Furman hands UVA another early exit
JP Pegues made a 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds remaining, and No. 13 seed Furman completed a rally from a 12-point second-half deficit to hand fourth-seeded Virginia another first-round NCAA Tournament loss, 68-67 on Thursday.
Making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 43 years, the Paladins (28-7) advanced to the second round in the South Region, where they will play either San Diego State or Charleston on Saturday.
Kihei Clark, who starred as a freshman on Virginia’s 2019 national title-winning team, threw a bad pass that Garrett Hein intercepted at midcourt with 7 seconds to go, setting up Pegues’ go-ahead basket.
Reece Beekman’s deep 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim and Virginia (25-8) was eliminated in the first round as the higher-seeded team for the third time in its past four NCAA tournaments.
Also in the South Region:
Alabama 96, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 75:
Alabama buried Texas A&M-Corpus Christi under an early 3-point onslaught, launching the NCAA Tournament’s top seed to first-round romp on Thursday even with star freshman Brandon Miller going scoreless. The Crimson Tide (30-5) set aside their off-court distractions and buried 10 first-half 3s in a predictably easy win over the 16th-seeded Islanders (24-11) at Legacy Arena, less than an hour from campus.
Missouri 76, Utah State 65:
Missouri used a second-half scoring spurt from Kobe Brown to win its first NCAA Tournament game in 13 years, beating Utah State on Thursday.
Brown hit three 3-pointers in a span of just over three minutes to fuel a 13-2 run that turned a two-point deficit into a
62-53 lead.
Maryland 67, West Virginia 65:
Maryland overcame a sluggish start and a final heave at the buzzer by Kedrian Johnson, topping West Virginia. Johnson led all scorers with 27 points but his potential winner bounced off the side of the rim as the horn sounded.
San Diego State 63, College of Charleston 57:
Matt Bradley scored 17 points, including two free throws in the final minute, and No. 5 seed San Diego State held on to beat 12th-seeded College of Charleston in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Aztecs won their first game in the Big Dance since 2015 and ended a four-game losing streak. The win snapped an 11-game skid for the Mountain West Conference.
West Region Kansas 96, Howard 68:
Jalen Wilson had 20 points and seven rebounds for No. 1 seed and defending national champion Kansas, which allowed absent and recovering coach Bill Self to rest a bit more comfortably during a victory over Howard on Thursday in a West Region firstround game. 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.
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. Devo Davis had 16 points for the eighth-seeded Razorbacks, who used relentless defense and rebounding to build big leads.