Mobley helps USC smother Drake in first-round win
Evan Mobley had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 6 seed USC used smothering defense in a 72-56 victory over Drake on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament West Region in Indianapolis.
Mobley, a 7-foot freshman forward and AP second-team All-american expected to be a lottery pick if he declares for the draft, made 7 of 15 field goals and blocked three shots.
Isaiah Mobley scored 15 points and Drew Peterson added 14 for USC (23-7).
Joseph Yesufu scored 26 points for 11thseeded Drake, but none of his teammates scored more than six. Drake shot 29% overall, including a dismal 19% in the second half. Yesufu made 8 of 22 shots in the game. His teammates made just 12 of 46.
Drake (26-5) claimed its first tournament win in 50 years in the First Four on Thursday.
OREGON-VCU A NO-CONTEST >> VCU was pulled from the NCAA Tournament because multiple players tested positive for COVID-19,.
The NCAA said the 10th-seeded Rams’ firstround game against Oregon was declared a nocontest.
The seventh-seeded Ducks will advance to the second round without playing.
The announcement came a little more than three hours before the teams were set to play. The NCAA didn’t offer specific details, citing privacy concerns, and said that the decision came after consultation with the Marion County Public Health Department.
OHIO 62, VIRGINIA 58 >> The Cavaliers’ unusual title defense ended with another upset loss in the NCAA Tournament, falling to the Bobcats.
Some familiar problems showed up again for fourth-seeded Virginia (18-7), which struggled to score during a key stretch in the second half and shot 35% from the field for the game.
Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to drop its opening game in the NCAA Tournament when it lost to UMBC in 2018, but it used the setback as motivation in its run to the championship in 2019.
Last year’s NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the pandemic, delaying the Cavaliers’ title defense. They just arrived in Indiana on Friday because of COVID-19 issues, and now they are heading home again.
Ben Vander Plas of Ohio scored eight of his game-high 17 points during an 18-4 second-half run that erased a 38-31 deficit. Ohio (17-7) never trailed again.
The Bobcats’ Jason Preston finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
CREIGHTON 63, UC SANTA BARBARA 62 >> Christian Bishop made both ends of a one-and-one with 16 seconds left to give the fifth-seeded Bluejays the lead and they hung on to beat the 12th-seeded Gauchos.
Bishop was fouled by Amadou Sow on the floor after grabbing an offensive rebound and went to the line with the Gauchos (22-5) up 6261 and dropped in both free throws.
UCSB (22-5) came right down and put the ball in the hands of its best player, Jaquori Mclaughlin. The Big West player of the year split a double-team behind the 3-point line and found Sow in the lane, but the 6-foot-9 junior couldn’t finish at the rim. Shereef Mitchell rebounded the miss for Creighton (21-8) with 3 seconds left.
Marcus Zegarowski scored 17 to lead Creighton and Bishop had 15 points and 11 rebounds,
IOWA 86, GRAND CANYON 74 >> The second-seeded Hawkeyes got 24 points from Luka Garza in their victory over the No. 15-seeded Antelopes.
Iowa which also got 16 points from Joe Wieskamp, hit 54% from the floor while going 10 of 22 from behind the arc.
Asbjorn Midtgaard had 18 points and Jovan Blacksher Jr. 15 for Grand Canyon (17-7).
KANSAS 93, EASTERN WASHINGTON 84 >> David Mccormack returned from his Covid19-caused hiatus just in time to rescue the No. 3-seeded Jayhawks.
One day after rejoining Kansas in Indianapolis, the bruising big man piled up 22 points and nine rebounds, helping slow-starting Kansas rally from a 10-point second-half deficit and beat the No. 14 seed Eagles.
Ochai Agbaji scored 21 points and Marcus Garrett fought foul trouble to add 20 for Kansas (21-8).
Tanner Groves scored a career-high 35 points and younger brother Jacob Groves had 23 for Eastern Washington (16-8).
