Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Freshman delivers, Minnesota prevails
DES MOINES, Iowa — Minnesota won its first NCAA Tournament game in six years behind 24 points from freshman Gale Kalscheur as the 10th-seeded Gophers rolled past Louisville 86-76.
It was the first tournament win in Richard Pitino’s six seasons coaching the Gophers and came against the school that fired his father, Rick Pitino, in 2017.
Jordan Murphy and Amir Coffey each had 18 points for Minnesota (22-13), which knocked down 11 threes despite entering play ranked 344th nationally in made threes per game.
Kalscheur’s layup early in the second half gave Minnesota its first double-digit lead, 43-33, and Murphy’s layup made it a 50-38 game with 16:06 left.
The Cardinals went to a full-court press in an effort to slow the surging Gophers. But that just left Kalscheur open from the same spot on back-to-back possessions, and he drilled two 3s to give Minnesota a 59-43 lead.
The seventh-seeded Cardinals (20-14) did cut it to seven late, but Christen Cunningham missed an open three that could’ve made things interesting down the stretch.
Cunningham led Louisville (20-14) with 22 points, and Steven Enoch had 14.
LSU 79, YALE 74
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Skylar Mays hit four free throws in the final 15 seconds to help embattled LSU slip past 14th-seeded Yale.
Mays scored 19 points but sealed the game from the charity stripe, and the Tigers (27-6) needed each one of his free throws.
Yale (22-8) hit four three-pointers in the final minute and whittled an 18-point deficit to three in the closing seconds. With the lead on the line, Mays calmly stepped to the line and sank all his free throws.
Mays was one of four Tigers in double figures. Tremont Waters finished with 15 points, but had just two after the break. He was 0 for 7 from the field in the final 20 minutes after dominating the first half with 13 points and six assists.
MICHIGAN STATE 76, BRADLEY 65
DES MOINES, Iowa — Cassius Winston scored 26 points and second-seeded Michigan State held off Bradley.
Xavier Tillman had 16 points with 11 boards for the Spartans (29-6), who’ll face Big Ten rival, 10th-seeded Minnesota, on Saturday in search of their first trip to the Sweet Sixteen in four years. Michigan State throttled the Gophers 79-55 in East Lansing back on Feb. 9.
Bradley gave the Big Ten champions all they could handle, though.
It was a one-possession game until Matt McQuaid drilled a crucial 3 to put Michigan State ahead 61-55 with 3:31 left. Aaron Henry followed with a layup to cap a 9-0 run, but Darrell Brown hit a three for Bradley to make it 65-60.
MARYLAND 79, BELMONT 77
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Maryland’s Darryl Morsell made a crucial defensive stop as Belmont went for a last-second upset, allowing the Terrapins to escape.
The mid-major powerhouse from Nashville, Tenn., couldn’t knock off the No. 6-seeded Terrapins (23-10) from the Big Ten, despite a 35-point performance by Dylan Windler.
Maryland was clinging to a one-point lead and the shot clock was off as Belmont (26-6) had a chance to win it at the buzzer. The Bruins didn’t bother calling a timeout to set up a play; they knew what they wanted to do — a backdoor pass to Windler. But Morsell anticipated the pass and stepped in front of Windler to intercept the pass while the Belmont star tumbled to the court.
Morsell was fouled with 2.5 seconds to go, sending him to the foul line for two shots. He made the first and missed the second, and Windler heaved an unsuccessful desperation shot from midcourt.
VILLANOVA 61, SAINT MARY’S 57
HARTFORD, Conn. — Phil Booth scored 20 points and the defending NCAA Tournament champion Villanova Wildcats held off Saint Mary’s.
Jordan Ford’s basket in the lane after a few nifty moves got the Gaels within six points at 61-55 with 34 seconds left. After Villanova’s Eric Paschell missed a foul shot on the other end, Malik Fitts cut the deficit to four points with a leaner in the lane.
The Gaels had two more chances in the final seconds after a foul by Booth and some missed free throws. But Fitts hit the rim on a three-point attempt and Saddiq Bey stole the ball from Ford in the final seconds to seal the win.
Ford and Fitts each had 13 points for Saint Mary’s, which finished the season 22-12.