Miami, San Diego State knock out the final two No. 1 seeds
Nijel Pack and Miami hit shots from near and far against the stingiest defense in the country to beat Houston 89-75 Friday night in a Sweet 16 game in Kansas City, Missouri, leaving the NCAA Tournament without a single No. 1 seed among its final eight teams for the first time since seeding began in 1979.
Miami (28-7), only the fifth team this season to score at least 70 points against Houston (33-4), will play second-seeded Texas today in the Midwest Region final for the chance to go to the Final Four.
About 30 minutes before Houston’s loss, top overall seed Alabama fell to San Diego State in Louisville, Kentucky. Fellow No. 1 seeds Purdue and Kansas lost during the tournament’s first weekend.
The fifth-seeded Hurricanes reached a regional final for the second straight year just a few hours after Miami’s ninth-seeded women’s team hung on to beat Villanova and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time. Miami and UConn are the only schools with teams remaining in both tournaments.
This is the first time in three years Houston didn’t make it to the Elite Eight.
The Cougars simply couldn’t stop a multifaceted Miami offense led by Pack’s 3-point shooting. He had season highs of seven 3-pointers on 10 attempts and 26 points.
Isaiah Wong’s mid-range game helped get the Canes out to a fast start, and he finished with 20 points. Jordan Miller hurt the Cougars with his penetration and had 13 points, and Norchad Omier was his usual rugged self under the basket while recording his 16th double-double, posting 12 points and 13 rebounds.
“We emphasized moving the ball and finding the open man, and the guys did such a fantastic job from start to finish,” Hurricanes coach Jim Larrañaga said.
Texas 83, Xavier 71: Also in Kansas City, Tyrese Hunter scored 19
points and second-seeded Texas (29-8) rolled over third-seeded Xavier (27-10) to reach the Elite Eight for the first time in 15 years. The highest seed left in the tourney will play No. 5 seed Miami today for a spot in the Final Four in Houston.
Marcus Carr and Christian Bishop scored 18 points each, Sir’Jabari Rice had 16 and Timmy Allen had 11 for the Longhorns, who played most of the way without Dylan Disu, a star big man who has a foot injury.
“I thought we played one of our better defensive games tonight that we played all year,” said Texas interim coach Rodney Terry, who stepped into the top job in December when Chris Beard was suspended and ultimately fired following allegations of domestic violence. “Proud of my guys and the way they put their will on this game from the start to finish.”
Adam Kunkel had 21 points to lead the Musketeers.
South Region
San Diego State 71, Alabama 64: Darrion Trammell and San Diego State used a dominant defensive performance to knock top overall seed Alabama out of the NCAA Tournament, bottling up All-America freshman Brandon Miller in Louisville.
Trammell scored 21 points while Miller, whose outstanding season was marred by off-thecourt complications, was held to nine points on 3-of-19 shooting and had six turnovers.
The fifth-seeded Aztecs will face Creighton at 2 p.m. today in the South Region final as they seek their first Final Four in program history.
San Diego State trailed 48-39 midway through the second half before going on a 12-0 run and controlling the game from there.
The Aztecs blocked eight shots — Nathan Mensah blocked five — and forced 14 turnovers.
Mark Sears had 16 points and
Jahvon Quinerly and Charles Bediako scored 10 each for Alabama (31-6), which shot 32% overall and a miserable 3 of 27 (11.1%) from 3-point range.
Creighton 86, Princeton 75:
Creighton (24-12) used its size, 3-point shooting and a swarming second-half defense to end the March Madness run of Princeton, beating the 15th-seeded Tigers (23-9).
The sixth-seeded Bluejays advanced to their first regional final since they were part of an eight-team NCAA Tournament in 1941. Creighton will play San Diego State in today’s South Region final, with each team seeking its first Final Four.
Ryan Kalkbenner, the two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year, scored 22 points to lead the Bluejays to their sixth win in seven games. Baylor Scheierman made five 3s and finished with 21 points.
Ryan Langborg led Princeton with 26 points.