Bucknell punches ticket to Big Dance
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Stephen Brown scored 22 points, and reserve Nate Sestina added 16 as Bucknell won its second straight Patriot League Tournament championship with an 83-54 victory over Colgate on Wednesday night.
The top-seeded Bison (25-9) head to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in program history and sixth time as the Patriot League representative. Four of those six titles have come in the last eight years.
The second-seeded Raiders (19-13) lost to Bucknell for the third time this season. Colgate was playing in the league championship game for the first time in 10 years and gunning for its first league championship since 1996.
Brown, who made five 3-pointers, was named tournament MVP.
ATLANTIC COAST
Quentin Snider scored 19 points, Ray Spalding had 18, and Louisville built a huge lead before knocking off Florida State 82-74 in an Atlantic Coast Conference tournament game with substantial NCAA implications. The ninth-seeded Cardinals (20-12) won for the first time in ACC postseason play and advanced to face No. 1 Virginia in the first quarterfinal Thursday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. …
Bonzie Colson banked in a go-ahead, 3-point heave that barely beat the shot clock with two minutes remaining, and Notre Dame rallied from 21 down in the second half to stun Virginia Tech 71-65. The Fighting Irish advanced to play in the quarterfinals against fifth-ranked and second-seeded Duke, the defending tournament champion. …
Jerome Robinson made a pull-up jumper with 17 seconds remaining to break a tie, and then forced a turnover on an inbounds play moments later, and Boston College upset North Carolina State 91-87 in the second round. The 12th-seeded Eagles (19-14) will face No. 4 seed Clemson. …
Theo Pinson had 16 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, and Kenny Williams scored 17 points as No. 12 North Carolina beat Syracuse 78-59 to advance to the quarterfinals. The sixthseeded Tar Heels (23-9) face third-seeded Miami.
PAC-12
Reid Travis had 19 points and 13 rebounds, helping Stanford roll over rival California 76-58 in the first round of the Pac12 tournament in Las Vegas. Stanford (18-14) shot well early to build a double-digit lead and shut the Bears down defensively to earn a spot in Thursday’s quarterfinals against fourthseeded UCLA. …
McKinley Wright IV had 20 points and 11 assists, and Colorado put a dent in Arizona State’s NCAA Tournament hopes with a 97-85 victory over the Sun Devils. The Buffaloes (17-14) earned a spot in Thursday’s quarterfinals against No. 15 Arizona. …
Drew Eubanks scored 19 points, Stephen Thompson Jr. added 14, and Oregon State outlasted Washington 69-66 in overtime. Oregon State (16-15) moves on to face No. 2 seed Southern California in the quarterfinals.
SOUTHEASTERN
Yante Maten scored 25 points to lead Georgia to a 78-62 win over Vanderbilt in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament in St. Louis. The 6-8 senior has scored in double figures in all but one game this season for Georgia (17-14), which led throughout and advanced to face No. 5 seed Missouri in the second round on Thursday. …
Chris Silva had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and South Carolina rallied from five points down in the second half to defeat Mississippi 85-84. Frank Booker added 21 points, and Justin Minaya had 16 for the Gamecocks, who advance to face No. 6 seed Arkansas.
BIG EAST
Shamorie Ponds returned from an abdominal strain and scored 26 points, and ninthseeded St. John’s took over in the second half to beat ninthseeded Georgetown 88-77 in the first round of the Big East tournament in New York. The Red Storm advanced to a quarterfinal game against topseeded and third-ranked Xavier on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. …
Andrew Rowsey scored 25 points, and seventh-seeded Marquette blew a 14-point lead and came back to outlast 10th-seeded DePaul 72-69. The win was the third straight for Marquette, which advanced to a quarterfinal showdown against second-seeded Villanova.