South Carolina upsets Duke
Gamecocks oust No. 2 seed
Sindarius Thornwell had 24 points, Chris Silva scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and seventh-seeded South Carolina stunned No. 2 seed Duke, 88-81, on Sunday night in Greenville, S.C., to advance to its first Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament’s expanded bracket.
The Gamecocks (2410) trailed by 10 points early in the second half after one of its coldest shooting stretches of the season to start. But behind Thornwell’s outside shooting and Silva’s dominance underneath, South Carolina rallied to win two NCAA games for the first time in 44 years.
The Gamecocks rushed to their fans when things were over, celebrating one of the biggest wins in program history.
Next up is the East Regional at Madison Square Garden, where the Gamecocks will face third-seeded Baylor.
Duke (28-9) was attempting to reach the round of 16 for the sixth time in eight seasons. The Blue Devils, though, could not surmount South Carolina’s stifling defense. Leading scorer Luke Kennard had his second straight subpar shooting game, finishing 1 of 6 for 11 points before fouling out.
Baylor 82, Southern California 78: Johnathan Motley had 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Bears edged the Trojans in an East Regional game in Tulsa, Okla.
Terry Maston scored 19 points, King McClure added 17 and Manu Lecomte scored all 12 of his points in the final 5 minutes for the Bears (27-7).
A four-point play by Lecomte put the Bears up, 69-67. Lecomte, who hadn’t scored the entire game, scored eight points in 45 seconds to put the Bears up, 73-67.
Chimezie Metu scored 28 points and Bennie Boatwright added 16 for USC (26-10). SOUTH REGIONAL
North Carolina 72, Arkansas 65: Kennedy Meeks had 16 points and a huge tip-in with 44.2 seconds left to help North Carolina barely avoid a huge upset by rallying to beat Arkansas in Greenville, S.C.
Justin Jackson added 15 points for the Tar Heels (29-7), including the dunk that capped a game-closing 12-0 run by the South Region’s No. 1 seed to help it survive a wild game.
North Carolina led by 17 points after a dominating start, blew that lead and trailed, 65-60, with about 31⁄2 minutes left then came up with a response befitting its veteran experience.
Isaiah Hicks came up big late, too, with a dunk and four free throws in the final two minutes to help UNC survive.
Daryl Macon scored 19 points to lead the eighth-seeded Razorbacks (26-10), who did everything right in the second half except close out the Tar Heels.
Joel Berry II hit two free throws with 2:56 left, Jackson found Hicks for a dunk, then Hicks hit two free throws after being fouled on a rebound to put UNC up, 66-65, with 1:44 left.
Kentucky 65, Wichita State 62: Bam Adebayo had a double-double and swatted away the final shot as the Wildcats held off the Shockers in Indianapolis.
Kentucky’s freshman trio made all of the significant plays in the final minutes.
De’Aaron Fox had 14 points, including a late steal and dunk. Malik Monk blocked a shot and made two free throws in the final 13 seconds. Adebayo had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and he finished it off by swatting away Landry Shamet’s three-point attempt as it left his hand with less than a second left.
Kentucky (31-5) moved into the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in nine years. The Shockers (31-5) were wiping away tears after another crushing second-round loss. MIDWEST REGIONAL
Kansas 90, Michigan State 70: Josh Jackson scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half to help the Jayhawks pull away from the Spartans in Tulsa, Okla.
Frank Mason III added 20 points for the Jayhawks (30-4), who have advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament in nine of coach Bill Self’s 14 seasons.
Miles Bridges scored 22 points to lead Michigan State (20-15) despite leaving briefly in the first half with an injury.
Oregon 75, Rhode Island 72: Tyler Dorsey hit a contested go-ahead three-pointer from the top of the arc with 38.4 seconds to play and the Ducks (31-5) outlasted the Rams (25-10) in Sacramento, Calif.
E.C. Matthews airballed a long three-point attempt in the waning moments trying to force overtime.
Dorsey also tied the game with a three with 1:45 remaining on the way to 27 points before teammate Dillon Brooks took a charge on the other end for Oregon.