OKLAHOMA 72, MISSOURI 68 >> Austin Reaves scored 23 points, Brady Manek added 19 and the eighth-seeded Sooners slipped by the ninthseeded Tigers.
Oklahoma (16-10) pulled out to an eight-point lead with 1:08 left behind Reaves’ free-throw shooting, but Dru Smith made two 3-pointers in the final minute to keep the pressure on and pull Missouri (16-10) within 70-67 with 46.7 left.
Smith led the Tigers with 20 points.
East Region
COLORADO 96, GEORGETOWN 73 >> The Buffaloes used an early 3-point barrage to parlay their highest seeding ever at March Madness into a win over one of the biggest names in the game with a thumping of Georgetown, the program Patrick Ewing starred for in the 1980s and now coaches.
Led by Jabari Walker’s 5-for-5 shooting from 3-point range, fifth-seeded Colorado (23-8) made 16 3-pointers and shot 64% from long range.
Walker missed only one of his 10 shots on his way to 24 points, and D’shawn Schwartz (18 points) made four of his five 3s in the first half to put Colorado into cruise control. Mckinley Wright IV had 12 points and 13 assists. The Buffs made the round of 32 for only the third time since the brackets expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
The Hoyas (13-11) won four games in four days to take the Big East Tournament title and make a surprise trip to the NCAAS. MICHIGAN 82, TEXAS SOUTHERN 66 >> Mike Smith led a balanced attack with 18 points and five assists as the top-seeded Wolverines (21-4) downed the No. 16 seed Tigers (17-9), who got 24 points from Michael Weathers.
ALABAMA 68, IONA 55 >> Herbert Jones had 20 points and six rebounds, leading the secondseeded Crimson Tide past the 15th-seeded Gaels and legendary coach Rick Pitino.
Alabama (25-6) got 23 points from its bench, including 11 from Jahvon Quinerly. The Crimson Tide also survived some poor foul shooting (13 for 23, 56.5%).
Iona (12-6) was led by Isaiah Ross with 19 points.
FLORIDA STATE 64, UNC GREENSBORO 54 >> Raiquan Gray scored 17 points and the No. 4 seed Seminoles began what they hope will be another deep tournament run under coach Leonard Hamilton, holding off the 13th-seeded Spartans.
Florida State (17-6), which reached the Elite Eight and the Sweet 16 in the previous two tournaments, went 0 for 9 from 3-point range, winning a game without a made 3 for the first time since February 2018. The Seminoles still managed to shoot 50% overall.
Greensboro (21-9) shot 32% overall as Florida State allowed a season-low point total.
MARYLAND 63, UCONN 54 >> Eric Ayala scored 23 points and the 10th-seeded Terrapins beat the No. 7 seed Huskies.
Maryland (17-13) held Uconn (15-8) to 32% shooting to overcome the Huskies’ strong physical game. Maryland was outrebounded 40-29.
The Terps shot 51% for the game and converted 9 of 18 from behind the arc.
James Bouknight had 15 points for Uconn.
LSU 76, ST. BONAVENTURE 61 >> Cameron Thomas scored 27 points to lead the eighth-seeded Tigers past the ninth-seeded Bonnies (16-5).
Darius Days added 13 points and 11 rebounds for LSU (19-9).
POLICE CONTACTED AFTER OHIO STATE’S LIDDELL RECEIVES THREATS >> Ohio State officials reached out to police about threatening and insulting social media messages sophomore E.J. Liddell received following the Buckeyes’ NCAA Tournament loss on Friday.
Ohio State associate athletic director for communications Dan Wallenberg told The Associated Press he contacted police on Saturday morning about the threats Liddell received after the second-seeded Buckeyes were upset by No. 15 seed Oral Roberts 75-72 in overtime.
Liddell, who had 23 points and 14 rebounds in the game, revealed on his Twitter feed he received threatening messages. He posted images of the messages, including one that said “I hope you die I really do.” Other messages included racist insults.
“Honestly, what did I do to deserve this?” Liddell posted on Twitter. “I’m human.”
Liddell said he was confused to be targeted by the messages.