Princeton stuns 2nd-seeded Arizona
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Tosan Evbuomwan and Princeton used a late-game run to earn the school's first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years, topping No. 2 seed Arizona 59-55 on Thursday.
The 15th-seeded Tigers (22-9) scored the final nine points to finish the upset, holding the Pac-12 Tournament champion scoreless over the final 4:21.
Evbuomwan scored 15 points in Princeton's first tournament victory since beating UNLV in 1998 when current coach Mitch Henderson was a player for the Tigers.
Princeton advanced to play seventhseeded Missouri in the second round of the South Region. The Tigers beat Utah State 76-65.
Azuolas Tubelis scored 21 points for the Wildcats (28-7), who haven't won a tournament game in consecutive years since 2014-15.
Furman 68, Virginia 67: JP Pegues made a 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds remaining, and No. 13 seed Furman completed a rally from a 12-point secondhalf deficit to hand fourth-seeded Virginia another first-round NCAA Tournament loss.
Making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 43 years, the Paladins (28-7) advanced to the second round in the South Region, where they will play either San Diego State or Charleston on Saturday.
Kihei Clark, who starred as a freshman on Virginia's 2019 national titlewinning team, threw a bad pass that Garrett Hein intercepted at midcourt with 7 seconds to go, setting up Pegues' go-ahead basket.
Reece Beekman's deep 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim and Virginia (25-8) was eliminated in the first round as the higher-seeded team for the third time in its past four NCAA tournaments – most notably its loss as a No. 1 seed to 16th-seeded UMBC in 2018.
Maryland 67, West Virginia 65:
Maryland overcame a sluggish start and a final heave at the buzzer by Kedrian Johnson, topping West Virginia in Birmingham, Ala.
Johnson led all scorers with 27 points, but his potential winner bounced off the side of the rim as the horn sounded, allowing the Terrapins (22-12) to advance in March Madness.
Maryland, led by Julian Reese with 17 points and nine rebounds, meets the winner of top-seeded Alabama and No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday. Those teams met in the second game of the day at Legacy Arena.
The opening matchup between eighth-seeded Maryland and the No. 9 Mountaineers (19-15) lived up to the bill
ing.
Maryland fell behind by 12 points in the first half before rallying to take a 3230 lead at the break. Neither team could break away over the final 20 minutes.
Alabama 96, Texas A&M-CC 75: Alabama buried Texas A&M-Corpus Christi under an early 3-point onslaught, launching the NCAA Tournament's top seed to afirst-round romp in Birmingham, Ala., even with star freshman Brandon Miller going scoreless.
The Crimson Tide (30-5) set aside their off-court distractions and buried 10 first-half 3s in a predictably easy win over the 16th-seeded Islanders (24-11) at Legacy Arena, less than an hour from campus.
Miller, the All-American who has been beset by questions about his presence at the scene of a fatal shooting, sat out the final 14 minutes and missed all five field goal attempts. His previous low was eight points against Houston on Dec. 10.
Trevian Tennyson led the Islanders with 20 points. Isaach Mushula scored 16 and Owen Dease 14.
Kansas 96, Howard 68: Jalen Wilson had 20 points and seven rebounds for No. 1 seed and defending national champion Kansas, which allowed absent and recovering coach Bill Self to rest during an easy victory over Howard in a West Region first-round game in Des Moines, Iowa.
Self is still recovering from a recent heart procedure.
Gradey Dick had 19 points and 11 re
bounds in the freshman's first NCAA Tournament game. K.J. Adams Jr. scored 13 points and Dajuan Harris Jr. added 11 points for the Jayhawks (28-7), who will play the winner of the Arkansas against Illinois game in the second round on Saturday.
Kansas, which has won 16 consecutive first round games, is trying to become the first repeat NCAA winner in 16 years.
Shy Odom had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Bison (22-13).
San Diego St. 63, College of Charleston 57:
Matt Bradley scored 17 points, including two free throws in the final minute, and No. 5 seed San Diego State held on to beat 12th-seeded College of Charleston in Orlando.
The Aztecs (28-6) won their first game in the Big Dance since 2015 – ending a four-game losing streak – and snapped an 11-game skid for the Mountain West Conference.
The Cougars (31-4) lost for the first time in six weeks and have not won an NCAA tournament game since 1997.