Rhode Island withstands Young, Oklahoma in OT
URI guard Russell makes impression with 3-ball
PITTSBURGH — Here’s the skinny on a Philly guard called Fatts: The player with the best nickname in the tournament given because he was a chunky baby turned in the stout performance Rhode Island required to win.
Fatts Russell hit three 3s and showed that — for this game, at least — he was the best freshman guard around as he pressured Oklahoma’s dynamic scorer Trae Young right out of the NCAA Tournament.
E.C. Matthews hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime and one more that sealed it to help Rhode Island hold off Young and beat Oklahoma 83-78 Thursday in the Midwest Region.
The seventh-seeded Rams (26-7) won a game in the tournament for the second straight season and will play second-seeded Duke on Saturday. Young is likely one-and-done at OU. Fatts Russell plays on.
“I told him when I recruited him: The only point guard I saw better than him at the Peach Jam last year was Trae Young, and he told me I was wrong about that and he was going to prove me wrong today,” Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley said. “And he put on a show.”
The Sooners needed more of a show out of Young.
Young had cooled a bit as the 10th-seeded Sooners (18-14) ended the season on a 2-8 stretch headed into the tournament. Still, the phenomenal freshman led the nation with averages of 27.4 points and 8.8 assists.
He needed a late-game surge just to hit 28 points on 9 of 18 shooting. But he also committed six turnovers and took a pair of ill-advised shots in OT.
“Sometimes you’ve got to live with those shots because he’s been making them all year,” Sooners guard Christian James said. “Sometimes you take those shots and they didn’t fall this time.”
Young shook off an early second-half funk and scored 11 straight points for the Sooners to close regulation and made two free throws to open OT.
Matthews, who scored 16 points, hit a 3 in OT for a 74-72 lead with 1:54 left and one more with 28 seconds to go for a five-point lead. Hurley ended the win with a big embrace with Russell. Russell (whose first name is Daron) scored 15 points.
“We didn’t want to change our style of play and not be aggressive against him just because of who he is,” Russell said of Young. “We just tried to contain him and it worked.”
Young said he will sit down with his family later this week to discuss whether he will return to school or not. Many projections have the 6-foot-2 star who has drawn comparisons to Stephen Curry going in the first round of this year’s NBA draft if he decides to leave.
At Wichita, Kan., Khadeen Carrington scored 26 points and Desi Rodriguez added 20 to lead Seton Hall during a foul-filled firstround matchup. Myles Powell contributed 19 points and Angel Delgado scored 13 for the Pirates (22-11), who led the entire way a year after a late meltdown cost them an early exit against Arkansas. Allerik Freeman hit six 3-pointers and had 36 points to lead the Wolfpack (21-12). Seton Hall will play top-seeded Kansas on Saturday in the second round of the Midwest Regional.
At Wichita, Kan., Devonte Graham, the Big 12 Player of the Year, found his rhythm to ignite a sluggish Kansas midway through the first half and finishing with 29 points, lifting the Jayhawks to a tough, grind-it-out victory. Lagerald Vick added 14 points for the Jayhawks (28-7), who trailed the Ivy League champs by 10 in the early stages before going on a 19-2 run late in the half to take control. A.J. Brodeur had 14 points to lead the Quakers (24-9), but he was just 6 of 16 from the field and committed five turnovers. He was also 1 of 5 from the foul line, where Penn was 5 of 14 as a team.
At Pittsburgh, Marvin Bagley III, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, did whatever he wanted against game but overmatched Iona, pouring in 22 points to go with seven rebounds in his NCAA Tournament debut. The 6-foot-11 freshman forward made 10 of 14 shots in 32 minutes. Duke (27-7) allowed seasoned if undersized Iona (20-14) to hang around for most of the first half then tweaked its zone defense enough to disrupt the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament champions. Bagley and some solid shooting and unselfish play by the Blue Devil backcourt trio of Grayson Allen, Trevon Duval and Gary Trent took care of the rest.
No. 8 Seton Hall 94, No. 9 NC State 83 — No. 1 Kansas 76, No. 16 Penn 60— No. 2 Duke 89, No. 15 Iona 67 —