No. 4 Syracuse rolls to rout at home of Long Beach St.
No. 2 Connecticut women cruise in second half of win over No. 10 Penn St.
C.J. Fair had 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, Michael CarterWilliams added 15 points and 10 assists, and No. 4 Syracuse beat Long Beach State 84-53 on Thursday night.
Syracuse (7-0) upped its home winning streak to 27 games, tops in the nation, and has won 49 consecutive regular-season nonconference games. Long Beach State (3-5) had a two-game winning streak snapped.
Brandon Triche, Trevor Cooney and Rakeem Christmas each added 11 points Syracuse.
Dan Jennings had a career-high 20 points for the 49ers.
No. 11 Cincinnati 87, Arkansas-Little Rock 53: Sean Kilpatrick scored 10 of his 18 points in the second half, and the host Bearcats (8-0) set a school record with 23 steals in a rout of the Trojans (7-4).
No. 16 Creighton 64, Nebraska 42: Doug McDermott scored 27 points, Gregory Echenique had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and the Bluejays (8-1) cruised past the host Cornhuskers (6-2) in the annual meeting of the state rivals. Creighton won in Lincoln for the first time since 2004. State, which trailed by just six at halftime and by three early in the second half.
No. 4 Duke 85, Georgia Tech 52: Elizabeth Williams had a career-high 25 points and 11 rebounds, and the host Blue Devils (7-0, 1-0 ACC) routed the Yellow Jackets (3-5, 0-1) for their 35th straight win in the series. Tyaunna Marshall had 23 points on 10-of18 shooting for Georgia Tech, but her teammates were a combined 12 of 59.
No. 9 Maryland 79, Virginia 55: Tianna Hawkins had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Alyssa Thomas contributed 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the host Terrapins (52, 1-0) routed the Cavaliers (5-3, 0-1).
No. 15 Purdue 69, IPFW 54: Courtney Moses scored 19 points and Drey Mingo had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Boilermakers (8-1) over the host Mastodons (5-3).
No. 13 Oklahoma 71, North Texas 68: Nicole Griffin had 15 points and nine rebounds as the host Sooners (8-1) held off the Mean Green (2-6).
No. 16 Oklahoma State 85, Stephen F. Austin 41: Toni Young had 20 points and 12 rebounds to help the Cowgirls (7-0) rout the Ladyjacks (4-4).
Arkansas 64, No. 17 Kansas 56: Quistelle Williams scored 15 points, Keira Peak had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and the host Razorbacks (8-1) topped the Jayhawks (71), who got 21 points from Angel Goodrich.
Iowa 50, No. 22 Iowa State 42: Melissa Dixon hit a pair of key baskets down the stretch to help the Hawkeyes (7-3) defeat the host Cyclones (5-1) despite blowing a 14-point lead. We’ve played well for most of the season, but we have to be at our best every match from here on.”
Through the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, Texas is ranked first in the nation in hitting percentage (.320) and ninth in blocks (2.99 bps). Eckerman is ranked 10th in the nation for points (5.16 pps), 12th in kills (4.51 kps) and 28th in service aces (0.41 saps) while Bell is ranked 23rd nationally in blocks (1.38 bps).
Florida is led by Ziva Recek, a Slovakia native who broke the Gators’ freshman record for single-season kills (429).
USC (29-5) is making its ninth appearance in the round of 16 in 12 years under head coach Mick Haley, who coached Texas from 1980-96 and won the Longhorns’ lone volleyball national championship, in 1988.
The Trojans are led by Pac-12 freshman of the year Samantha Bricio, an outside hitter, and AllAmerican libero Natalie Hagglund. USC’s Sara Shaw, an outside hitter, was the 2009 Central Texas player of the year at Westlake.
Wichita State (24-9) finished third in the Missouri Valley Conference, but upset Kansas in three games to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.
The Shockers are led by middle blocker Ashley Andrade, who averaged 4.56 kills, 1.56 blocks and 5.56 points per set while hitting .507 in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.