Furman, Princeton derail many brackets on first day
For years, Virginia’s
Kihei Clark has been coach Tony Bennett’s most trusted player. In the Cavaliers’ NCAA tournament opener against No. 13 seed Furman on Thursday afternoon in Orlando, the graduate guard made perhaps the most agonizingly regrettable decision of his basketball career.
With No. 4 seed Virginia protecting a two-point lead in the closing seconds, Clark was trapped near the baseline. Rather than calling timeout, he heaved the ball across midcourt.
Paladins forward Garrett Hien collected the errant, high-arcing toss and passed to JP Pegues, whose threepointer with 2.2 seconds left dealt the Cavaliers another heartbreaking postseason loss, 68-67, at Amway Center.
Virginia’s season thus ended with another early exit in the NCAA tournament. The Cavaliers (25-8), who did not earn a berth last season, have not won a March Madness game since 2019, when they captured the program’s first national championship.
“I’ve told you at the start of it how much I’ve enjoyed coaching him, how much of a warrior he is,” Bennett said of Clark. “His story is unbelievable, and this adds another chapter to it, and he can handle it. We can handle this. Sometimes thing happen, and again, I’ve said this, you get to choose how you respond.”
Clark did so by watching the play over and over again on his mobile phone in the aftermath of the stunning outcome that sent Furman, which won just its second NCAA tournament game, to Saturday’s second round against No. 5 seed San Diego State.
The mood in the somber Virginia locker room was reminiscent of the last time a No. 13 seed lost to a No. 4 in the NCAA tournament in 2021. Virginia was on the short end of that result as well when it fell to Ohio, 62-58, in Bloomington, Indiana.
But as he did then, Clark, the winningest player in ACC history and a starter on the national championship team, again addressed the disheartening circumstances directly after finishing with five points on 2-for-7 shooting against Furman with five assists and two turnovers.
“Couldn’t see out of it,” Clark said of his decision down the stretch. “Saw Kadin [Shedrick] down there. Just tried to throw it up. I knew they had [the] possession [arrow], did not want them to tie it up, but yeah, probably should have called the timeout. Didn’t see the ref right there.”
Shedrick led the Cavaliers with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Reece Beekman, who missed a deep threepointer at the buzzer, added 14 on a day when Virginia shot 44.4 percent, including 2 of 12 on threepointers, and missed nine layups, highlighting an inability to finish at the rim that plagued the Cavaliers all season.
Jalen Slawson scored a game-high 19 points with 10 rebounds for Furman (28-7), the Southern Conference tournament champion making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1980. In the second half the Paladins shot 6 of 14 (42.9 percent) from behind the arc and made all nine of their free throws.
No. 15 Princeton 59,
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No. 2 Arizona 55: Ryan Langborg banked in a driving
layup with two minutes to go to give the Tigers their first lead, and the Wildcats missed their final seven shots in Princeton’s shocking victory in Sacramento, Calif.
Princeton (22-8) finished on a 9-0 run while overcoming a 12-point secondhalf deficit, posting an upset reminiscent of its 1996 first-round victory over defending champion UCLA.
Pac-12 tournament champion Arizona (28-7) bowed out after scoring only four points in the final 8:05 to finish with its season-low point total.
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No. 1 Alabama 96, No. 16 Texas A&M-CorpusChristi 75:
Nick Pringle posted a double-double as the Crimson Tide overcame a poor performance from Brandon Miller to beat the Islanders in Birmingham, Ala.
Pringle totaled 19 points and 15 rebounds on 8-of-10 shooting in just 21 minutes of action for the Crimson Tide (30-5), who will face
eighth-seeded Maryland in the second round on Saturday. Mark Sears added 15 points and Jahvon Quinerly went for 13.
Miller, the Southeastern Conference Player and Freshman of the Year, went scoreless for the first time this season.
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No. 5 San Diego State 63, No. 12 Charleston 57:
Matt Bradley scored 17 points and the Aztecs held off the Cougars in Orlando.
Keshad Johnson, Jaedon LeDee and Aguek Arop scored eight points apiece for San Diego State (28-6), which will face 13th-seeded Furman in the second round on Saturday.
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No. 7 Missouri 76, No. 10 Utah State 65:
D’Moi Hodge scored 23 points and had four steals as the Tigers beat the Aggies in Sacramento, Calif., for their first NCAA tournament win since 2010.
Kobe Brown scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Tigers (25-9).
DeAndre Gholston
scored 11 points and Noah Carter added 10 for Missouri, who will play the No. 15 seed Princeton in the second round on Saturday.
Taylor Funk led the Aggies (26-9) with 16 points and seven rebounds. Dan Akin and Steve Ashworth scored 12 points each and Sean Bairstow added 10.
No. 8 Maryland 67, ● No. 9 West Virginia 65:
Julian Reese led the Terrapins with 17 points and nine rebounds to beat the Mountaineers to tip off the South Region in Birmingham, Ala.
Hakim Hart had 15 points with four assists and scored the go-ahead basket as the Terrapins (22-12) ended the game on an 11-6 run. They advanced to the second round to face No. 1 Alabama.
Erik Stevenson put West Virginia (19-15) ahead 5956 with a three-pointer with 5:45 left, but Donta Scott answered with his own 72 seconds later.
WEST REGION No. 1 Kansas 96, No. 16 Howard 68:
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The defending national champion Jayhawks shifted into high gear in the second half to smother the Bison at Des Moines, Iowa.
All-American Jalen Wilson collected 20 points and seven rebounds, freshman Gradey Dick had 19 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals and the top-seeded Jayhawks (28-7) had five players with 10 or more points in the West Region matchup.
The Jayhawks advanced to play eighth seed Arkansas on Saturday.
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No. 8 Arkansas 73, No. 9 Illinois 63:
The Razorbacks survived a secondhalf slump to put away the Illini and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Des
Moines, Iowa.
Ricky Council IV scored 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the eighth-seeded Razorbacks (21-13), who trailed for only 1 minute, 20 seconds and led by as many as 17 in the second half.
Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. had 20 points and RJ Melendez added 10, as did Coleman Hawkins, who had a game-high six turnovers.
Arkansas advances to a second-round matchup Saturday with No. 1 seed Kansas.
ELSEWHERE
Arkansas State: Head ● coach Mike Balado was dismissed after six seasons, ESPN and Stadium reported. The Red Wolves went 13-20 (4-14 Sun Belt) this past season. Balado, 47, posted an 82-100 record during his time with Arkansas State. His best season was in 2021-22, when the Red Wolves went 18-11.