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03/22 21:59 CDT NCAA Latest: UCF makes a run on VCU in East Region
NCAA Latest: UCF makes a run on VCU in East Region
By The Associated Press
The Latest on the first round of the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):
10:55 p.m.
UCF scored the last 10 points of the first half to take a 34-24 lead over VCU
at the break Friday night in the East Region.
The No. 9 seed Knights (23-8) are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time
since 2005, but haven't shown jitters.
After a four-minute scoring drought, Terrell Allen and Frank Bertz hit
back-to-back 3-pointers for UCF.
No. 8 VCU (25-7) shot 29 percent (8 of 28) in the first half.
The winner gets Duke, the No. 1 seed in the East on Sunday.
--- Jeffrey Collins reporting from Columbia, South Carolina.
___
10:35 p.m.
For the third time Friday, a No. 16 seed is causing headaches for a No. 1 seed
from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Iona hit 10 first-half 3-pointers to build a 38-33 lead on North Carolina in
the Midwest Region. The Tar Heels shot just 33 percent in the first half and
hit just 3 of 13 attempts from beyond the arc.
Rickey McGill led the way with 12 first-half points for Iona, making all four
of his 3-pointers.
Coby White and Nassir Little each have eight points for North Carolina.
The Tar Heels, who lost to Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals, are a No. 1
seed in the NCAAs for a record 17th time.
Earlier, Virginia had to rally against 16-seed Gardner-Webb in the South
Region, while top-seeded Duke had a small halftime lead before blowing things
open against North Dakota State in the East Region.
--- Mitch Stacy reporting from Columbus.
___
10:25 p.m.
Liberty added to the haul for the No. 12 seeds.
The Flames beat No. 5 seed Mississippi State 80-76 in the first round of the
East Region in San Jose. It marked the third upset of the day at the site, with
fellow No. 12 seed Oregon beating 5-seed Wisconsin and No. 13 seed UC Irvine
upsetting No. 4 seed Kansas State.
Going back to Thursday's win by Murray State against Marquette, the NCAA says
it marks the fifth time the tournament has had three of the four 12-seeds upset
a No. 5.
The last time came in 2014.
___
9:20 p.m.
Zion Williamson scored 25 points and put on a second-half highlight show as
top-seeded Duke overcame a sluggish start to overwhelm 16th-seeded North Dakota
State 85-62 in the East Region.
The Blue Devils led just 31-27 at halftime when Williamson came out on fire. He
drove on two defenders for a layup and was fouled. When he missed the free
throw, he got the rebound for a power slam. Moments later, Williamson ran down
his own steal, dribbled behind his back for a remarkable layup that put Duke
ahead 40-27.
RJ Barrett also had 25 points to give Duke two players with 20 points or more
in their NCAA Tournament debuts since Mark Alarie and Johnny Dawkins did it in
1984. Duke will face either No. 8 seed VCU or ninth-seeded UCF (coached by
Dawkins) on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
--- Pete Iacobelli reporting from Columbia, South Carolina
___
8:40 p.m.
Zion Williamson had a dribble-behind-his-back-after-chasing-down-his-own-steal
layup and a thunderous dunk on his own missed free throw just in the first
three minutes of the second half.
The 6-foot-7, 285-pound freshman outran 5-foot-11 190-pound Vinnie Shahid of
North Dakota State for the ball after he tipped it for a steal.
He then dribbled behind his back, briefly losing and regaining his balance with
a hand on the floor. That cleared room for Williamson to get to the lane and go
up and under for a layup that gave the Blue Devils a 40-27 lead over the Bison.
Two possessions earlier, Williamson drove between two defenders and was fouled
as he made a layup. He missed the free throw, but rebounded the miss and put it
back with a monster dunk.
Williamson has 23 points on 11 of 14 shooting in his NCAA Tournament debut.
--- Jeffrey Collins reporting from Columbia, South Carolina.
___
8:25 p.m.
It's been a good day for double-digit seeds so far in San Jose, California.
After 13th-seeded UC Irvine and No. 12 Oregon won in the afternoon session
Friday, 12th-seeded Liberty got off to a strong start against No. 5 seed
Mississippi State in a first-round matchup in the East Region.
