Jayhawks come alive, beat Penn
Graham ignited sluggish Kansas midway through the first half, pouring in 29 points and lifting the Midwest Regional’s top seed to a grind-it-out 76-60 victory over No. 16 Pennsylvania in Thursday’s opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Wichita, Kansas.
Lagerald Vick added 14 points for the Jayhawks (28-7), who trailed the Ivy League champs by 10 before going on a 19-2 run late in the first half to take control.
A.J. Brodeur had 14 points to lead the Quakers (24-9).
Seton Hall 94, North Carolina State 83
Khadeen Carrington scored 26 points, Desi Rodriguez added 20 and eighth-seeded Seton Hall beat North Carolina State in a foul-filled first-round matchup of the Mideast Region.
Myles Powell added 19 points and Angel Delgado scored 13 for the Pirates (22-11).
Allerik Freeman hit six 3-pointers and had 36 points to lead the No. 9 seed Wolfpack (21-12).
Rhode Island 83, Oklahoma 78, OT
E.C. Matthews hit the go-ahead 3pointer in overtime and one more that sealed it to help Rhode Island hold off dynamic scorer Trae Young and beat Oklahoma in the Midwest.
The seventh-seeded Rams (26-7) won a game in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season and will play Duke on Saturday.
The 10th-seeded Sooners (18-14) lateseason fade ended with a thud when Young failed to carry them as he had so many times this season.
Duke 89, Iona 67
Marvin Bagley III dominated in his NCAA Tournament debut, pouring in 22 points to go with seven rebounds as Duke rolled by Iona in the Midwest.
The Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year made 10 of 14 shots in 32 minutes, grabbed seven rebounds and knocked down his lone 3-point attempt as the second-seeded Blue Devils (27-7) overwhelmed the 15th-seeded Gaels (20-14).
Duke will play seventh-seeded Rhode Island on Saturday.
Loyola-Chicago 64, Miami 62
Donte Ingram hit a 3-pointer from the March Madness logo just before the buzzer, lifting Loyola-Chicago over Miami in a South thriller to celebrate its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 33 years.
Ingram’s long shot from well above the key came after Lonnie Walker IV missed a free throw with a chance to give the Hurricanes a three-point lead with 9 seconds remaining.
The 11th-seeded Ramblers (29-5) matched the school record for wins from their 1963 national championship team in their first NCAA trip since losing to Patrick Ewing and Georgetown in the Sweet 16 in 1985.
They advanced to face third-seeded Tennessee on Saturday.
The sixth-seeded Hurricanes (22-10) led most of the second half in their third straight trip to the tournament but couldn’t pull away in the final minutes and lost in the first round for the second straight year.
Kentucky 78, Davidson 73
Kentucky topped Davidson despite failing to make a single 3-pointer, snapping a nation-best streak of 1,047 games with a 3 that began in 1988.
The fifth-seeded Wildcats went 0 for 6 from behind the line and didn’t even try one over the final 8:46 in the East game in Boise, Idaho.
The last time Kentucky (25-10) didn’t make a 3-pointer was at the Great Alaska Shootout against Seton Hall on Nov. 26, 1988.
Tennessee 73, Wright State 47
Admiral Schofield had 15 points and 12 rebounds as Tennessee advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in the South with a win over Wright State with coach Rick Barnes back in familiar territory in Dallas.
Lamonte Turner had 19 points and a career-high nine assists for Tennessee (26-8), SEC co-champions in the regular season after being picked in the preseason to finish 13th in the 14-team league.
Ohio State 81, South Dakota State 73
Kam Williams made a tiebreaking four-point play with 1:36 left, then added a trio of free throws after being fouled on another 3-point attempt, lifting Ohio State to a victory over South Dakota State in the West Region.
Fifth-seeded Ohio State (25-8) built a 13-point lead by reeling off 16 straight points midway through the second half of a game that featured 71 combined 3pointers.
No. 12 South Dakota State (28-7) made a late run at the Buckeyes, scoring 10 straight points to tie it at 70-all.
Gonzaga 68, UNC Greensboro 64
Zach Norvell Jr. hit the go-ahead 3pointer with 20.8 seconds left to help Gonzaga escape a major scare in the West with a victory over UNC Greensboro in Boise.
The fourth-seeded Bulldogs (31-4) trailed 64-62 with 1:48 left after squandering a 12-point lead they took early in the second half.
They ran into a grinder of a defensive opponent in the 13th-seeded Spartans (27-8) but went 0 for 13 from 3 over the first 20 minutes.
Houston 67, San Diego State 65
Rob Gray drove for a wind-milling layup that just trickled over the rim with 1.1 seconds left, and Trey Kell’s off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer was no good, giving No. 6 seed Houston a victory over 11th-seeded San Diego State in the West Regional.
The layup gave him 39 points and the Cougars (27-7) their first tournament win since 1984. Jalen McDaniels had 18 points to lead San Diego State (22-11).
Villanova 87, Radford 61
Jalen Brunson scored 16 points and No. 1 seed Villanova hit 14 3-pointers in a romp over Radford in the East Regional.
The Highlanders (23-13) posed no threat at becoming the first 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 in the tournament.
Villanova (31-4) played to near-perfection for the first 30 minutes and everyone played a role. Mikal Bridges had 13 points, Eric Paschall scored 11 and Omari Spellman had 10.
Texas Tech 70, Stephen F. Austin 60
Keenan Evans scored 19 of his 23 points after halftime and third-seeded Texas Tech surged late to top Stephen F. Austin in the East.
The Big 12 runner-up Red Raiders (25-9) closed the game on a 13-2 run. Evans drove for a layup with 3:58 left, putting Texas Tech ahead to stay.
SFA (28-7), the Southland Conference tournament champion, led by eight points early in the second half was trying to take down a Big 12 opponent in an NCAA opener for the second time in three seasons.