Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Let the (March) Madness begin
Late three-pointer sends Moser’s Ramblers to second round.
(right) celebrates after making the winning three-pointer against Miami in Thursday’s NCAA Tournament first-round game at Dallas. The Ramblers defeated the Hurricanes 64-62.
LOYOLA-CHICAGO 64, MIAMI 62
DALLAS — Donte Ingram picked the perfect spot for this game-winning shot.
Ingram hit a three-pointer from the March Madness logo just before the buzzer, lifting 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago over Miami 64-62 in a Thursday thriller at the NCAA Tournament.
“Well, it’s pretty simple to know why we call it March Madness,” said Hurricanes Coach Jim Larranaga, left holding his head in stunned disbelief after Ingram’s shot.
The Ramblers ( 29- 5) matched the school record for victories from their 1963 national championship team in their first NCAA trip since losing to Patrick Ewing and Georgetown in the Sweet 16 in 1985. Loyola, coached by former University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Porter Moser, advanced to face third-seeded Tennessee on Saturday.
In 2006, Larranaga took 11th-seed George Mason to the Final Four. This time, it was Loyola’s turn to celebrate after making its first tournament appearance in 33 years.
The long shot from well beyond the key came with just a split-second left, and was set up by a pass from Marques Townes. It happened after Lonnie Walker IV missed a free throw with a chance to give Miami a three-point lead with 9 seconds remaining.
“I thank Marques for making that pass,” said Ingram, who was 3 of 8 on three-pointers and scored 13 points. “Any one of us could have hit that shot, but I was just fortunate enough to be in the position.”
The sixth-seeded Hurricanes (22-10) led most of the second half in their third consecutive trip to the tournament, but couldn’t pull away in the final minutes and lost in the first round for the second consecutive year.
Clayton Custer hit a tying three in the final 2 minutes and led Loyola with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from long range.
TENNESSEE 73, WRIGHT STATE 47
DALLAS — Admiral Schofield had 15 points and 12 rebounds as Tennessee advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a victory over Wright State with Coach Rick Barnes back in familiar territory.
Lamonte Turner had 19 points and a career-high nine assists for Tennessee (26-8), SEC co-champions in the regular season. Grant Williams added 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Volunteers never had much trouble with the Horizon League tournament champ making its first NCAA appearance since 2007, even after missing their first six shots in the game. The Vols led 3-2 when Schofield made a three-pointer with 16:42 left, and Wright State (25-10) went back ahead on the next possession before Jordan Bowden’s layup put the Vols up for good.
It was Barnes’ 100th Volunteer game and 57th victory. The Vols are the No. 3 seed in the South Region.
Loudon Love led Wright State with 12 points and nine rebounds. Everett Winchester had 11 points for the Raiders, who shot only 31 percent (19 of 60) in their lowest-scoring game of the season.
KENTUCKY 78, DAVIDSON 73
BOISE, Idaho — Kentucky topped Davidson despite failing to make a single three-pointer, snapping a nation-best streak of 1,047 games with a three 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.
The last time Kentucky didn’t make a three-pointer was at the Great Alaska Shootout against Seton Hall on Nov. 26, 1988 — when Eddie Sutton was coaching, LeRon Ellis was the team’s leading scorer and the three-point arc was only in its third year in the college game.
Kevin Knox led the Wildcats (25-10) with 25 points, as they pulled away after 12th-seeded Davidson tied things at 5454 with 8:01 remaining.
Davidson made 11 three-pointers, led by six from Jon Axel Gudmundsson, who finished with 21 points.