Houston struggles, but wins as injured star disappoints
All-American Marcus Sasser was watching from the bench as top-seeded Houston shook off Northern Kentucky on Thursday night for a 63-52 victory in a Midwest Region firstround NCAA Tournament game in Birmingham, Ala.
Chants of “NKU!” and “Overrated!” filled Legacy Arena as the 16th-seeded Norse trailed by only three at halftime and made it 36-all with under 16 minutes to go against the Cougars (32-3).
But Houston, with the injured Sasser scoring five points in just 14 minutes, pulled away behind 16 points from Jarace Walker, advancing to face ninth-seeded Auburn on Saturday.
East Region Duke 74, Oral Roberts 51
In Orlando, Fla., Jeremy Roach matched his career high with 23 points, and the No. 5 seed Blue Devils (27-8) beat the Golden Eagles in the school’s first NCAA Tournament game since Jon Scheyer took over for Mike Krzyzewski as the Blue Devils’ coach.
Twelfth-seeded Oral Roberts (30-5) entered the tournament on a nation-leading 17-game winning streak.
Tennessee 58, Louisiana 55
In Orlando, Fla., Tyreke Key scored 12 points, Jahmai Mashack added 11 and the No. 4 seed Volunteers (24-10) survived a late scare to hold off the Ragin’ Cahuns, who had whittled an 18-point deficit to three in the final minute.
West Region Kansas 96, Howard 68
In Des Moines, Iowa, Jalen Wilson had 20 points and seven rebounds, freshman Gradey Dick had his first career double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds and No. 1 seed and the defending national champion Jayhawks (28-7) defeated the Bison in a first-round game. The easy victory allowed absent coach Bill Self, who is recovering from a heart procedure, to rest a bit more comfortably.
Arkansas 73, Illinois 63
In Des Moines, Iowa, Ricky Council IV scored 18 points and the Razorbacks (21-13) survived some anxious moments in the second half against an Illinois team that wouldn’t go away.
UCLA 86, UNC Ashville 53
In Sacramento, Calif., Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Amari Bailey each scored 17 points and the second-seeded Bruins (30-5) raced out to a fast start and never looked back to rout the Bulldogs.
Northwestern 75, Boise St. 67
In Sacramento, Calif., Boo Buie scored 22 points to lead the seventh-seeded Wildcats (22-11) past the 10th-seeded Broncos in their second appearance ever in the NCAA Tournament.
Midwest Region Texas 81, Colgate 61
In Des Moines, Iowa, Sir’Jabari Rice made five of his seven 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 23 points as No. 2 seed Texas (27-8) shut down sharpshooting Colgate.
Penn St. 76, Texas A&M 59
In Des Moines, Iowa, Andrew Funk went 8-for-10 on 3-pointers and scored 27 points to lead the Nittany Lions (23-13) over the Aggies for their first NCAA Tournament victory in 22 years.
Auburn 83, Iowa 75
In Birmingham, Ala. Johni Broome had 19 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots, to lead the Tigers (21-12).
South Region Alabama 96, TAMU-CC 75
In Birmingham, Ala., Nick Pringle scored 19 points off the bench and the Crimson Tide (30-5) routed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with an early 3-point onslaught, launching the NCAA Tournament’s top seed to a first-round romp even with star freshman Brandon Miller held scoreless.
Maryland 67, W. Virginia 65
In Birmingham, Ala., Julian Reese scored 17 points and the Terrapins (22-12) overcame a sluggish start and a final heave at the buzzer by Kedrian Johnson, who scored a game-high 27, to defeat the Mountaineers.