Marshall earns first Big Dance win
SAN DIEGO—Jon Elmore scored 27 points and 13th-seeded Marshall toppled fourth-seeded Wichita State, 81-75, for its first NCAA Tournament victory Friday.
The Thundering Herd (25-10) had been 0-5 in the tourney, with its last appearance in 1987.
Marshall became the second No. 13 seed to win this week. Buffalo did it Thursday night, beating Arizona.
Conner Frankamp scored 27 points for Wichita State (25-8).
PURDUE 74, CAL STATE FULLERTON 48
DETROIT—Purdue center Isaac Haas broke his right elbow during a win over Cal State Fullerton and will miss the rest of the NCAA Tournament.
The 7-foot-2, 290-pound senior went down while taking a hard foul midway through the second half. Haas, who averaged 14.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, had nine points and 10 rebounds in the firstround victory.
The second-seeded Boilermakers (29-6) will play Butler on Sunday.
MICHIGAN STATE 82, BUCKNELL 78
DETROIT—Miles Bridges outlasted Zach Thomas, scoring 29 points and grabbing nine rebounds to help second-seeded Michigan State hold on for a win over Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Thomas fouled out on a technical with 6:06 left and finished with 27 points. He put on a show in the first half, scoring 20 points and making all three of his shots beyond the 3-point arc to keep the Bison close.
The Spartans (30-4) made the most of playing about 75 miles from campus in a packed arena with greenand-white clad fans in the stands. They roared when Bridges dunked, as he did once on a spectacular slam off an offensive rebound, and jeered when replays showed a foul called against their team.
Kyle Allman scored 21 for the
Titans (20-12).
WEST VIRGINIA 85, MURRAY STATE 68
SAN DIEGO—Jevon Carter scored 21 points, had eight assists and six steals as No. 5 seed West Virginia overwhelmed 12th-seeded Murray State.
The Mountaineers (25-10) advanced to the round of 32 for the third time in the past four seasons. Next up for West Virginia is a Mountain State showdown with 13th-seeded Marshall far away from home.
Terrell Miller scored 27 points for Murray State (26-6).
SOUTH REGION CINCINNATI 68, GEORGIA STATE 53
NASHVILLE, Tenn.— Jarron Cumberland set career highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds as Cincinnati recovered after blowing a 10-point lead in the second half.
The second-seeded Bearcats (314) advanced to play seventh-seeded Nevada.
After trailing 42-32 early in the second half, 15th-seeded Georgia State (24-11) rallied to take a pair of onepoint leads, its last one coming on a driving bank shot from D’Marcus Simonds with 9:30 left.
WEST REGION NORTH CAROLINA 84, LIPSCOMB 66
CHARLOTTE, N.C.— Kenny Williams scored 18 points and defending national champion North Carolina took its time before opening up to beat Lipscomb.
Theo Pinson had 15 points and flirted with a triple-double for the second-seeded Tar Heels (26-10). North Carolina next plays Texas A&M.
Playing for the first time in the NCAA tourney, the 15th-seeded Bisons (23-10) held an early six-point edge. They led 33-31 with under four minutes left in the first half before North Carolina went on a 12-1 run to take control by the break.
KANSAS STATE 69, CREIGHTON 59
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Barry Brown scored 18 points and ninth-seeded Kansas State posted a 69-59 wire-towire victory over No. 8 Creighton on Friday night despite playing without leading scorer Dean Wade.
Mike McGuirl added 17 points and Kamau Stokes had 11 as the Wildcats won a first-round NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 2012.
Wade had been expected to play after suffering a stress fracture in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, but never got on the floor. His teammates picked him up, particularly on defense.
Creighton came into the game ranked 10th in scoring in Division I at 84.3 points per game, but the Wildcats (23-11) limited the Bluejays to 59 points, tying their season low. Creighton (21-12) shot just 33.8 percent from the field, including 26 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
Leading scoring Marcus Foster was held scoreless in the first 28 1/2 minutes and finished with five points on 2-of-11 shooting against his former team.
Foster was booted off the Kansas State team after the 2015 season for multiple violations of team rules, but said earlier this week this game was more about advancing than any type of revenge. He took responsibility for his mistakes, saying it was something that he needed to go through to grow up.
But Foster was never found his rhythm. He didn’t score until making a driving baseline layup with 10:30 left in the game.
The Wildcats jumped out to 10-2 lead behind Kamau Stokes, who scored the game’s first seven points. They never trailed.
Creighton cut the lead to two after Mitch Ballock scored seven straight points for the Bluejays to open the second half. But Kansas State stayed ahead and McGuirl completed a four-point play after being fouled on a baseline jumper to give the Wildcats an 11-point lead with 7:13 remaining in the game.