Arizona State races to early lead, beats Nevada

DAYTON, OHIO >> DJ Horne had 20 points and Arizona State raced to a big halftime lead and scored the most points ever in a First Four game, burying Nevada 98-73 on Wednesday night.

Desmond Cambridge

Jr. — a Nevada transfer — scored 17 points as Arizona State (23-12) led 5326 at the half and then kept up the pressure on the way to the rout. The first-half output was a season high for Arizona State, which advanced as a No. 11 seed to face TCU in a West Region firstround game on Friday in Denver.

Arizona State hit 67.7% of its shots from the floor and forced 10 turnovers in the first half, piling up a 22-2 run over eight minutes to pull away.

Will Baker scored 17 and Tre Coleman had 14 for the Wolf Pack (2211). One of Nevada’s top players, Kenan Blackshear, picked up three fouls early and sat on the bench for more than five minutes of the opening half. Averaging 14.4 per game, he was held to four points.

Fairleigh Dickinson 84, Texas South. 61

DAYTON, OHIO >> Ansley Almonor scored 23 points and Fairleigh Dickinson earned its first NCAA Tournament win in four seasons.

Fairleigh Dickinson shot 50% and advanced to the East Region to play top-seeded Purdue in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday.

Joe Munden Jr. scored 17 points, Demetre Roberts had 15, Grant Singleton finished with 13 and Sean Moore 10 for Fairleigh Dickinson (20-15).

John Walker III led Texas Southern (14-21) with 22 points. Joirdon Karl Nicholas added 10.

Women Sacred Heart beats Southern for 1st NCAA tourney win

STANFORD, CALIF. >> Kelsey Wood had her second double- double of the season, Ny’ceara Pryor added 11 points, eight rebounds and a career-high 10 assists and Sacred Heart won its first NCAA Tournament game with a 57- 47 victory over Southern on Wednesday night in the First Four.

Sacred Heart (19-13), which has won six games in a row, plays fifthranked and top-seeded Stanford in the first round Friday.

Wood finished with 10 points and a season-high tying 11 rebounds, and Olivia Tucker added 13 points on 5- of-18 shooting, 1 of 10 from 3-point range, for the Pioneers.

Genovea Johnson, the only Southern player to score in double figures, finished with 13 points.

The Jaguars (18-15) had won five games in a row and nine of their last 10.

Mississippi State 70, Illinois 56

SOUTH BEND, IND. >> Jessika Carter had 22 points, nine rebounds and four blocks, Anastasia Hayes added 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Mississippi State beat Illinois in a First Four game.

Mississippi State (21-10) advances to the field of 64 to take on No. 6 seed Creighton. The Bulldogs improved to 14-3 in the NCAA Tournament since the 2016-17 season.

Makira Cook scored 21 points and Genesis Bryant added 17 for Illinois (22-10), which had one of the best turnarounds in the country after finishing last season with a record of 7-20.