USC overcomes another late deficit
For the second straight NCAA Tournament game, Southern California overcame a double-digit deficit in the second half to win.
Elijah Stewart hit a late three-pointer for No. 11 seed USC as the Trojans upset sixth-seeded SMU, 66-65, Friday in the first round in Tulsa, Okla.
USC trailed SMU (29-5) by 10 in the second half. The Trojans trailed Providence by 17 in the second half of their First Four game Wednesday night before winning, 75-71.
Apparently, they don’t know how to quit.
“We just had to keep fighting back,” Stewart said. “We’ve been in those positions before. So we’re kind of seasoned to it. And you just can’t stop. You just got to keep going.”
Stewart had 22 points for the Trojans (26-9), including the deciding three with 37 seconds to play.
“We ran the play previously before, and I was open,” Stewart said. “And then we had the media timeout. We discussed it. We ran the same play again, and I was open, and I just let muscle memory take place.”
Baylor 91, New Mexico State 73: Al Freeman came off the bench to score 21 points, and No. 3 Baylor defeated No. 14 New Mexico State (28-6).
Jo Lual-Acuil scored 16 points and Johnathan Motley added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears (26-7), who were upset in the first round by Georgia State and Yale the previous two years. MIDWEST REGIONAL
Oregon 93, Iona 77: With star big man Chris Boucher cheering in a bulky knee brace from the sidelines, Tyler Dorsey scored 24 points to lead four players in double figures, and the No. 3-seed Ducks (30-5) disposed of the Gaels (22-13).
Louisville 78, Jacksonville St. 63: Mangok Mathiang scored 18 points and Deng Adel added 16 to help second-seeded Louisville (25-8) pull away from No. 15 Jacksonville State (20-15).
Rhode Island 84, Creighton 72: Jeff Dowtin scored a career-high 23 points with a perfect day at the free-throw line, upstart Rhode Island (25-9) answered every threat and the Rams ran right into the second round by stunning the cold-shooting Bluejays (25-10).
Kuran Iverson scored 17 points and Hassan Martin had 12 points and eight rebounds as 11th-seeded Rhode Island won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since advancing to the Elite Eight and losing to Stanford in 1998.
Kansas 100, UC Davis 62: Frank Mason III scored 22 points and had eight assists as top-seeded Kansas won its opening tournament game for an 11th straight year with a victory over UC Davis (23-13).
Freshman Josh Jackson, making his return after a one-game suspension for an accumulation of embarrassing incidents, added 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting for the Jayhawks (29-5).
Michigan State 78, Miami 58: Nick Ward scored 19 points to help the Spartans (20-14) atone for last season’s early NCAA Tournament disappointment with an opening-round victory over the Hurricanes (21-12).
The ninth-seeded Spartans trailed by as many 12 points in the first half before blitzing past the stunned Hurricanes the rest of the way, using a 20-2 first half run to take control for good. SOUTH REGIONAL
Arkansas 77, Seton Hall 71: Jaylen Barford hit the go-ahead layup with 57.8 seconds left to help Arkansas hold off Seton Hall in the first round.
Barford had 12 of his 20 points after halftime for the Razorbacks (26-9), the No. 8 seed in the South Regional. That included his layup off Khadeen Carrington’s turnover at the other end, pushing Arkansas ahead for good as the Razorbacks scored the game’s final seven points.
North Carolina 103, Texas Southern 64: Justin Jackson broke out of a four-game shooting slump with 21 points to help top-seeded North Carolina (28-7) roll past No. 16 Texas Southern (2312).
Jackson, the ACC player of the year, had made just 20 of 60 shots and 7 of 31 three-pointers in his last four games. But he had 19 points by halftime in this one, helping the Tar Heels quickly eliminate any chance of an unprecedented upset.
Wichita State 64, Dayton 58: Wichita State’s high-flying offense didn’t get off the ground until the closing minutes, when the No. 10 Shockers (31-4) played like the more tournament-experienced team and pulled away from seventh seeded Dayton (24-8).
Cincinnati 75, Kansas St. 61: Troy Caupain scored 23 points, Kyle Washington added 16 and defensive-minded No. 6 Cincinnati (30-5) shot its way past Kansas State (2114).