North Carolina cruises to opening-round win
South Region’s top seed opens tournament play with a 103-64 win over Texas Southern
Justin Jackson scored 21 points to help top-seeded North Carolina roll past Texas Southern 103-64.
Justin Jackson broke out of a shooting slump with 21 points to help top-seeded North Carolina roll past Texas Southern 103-64 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s South Region.
The Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year had made just 20 of 60 shots (33 percent) and 7 of 31 3-pointers (23 percent) in his last four games. But he had 19 points by halftime in this one, helping the Tar Heels (287) quickly eliminate any chance of an unprecedented upset.
Jackson, a 6-foot-8 junior, finished 8 of 13 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range with seven rebounds.
Isaiah Hicks added 17 points and Kennedy Meeks had 13 for the Tar Heels, who are a No. 1 regional seed for an NCAA-record 16th time.
Kevin Scott scored 19 points to lead the 16th-seeded Tigers (23-12), the champions of the Southwestern Athletic Confer-
ence. Arkansas 77, Seton Hall 71
At Greenville, S.C., Jaylen Barford hit the goahead layup with 57.8 seconds left to help Arkansas hold off Seton Hall.
Barford had 12 of his 20 points after halftime for the Razorbacks (26-9), the No. 8 seed in the South Region. That included his layup off Khadeen Carrington’s turnover at the other end, pushing Arkansas ahead for good as the Razorbacks scored the game’s final seven points.
The 6-foot-3 junior also came through with a pair of free throws with 18.3 seconds left following a whistle in which officials reviewed Desi Rodriguez’s foul to stop the clock and changed it to a flagrant foul.
After Barford hit his free throws, Daryl Macon added another to make it a 75-71 game. Carrington missed a 3 at the other end in what amounted to the ninth-seeded Pirates’ last gasp.
Midwest
Michigan 92. Okla. St. 91
At Indianapolis, Derrick Walton Jr. scored 26 points and Michigan made 16 3-pointers to hold off Oklahoma State.
The seventh-seeded Wolverines (25-11) set a school record for 3s in an NCAA Tournament game. They have won six straight — five since a frightening plane mishap on the way to last week’s Big Ten Tournament.
Juwan Evans scored 23 points to lead the 10thseeded Cowboys (20-13), who finished the season with four consecutive losses.
It looked like that streak might end Friday after
Oklahoma State opened the second half on a 12-5 run to take a 52-46 lead.
But Michigan charged back with a relentless 3-point barrage, taking a 62-61 lead on Walton’s 3 with 12:26 left making three more 3s in a 14-4 run that made it 76-68. Oregon 93, Iona 77
At Sacramento, Calif., with star big man Chris Boucher cheering in a bulky knee brace from the sidelines, Tyler Dorsey scored 24 points to lead four players in double figures, and No. 3 seed Oregon beat 14th-seeded Iona.
The Ducks (30-5) showed they have depth and sheer athleticism to make a special March run, just as coach Dana Altman hoped this week when he challenged role players to make larger contributions in shot-blocker Boucher’s absence.
Iona star Jordan Washington gave his team a huge scare when he went down hard under Oregon’s basket, screaming in pain and grabbing his lower left leg with 1:12 to go before halftime. But the senior forward returned to start the second half and finished with 22 points on 10-for-16 shooting and 11 rebounds in his final college game for the Gaels (22-13). Louisville 78, J’ville St. 63
At Indianapolis, Mangok Mathiang scored 18 points and Deng Adel added 16 to help secondseeded Louisville pull away from Jacksonville State.
The Cardinals (25-8) have won five straight opening round games. Louisville was making its first postseason appearance since 2015 after sitting out last year because of a one-year, school-imposed postseason ban for alleged recruiting violations.
Norbertas Giga scored 30 points for 15th-seeded Jacksonville State (20-15), which was one of a record five teams making their first tourney appearance.
And it was a bigger challenge than most expected.
But after trailing for the first 13 minutes, the Cardinals finally took the lead with an 8-2 late in the first half. It closed the half on a 9-4 spurt then opened the second half on 10-2 run to make it 48-33. Louisville led by double digits most of the rest of the game.
East
Baylor 91, New Mex. St. 73
At Tulsa, Okla., Al Freeman came off the bench to score 21 points, and No. 3 seed Baylor defeated No. 14 seed New Mexico State.
Jo Lual-Acuil scored 16 points and Johnathan Motley added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears (26-7), who were upset in the first round by Georgia State and Yale the previous two years.
Ian Baker and Braxton Huggins each scored 19 points for New Mexico State (28-6).
Huggins hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give New Mexico State a 40-38 lead at the half. The Aggies made 6 of 14 3-pointers before the break to counter Baylor’s 55 percent shooting.
Baylor took control for good with a 14-3 run early in the second half to take a 58-47 lead. Baylor held the Aggies to 37 percent shooting in the second half. USC 66, SMU 65
At Tulsa, Okla., Elijah Stewart hit a late 3-pointer for No. 11 seed Southern California as the Trojans upset sixth seeded SMU 66.
SMU’s Shake Milton missed a floater at the buzzer.
Stewart had 22 points for the Trojans (26-9). Bennie Boatright and Chimezie Metu each added 14 for USC, which advances to play Baylor in the second round of the East region on Sunday.
USC also rallied from a big deficit in the second half in its First Four win over Providence. Semi Ojeleye had 24 points and 10 rebounds and Sterling Brown had 17 points for SMU (30-5), which had won 16 straight. SMU was in the NCAA Tournament after being banned from postseason play a year ago for multiple violations, including academic fraud and unethical conduct.