MEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT: EAST REGION Florida St. holds off UNC Greensboro
INDIANAPOLIS – Rayquan Gray scored 17 points and No. 4 seed Florida State (17-6) began what it hopes will be another deep NCAA Tournament run under coach Leonard Hamilton, holding off 13th-seeded UNC Greensboro 64-54 in the East Region on Saturday.
The Seminoles, who reached the Elite Eight and the Sweet 16 in the previous two tournaments, allowed the Spartans to hang around deep into the second half thanks to an uneven offensive performance.
Florida State went 0 for 9 from 3point range, winning a game without a made 3 for the first time since February 2018. The Seminoles still managed to shoot 50% overall. The Spartans (21-9) closed within 51-50 with 4:52 remaining, but Florida State held them scoreless for nearly four minutes after that.
Balsa Koprivica had 13 points and nine rebounds and Anthony Polite added 12 points for the Seminoles, who advanced to play Colorado in the second round on Monday.
Isaiah Miller scored 17 points and Keyshaun Langley added 16 for Greensboro, which was seeking its first tournament win. Greensboro shot 32% overall as Florida State allowed a season-low point total. Florida State rolled out to a 13-2 lead as Greensboro missed nine of its first 10 shots.
Colorado 96, Georgetown 73
INDIANAPOLIS – Chances are, you can fit Colorado’s entire NCAA Tournament history on the back of an old Patrick Ewing jersey. And now Ewing is part of that history, too.
The Buffaloes (23-8) used an early 3point barrage to parlay their highest seeding ever at March Madness into a first-round win over one of the biggest names in the game – a thumping of Georgetown(13-13), the program Ewing starred for in the 1980s and now coaches.
Led by freshman Jabari Walker’s 5for-5 shooting clinic from 3-point range, the fifth-seeded Buffs made 16 3-pointers and shot 64% from long range.
Walker missed only one of his 10 shots on his way to a career-best 24 points, and D’Shawn Schwartz (18 points) made four of his five 3s in the first half to put Colorado into cruise control. The Buffs made the round of 32 for only the third time since the brackets expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
Georgetown won four games in four days earlier this month to take the Big East Tournament title and make a surprise trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The 7-foot Ewing did what he could – stalking the sideline in khakis and lightblue tennis shoes, pulling down the mask and shouting instructions while the game, and the season, slipped away.
LSU 76, St. Bonaventure 61
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Freshman Cameron Thomas scored 27 points in another impressive performance and his LSU teammates provided the rebounding muscle, leading the eighth-seeded Tigers (19-9) past ninth-seeded St. Bonaventure (16-5).
LSU can reach its second straight Sweet 16 if it beats Michigan on Monday.
Darius Days and Aundre Hyatt each had 13 points and Trendon Watford had 11. Days and Watford also had 11 rebounds each while Hyatt grabbed 10. The Tigers have won five of six.
Jaren Holmes scored 18 points and Osun Osunniyi had 15 points and nine rebounds for St. Bonaventure. Jalen Adaway had 11 points in his home state.
Once the Tigers warmed up, the Bonnies never had a chance.
LSU started pulling away with a 9-2 spurt that gave it a 21-12 lead late in the first half, and when the Tigers opened the second half on a 12-2 spurt to make it 40-24, the Bonnies never got closer than nine.
Michigan 82, Texas Southern 66
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Juwan Howard got the win in his first NCAA Tournament game since taking over at Michigan, guiding Mike Smith and the top-seeded Wolverines (21-4) to a victory over Texas Southern (17-9).
Smith scored 18 points and Hunter Dickinson added 16 as Michigan rolled into the second round without Isaiah Livers, who is out with a foot injury. Eli Brooks and Brandon Johns Jr. had 11 points apiece.
Howard is back in the tournament for the first time since his stellar playing career with Michigan, including back-toback Final Four appearances in 1992 and 1993. It’s his second season in charge, but the NCAA Tournament was canceled last year because of the pandemic.
Howard and the Wolverines had little trouble with the No 16 seed Texas Southern,
but the absence of Livers could lead to adversity down the road. Next up is No 8 seed LSU on Monday.
Alabama 68, Iona 55
INDIANAPOLIS – The rest of Rick Pitino’s designer suits will stay on the hangers, thanks to a blitz of baskets by Alabama that pried open a tight game and gave the Crimson Tide (25-6) a win over Pitino’s underdogs from Iona (12-6).
Herb Jones led Alabama with 20 points, including a steal and layup that highlighted an 11-0 run and gave Alabama breathing room at 54-46 after the teams seesawed with the lead through much of the second half.
Everyone knew Pitino would come to the NCAA Tournament prepared, and expecting to win. Even though he came in with his highest seeding ever – a 15 – Pitino came to Indy with eight suits and at least a glimmer of hope he might use more than one. This is the fifth, and maybe most unlikely, program he has brought to the tournament.
Maryland 63, UConn 54
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Eric Ayala scored 23 points and Maryland clamped down on defense down the stretch to snag a victory over No. 7 UConn.
The 10th-seeded Terrapins held UConn to 32% shooting to overcome the Huskies’ strong physical game. Maryland was outrebounded 40-29 but its defense carried the Terps to a second round matchup against No. 2 Alabama. Maryland (17-13) shot 51% for the game and converted 9 of 18 from behind the arc. The Terps built a 14-point cushion that UConn cut to 53-48 with 2:53 remaining. Ayala and Darryl Morsell each made a pair of three throws to push the lead back to nine.
Hakim Hart answered another small UConn (15-8) spurt with a jumper to make it a three-possession game, and a dunk with 30 seconds left ignited a celebration on Maryland’s bench.