Colorado St. routs Virginia in First Four
Joel Scott had 23 points and 11 rebounds as Colorado State won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in 11 years, blowing out Virginia 67-42 in the First Four on Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio.
Nique Clifford scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Rams (25-10), who advance as a No. 10 seed to play seventh-seeded Texas in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday.
Reece Beekman had 15 points on 4-of-16 shooting for Virginia, which hasn't won an NCAA Tournament game since it won the national title in 2019. That stretch includes two firstround losses as a No. 4 seed.
Colorado State dominated the boards and the Cavaliers couldn't keep up, shooting 25% for the game. The Rams shot 55% and out-rebounded the Cavaliers 43-24.
WAGNER 71, HOWARD 68 >> Wagner kicked off March Madness with the first NCAA Tournament win in program history, getting 21 points from Melvin Council Jr. and holding off a late rally by Howard to win in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio.
The Northeast Conference champion Seahawks (17-15) advanced as the No. 16 seed in the West Region and will play top seed North Carolina on Thursday.
Howard trailed by 17 points early in the second half but went on a late 14-2 run, closing within 69-68 on Bryce Harris' layup with 18 seconds left. After Julian Brown hit a pair of free throws for Wagner, Howard attempted three 3-pointers in the last 6 seconds but missed them all.
Colorado State's Joel Scott dunks during the first half of Tuesday's First Four game against Virginia.
Brown finished with 15 points for the Seahawks, who made their only previous NCAA Tournament appearance in 2003. Harris and Seth Towns scored 16 points apiece for Howard (18-16), the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion.
JAYHAWKS' MCCULLAR OUT OF TOURNAMENT >> Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. has been ruled out of the NCAA Tournament because of a bone bruise on his knee that caused him to miss six of the past 12 games, including the Jayhawks' one-and-done ouster in the Big 12 Tournament.
Kansas coach Bill Self, whose fourth-seeded Jayhawks play No. 13 seed Samford in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, told reporters that McCullar's knee pain “has not subsided any” and he would not be available.
“We're shutting him down for the tournament,” Self said. “... He hasn't practiced in six weeks, basically. He tried to (go play) and said that he just couldn't go.”
McCullar, who was voted an honorable-mention All-American, was having the kind of season the Jayhawks had hoped when he decided to return for a fifth year. McCullar spent his first three seasons at Texas Tech before transferring to Kansas, and he was averaging 18.3 points this season.
The Jayhawks will at least have second-team All-American Hunter Dickinson back for the NCAA Tournament. The 7-foot center dislocated his shoulder in their regular-season finale against Houston, and he sat out their lopsided loss to the Bearcats in the Big 12 tourney. He has practiced every day since last weekend, including full contact the last two days.
PURDUE'S EDEY, TENNESSEE'S KNECHT, UNC'S DAVIS HEADLINE THE AP ALLAMERICA TEAMS >> For the second straight year, Purdue's Zach Edey is the unanimous headliner for The Associated Press men's college basketball All-America team. The 7-foot-4, 300-pound senior topped all 62 ballots from AP Top 25 poll voters in results released Tuesday. The reigning AP national player of the year claimed all 58 votes last year.
Tennessee's Dalton Knecht and North Carolina's RJ Davis joined Edey (310 points) in a clear top trio. Knecht (298) was a first-team pick on 56 ballots, Davis (296) on 55 and both appeared among the top 10 players on every ballot.
Houston's Jamal Shead and Tristen Newton of reigning NCAA champion Connecticut rounded out the first team.