The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Ivy's Yale shocks No. 4 seed Auburn
John Poulakidas scored 28 points, Samson Aletan made a key block during a wild scramble in the final seconds, and 13th-seeded Yale rallied in the final five minutes to take down No. 4 seed Auburn 78-76 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
For the second straight year, the Ivy League Tournament champion took down one of the pre-tournament favorites — busting plenty of March Madness brackets once again.
Last year it was Princeton toppling Arizona. This time, it was Yale’s turn.
The Bulldogs (23-9) won an NCAA Tournament game for just the second time in school history, rallying from a 10-point deficit midway through the second half. After the final seconds ticked off, the players celebrated on the scorer’s table in front of their fans.
Yale will face No. 5 seed San Diego State in the second round on Sunday.
Poulakidas hit big shot after big shot. His step-back 3-pointer with 2:10 left gave the Bulldogs a 73-72 lead. Yale never trailed again, despite a chaotic final stretch that included Auburn getting off two shots in the closing seconds following a missed free throw, one of which was rejected by Aletan.
Johni Broome had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Auburn (27-8), which joined fellow SEC schools South Carolina, Kentucky, Florida and Mississippi State amid the early departures from March Madness.
COLORADO 102, FLORIDA 100 >> KJ Simpson rattled in a tiebreaking jumper from the baseline with 2 seconds left, and the 10th-seeded Buffaloes eliminated the No. 7 Gators in a first-round thriller.
Simpson finished with 23 points for Colorado (26-10), which extended its single-season school record for wins. The Buffs play second-seeded Marquette on Sunday.
BAYLOR 92, COLGATE 67 >> Jalen Bridges scored 23 points, Ja’kobe Walter added 19 and third-seeded Baylor coasted to the West Regional win in Memphis. Jayden Nunn added 15 points for coach Scott Drew’s Bears (24-10), who have won their past six first-round games in
March Madness.
CLEMSON 77, NEW MEXICO 56 >> Chase Hunter scored 21 points and the sixth-seeded Tigers ended the Lobos’ hopes of repeating their Mountain West run in the NCAA Tournament.
New Mexico (26-10) came in as the Mountain West Tournament champs, a popular pick to be this tournament’s version of San Diego State a year ago and favored by 2 1/2 points in this game, according to Fanduel Sportsbook. Clemson (22-11) dominated on both ends in advancing to face third-seeded Baylor.
NORTHWESTERN 77, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 65, OT >> Ryan Langborg scored 12 of his career-high 27 points in overtime, leading the ninth-seeded Wildcats to the East Regional win in Brooklyn.
Brooks Barnhizer’s driving layup tied it with nine seconds left for Northwestern (22-11), which recovered after squandering a nine-point lead late in the second half. The Wildcats advance to play top overall seed Uconn (32-3).
UCONN 91, STETSON 52 >> Donovan Clingan scored 19 points and Cam Spencer added 15 as the top-seeded Huskies began defense of their national championship.
Late Thursday results:
OAKLAND 80, NO. 12 KENTUCKY 76 >> Jack Gohlke made 10 3-pointers and 14th-seeded Grizzlies delivered the first true shock of this year’s March Madness, beating the third-seeded Wildcats in a South Regional stunner in Pittsburgh.
Oakland (24-11) sent Kentucky (23-10) to another early March exit behind Gohlke, a graduate transfer who finished with 32 points, and some late shot-making by his teammates. Trey Townsend had 17 points for the Horizon League champions,
who advanced to today’s matchup with North Carolina State.
NC STATE 80, NO. 22 TEXAS TECH 67 >> Ben Middlebrooks scored a careerhigh 21 points and the 11th-seeded Wolfpack won their first March Madness game in nine years. DJ Burns Jr. had 16 points and Mo Diarra had 17 points and 12 rebounds for NC State (23-14).
NO. 18 GONZAGA 86, MCNEESE STATE 65 >>
Graham Ike scored 16 points and Anton Watson added 13 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists to power the fifth-seeded Zags in Salt Lake City. Gonzaga advanced to today’s Midwest Regional matchup with No. 4 Kansas.
NO. 17 KANSAS 93, SAMFORD 89 >> The Jayhawks got a kind whistle at the end and Nicolas Timberlake made both his free throws as Kansas held on to avoid the upset by the 13thseeded Bulldogs.
Samford rallied from a 22-point deficit to one when Timberlake took a long pass as he was streaking toward the basket. He went to dunk and Samford’s A.J. Staton-mccray came from behind and blocked the shot, appearing to touch nothing but ball.
The whistle blew and Timberlake calmly made both free throws with 14.7 seconds left to help the fourthseeded Jayhawks push the lead to three. They will play Gonzaga today.
NO. 25 WASHINGTON STATE 66, DRAKE 61 >> Isaac Jones had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Isaiah Watts’ first 3-pointer in three games gave the Cougars the lead with 1:51 left as seventh-seeded WSU advanced to today’s East Regional matchup with No. 2 Iowa State.
NO. 4 IOWA STATE 82, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 65 >> Milan Momcilovic looked nothing like a freshman while pouring in 19 points, and the No. 2 Cyclones won in Omaha.