Furman opens tourney with an upset
JP Pegues made a three-pointer with 2.4 seconds remaining, and No. 13 seed Furman completed a rally from a 12-point second-half deficit to hand fourth-seeded Virginia another first-round NCAA Tournament loss, 68-67, on Thursday. Making their first trip to the NCAA tournament in 43 years, the Paladins (28-7) advanced to the second round in the South RegionVirginia (25-8) was eliminated in the first round as the higher-seeded team for the third time in its past four NCAA tournaments. Kadin Shedrick led the Cavaliers with 15 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
Maryland 67, West Virginia 65
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. Maryland overcame a sluggish start and a final heave at the buzzer by Kedrian Johnson to beat West Virginia. Johnson led all scorers with 27 points, but his potential winner bounced off the side of the rim as the horn sounded, allowing the eighth-seeded Terrapins (22-12) to advance. Neither team could pull away over the final 20 minutes, and a late travelling call on Jahmir Young gave West Virginia (19-15) a chance to tie it with a three-pointer. But the ninth-seeded Mountaineers could not find anyone open beyond the arc, forcing Tre Mitchell to bank it in under the basket. Young was fouled but made only one of two free throws. West Virginia got the ball in the hands of the guy it wanted, only to have Johnson come up short.
Missouri 76, Utah State 65
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. Missouri used a second-half scoring spurt from Kobe Brown to win its first NCAA tournament game in 13 years, beating Utah State. Brown hit three three-pointers in a span of just over three minutes to fuel a 13-2 run that turned a two-point deficit into a 62-53 lead for Missouri. The seventh-seeded Tigers (25-9) held on from there, stopping a six-game tournament skid with their first win since beating Clemson in the first round in 2010. The 10th-seeded Aggies (26-9) have dropped their last 10 tournament games since beating Ohio State in the first round in 2001. The loss was also the 11th straight for a Mountain West team in the NCAAs.
Alabama 96, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 75
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. Alabama buried Texas A&M-Corpus Christi under an early three-point onslaught, launching the NCAA tournament’s top seed to a first-round romp on Thursday even with star freshman Brandon Miller going scoreless. The Crimson Tide (30-5) set aside their off-court distractions and buried 10 first-half threes in a predictably easy win over the 16thseeded Islanders (24-11) at Legacy Arena, less than an hour from campus. Miller, the six-foot-nine allAmerican 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 while dealing with a groin injury.
Princeton 59, Arizona 55
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. Ryan Langborg lifted Princeton to its first lead with 2:03 to play and the Tigers used a late-game run to earn their first NCAA tournament win in 25 years, topping No. 2 seed Arizona. The 15th-seeded Tigers (22-9) scored the final nine points, holding the Pac-12 tournament champs scoreless over the final 4:43. Tosan 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.
Kansas 96, Howard 68
DES MOINES, IOWA 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 a bit more comfortably during a 96-68 victory over Howard on Thursday in a West Region first-round game. Self is recovering from a heart procedure.
San Diego State 63, Charleston 57
ORLANDO, FLA. Matt Bradley’s last NCAA Tournament game essentially ended with him bobbling the ball out of bounds, a costly turnover against Creigton in an overtime loss last year. There was zero chance he was going to do it again. Bradley scored 17 points and made play after play down the stretch, including hitting two free throws in the final minute, and No. 5 seed San Diego State held on to beat 12thseeded College of Charleston 63-57 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.
Arkansas 73, Illinois 63
DES MOINES, IOWA Ricky Council IV scored 18 points and Arkansas survived some anxious moments in the second half against an Illinois team that wouldn’t go away, holding on to beat the Illini in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Devo Davis had 16 points for the eighth-seeded Razorbacks, who used relentless defence and rebounding to build big leads but couldn’t get comfortable until the final minute. Arkansas (21-13) faces top-seeded Kansas on Saturday in the second round.