Aggies use size to edge Friars
Providence is knocked out by Texas A&M
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tyler Davis and Robert Williams spent all Friday snatching rebound after rebound, blocking a few shots and had Williams offer a highlight-reel capper in the final minute.
When Texas A&M’s bigs are playing like this, it’s tough to tussle with these Aggies. And that gives them their best chance to stick around the NCAA Tournament for another weekend.
Davis had 14 points and 15 rebounds and Williams added his own double-double to help Texas A&M beat Providence 73-69, sending the Aggies on to the second round of the West Region. They will face second-seeded North Carolina.
Williams finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds for Texas A&M (21-12), the region’s No. 7 seed. They also each blocked two shots.
“We got a lot of help from our guards, too,” Davis said. “Our guards put bodies on the outside so we can play 1-on-1 inside. It was really a team effort. We were able to snag a couple of boards.”
A couple? The 6-foot-10 forwards outrebounded Providence’s entire team.
“We’re just out there doing our job,” Davis said. “This is what we do. We know we have the advantage inside most games so this is just another game where we came out and gave 100 percent effort on the glass.”
Providence’s players knew it would be a challenge for their smaller group to battle on the boards. The game plan, guard Kyron Cartwright said Thursday, was simply “box out.” And all through the Friars’ locker room in Charlotte on Friday were orange signs saying the same thing.
Still, knowing what they had to do and executing it were two different things.
The Aggies finished with a 44-26 rebounding advantage and had 11 offensive rebounds against the 10th-seeded Friars (21-14).
“Even though we were checking out, and I thought we did a decent job, they got length rebounds,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. “There’s really nothing you can do.
“That’s God’s gift to them. There’s really nothing you can do about it. You keep encouraging your kids, but when you’ve got 7-6 wing length and 7-5 wing length, that’s genetics, baby.”
“At the end, they pulled it out because they had more energy than us,” said Alpha Diallo, who scored 21 points for Providence. “They started taking it to us, and we couldn’t answer on the other end.”
NORTH CAROLINA 84, LIPSCOMB 66
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kenny Williams scored 18 points and defending national champion North Carolina took its time before opening up, beating Lipscomb 84-66 Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Theo Pinson had 15 points and flirted with a triple-double for the Tar Heels (26-10), the No. 2 seed in the West Region.
Playing for the first time in the NCAA tourney, the 15th-seeded Bisons (23-10) shot well at the start and held an early six-point edge. They led 33-31 with under four minutes left in the first half before North Carolina went on a 12-1 run to take control by the break.
MARSHALL 81, WICHITA STATE 75
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jon Elmore scored 27 points and Jarrod West hit a huge 3-pointer with three minutes left to help No. 13 seed Marshall topple fourth-seeded Wichita State 81-75 Friday in the East Region.
The Thundering Herd (25-10) also got big shots down the stretch from Ajdin Penava and C.J. Burks to win in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1987. Marshall plays the Murray State-West Virginia winner in the next round.
Wichita State (25-8) got 27 points from Conner Frankamp and seemed to be in control midway through the second half, but the Thundering Herd refused to fade despite its lack of NCAA tourney experience.
After Frankamp’s long jumper gave the Shockers a 70-69 lead with just less than 5 minutes to go, Penava made a layup. The next time down the floor, West buried a long 3 and raised his right hand in celebration after giving the Thundering Herd a 74-70 lead.
CINCINNATI 68 GEORGIA STATE 53
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jarron Cumberland had 27 points and 11 rebounds to set career highs in both categories Friday as Cincinnati recovered after blowing a 10-point lead in the second half to beat pesky Georgia State 68-53 in the NCAA Tournament.
Cincinnati, the No. 2 seed in the South Region, won its eighth game in a row and advanced to a Sunday matchup against either seventh-seeded Nevada or 10th seed Texas.
After trailing 42-32 early in the second half, Georgia State (24-11) rallied to take a pair of one-point leads, its last one coming on a driving bank shot from D’Marcus Simonds with 9:30 left.
Cincinnati (31-4) answered by reeling off 10 straight points.
WEST VIRGINIA 85, MURRAY STATE 68
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jevon Carter scored 21 points, had eight assists and six steals, Teddy Allen added 16 points and No. 5 seed West Virginia overwhelmed 12th-seeded Murray State 85-68 in the first round of the East Region on Friday.
The Mountaineers (25-10) pulled away in the second half and advanced to the round of 32 for the third time in the past four seasons as four players finished in double figures.
Next up for West Virginia: A Mountain State showdown with 13th-seeded Marshall far away from home.
Carter had 13 points in the second half and was the trigger of a second-half surge by the Mountaineers after Murray State had trimmed a 14-point lead down to five.