Texas So. moves on
Texas Southern got its first ever NCAA tournament win last night, a 64-46 rout of North Carolina Central in a First Four game in Dayton, Ohio.
ROUNDUP
Demontrae Jefferson, a 5-foot-7 guard, scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lift No.16 seed Texas Southern (16-19), which became the first team with a losing record to win a tournament game. The Tigers started the season 0-13 against a rough schedule and didn’t win a game until Jan.1. Now they move on face No.1 seed Xavier on Friday.
A historically black college in Houston, Texas Southern slipped into the First Four by getting hot and winning the Southwest Athletic College tournament. The Tigers then were paired with MidEastern Athletic Conference tournament winner N.C. Central, another historically black school that was making its second straight appearance in Dayton for a play-in game with a completely new starting lineup.
Both the conferences get an automatic bid every year but rarely have to play each other.
N.C. Central (19-16) was led by Raasean Davis’ 19 points, part of a starting five that included a pair of true freshmen guards and a walk-on.
Texas Southern led by 10 at the half on Jefferson’s 17 points. The sophomore tied the score at 10 with a jumper, then fed an alley-oop pass to Trayvon Reed for a monster dunk and followed with a layup to cap an 8-0 run. The Tigers wouldn’t relinquish the lead.
Syracuse 60, Arizona State 56 — Oshae Brissett had 23 points and 12 rebounds as the Orange (21-13) battled back from a seven-point deficit early in the second half to beat the Sun Devils (20-12) in the last First Four contest in Dayton, Ohio.
Tyus Battle added 15 points and Frank Howard added 12 for Syracuse, which faces TCU tomorrow. Kodi Justice led ASU with 15 points and five assists.
Harvard falls in NIT
In Milwaukee, Markus Howard scored 22 points as Marquette (20-13) held on to beat Harvard (18-14), 67-60, in the first round of the NIT despite three turnovers in the final minute.
Harvard, down by nine with 1:20 left, forced three steals down the stretch but managed just two points off the mistakes after Justin Bassey missed two foul shots and threw the ball away with 21 seconds left.
Bassey scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half. He also had 12 rebounds, five assists and four steals, and Rio Haskett added eight points, including two late 3-pointers.