BRUINS PUT AWAY UNC ASHEVILLE EARLY
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 17 points and UCLA raced out to a fast start and never looked back in a 86-53 victory over UNC Asheville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night at Sacramento.
The second-seeded Bruins (30-5) scored the first 14 points of the game and rolled from there. Amari Bailey also scored 17 points and David Singleton had 11.
UCLA advanced to play seventh-seeded Northwestern in the second round of the West Region.
Drew Pember scored 13 points for the 15th-seeded Bulldogs (27-8). UNC Asheville,
which won the Big South regular-season and tournament titles, has now lost all five times the school has advanced to the round of 64.
The Bruins apparently took notice of what happened earlier in the day at this site when fellow Pac-12 No. 2 seed Arizona was ousted by Princeton 59-55.
UCLA made sure this game was never in doubt, making its first five shots and taking a 14-0 lead on a 3pointer by Singleton just 3:06 into the game.
Jaquez scored inside to give the Bruins their biggest lead of the first half at 34-11 and they coasted from there.
The injuries that hit the Bruins in the Pac-12 tournament didn’t hurt them in this game. Defensive stopper Jaylen Clark (Achilles tendon) is out for the season and freshman big man Adem Bona sat out his second straight game with a shoulder injury. Bona could return for the second round.
No. 7 Northwestern 75, No. 10 Boise State 67:
Boo Buie scored 22 points to lead Northwestern to a win in the school’s second appearance ever in the NCAA Tournament, over Boise State at Sacramento.
The Wildcats (22-11) previously made it to the Big
Dance in 2017, and just like that time, they made sure they wouldn’t be one-anddone.
“All joy. No relief. It’s really hard to get here, especially when you play in the Big Ten,” coach Chris Collins said.
The 10th-seeded Broncos (24-10) are still searching for their first tournament win, losing their opener for the ninth time in as many tries. Max Rice scored 17 points to lead Boise State. It was the Mountain West Conference’s 12th loss in its last 13 NCAA games.
No. 1 Kansas 96, No. 16 Howard 68:
Jalen Wilson had 20 points and seven rebounds for defending national champion Kansas, which allowed absent and recovering coach Bill Self to rest a bit more comfortably during a victory over Howard (22-13) at Des Moines, Iowa.
Self is recovering from a heart procedure. “He wished us good luck and told us to go out and do what we do,” Wilson said.
Gradey Dick had 19 points and 11 rebounds in the freshman’s first NCAA Tournament game, his first career double-double. K.J. Adams Jr. scored 13 points and Dajuan Harris Jr. added 11 points, seven assists and four steals for the Jayhawks (28-7), who will play No. 8 seed Arkansas in the second round on Saturday.
Shy Odom had 15 points and eight rebounds and Steve Settle III added 13 points for the Bison.
No. 8 Arkansas 73, No. 9 Illinois 63: Ricky Council IV scored 18 points and Arkansas survived some anxious moments in the second half against an Illinois team that wouldn’t go away, holding on to beat the Illini at Des Moines, Iowa.
Devo Davis had 16 points for the Razorbacks (21-13), who used relentless defense and rebounding to build big leads but couldn’t get comfortable until the final minute.
Terrence Shannon Jr., held scoreless the first 16 minutes, finished with 20 points to lead the Illini (20-13).