California comebacks
In a pair of First Four games, USC overcomes a 17-point second-half deficit to oust Providence, and UC Davis rallies to beat North Carolina Central.
DAYTON, Ohio — Bennie Boatwright scored a career-high 24 points as Southern Cal rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half to beat Providence 75-71 in a First Four game on Wednesday night.
The comeback win was revenge for the Trojans, who lost to Providence by one point in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last year. They move on to play sixthseeded SMU at Tulsa, Okla., on Friday.
After Providence led by 15 points at halftime and went up by 17 to start the second half, Southern Cal (25-9) mounted a furious rally. The Trojans closed it to five points at the 10-minute mark and went up 61-60 on a jumper by Chimezie Metu off a turnover with 6:46 left.
Metu hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to put Southern Cal up 71-64 with 1:23 remaining and kept Providence from getting back into it down the stretch.
Jordan McLaughlin scored 18 points for Southern Cal, and Metu added 15 on 9 for 12 freethrow shooting.
Emmitt Holt led Providence with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jalen Lindsey and Rodney Bullock added 17 each.
UC DAVIS 67 N.C. CENTRAL 63
Chima Moneke had 18 points and 12 rebounds as the Aggies won in their first NCAA Tournament appearance, beating the Eagles.
16th-seeded UC Davis rallied in the second half and held off North Carolina Central down the stretch to earn a trip to Tulsa to play No. 1 seed Kansas on Friday.
Brynton Lemar scored 15 points and Lawrence White added 14 for the Aggies (23-12), who won despite 18 turnovers that led to 20 points for streaky North Carolina Central.
The Eagles (25-9) pulled within 64-63 with 1:49 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Dajuan Graf and got the ball back with 37 seconds left, but Graf ’s potential game-winning 3-point try was off the mark.