The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP
NO. 7 TEXAS A&M 73, NO. 10 PROVIDENCE 69:
At Charlotte, N.C, Tyler Davis and Robert Williams spent all Friday snatching rebound after rebound, blocking a few shots and had Williams offer a highlight-reel capper in the final minute.
When Texas A&M’s bigs are playing like this, it’s tough to tussle with these Aggies. And that gives them their best chance to stick around the NCAA Tournament for another weekend.
Davis had 14 points and 15 rebounds and Williams added his own doubledouble to help Texas A&M beat Providence, sending the Aggies on to the second round of the West Region. They will face secondseeded North Carolina.
Williams finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds for Texas A&M (21-12). They also each blocked two shots.
The Aggies finished with a 44-26 rebounding advantage and had 11 offensive rebounds against the 10th-seeded Friars (21-14).
“Even though we were checking out, and I thought we did a decent job, they got length rebounds,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. “There’s really nothing you can do. That’s God’s gift to them. There’s really nothing you can do about it. You keep encouraging your kids, but when you’ve got 7-6 wing length and 7-5 wing length, that’s genetics, baby.”
NO. 2 NORTH CAROLINA 84, NO. 15 LIPSCOMB 66:
At Charlotte, N.C., Kenny Williams scored 18 points and defending national champion North Carolina took its time before opening up, beating Lipscomb in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Theo Pinson had 15 points and flirted with a triple-double for the Tar Heels (26-10).
NO. 13 MARSHALL 81, NO. 4 WICHITA STATE 75:
At San Diego, the Marshall Thundering Herd celebrated like never before.
For the first time in six tries during 62 years, the Thundering Herd won an NCAA Tournament game.
Jon Elmore scored 27 points and Jarrod West hit a huge 3-pointer with three minutes left to help Marshall topple Wichita State..
Marshall joined Buffalo as 13th seeds to win this week. On Thursday night, Buffalo beat No. 4 seed Arizona.
NO. 5 WEST VIRGINIA 85, NO. 12 MURRAY STATE 68:
At San Diego, Jevon Carter scored 21 points, had eight assists and six steals, Teddy Allen added 16 points and West Virginia overwhelmed Murray State 85-68 in the first round.
The Mountaineers (25-10) pulled away in the second half and advanced to the round of 32 for the third time in the past four seasons as four players finished in double figures.
Next up for West Virginia: A Mountain State showdown with 13th-seeded Marshall far away from home.
Carter had 13 points in the second half and was the trigger of a second-half surge by the Mountaineers after Murray State had trimmed a 14-point lead down to five.
NO. 2 PURDUE 74, NO. 15 CAL STATE FULLERTON 48:
At Detroit, Boilermakers center Isaac Haas broke his right elbow in Purdue’s victory and will miss the rest of the NCAA Tournament.
The 7-foot-2, 290-pound senior took a hard foul midway through the second half when Cal State Fullerton forward Dominik Heinzl pulled him down, trying to defend him. Haas hurt the same elbow in a win over Louisville in November.
Second-seeded Purdue (29-6) will play Butler in Sunday’s second round with 7-3 center Matt Haarms likely replacing Haas, who averaged 14.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and had nine points and 10 rebounds in the first-round victory.
NO. 10 BUTLER 79, NO. 7 ARKANSAS 62:
At
Detroit, Kelan Martin scored 27 points and Kamar Baldwin added 24 to lift Butler.
The Bulldogs (21-13) raced to a 21-2 lead in the opening minutes. Although Arkansas wiped out that entire deficit before halftime, Butler took control again early in the second.
NO. 2 CINCINNATI 68, NO. 15 GEORGIA STATE 53:
At Nashville, Tenn., Jarron Cumberland had 27 points and 11 rebounds to set career highs in both categoriesas Cincinnati recovered after blowing a 10-point lead in the second half to beat pesky Georgia State.
Cincinnati, the No. 2 seed in the South Region, won its eighth game in a row and advanced to a Sunday matchup against either seventh-seeded Nevada or 10th seed Texas.
After trailing 42-32 early in the second half, Georgia State (24-11) rallied to take a pair of one-point leads, its last one coming on a driving bank shot from D’Marcus Simonds with 9:30 left.
Cincinnati (31-4) answered by reeling off 10 straight points.
NO. 7 NEVADA 87, NO. 10 TEXAS 83 (OT):
At Nashiville, Tenn., Caleb Martin scored 18 points and made two huge 3-pointers in overtime as Nevada rallied to beat Texas for its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2007.
Nevada (28-7) erased a 14-point, second-half deficit and tied it at 68 when Jordan Caroline hit one of two free throws with 3.8 seconds left in regulation. The Wolf Pack came back again after trailing by five early in an overtime session that featured 34 combined points.
NO. 9 KANSAS STATE 69, NO. 8 CREIGHTON 59:
At Charlotte, N.C., Barry Brown scored 18 points and Kansas State posted a wire-to-wire victory over Creighton despite playing without leading scorer Dean Wade.
Mike McGuirl added 17 points and Kamau Stokes had 11 as the Wildcats won a first-round NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 2012.
Wade had been expected to play after suffering a stress fracture in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, but never got on the floor. His teammates picked him up, particularly on defense.
Creighton came into the game ranked 10th in scoring in Division I at 84.3 points per game, but the Wildcats (23-11) limited the Bluejays to 59 points, tying their season low. Creighton (21-12) shot just 33.8 percent from the field, including 26 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
NO. 2 MICHIGAN STATE 82, NO. 15 BUCKNELL 78:
At Detroit, Miles Bridges outlasted Zach Thomas, scoring 29 points and grabbing nine rebounds to help secondseeded Michigan State hold on for an 82-78 win over Bucknell on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Thomas fouled out on a technical with 6:06 left and finished with 27 points. He put on a show in the first half, scoring 20 points and making all three of his shots beyond the 3-point arc to keep the Bison close.
The Spartans (30-4) made the most of playing about 75 miles from campus in a packed arena with green-and-white clad fans in the stands. They roared when Bridges dunked, as he did once on a spectacular slam off an offensive rebound, and jeered when replays showed a foul called against their team.