First Four
North Dakota State’s Tyson Ward (above) celebrates after the Bison’s 78-74 victory over North Carolina Central in the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio. The tournament continues with 16 games today.
NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT NORTH DAKOTA STATE 78, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 74
DAYTON, Ohio — North Dakota State is one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the country, and that’s what it came down to at the end of the Bison’s First Four victory over North Carolina Central.
Vinnie Shahid sank three foul shots in the last 8 seconds to secure the 78-74 win on Wednesday night for North Dakota State, which now moves on to play East Region No. 1 seed Duke on Friday in Columbia, S.C.
“I thought that was key to make free throws, something that we’ve pretty much done all year,” Coach David Richman said. “Again, when it’s this time of year, it’s going to come down to possession here, possession there and those free throws. Every one of them is crucial.”
North Dakota State (19-15) won its second NCAA Tournament game since moving up to Division I 11 years ago. The team from Fargo upset Oklahoma in the opening round in 2014.
Tyson Ward scored 23 points for North Dakota State, posting his third 20-point effort in the last six games for the Summit League Tournament champions.
Shahid had 14 points, and Sam Griesel and Jared Samuelson each added 10 points for the Bison. Eight different North Dakota State players put up points against a tough N.C. Central defense.
“Early in the season we played a lot of teams that pressured like that, a lot of teams they had some athletes like that,” Shahid said. “And earlier in the year, when teams made a run, they were athletic and pressured like that, we kind of crumbled. As you can see, we’ve grown up a little bit.”
N.C. Central (18-16) squandered an outstanding night by senior center Raasean Davis, who scored 20 points and pulled down 16 rebounds — the 16th double-double of his career.
ARIZONA STATE 74, ST. JOHN’S 65
DAYTON, Ohio — Luguentz Dort overcame a hard foul and a leg injury, scored 21 points and led Arizona State to a long-awaited NCAA Tournament victory, defeating St. John’s.
The 11th-seeded Sun Devils (23-10) will play Mid-American Conference champion Buffalo on Friday in the West Region, coming off their first NCAA Tournament victory in 10 years.
Arizona State’s physical defense brought the Red Storm to a halt. St. John’s (21-13) missed 17 of its first 23 shots as the Sun Devils built an 18-point lead. A technical foul on Coach Bobby Hurley as he argued over a blocking foul with 25 seconds left in the half helped St. John’s trim the deficit to 38-25.
Ponds had a steal and dunk as St. John’s cut the lead to 40-33 early in the second half while Dort was on the bench getting his lower right leg treated. The freshman guard landed hard after extending for a rebound and getting fouled. Mustapha Heron was called for a flagrant foul.
Dort returned and hit two free throws and a layup that blunted St. John’s comeback. His fast-break layup rebuilt the lead to 16 points.