Harper’s 3 helps Auburn overcome cold shooting
Tigers avoid upset behind Heron’s 16 points
SAN DIEGO — Jared Harper made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:17 to go — his only basket of the game — and Auburn held off No. 13 seed College of Charleston 62-58 in a Midwest Region thriller to avoid becoming the second No. 4 seed upset at Viejas Arena on Friday.
Playing under the cloud of a federal investigation into corruption in college basketball, Auburn overcame a horrible shooting performance to win in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003. But the Tigers only survived in part because Charleston committed 21 turnovers. Auburn will face Clemson Sunday in the second round.
Mustapha Heron scored 16 points for Auburn (26-7), which shot only 35.6 percent overall (21 of 59) and just
20.8 percent from 3-point range (5 of 24).
The biggest shot to go down for the Tigers was Harper’s deep 3 that gave them a 59-56 lead. He finished 1 of 7, including 1 for 4 from behind the arc.
The Cougars (26-8) pulled to 61-58 when Grant Riller made one of two free throws with 20.4 seconds left.
Auburn’s Davion Mitchell missed two free throws with 14 seconds to go, giving Charleston a chance. Riller launched a 3 with four seconds left that fell short. He appeared to get fouled but nothing was called.
Harper then made one of two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to seal it.
Earlier on Friday in the East
Region bracket at Viejas, No. 4 seed Wichita State was beaten 81-75 by No. 13 seed Marshall. And on Thursday night, No. 4 seed Arizona was routed 89-68 by 13th-seeded Buffalo in the South Region bracket at Boise, Idaho.
Desean Murray scored 11 points for Auburn, and Bryce Brown had 10.
Jarrell Brantley scored a gamehigh 24 points for Charleston, and Riller added 16.
No. 3 Michigan State 82, No. 14 Bucknell 78 —
At Detroit, Miles Bridges scored 29 points to lead Michigan State (30-4). Zach Thomas had 27 points for Bucknell before fouling out on a technical with 6:06 left.
The 6-foot-7 senior forward put on a show in the first half, scoring 20 points and making all three of his shots beyond the 3-point arc to keep the Bison close.
At Detroit, Marek Dolezaj scored 17 points before fouling out and 11th-seeded Syracuse shut down TCU (21-12).
The Orange (22-13) won for the second time in the tournament and advanced to face Michigan State.
TCU (21-12) is still without an NCAA Tournament victory since 1987, when coach Jamie Dixon was a player. This was the school’s first appearance since 1998, and it was short-lived
No. 11 Syracuse 57, No. 6 TCU 52— No. 5 Clemson 79, No. 12 New Mexico State 68 —
At San Diego, Shelton Mitchell scored a season-high 23 points, Gabe Devoe had 22 and Clemson beat New Mexico State, closing out a perfect first round for No. 5 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
The 5-12 line is usually one of the top spots for March Madness upsets, but Clemson (24-9) shot 56 percent from the field while advancing out of the first round for the first time since 1997. It was the Tigers’ first win in the NCAA tourney since the First Four in 2011.