Tournament appearance, beating North Carolina Central, 67-63, in a First Four game on Wednesday night.
The 16th-seeded Aggies rallied in the second half and held off North Carolina Central down the stretch to earn a trip to Tulsa to play No. 1 seed Kansas on Friday.
Brynton Lemar scored 15 points and Lawrence White added 14 for UC Davis, which had earned a trip to the tournament by winning the Big West Conference tournament.
The Aggies (23-12) won despite 18 turnovers that led to 20 points for streaky North Carolina Central. But the Eagles couldn’t overcome poor shooting that deteriorated even more in the second half.
The Eagles pulled within 64-63 with 1:49 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Dajuan Graf. North Carolina Central got the ball back with 37 seconds left, but another three-point try by Graf was off the mark. Graf had to foul Lawrence White, who made two free throws with 16 second remaining to give the Eagles some breathing room. Lemar hit a foul shot with four seconds left to put it away.
Graf paced North Carolina Central (25-9) with 15 points. Kyle Benton and Patrick Cole added 13 each.
UC Davis came out and grabbed momentum on two rim-rattling dunks by Moneke and led by as many as nine points in the first half before N.C. Central could get its feet. The Eagles stormed back with a 16-3 run and led 34-31 at halftime, thanks in part to nine UC Davis turnovers.
Graf had 12 points for N.C. Central on five-for-seven shooting from the field at the half.
UC Davis had an 11-2 run in the second half when North Carolina Central made only one of nine shots from the field during that stretch.
First play-in game Wednesday is a close one
No. 3 hasn’t been a charm for UCLA Coach Steve Alford in NCAA tournaments
History has repeated itself in the cruelest way for Steve Alford as a heavy favorite in the NCAA tournament.
The teams he’s coached have been awarded a No. 3 seeding on three previous occasions. They’ve lost in the first round twice. And that’s not even counting the time Alford played for Indiana and his third-seeded Hoosiers lost to Cleveland State, a flop chronicled in the book “A Season on the Brink.”
Could the early exits be an uh-oh omen for Alford’s third-seeded UCLA Bruins heading into their first-round game against Kent State on Friday at the Golden 1 Center? Not necessarily.
“It’s different circumstances. It’s different teams,” Alford said. “I know what I’ve got in this team. We’ve got good experience; we’ve got a good blend. This is a high skill set team.”
Forget about the best March Madness teams — these are the best player names
The lunacy of March Madness extends beyond buzzer-beaters and big-time upsets.
We’re talking creative player names.
The NCAA men’s tournament, which gave us God Shammgod and Chief Kickingstallionsims in previous years, will serve up a new list of unusual monikers as play begins this week.
Here are five of the best … with the stories behind them.
First person: For long-suffering Northwestern basketball fans, it’s time to dance
The futility of Northwestern basketball first really sank in when Bobby Knight, a fractious sort known for throwing chairs, lobbed a compliment the Wildcats’ way.
“If I’m watching this game,” the legendary Indiana coach said, “I’m rooting for Northwestern.”
Easy for him to say. The Wildcats had just fought valiantly against Knight’s Hoosiers in 1994, only to fall short, as most everyone knew they would, extending another losing streak that eventually reached nine games.
Defeat was something that anyone who attended Northwestern would come to grudgingly accept, like Chicago winters that froze your eyelashes. I endured more than my share of both covering the Wildcats in the mid-1990s for the Daily Northwestern, a rite of passage for student journalists that involved watching games, describing the carnage and feeling at least a twinge of regret for not having applied to Michigan.
New Orleans player puts his hands around teammate’s neck while arguing during loss to Mount St. Mary’s
Losing is never fun, especially in the NCAA tournament.
And it’s probably even worse when your own teammate attempts to strangle you during the game.
That’s what appeared to happen Tuesday night during New Orleans’ 67-66 loss to Mount St. Mary’s in the opening game of the First Four.
Down by three well after the midway point in the second half, New Orleans players Travin Thibodeaux and Christavious Gill got into a heated argument while heading back to the bench for a timeout.
After getting shoved by Gill, Thibodeaux appeared to respond by wrapping his hands around his teammate’s neck. The two players were quickly separated, and Thibodeaux remained on the bench for the rest of the game.
Coach Mark Slessinger later downplayed the incident.
“Well, we’ve got two extremely competitive guys there,” Slessinger said about the fight. “And, I mean, they’re best friends, to be honest with you. Just got sideways with each other. One thought he should have zigged, and the other thought he should have zagged. They got sideways with each other, they got into it and I made the decision to sit Travin the rest of the half.
“I thought it was in the best interest of our team moving forward for the half. It was disappointing.”
Slessinger added of Thibodeaux: “He’s an honor student. He’s extremely passionate and cares about his team. That’s something that, unfortunately for both of those guys, it’s under the lights; it’s the first question [about the game] and, unfortunately, it will take away a little bit from the experience of the game and how great of an experience this was for us.”
March Madness: Who you got? Plaschke bets big on the Pac-12
What is the best college basketball team you’ve seen this year? The one team you’re willing to support at the risk of your office pool? Pick one. Pick your national champion. Start your bracket there.
The true definition of March Madness is getting caught up in the first couple of rounds. You sweat over Xavier beating Maryland, or whether a No. 11 seed can beat a No. 6, or whether Michigan State could lose in the first round again. Yet in the big picture, those upsets are meaningless.
The winner of the pool almost always correctly predicts the national champion, so make that your first selection and work backward. Be serious about the late rounds; have fun with the early ones.
Stokes’ strong second half leads Kansas State to First Four win
Kamau Stokes scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half of a wide-open game on Tuesday night, and Kansas State’s balance was the difference as the Wildcats pulled away to a 95-88 victory over Wake Forest in the First Four.
Eleventh-seeded Kansas State (21-13) got its first NCAA Tournament win in five years and a trip to play No. 6 Cincinnati on Friday in Sacramento as part of the South Regional.
In a matchup of two versatile offenses, the Wildcats had the most options and hot shooters. Wesley Iwundu added 24 points, and D.J. Johnson scored 18.
Wake Forest (19-14) couldn’t keep up during its first NCAA Tournament game in seven years. The Demon Deacons scored 90 points nine times during the season, but couldn’t match the Wildcats as they shot 66% from the field.
John Collins led Wake Forest with 26 points and nine rebounds.
Mount St. Mary’s holds on for one-point win in tournament opener against New Orleans
Diminutive point guard Junior Robinson scored 23 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 1:27 to play, and Mount St. Mary’s held on for a 67-66 victory over New Orleans on Tuesday night in the opening game of the First Four.
Robinson, the smallest player in Division I at 5-foot-5, carried the Mountaineers (20-15) to only their second NCAA Tournament win.
They’ll head to Buffalo to play defending national champion and top overall seed Villanova in the East Regional on Thursday. Mount St. Mary’s led most of the way, but New Orleans (20-12) pulled off a comeback befitting its resurgent season. The Privateers had a chance for a final shot, but Erik Thomas’ inbound pass with 2.6 seconds left was off target and stolen by the Mountaineers’ Chris Wray to clinch it.