Wichita State overcomes Dayton defense for 64-58 victory

Wichita State’s accomplishments continue to exceed its resume. It’s a March routine.

The Shockers are a tournament darling again, the hero of all who enjoy taking shots at the NCAA selection committee.

The 10th-seeded Shockers defeated seventh-seeded Dayton 64-58 on Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. They are 7-3 against equal or higher seeds in the past five tournaments.

Wichita State (31-4) won an NCAA game for the fifth straight season.

Freshman guard Landry Shamet led WSU with 13 points. Zach Brown added 12, making all three of his 3-pointers. Shaq Morris scored 10 in 14 foul-plagued minutes.

WSU won despite shooting 39.6 percent from the field and missing 14 of 20 3s. The Shockers grabbed 13 offensive rebounds to score 19 second-chance points.

Dayton (24-8) ended the season on a three-game losing streak. Guard Scoochie Smith scored 25 points, 15 in the first half. Kendall Pollard added 13 points.

The Flyers shot 31 percent from the floor and missed 15 of 22 3s.

Jeff Dowtin scored a career-high 23 points with a perfect day at the freethrow line, upstart Rhode Island answered every threat and the Rams ran right into the next round of the NCAA Tournament by stunning cold-shooting No. 6 seed Creighton. Kuran Iverson scored 17 points and Hassan Martin had 12 points and eight rebounds as 11thseeded Rhode Island (25-9) earned its ninth straight victory.

With star big man Chris Boucher cheering in a bulky knee brace from the sidelines, Tyler Dorsey scored 24 points to lead four players in double figures, and No. 3 seed Oregon beat 14th-seeded Iona. The Ducks (30-5) showed they have depth and sheer athleticism to make a special March run, just as coach Dana Altman hoped this week when he challenged role players to make larger contributions in shotblocker Boucher’s absence. Mangok Mathiang scored 18 points and Deng Adel added 16 Friday to help secondseeded Louisville pull away from Jacksonville State. The Cardinals (25-8) have won five straight opening round games. Louisville was making its first postseason appearance since 2015 after sitting out last year because of a one-year, schoolimposed postseason ban for alleged recruiting violations. Frank Mason III scored 22 points and had eight assists as top-seeded Kansas won its opening game of the NCAA Tournament for an 11th straight year.

Freshman Josh Jackson, making his return after a one-game suspension for an accumulation of embarrassing incidents, added 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting for the Jayhawks (29-5).

FROM WIRE REPORTS