Bluejays use late FTs to hold off Gauchos
Creighton’s Christian Bishop is not a good free-throw shooter.
You never would have known it when he went to the line with 16 seconds left for a one-and-one with the BlueJays down a point to UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The 57% shooter barely touched the rim while sinking two shots to give fifth-seeded Creighton the lead, and the Bluejays hung on to beat the 12th-seeded Gauchos 63-62 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“It felt really good to step up to the line and hit those two big free throws,” Bishop said. “I’ve been practicing every day so it’s nice to see the hard work pay off.”
The last three weeks for Creighton (21-8) have been have been anything but ordinary since coach Greg McDermott made a racially insensitive remark in the locker room to his players after a game. He received a one-game suspension and returned for the Big East Tournament last week.
“We’ve been through a lot and the reason we’ve been through a lot is on me,” McDermott said.
Michigan cruises: Mike Smith scored 18 points and Hunter Dickinson added 16 to lead the top-seeded Wolverines to an 82-66 victory over Texas Southern.
Wolverines won without Isaiah Livers, who is out with a foot injury. Livers wore a shirt with #NotNCAAProperty written on it.
The hashtag is part of a social media effort to raise awareness about inequities in college sports.
LSU overcomes slow start: Freshman Cameron Thomas scored 27 points in another impressive performance and his LSU teammates provided the rebounding muscle, leading the eighth-seeded
Tigers past ninth-seeded St. Bonaventure 76-61 on Saturday and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Buffs stampede Hoyas: Colorado used an early 3-point barrage to parlay their highest seeding ever at March Madness into a firstround win Saturday over one of the biggest names in the game. It was a 96-73 thumping of Georgetown.
Led by Jabari Walker’s 5-for-5 shooting from 3-point range, the fifth-seeded Buffs made 16 3-pointers and shot 64% from long range.
Jayhawks hold off EWU: Put on the ropes early by Tanner Groves and the Big Sky champs, David McCormack responded by piling up 22 points and nine rebounds in 25 minutes of work to help slow-starting Kansas rally from a 10-point second-half deficit and beat No. 14 seed Eastern Washington 93-84.
Mobley leads USC: Evan Mobley had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 6 seed USC used smothering defense in a 72-56 victory over Drake on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Seminoles outlast UNCG:
RaiQuan Gray scored 17 points and No. 4 seed Florida State held off 13th-seeded UNC Greensboro 64-54 on Saturday.
Garza propels Iowa by GCU: Iowa got 24 points from Luka Garza and avoided the early NCAA Tournament exit that befell other high seeds with an 86-74 victory over Grand Canyon on Saturday night.
Tide tops Iona: Herb Jones’ 20 points led Alabama to a 68-55 win over No. 15 seed Iona, coached by Rick Pitino. Alabama is in the tournament with its best seeding in history, coming off its first SEC Tournament title in 30 years.