Top-seeded Tar Heels easily advance
Armando Bacot had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and No. 1 seed North Carolina never trailed in beating 16thseeded Wagner, 90-62, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. Jae’Lyn Withers had a season-high 16 points and matched his best rebounding work with 10 boards for the West Region’s headliner. That helped the Tar Heels finish the game shooting 55 per cent, while dominating up front against a short-handed upstart aiming to pull off only the third opening-round takedown of a No. 1-seed in March Madness history.
Duquesne 71, BYU 67
In Omaha, Neb., as his players celebrated around him after springing the first big upset of the NCAA Tournament, Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot joked that they had refused to let their retiring coach reach “the promised land” with their down-to-the-wire win over BYU. Dae Dae Grant scored 19 points, including four clinching free throws in the final 10 seconds, and the No. 11 seed Dukes held on after blowing a 14-point lead in a 71-67 victory over the sixth-seeded Cougars. Jakub Necas added 12 points and Jimmy Clark III had 11 for the Atlantic 10 tourney champs, who now have their first win on the NCAA stage since 1969.
Illinois 85, Morehead State 69
In Omaha, Neb., Marcus Domask posted the NCAA Tournament’s first triple-double since 2019 and Terrence Shannon scored 26 points, helping No. 3 seed Illinois pull away from No. 14 Morehead State for an 85-69 first-round win. Domask had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in his first career triple-double. Dain Dainja scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half as the Illini shook off the pesky Eagles. Dainja went nine-for-nine from the field and matched his career high with eight rebounds. Riley Minix led the Eagles with 27 points, giving him at least 20 in 13 of his last 14 games.
Creighton 77, Akron 60
In Pittsburgh, Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 23 points and Trey Alexander had 19 as Creighton, which came within seconds of making the Final Four a year ago, opened the NCAA Tournament with a 77-60 win over Akron in the Midwest Region. The third-seeded Bluejays got all they could handle in the first half from the 14th-seeded Zips, who came in as a 10 1/2-point underdog. However, Creighton flexed its Big East muscles after halftime and pulled away to advance to the second round. Baylor Scheierman added 15 points and 13 rebounds for Creighton, which made 10 of 17 three-pointers. Akron’s Enrique Freeman finished with 21 points and 14 boards.
Oregon 87, South Carolina 73
In Pittsburgh, Jermaine Couisnard scored a career-high 40 points to haunt South Carolina — his former school — while leading Oregon to an 87-73 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region. Couisnard, who spent three years at South Carolina before transferring in part because of a coaching change following the 2022 season, made five threepointers and went 14 of 22 from the field to pace the 11th-seeded Ducks (24-11). Meechie Johnson scored 24 and Cooper 15 for the Gamecocks, who made a major turnaround in coach Lamont Paris’ second season after winning just 11 games last season.
Arizona 85, Long Beach State 65
In Salt Lake City, Arizona scored 16 straight points over a five-minute stretch to pull away for an 85-65 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and snuff out Dan Monson’s coaching tenure at Long Beach State. Kylan Boswell scored 20 points for the secondseeded Wildcats, who made 13 three-pointers, the program record for March Madness. Arizona trailed by one with 2:34 left in the first half. A few free throws and a threepointer by Caleb Love started the Wildcats’ onslaught before halftime.
Dayton 63, Nevada 60
In Salt Lake City, DaRon Holmes II and seventh-seeded Dayton staged a huge March Madness rally, closing with a 24-4 run to erase a 17point deficit and beat 10th-seeded Nevada, 63-60, in the West Region. Holmes finished with 18 points, including a three-point play with 2:01 remaining that gave Dayton its first lead since the first half. The Flyers trailed 56-39 with 7:36 remaining, but responded with a 17-0 run that included two three-pointers by Koby Brea, who finished with 15 points. Enoch Cheeks’ layup with 34 seconds left gave Dayton the lead for good, and he made two free throws for the final margin. He scored 12 points as the Flyers picked up their first NCAA Tournament win in nine years.
Michigan State 69, Mississippi State 51
In Charlotte, N.C., Michigan State coach Tom Izzo won his 20th firstround game in the NCAA Tournament. This one, he said, might have been the most impressive, even to former Spartans greats like Draymond Green. Tyson Walker scored 19 points and the ninth-seeded Spartans improved to 20-6 in March Madness openers under Izzo with a 69-51 win over eighthseeded Mississippi State. Jaden Akins added 15 points and seven rebounds and Malik Hall scored 10 points for Michigan State. Freshman Josh Hubbard scored 15 points for the Mississippi State, which hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2021.