SOME SEEDS PLANTED, SOME EXPOSED

Aaron Craft hit a three-pointer with a half-second left, and Ohio State escaped Dayton as the lone high seed left in the NCAA tournament’s wild West Regional. The No. 2-seeded Buckeyes beat Iowa State 78-75 on Sunday to avoid joining No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 3 New Mexcio, No. 4 Kansas State and No. 5 Wisconsin on the sidelines. The Buckeyes’ 10th straight win sends them into the round of 16 for the fourth straight year, a school record. They’ll play sixth-seeded Arizona on Thursday in Los Angeles. Victor Oladipo hit a key threepointer with 13 seconds remaining and Indiana, minutes away from being the second No. 1 seed to be swept from the tournament, held off Temple 58-52 on Sunday in the East Regional. South region No. 1 seed Kansas stomped North Carolina 70-58 on Sunday and will next play Michigan, which defeated VCU 78-53 on Saturday. Gonzaga was ranked No. 1 in the polls, yet never really played like it in the tournament. Not in Thursday’s second-round game, when the Zags struggled against 16thseeded Southern. And not Saturday against No, 9 seed Wichita State, which nearly buried the Bulldogs in the first half and cruised to a 79-70 victory. Gonzaga became the first No. 1 seed to be eliminated this year, giving all the Zags doubters an I-told-you-so moment. Gonzaga loses two starters but Kelly Olynyk (26 points, Kamloops, B.C.) is only a junior and Kevin Pangos (19 points, Holland Landing, Ont.) a sophomore. “To have the best season in the history of basketball at our school and kind of capture the attention of a nation, it was one hell of a ride,” head coach Mark Few said. “We had a lot of fun.”