The Flames made three 3-pointers early in the game and hung with the Bulldogs
through the half, trailing 37-35 at halftime.
Liberty is 0-3 all-time in the tournament.
--- Josh Dubow reporting from San Jose, California.
___
8:10 p.m.
The Zion Williamson show in the NCAA Tournament is getting off to a little bit
of a ragged start, at least for his Duke team.
The No. 1 seed Blue Devils lead No. 16 North Dakota State 31-27 at halftime
Friday in the first round of the East Region.
Williamson has 10 points, including a thundering dunk that finally gave Duke
the lead after they trailed for nine minutes. RJ Barrett also has 10 points for
the Blue Devils.
North Dakota State's Vinnie Shahid leads all scorers with 15. The junior
averages 13 points a game.
--- Jeffrey Collins reporting from Columbia, South Carolina.
___
8 p.m.
Washington started pulling away from Utah State late in the first half for a
40-28 lead at the break. The Huskies have the Pac-12's player of the year in
Jaylen Nowell and the top defensive player in Matisse Thybulle, and both have
figured prominently.
Nowell has 11 points. Thybulle has five points, two blocks and three steals,
including a steal and a dunk during a 13-3 run that closed the half.
Utah State has the first No. 8 seed in school history after winning 10 straight
and 17 of 18 while taking the Mountain West title. The Aggies haven't won an
NCAA Tournament game since 2002.
--- Joe Kay reporting from Columbus, Ohio.
___
7:45 p.m.
A short jumper after forcing his way through two defenders and a blocked shot
straight into the Duke bench is how Zion Williamson's first --- and possibly
only --- NCAA Tournament started.
And it's all being captured with a CBS camera dedicated solely to the Blue
Devils' freshman star.
CBS took the unprecedented step of adding a single camera tracking Williamson
for the tournament. CBS coordinating producer of college basketball Marc Wolff
said the network will track Williamson 24/7. The coverage began when CBS filmed
Williamson during his Thursday practice session with a cameraman hired
specifically to track one player.
Williamson at least provided a quick burst of material for the top-seeded Blue
Devils against 16-seed North Dakota State.
He hit the shot inside after winning the tip. Then, as Sam Griesel tried to
drive for the Bison, the 6-foot-7, 285-pound Williamson swatted his shot near
the lane all the way to the Blue Devil bench.
Williamson scored six of Duke's first 12 points. Yet North Dakota State jumped
to a 12-5 lead and has stayed right with the Blue Devils late in the first half.
--- Jeffrey Collins reporting from Columbia, South Carolina.
___
7:10 p.m.
Yes, Jimmy Kimmel, Gonzaga really does exist.
A reporter on Friday brought the late-night comedian's bit about whether the
Spokane, Washington campus is for real straight to coach Mark Few. On a recent
show, Kimmel called March Madness the time of year that brings together "63
real (teams) and one from a made-up college called Gonzaga."
"It's like egg nog. You hear about it once a year, then for 50 weeks, it
disappears," Kimmel said.
Because it's nowhere near a major media market and has an enrollment around
5,200, Gonzaga is, in fact, easy to miss.
But Few batted down any conspiracy theory. Sort of.
"As long as they are talking about Gonzaga and the program, I think that's
probably a really, really good thing," Few said.
But, back to the question: Does it really exist?
"I'm not going to go down the road on some silly little deal," Few said. "But
as long as he's having fun with it, he can have fun with it."
--- Eddie Pells reporting from Salt Lake City.
___
6:35 p.m.
Buffalo coach Nate Oats beat his former boss when the sixth-seeded Bulls topped
Bobby Hurley and 11th-seeded Arizona State 91-74 in the West Region.
Hurley was Buffalo's head coach during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons with
Oats as an assistant before leaving to turn the Sun Devils around. The two
shook hands and spoke briefly near the scorer's table as time expired. Both
coaches had said they weren't thrilled about having to play each other.
The teams were tied at 14 in the first half before the Bulls went on a 17-5 run
to take control.
Nick Perkins and Jeremy Harris each scored 21 points for Buffalo, which will
play No. 3 seed Texas Tech on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Zylan Cheatham scored 22 points for Arizona State.
--- Cliff Brunt reporting from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
___
5:50 p.m.
