Florida holds off Nevada
Gators build big lead, but need closing run to keep Wolf Pack at bay
Florida was cruising toward a surprisingly easy victory over Nevada in its opening NCA A Tournament game.
Then Nevada furiously tried to stave off the upset with a frantic second-half push that fell just short. Florida nearly squandered a double-digit lead before finally stopping the comeback and closing out a 70-61 Thursday night victory in the West Region.
“I thought we were just watching the clock and hoping a little bit,” Florida coach Mike White said about Nevada’s late push.
Andrew Nembhard, whose lastsecond shot beat LSU in the Southeastern Conference Tournament last week, drove to the basket for a layup with 11/2 minutes left and Florida scored the last seven points after the seventh-seeded Wolf Pack had rallied from down 18 to cut the deficit to just two points.
The Gators (20-15) were the third double-digit seed to win Thursday.
Kevarrius Hayes scored 16 points, Jalen Hudson added 15 and the 10th-seeded Gators won their tournament opener for the third straight year.
Cody Martin scored 23 points and twin brother Caleb Martin had 19 for the Wolf Pack (29-5). The two combined for 28 of their team’s 33 points in the second half as Nevada rallied.
“They did a great job of speeding us up,” White said. “We were very fortunate to hold on.”
Michigan State 76, Bradley 65: Cassius Winston scored 26 points and second-seeded Michigan State held off Bradley in the East Region. Xavier Tillman had 16 points with 11 boards for the Spartans (29-6), who’ll face Big Ten rival, 10th-seeded Minnesota, on Saturday in search of their first trip to the Sweet 16 in four years. Michigan State throttled the Gophers 79-55 in East Lansing back on Feb. 9. Bradley gave the Big Ten champions all they could handle, though. It was a one-possession game until Matt Mcquaid drilled a crucial 3 to put Michigan State ahead 61-55 with 3:31 left. Aaron Henry followed with a layup to cap a 9-0 run, but Darrell Brown hit a 3 for Bradley to make it 65-60. The Spartans iced the game at the line, where they hit their first 20 and finished 25-for-26.
Minnesota 86, Louisville 76: Minnesota won its first NCAA Tournament game in six years behind 24 points from freshman Gale Kalscheur as the 10th-seeded Gophers rolled past Louisville in the East Region. It was the first tournament win in Richard Pitino’s six seasons coaching the Gophers and came against the school that fired his father, Rick Pitino, in 2017. Michigan 74, Montana 55: Charles Matthews scored 22 points and Ignas Brazdeikas added 14 as No. 2 Michigan handled No. 15 Montana in a West Region first-round game. Montana got 17 points from Sayeed Pridgett.