No. 15 seed Princeton uses late run to stun 2 seed Arizona
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 59-55 on Thursday.
The 15th-seeded Tigers (22-9) scored the final nine points, holding the Pac12 Tournament champion 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.
Princeton advanced to play seventh-seeded Missouri in the second round of the South Region.
Azuolas Tubelis scored 22 points for the Wildcats (287), who haven’t won a tournament game in consecutive years since 2014-15. MISSOURI 76, UTAH STATE 65 >> Missouri used a secondhalf scoring spurt from Kobe Brown to win its first NCAA Tournament game in 13 years, beating Utah State.
Brown hit three 3-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.
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. Missouri advanced to play 15th-seeded Princeton.
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. FURMAN 68, VIRGINIA 67 >> JP Pegues made a 3-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 loss.
Making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 43 years, the Paladins (287) advanced to the second round in the South Region, where they will play fifthseeded San Diego State on Saturday.
Furman earned its first tournament berth since 1980 by beating Chattanooga for the Southern Conference title, capping a season-long quest to redeem itself after losing the league’s automatic berth to the Mocs on a 35-foot buzzerbeater in last year’s Southern final.
In the aftermath of that loss, Jalen Slawson and Mike Bothwell both decided to return for their fifth seasons with the Paladins. Slawson took over the game when Bothwell fouled out with just over six minutes remaining, scoring nine consecutive points to turn a 54-48 deficit into Furman’s first lead of the game, 57-54, with 5:02 to go. SAN DIEGO STATE 63, CHARLESTON 57 >> Matt Bradley scored 17 points, including two free throws in the final minute, and No. 5 seed San Diego State held on to beat 12th-seeded Charleston.
The Aztecs (28-6) won their first game in the Big Dance since 2015 — ending a four-game losing streak — and snapped an 11-game skid for the Mountain West Conference.
The Cougars (31-4) lost for the first time in six weeks and have not won an NCAA Tournament game since 1997. MARYLAND 67, WEST VIRGINIA 65 >> 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.
Maryland, led by Julian Reese with 17 points and nine rebounds, meets top-seeded Alabama in the South Region on Saturday. ALABAMA 96, TEXAS A&MCORPUS CHRISTI 75 >> Alabama buried Texas A&MCorpus Christi under an early 3-point onslaught, and the NCAA Tournament’s top seed won easily even with star freshman Brandon Miller going scoreless.
The Crimson Tide (305) set aside their off-court distractions and buried 10 first-half 3s in a predictably easy win over the 16thseeded Islanders (24-11) at Legacy Arena, less than an hour from campus.
Miller, the All-American 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.
Alabama advanced to play eighth-seeded Maryland. The Tide coasted after leading 54-34 by the half.
WEST REGION
KANSAS 96, HOWARD 68 >>
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 during an easy victory over Howard.
Self is still recovering from a recent heart procedure.
Gradey Dick had 19 points and 11 rebounds in the freshman’s first NCAA Tournament game. K.J. Adams Jr. scored 13 points and Dajuan Harris Jr. added 11 points for the Jayhawks (287), who will play Arkansas in the second round on Saturday.
Kansas, which has won 16 consecutive first-round games, is trying to become the first repeat NCAA winner in 16 years. ARKANSAS 73, ILLINOIS 63 >>
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.
Devo Davis had 16 points for the eighth-seeded Razorbacks, who used relentless defense and rebounding to build big leads but couldn’t get comfortable until the final minute. Arkansas (21-13) faces topseeded Kansas on Saturday.
Terrence Shannon Jr., held scoreless the first 16 minutes, finished with 20 points to lead the Illini (2013). It was the first time in five tournament appearances since 2011 that Illinois didn’t make it out of the first round. NORTHWESTERN 75, BOISE
STATE 67 >> Boo Buie scored 22 points to lead Northwestern past Boise State in the Wildcats’ second appearance ever in the NCAA Tournament.
The seventh-seeded Wildcats (22-11) previously made it to the Big Dance in 2017, and just like that time, they made sure they wouldn’t be one-and-done.
Northwestern never trailed in a game that was close most of the way and advanced to play either UCLA or UNC Asheville.
The 10th-seeded Broncos (24-10) are still searching for their first tournament win, losing their opener for the ninth time in as many tries. Max Rice scored 17 points to lead Boise State and Naje Smith added 14.
EAST REGION
DUKE 74, ORAL ROBERTS 51 >>
Jeremy Roach matched his career high with 23 points, and No. 5 seed Duke beat Oral Roberts in the school’s first NCAA Tournament game since Jon Scheyer took over as the Blue Devils’ coach.
Dariq Whitehead added 13 points for the Blue Devils (27-8), winners of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Roach also scored 23 in the ACC title game victory over Virginia.
Scheyer helped Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski win two of his five national titles as a Duke player and assistant. In his first NCAA Tournament game as Krzyzewski’s replacement, Scheyer led Duke to a 10th consecutive win and a second-round matchup against either fourth-seeded Tennessee or No. 13 seed LouisianaLafayette.
MIDWEST REGION
AUBURN 83, IOWA 75 >> Johni Broome had 19 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots, and Auburn beat Iowa.
The ninth-seeded Tigers (21-12) made 11 of 12 free throws over the final four minutes to lock up a second-round matchup with No. 1 seed Houston or Northern Kentucky.
The eighth-seeded Hawkeyes (19-14) twice got within four points in the second half but came no closer.
Auburn had five players score in double figures. Wendell Green Jr. had 15 points, and Tre Donaldson and KD Johnson each finished with 11. Allen Flanigan scored 10.
TEXAS 81, COLGATE 61 >> Sir’Jabari Rice scored 23 points and No. 2 seed Texas shut down sharpshooting Colgate.
Rice made five of his seven 3-pointers in the first half, helping the Longhorns get off to a fast start. Marcus Carr finished with 17 points and Dylan Disu had 17 points and nine rebounds.
Texas (27-8) shot 13 for 23 from 3-point range while advancing to a second-round matchup against Penn State or Texas A&M.