San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Surprise: Beavers reach Elite 8
INDIANAPOLIS — Picked to finish dead last in the Pac12, Oregon State instead might be the last one standing.
Led by unflappable guard Ethan Thompson, whose 20 points included two on the clinching foul shots with 35 seconds left, the No. 12 seed Beavers and their brilliant defense shut down eighthseeded Loyola (Chicago) in a 6558 victory on Saturday to head to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight for the first time since 1982.
OSU will play secondseeded Houston on Monday night for a spot in its first Final Four since 1963.
“They just want to keep riding the wave,” said head coach Wayne Tinkle, whose Beavers (2012) have matched Missouri in 2002 as the lowestseeded teams to advance this far.
Not even the fervent prayers of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt could help the Ramblers (265), who were led by All-America forward Cameron Krutwig’s 14 points.
Houston 62, Syracuse 46: Quentin Grimes scored 14 points and the Cougars’ defense locked down on Buddy Boeheim and the 11th-seed Orange (18-10), helping Houston (27-3) make its first regional final since reaching a second straight NCAA championship game in 1984 with Hakeem Olajuwon and coach Guy Lewis during the famed “Phi Slama Jama” era. Boeheim, playing for his father, Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, had been on a tear through the ACC and NCAA tournaments (28.3 points per game). But he was held to 12 points on 3-for-13 shooting.
South Region
Arkansas 72, Oral Roberts 70: Davonte Davis hit a short jumper with 2.9 seconds left and the Razorbacks (25-6) advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in 26 years, since the Nolan Richardson “40 Minutes of Hell” days. Max Abmas scored 25 points for the Golden Eagles (18-11), but his 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the front of the rim.
Baylor 62, Villanova 51: The top-seeded Bears (25-2) overcame frigid 3-point shooting (3-for-19), getting 16 points from Adam Flagler and using defense to clamp down on the fifth-seeded Wildcats (18-7). The Bears took a six-point lead with a 14-2 run during which not a single point came from outside the arc. Baylor will play Arkansas on Monday.