Winston, Spartans fend off Braves

For about 35 minutes, it felt like Bradley might pull off the first bracket-busting stunner of this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Michigan State survived by leaning on the brilliance of Cassius Winston and a remarkably efficient performance at the free throw line.

Winston scored 26 points and secondseeded Michigan State, thanks in part to a season-high, 25-of26 showing from the line, held off Bradley 76-65 on Thursday in the opening round of the East Region in Des Moines, Iowa.

“Winston just wouldn’t let us lose,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.

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 16 in four years. Michigan State throttled the Gophers 79-55 in East Lansing back on Feb. 9.

Bradley (20-15) 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.

Darrell Brown hit a 3 for Bradley to make it 65-60. But the Braves were forced to put the Spartans at the line.

“The first game is always tough,” Winston said. “That was a really good team.” LSU 79, YALE 74: Skylar Mays hit four free throws in the final 15 seconds to help LSU (27-6) slip past 14th-seeded Yale (22-8) in Jacksonville, Florida. Mays scored 19 points but sealed the game from the foul line, and the third-seeded Tigers needed each one of his free throws. Yale hit four 3-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. LSU moves on without coach Will Wade, who is suspended for his role in an alleged cheating scandal. University officials won’t allow Wade to resume his duties unless he speaks with the school about an FBI wiretap that resulted in his suspension. Tony Benford continued in his role as interim coach. VILLANOVA 61, SAINT MARY’S 57: Phil Booth scored 20 points and defending NCAA Tournament champion Villanova (26-9) held off Saint Mary’s (22-12) in Hartford, Connecticut. Fellow senior Eric Paschell added 14 points for the sixth-seeded Wildcats, who led for almost 33 minutes, but never by more than eight points. Jordan Ford and Malik Fitts each had 13 points for the 11th-seeded Gaels. 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 Paschell missed a foul shot on the other end, Fitts cut the deficit to four points with a leaner in the lane. The Gaels had two more chances in the final seconds but Fitts hit the rim on a 3-point attempt.