Elmore’s 27 leads 13th-seeded Marshall
West’s 3-pointer crushes 4th-seeded Wichita State
SAN DIEGO — The Marshall Thundering Herd celebrated like never before Friday.
For the first time in six tries during 62 years, the Thundering Herd won an NCAA Tournament game.
Jon Elmore scored 27 points and Jarrod West hit a huge 3-pointer with three minutes left to help No. 13 seed Marshall topple fourth-seeded Wichita State 81-75 in the East Region.
When the buzzer sounded, West raised his arms in the air and joyously ran practically the length of the court before joining his teammates in celebration.
“Long time!” coach Dan D’antoni said moments later.
Was it ever.
The Thundering Herd (25-10) made its first NCAA tourney appearance in 1956 and made its most recent one in 1987, losing all five along the way. The 1987 loss was later vacated due to infractions. Its only postseason victories were in the NIT in 1967, when D’antoni was on the team.
“So we’ve got a little bit to do,” said D’antoni, the older brother of Houston Rockets coach Mike D’antoni. “I like these guys. I like the chance riding with them, fun to be on a trip with and they’re fun to watch to play and it’s real fun when we win. So we’re going to try to do that one more time.
“I told them the beginning goal is to win the NCAA Tournament. Wherever we get in the car driving down the road to that championship, when it stops we’ll all get off and we’ll be happy because we like who is in the car. We like the journey we’re on.”
The Thundering Herd also got big shots down the stretch from Ajdin Penava and C.J. Burks and will play West Virginia in the next round.
Marshall joined Buffalo as 13th seeds to win this week. On Thursday night, Buffalo beat No. 4 seed Arizona.
Wichita State (25-8) got 27 points from Conner Frankamp and seemed to be in control midway through the second half, but the Thundering Herd refused to fade despite its lack of NCAA tourney experience.
After Frankamp’s long jumper gave the Shockers a 70-69 lead with just less than 5 minutes to go, Penava made a layup. The next time down the floor, West buried a long 3 and raised his right hand in celebration after giving the Thundering Herd a 74-70 lead.
At Detroit, Kelan Martin scored 27 points and Kamar Baldwin added 24 for Butler, which advanced to face Purdue on Sunday.
The Bulldogs (21-13) raced to a 21-2 lead in the opening minutes, only for Arkansas to answer with a 27-6 tear. Butler took control again early in the second.
Jaylen Barford scored 15 points for Arkansas, but the Razorbacks (23-12) struggled in the paint — 6-foot-11 freshman Daniel Gafford managed only two field goals.
At San Diego,
No. 10 Butler 79, No. 7 Arkansas62— No. 5 West Virginia 85, No. 12 Murray State 68 —
Jevon Carter scored 21 points, had eight assists and six steals, and played suffocating defense on Murray State star Jonathan Stark.
Teddy Allen added 16 points and the Mountaineers (25-10) pulled away in the second half to advance to the round of 32 for the third time in the past four seasons. West Virginia had four players finish in double figures.
Terrell Miller led Murray State (26-6) with 27 points, but he was the only Racers player to shoot well.
At Detroit, Boilermakers center Isaac Haas broke his right elbow in Purdue’s victory and will miss the rest of the NCAA Tournament.
The 7-foot-2, 290-pound senior took a hard foul midway through the second half when Cal State Fullerton forward Dominik Heinzl pulled him down, trying to defend him. Haas hurt the same elbow in a win over Louisville in November.
Matt Haarms likely will fill in at center for Purdue (29-6). Carsen Edwards scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half and the rusty Boilermakers pulled away to rout Cal State Fullerton (20-12).
No. 2 Purdue 74, No. 15 CSU Fullerton 48 —