A tumultuous season at Kansas has had an unexpected consequence: coach Bill
Self has spent more on hair-care products.
"I'm not going to say I haven't purchased Just For Men at some point in time
over the last several months," Self said to laughter Friday.
It's been a rough season in Kansas, starting with the indefinite suspension of
Silvio De Souza after his name surfaced in a federal probe into college
basketball.
The Jayhawks also lost big man Udoke Azubuke to a season-ending wrist injury
and senior guard Lagerald Vick left the team for personal reasons.
The attrition has forced Self to get creative with his lineups and coaching
style, closing the season with four freshmen starting and a lineup he never
would have expected at the start of the year.
"Sometimes the way we play in the past isn't as available to us now, so we have
to figure out different ways to do things," Self said. "It's been fun for me to
try to tweak some things to get the most out of them."
--- John Marshall reporting from Salt Lake City.
___
5:20 p.m.
Admiral Schofield had 19 points and No. 2 seed Tennessee held off a second-half
rally by No. 15 seed Colgate for a 77-70 win in the first round of the NCAA
Tournament.
Jordan Bone added 16 points and Jordan Bowden 14 for Tennessee (30-5), which
advanced to play Iowa on Sunday. The Hawkeyes beat Cincinnati earlier in the
day.
The Raiders (24-11) erased a 42-30 halftime lead by Tennessee with an 11-2 run
to tie the score midway through the second half and keep the game close after
that.
Schofield hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Tennessee a cushion with 45
seconds left, and Bone and Schofield followed up with a pair of foul shots each
to extend the lead as Colgate ran out of time.
--- Mitch Stacy reporting from Columbus, Ohio.
___
5:15 p.m.
No. 1 seed Virginia avoided the ignominy of another first-round NCAA Tournament
upset, rallying from 14 points down to beat No. 16 seed Gardner-Webb in the
South Region.
The Cavaliers were the top overall seed last year but lost 74-54 to 16th-seeded
UMBC. It was the first --- and still the only --- time in 35 years that a
1-seed has fallen in its opening game.
The Cavaliers trailed 30-16 with 6:42 left in the first half but rallied and
cut the Runnin' Bulldogs' lead to six at halftime. Virginia then opened the
second half with a 25-5 run that ended any ideas of another 1-and-done.
The Cavaliers used their trademark stifling defense to force 11 Gardner-Webb
turnovers in the first 12 minutes after the break.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett told his team all season they needed to turn last
year's disaster into something positive.
--- Jeffrey Collins reporting from Columbia, South Carolina.
___
4:50 p.m.
If there's any bigger insult in sports than calling a player a choke, it might
be calling a player a bad sport.
Auburn's J'von McCormick clutched his throat as New Mexico State's Terrell
Brown was toeing the free-throw line with 1.1 seconds left, getting ready for
three shots that would decide Thursday's game.
Brown missed two and Auburn prevailed by a point. On Friday, coach Bruce Pearl
came to McCormick's defense: "That's not at all his character," he said, "and
that's not at all ours."
Pearl said McCormick came to Auburn on a scholarship when nobody else would,
agreeing to come to a school not known for its basketball program without a
guarantee of a starting spot.
"To his credit, he said, 'I'm going to come in and push them,'" Pearl said.
The coach said he hadn't seen footage from the dramatic ending of Thursday's
game, but he did address it with the junior guard from New Orleans.
"You have given the world an opportunity to focus on that, which I wish they
wouldn't, but sometimes you have a responsibility," Pearl said. "So we're
dealing with it. All it is, you look at is as a lesson, not only for him, but
for the next guy."
--- Eddie Pells reporting from Salt Lake City.
___
4:40 p.m.
Virginia is finally playing like a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cavaliers have rallied from 14 points down in the opening half to lead
16th-seeded Gardner-Webb 42-38 with 15:20 left to play.
A year ago, Virginia became the first top-seeded team in the men's tournament
to a fall to a No. 16 seed with a 74-54 loss to UMBC. And for much of this one,
Gardner-Webb looked ready to do it again.
But Virginia is on a 26-8 over an 11-minute stretch to move in front, and are
trying to set up a date with ninth-seeded Oklahoma in the second round.
