Bluejays escape on Gauchos’ miss
No. 5 Creighton 63, No. 12 UCSB 62
INDIANAPOLIS — Christian Bishop made both ends of a one-and-one with 16 seconds left to give Creighton the lead, and the Bluejays hung on to beat UC Santa Barbara on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Creighton’s turbulent season, which included a one-game suspension for coach Greg McDermott after he made a racially insensitive remark in the locker room, continues Monday in the West Region when the Bluejays (21-8) face either Virginia or Ohio.
Bishop was fouled by Amadou Sow on the floor after grabbing an offensive rebound and went to the line with the Gauchos (22-5) up 62-61. The junior came into the game making 57% from the line but dropped in both, barely touching the rim.
The Gauchos (22-5) came down and put the ball in the hands of their best player,
JaQuori McLaughlin. The Big West Player of the Year split a double-team behind the 3-point line and found Sow in the lane, but the 6-foot-9 junior missed a contested layup. Shereef Mitchell rebounded the miss for Creighton with 3 seconds left.
Late Friday
Midwest Region
No. 4 Oklahoma State 69, No. 13 Liberty 60
INDIANAPOLIS — Cade Cunningham didn’t have an explosive debut, but he did just enough to lead Oklahoma State past Liberty.
Cunningham scored 15 points — nine straight in the final minutes — as Oklahoma State earned its first NCAA tournament victory since 2009. Avery Anderson III led the Cowboys with 21 points.
Cunningham, the Big 12 Player of the Year, struggled for most his debut until his late surge gave OSU (21-8) breathing room against the stubborn Flames (23-6).
Elijah Cuffee had 16 points and Darius McGhee scored 12 for Atlantic Sun champion Liberty, which had won its previous 12 games.
No. 11 Syracuse 78,
No. 6 San Diego State 62
INDIANAPOLIS — Syracuse held sixth-seeded San Diego State without a field goal for nearly a quarter of the game, and sweet-shooting Buddy Boeheim hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 30 points.
Boeheim finished 7 of 10 from beyond the arc and 11 of 15 from the field, and Marek Dolezaj added 11 points as Syracuse (17-9) advanced to play third-seeded West Virginia today.
Jordan Schakel had 17 points for the Aztecs (23-5).
No. 3 West Virginia 84, No. 14 Morehead State 67
INDIANAPOLIS — Miles McBride scored 18 of his 30 points after halftime, giving coach Bob Huggins his 900th career victory.
McBride was terrific from the start. The 6-foot-2 sophomore made his first five shots and finished 11 for 17 from the floor with six rebounds and six assists for the Mountaineers (19-9).
No. 2 Houston 87,
No. 15 Cleveland State 56
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Quentin Grimes scored 18 points for the Cougars (25-3) as Kelvin Sampson tied John Wooden on the career victories list.
Sampson earned his 664th win, No. 38 all-time, in his first game at Assembly Hall since resigning as Indiana’s coach in February 2008.
D’Moi Hodge scored 11 for the Vikings (19-9).
South Region
No. 9 Wisconsin 85,
No. 8 North Carolina 62
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Coach Roy Williams lost his first opening-round NCAA game in 30 tries.
Brad Davison scored 29 points for the Badgers, who negated North Carolina’s size advantage by draining 13 of 27 3-pointers. The Badgers (18-12) had lost four of five entering the tournament, but they now get a chance at top-seeded Baylor.
Williams had won all 14 of his first-round games with Kansas and his first 15 with UNC, but these Tar Heels did not win four games in a row all season.
Armando Bacot, from Richmond, scored 15 points for UNC (18-11).
No. 10 Rutgers 60, No. 7 Clemson 56
INDIANAPOLIS — Geo Baker scored 13 points, including the decisive layup with 10 seconds
left, as the Scarlet Knights (16-11) gained their first NCAA tournament victory in 38 years. Rutgers’ last victory in the tournament came in 1983 against Southwest Louisiana (now the Louisiana-Ragin’ Cajuns).
Aamir Simms led Clemson (16-8) with 15 points.
No. 13 North Texas 78, No. 4 Purdue 69, OT
INDIANAPOLIS — Jason Hamlet scored 24 points and Thomas Bell had 16, along with some game-changing defense in overtime, to lift the Mean Green.
Hamlet and Bell led the Mean Green (18-9) to a regular-season Conference USA title last year. This year, they earned a secondround date with Villanova.
No. 5 Villanova 73, No. 12 Winthrop 63
INDIANAPOLIS — Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Villanova pulled away in the second half.
Villanova (17-6) had lost both games since senior point guard and Big East Co-Player of the
Year Collin Gillespie tore a ligament in his left knee during the Wildcats’ victory over then-No. 14 Creighton on March 3. That made Big South champion Winthrop (23-2) a popular upset pick.
NIT
Memphis 71, Dayton 60
DENTON, Texas — Virginia Tech transfer Landers Nolley II had 21 points, six rebounds and five assists as the Tigers won an NIT first-round game. Memphis (17-8) will face Boise State in a quarterfinal Thursday.
Miss. State 74, Saint Louis 68
D.J. Stewart’s 20 points, six assists and four rebounds led fourth-seeded Mississippi State (16-14) past the top-seeded Billikens (14-7). Hasahn French had 17 points and 10 rebounds for St. Louis. MSU will play Richmond in a quarterfinal Thursday night.
LATE FRIDAY
Colo. State 75, Buffalo 73
DENTON, Texas — David Roddy had 17 points and eight rebounds as top-seeded Colorado State won a first-round game. The Rams (19-6) will play North Carolina State in a quarterfinal Thursday. Isaiah Stevens converted a contested layup with 1.2 seconds left.
La. Tech 70, Mississippi 61
FRISCO, Texas — Freshman Kenneth Lofton Jr. scored a season-high 22 points and had seven rebounds for the Bulldogs. Louisiana Tech (22-7) will play Western Kentucky on Thursday in an all-Conference USA quarterfinal.
Jarkel Joiner led Ole Miss (16-12) with 22 points. Mississippi was without Devontae Shuler, the SEC’s active leader in career steals (185) and career assists (329), due to family reasons, and KJ Buffen, who entered the transfer protocol.