Jayhawks survive E. Washington
Kansas 93, Eastern Washington 84: David Mccormack returned from his Covid-19-caused hiatus just in time to rescue No. 3 seed Kansas.
One day after rejoining the Jayhawks in Indianapolis, the bruising big man piled up 22 points and nine rebounds, helping slow-starting Kansas (21-8) rally from a 10-point second-half deficit and beat No. 14 seed Eastern Washington (16-8) on Saturday in Indianapolis to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ochai Agbaji scored 21 points, Marcus Garrett fought foul trouble to add 20 and Dajuan Harris Jr. had 13 for the Jayhawks, who advanced to play sixthseeded Southern California or No. 11 seed Drake for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Tanner Groves scored a career-high 35 points and younger brother Jacob Groves had 23 for the Eagles, whose third trip to the NCAA Tournament ended just as quickly as the first two – though not without putting up a fight.
The aptly named “Groves Bros” got Eastern Washington off to a flying start. The pair of All-big Sky forwards combined to score the first nine points of the game and forced Jayhawks coach Bill Self to burn through early timeouts.
Kansas settled down and put together a 17-5 run and suddenly looked again like the big boys out of the Big 12. But Shantay Legans’ motley crew of underrated and overlooked sharp-shooters finished the half on a 24-10 charge.
The Groves kids were at it again. They combined for 3-pointers on three straight trips down floor, then Tyler Robertson added a fourth from the top of the key to give Eastern Washington a 46-38 lead headed into the locker room.
Compounding problems for Kansas: Garrett, one of the nation’s best defenders, picked up his third foul before the break.
Self turned to Mccormack to bail the Jayhawks out. Even though he was only expected to play about 10 minutes a half after his bout with COVID-19, the big guy went to work in the paint as if he hadn’t missed a day. He scored their first eight points of the second half, trying to keep Kansas alive until his teammates could find their shots.
Florida State 64, UNC Greensboro 54: Rayquan Gray scored 17 points and No. 4 seed Florida State (17-6) began what it hopes will be another deep NCAA Tournament run under coach Leonard Hamilton, holding off 13thseeded UNC Greensboro (21-9) in the East Region in Indianapolis.
The Seminoles, who reached the Elite Eight and the Sweet 16 in the previous two tournaments, allowed the Spartans to hang around deep into the second half thanks to an uneven offensive performance.
Florida State went 0 for 9 from 3point range, winning a game without a made 3 for the first time since February 2018. The Seminoles still managed to shoot 50% overall.
The Spartans closed within 51-50 with 4:52 remaining, but Florida State held them scoreless for nearly four minutes after that.
Balsa Koprivica had 13 points and nine rebounds and Anthony Polite added 12 points for the Seminoles, who advanced to play Colorado in the second round on Monday.
Isaiah Miller scored 17 points and Keyshaun Langley added 16 for Greensboro, which was seeking its first tournament win. Greensboro shot 32% overall as Florida State allowed a season-low point total. Florida State rolled out to a 13-2 lead as Greensboro missed nine of its first 10 shots.
Koprivica went up high for a twohanded alley-oop jam on an assist from M.J. Walker that put the Seminoles up 15-4.
Greensboro started to settle down later in the first half. The 6-foot Miller dunked off an inbounds lob from the baseline to cut Florida State’s advantage to 25-18.
Langley was fouled on a deep made 3-pointer from straight away, and his free throw with 36 seconds left in the half trimmed Florida State’s edge to 2926.
Langley’s 3-pointer in the opening seconds of the second half tied the game at 29, but Florida State responded with a 12-0 run.
Greensboro surged again. A pair of free throws by Miller cut Florida State’s lead to one point, but two quick baskets by Gray got the Seminoles back on track.
LSU 76, St. Bonaventure 61: Freshman Cameron Thomas scored 27 points in another impressive performance and his LSU teammates provided the rebounding muscle, leading the eighthseeded Tigers past ninth-seeded St. Bonaventure.
Darius Days and Aundre Hyatt each had 13 points and Trendon Watford had 11. Days and Watford also had 11 rebounds each while Hyatt grabbed 10. The Tigers have won five of six.
Jaren Holmes scored 18 points and Osun Osunniyi had 15 points and nine rebounds for St. Bonaventure (16-5). Jalen Adaway had 11 points in his home state.
Once the Tigers warmed up, the Bonnies never had a chance.
Colorado 96, Georgetown 73: Chances are, you can fit Colorado’s entire NCAA Tournament history on the back of an old Patrick Ewing jersey. And now Ewing is part of that history, too.
The Buffaloes (23-8) used an early 3point barrage to parlay their highest seeding ever at March Madness into a first-round win over one of the biggest names in the game – a thumping of Georgetown(13-13), the program Ewing starred for in the 1980s and now coaches.
Led by freshman Jabari Walker’s 5for-5 shooting clinic from 3-point range, the fifth-seeded Buffs made 16 3-pointers and shot 64% from long range.
Walker missed only one of his 10 shots on his way to a career-best 24 points, and D’shawn Schwartz (18 points) made four of his five 3s in the first half to put Colorado into cruise control. The Buffs made the round of 32 for only the third time since the brackets expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
Georgetown won four games in four days earlier this month to take the Big East Tournament title and make a surprise trip to the NCAA Tournament.