Wichita State clamps down on Dayton
Tournament flash: Wichita State can play a little defense, too. Just ask the stunned Flyers.
The Shockers’ powerful offense stalled out until the closing minutes, but their defense carried them through to a 64-58 victory over Dayton on Friday night in the South Regional.
Make it 16 straight wins for the Shockers (31-4) , who brought their reputation for piling up the points to Indianapolis, along with the feeling that they’d been slighted by their No. 10 seed.
They made the gritty plays in a game lacking style points.
“It was definitely something a little brand new to us from what we’ve seen in the Missouri Valley,” said Zach Brown, who had 12 points, including a late 3. “But I don’t know — we’ve just grinded it out. It was a tough game.”
And they were the tougher team.
Dayton (24-8) came in with a wealth of experience, playing in its school-record fourth straight NCAA Tournament.
The Flyers start three seniors and have five overall, with a lot of shared tournament moments. This one ranks at the bottom.
The seventh-seeded Flyers were held to a season low in points and shot a season-low 31 percent from the field. They also got rebounded 48-29 and had eight shots swatted away.
“Of course you’ve got to give them credit because they’re the ones defending, but I think it’s more about us,” said point guard Scoochie Smith, who had 25 points. “We just had to step up and make shots, and a lot of people on our team couldn’t get their shots to fall, couldn’t get a flow.”
Brown’s 3-pointer put Wichita State up 51-45 with 5:38 left, the biggest lead by either team up to that point, and Dayton never threatened again. Landry Shamet led the Shockers with 13 points.
The Shockers haven’t lost a game since Jan. 14, going two months with nothing but postgame high-fives. They have relied on their offense to carry them, averaging 82.1 points per game. Feeling slighted by their tournament seed, they showed they’re more than a one-trick team.
“All in all, it was a big grind,” Brown said. “And I’m proud, proud of everybody.” Jaylen Barford hit the go-ahead layup with 57.8 seconds left to help Arkansas (26-9) hold off Seton Hall (21-12). Barford had 12 of his 20 points after halftime for the Razorbacks, the No. 8 seed in the South Region. That included his layup off Khadeen Carrington’s turnover at the other end, pushing Arkansas ahead for good as the Razorbacks scored the game’s final seven points. The 6-foot-3 junior also came through with a pair of free throws with 18.3 seconds left following a whistle in which officials reviewed Desi Rodriguez’s foul to stop the clock and changed it to a flagrant foul. After Barford hit his free throws, Daryl Macon added another to make it a 75-71 game. Carrington missed a 3 at the other end in what amounted to the ninth-seeded Pirates’ last gasp. Macon added two more free throws with 9.7 seconds left to seal Arkansas’ ninth win in 11 games.
Justin Jackson broke out of a shooting slump with 21 points to help topseeded North Carolina (28-7) roll past Texas Southern (23-12). The Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year had made just 20 of 60 shots (33 percent) and 7 of 31 3-pointers (23 percent) in his last four games. But he had 19 points by halftime in this one, helping the Tar Heels quickly eliminate any chance of an unprecedented upset. Jackson, a 6-foot-8 junior, finished 8 of 13 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range with seven rebounds.
TJ Leaf scored 23 points, Thomas Welsh added 16 and UCLA (30-4) pulled away from scrappy Kent State (22-14). UCLA jumped out to a 14-point lead in the opening minutes, only to have its defensive issues rise up again. The third-seeded Bruins had numerous breakdowns and let Kent State claw back into it by halftime, eventually stretching the lead midway through the second half. Lonzo Ball and Aaron Holiday each had 15 points for UCLA, which will face No. 6 seed Cincinnati in the second round on Sunday.