--- Pete Iacobelli reporting from Columbia, South Carolina.
___
4:35 p.m.
If Wofford was looking for some bulletin-board material for its second-round
game against No. 2 seed Kentucky, Nick Richards provided it.
The 6-foot-11 center said bluntly Friday that the Wildcats have better big men
than their next opponent. He calls is "a really good advantage for us."
Richards says Wofford's "bigs are skilled around the basket, they know how to
move around the floor, but we're just better than them overall."
Even though leading scorer and rebounder PJ Washington will not play because of
a sprained left foot, Richards says he, 6-10 EJ Montgomery and 6-8 Reid Travis
should have a big edge Saturday against the seventh-seeded Terriers.
As Richards put it, "They're not even as athletic as all three of us."
Kentucky coach John Calipari was taken aback by the comments. He never wants
one of his players to talk badly of an opponent, but the coach went on to say
he's glad Richards is confident.
Wofford big man Cameron Jackson shrugged off Richards' assessment. He says it's
"not about proving them wrong. It's about doing what we're comfortable doing
and making an impact on the game."
--- Paul Newberry reporting from Jacksonville, Florida.
___
4:20 p.m.
Michigan State freshman Aaron Henry doesn't know what all the fuss is about.
Tom Izzo's heated exchange with him on the court during the Spartans'
first-round win over Bradley on Thursday has drawn wide attention on social
media and from pundits opining about the coach's fiery methods. But Henry said
Friday that it was just Izzo being Izzo.
"No abuse was done. Nothing bad was done. It was just coaching," he said.
"That's what he is, that's his life, that's his job. Coaching. You can't be
upset how he does it."
TV cameras caught Izzo laying into Henry as he came off the court during a
timeout, and players stepped in to separate the two in the team huddle. Izzo
said after the game that he was upset with the level of effort Henry was
playing with at the time.
"My parents loved my response. I didn't show disrespect or fight back," he
said. "Not that I wanted to, which in this period in general, most people would
have in this generation. Not me."
Henry said he doesn't doubt Izzo has faith in him. After all, he is a freshman
starting for one of the top teams in the country and playing about 30 minutes a
game the last month.
--- Eric Olson reporting from Des Moines, Iowa.
___
4:15 p.m.
Evan Leonard hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start a run of 12 straight points
in the second half that sent No. 13 seed UC Irvine to a 70-64 victory over
fourth-seeded Kansas State.
The Anteaters (31-5) held on after that run and stunned the regular-season
co-champions of the Big 12 for the first tournament win in school history.
UC Irvine lost 57-55 to Louisville in 2015 in its only previous trip to the
tournament.
One year after making a run to the Elite Eight, the Wildcats (25-9) had a short
stay in the tournament as they struggled to decipher the Anteaters zone defense
and missed star forward Dean Wade, who was sidelined by a foot injury. Kamau
Stokes led Kansas State with 18 points.
--- Josh Dubow reporting from San Jose, California.
___
4:10 p.m.
The unthinkable is happening to Virginia (again) in the NCAA Tournament.
The top-seeded Cavaliers are trailing 16th-seeded Gardner-Webb 36-30 at
halftime, one year after becoming the first men's No. 1 seed to lose to a No.
16 since the tournament expanded to 64 teams.
It was UMBC last year. Now it's the champions of the Big South.
The Cavaliers came in with 29 wins and a share of an Atlantic Coast Conference
championship. But they were outhustled and at times lost in the first half as
the Bulldogs led by as many as 14.
Virginia closed the half with a 14-6 run in the final seven minutes.
--- Pete Iacobelli reporting from Columbia, South Carolina.
___
4 p.m.
Third-seeded Texas Tech shook off a slow first half to roll past 14th-seeded
Northern Kentucky 72-57 on Friday in the West Region.
Jarrett Culver, the Big 12 Player of the Year, scored 29 points on 10-for-17
shooting. The Red Raiders shot 53 percent from the field overall.
Tyler Sharpe scored 23 points for Northern Kentucky.
Tech led 30-26 at halftime before dominating on both ends after the break. The
Red Raiders' largest lead was 20 points.
The Norse shot just 37 percent for the game.
--- Cliff Brunt reporting from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
___
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