BLUE COMES UP GOLDEN
His last-second layup pulls out nail-biter for Marquette
Vander Blue had no doubt where he was going with the ball. The Marquette guard’s only concern was whether he would have room to make it happen.
Blue needed just four seconds to make his own path. Taking Jamil Wilson’s inbounds pass at midcourt with 5.5 seconds remaining, he drove left past Jake Cohen for a layup that completed a rally from nine points down and gave the third-seeded Golden Eagles (24-8) an improbable 59-58 victory over No. 14 Davidson (26-8) in Thursday’s second-round NCAA tournament game in Lexington, Ky.
“All I was thinking was, ‘If I get to the rim, I have to finish,’ ” said Blue, who scored seven of Marquette’s final 10 points including a three-pointer with 28 seconds left. “We got down by like seven, nobody ever panicked.”
Blue was there to ensure time ran out on Davidson, intercepting the last-ditch inbounds pass to seal a remarkable rally.
Butler 68, Bucknell 56
Andrew Smith had 16 rebounds and 14 points, and the Bulldogs (27-8) made 18 of 20 free throws down the stretch to hold off the Bison (28-6) in Lexington.
California 64, UNLV 61
Allen Crabbe had 19 points and nine rebounds, reserve Robert Thurman scored all 12 of his points on dunks and the Golden Bears (21-11) stunned the Runnin’ Rebels (25-10) in San Jose, Calif.
Syracuse 81, Montana 34
Brandon Triche scored 20 and the Orange (27-9) shackled the Grizzlies (257) with their 2-3 zone defense in San Jose.