Razorbacks respond in big way to Colgate
The night before his team’s NCAA Tournament opener, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman sat in a hotel room and talked with his son about using fullcourt pressure against Colgate.
The Razorbacks didn’t use their “55” defense until after they’d fallen into a 14-point hole, but once they did, the Raiders had no answer.
Call it “24 Minutes of Hell.” Justin Smith had 29 points and 13 rebounds, and Arkansas shut down high-scoring Colgate to open the NCAA Tournament with an 85-68 win on Friday.
“We knew we were going to unleash it,” Musselman said. “I didn’t know if it was going to be in the second half or in the first half, when it might be. We talked about playing Justin at the 5 — we didn’t say much to the team about it — and thought it could really speed things up.”
The 14th-seeded Raiders (14-2) had upset pickers out of their seats early in the South Region opener with a slew of 3-pointers and a 16-2 run to go up 14. The third-seeded Razorbacks (23-6) restored some bracket order with a 19-0 run spanning halftime and scored 10 straight points late to pull away.
Arkansas’ defense was the difference.
In danger of becoming the bracket’s first big upset victim, the Razorbacks switched from man d efense to full-court man to swarm Colgate.
The Razorbacks, at times, snatched the ball right out of the Raiders’ hands to set up shots in transition, scoring 34 points off Colgate’s 22 turnovers.
Texas Tech has big surge in second half: Mac McClung scored 16 points in his first career NCAA Tournament game and Kyler Edwards added 12 to help sixth-seeded Texas Tech pull away from 11th-seeded Utah State 65-53 on Friday.
Baylor on cruise control: After MaCio Teague and the Baylor Bears got comfortable in the spacious confines of Lucas Oil Stadium, they looked like a team that could be playing there for bigger stakes in a few weeks.
Teague scored 22 points and the top-seeded Bears shook off a slow-as-molasses start Friday to roll to a 79-55 victory over No. 16 Hartford in the NCAA Tournament.
Loyola holds off Georgia Tech:
With key pieces of their Final Four team leading the way, Loyola marked a triumphant return to college basketball’s biggest stage Friday with a 71-60 victory over No. 9 seed Georgia Tech at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Lucas Williamson scored 21 points in a dynamic performance by the defensive whiz, Buddy Norris added 16 points and All-America forward Cameron Krutwig had 10 as the Ramblers (25-4) advanced to play No. 1 seed Illinois on Sunday.
Illini leave no doubt: Kofi Cockburn muscled his way to 18 points and Illinois cruised past 16th-seeded Drexel 78-49 Friday in the Illini’s first NCAA Tournament game as a No. 1 seed in 16 years.
“I thought it was a matter-offact game,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said.
The Illini are back in the NCAAs for the first time since 2013.
“It was a really good experience, especially for me,” Cockburn said. “It was just about enjoying the moment.”