NCAA Tournament Roundup

■ Loyola-Chicago 64, Miami 62: DALLAS — Donte Ingram hit a 3-pointer from the March Madness logo just before the buzzer, lifting Loyola-Chicago over Miami 64-62 in a Thursday thriller to celebrate its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 33 years.

Ingram’s long shot from well above the key came after Lonnie Walker IV missed a free throw with a chance to give the Hurricanes a three-point lead with 9 seconds remaining.

The 11th-seeded Ramblers (29-5) matched the school record for wins from their 1963 national championship team in their first NCAA trip since losing to Patrick Ewing and Georgetown in the Sweet 16 in 1985. They advanced to face third-seeded Tennessee on Saturday.

Loyola was boosted by a pregame prayer from its team chaplain, 98-year-old Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt. She’s held that post for more than two decades and, sitting courtside in her wheelchair, got hugs from the Ramblers when it was over.

■ Tennessee 73, Wright State 47: DALLAS — Admiral Schofield had 15 points and 12 rebounds as Tennessee advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 73-47 win over Wright State with coach Rick Barnes back in familiar territory.

Lamonte Turner had 19 points and a career-high nine assists for Tennessee (26-8), SEC co-champions in the regular season after being picked in the preseason to finish 13th in the 14-team league. Grant Williams added 14 points and nine rebounds.

The Volunteers never had much trouble with the Horizon League tournament champ making its first NCAA appearance since 2007, even after missing their first six shots in the game. The Vols led 3-2 when Schofield made a 3-pointer with 16:42 left, and Wright State (25-10) went back ahead on the next possession before Jordan Bowden’s layup put the Vols up for good.

■ Kansas 76, Pennsylvania 60: WICHITA, Kan. — Devonte Graham ignited sluggish Kansas midway through the first half, pouring in 29 points and lifting the top-seeded Jayhawks to a tough, grind-it-out 76-60 victory over No. 16 Pennsylvania in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

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 first half to take control.

Graham, perhaps atoning for a miserable performance in last year’s tournament loss to Oregon, also had six rebounds and six assists as the Jayhawks cruised into a second-round matchup with eighth-seeded Seton Hall.

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.

■ Seton Hall 94, North Carolina State 83: WICHITA, Kan. — Khadeen Carrington scored 26 points, Desi Rodriguez added 20 and eighth-seeded Seton Hall beat North Carolina State 94-83 in a foul-filled first-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament.

Myles Powell added 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.

Seton Hall will play top-seeded Kansas on Saturday in the second round of the Midwest Regional.

Allerik Freeman hit six 3-pointers and had 36 points to lead the No. 9 seed Wolfpack (21-12), who returned to the tournament under first-year coach Kevin Keatts for the first time in three years. Torin Dorn added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Lennard Freeman contributed 13 points.

■ Houston 67, San Diego State 65: WICHITA, Kan. — Rob Gray drove for a wind-milling layup that just trickled over the rim with 1.1 seconds left, and Trey Kell’s off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer was no good, giving No. 6 seed Houston a 67-65 victory over 11th-seeded San Diego State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Devin Watson had just tied the game for the Aztecs with a turnaround 3-pointer, his second in a matter of seconds, when Gray dribbled up floor with 29 seconds left. He allowed the clock to tick down to six seconds before crossing over, scooting under two defenders and scooping up his shot.

The layup gave him 39 points and the Cougars (27-7) their first tournament win since 1984.

Devin Davis and Corey Davis Jr. added nine points apiece for Houston, which lost two players to fouls down the stretch and struggled to contain the Aztecs’ big front line.

Jalen McDaniels had 18 points to lead San Diego State (22-11). Kell finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, though it’s the three points he missed at the end that will stand out.

■ Rhode Island 83, Oklahoma 78, OT: 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.

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.

■ Duke 89, Iona 67: PITTSBURGH — Marvin Bagley III dominated in his NCAA Tournament debut, pouring in 22 points to go with seven rebounds as Duke rolled by Iona.

The Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year made 10 of 14 shots in 32 minutes, grabbed seven rebounds and knocked down his lone 3-point attempt as the second-seeded Blue Devils overwhelmed the 15th-seeded Gaels.

Grayson Allen scored 16 points and added a game-high nine assists for Duke (27-7), Trevon Duval finished with 19 points and eight assists and Gary Trent Jr. had 16 points and six rebounds as the deeper, more talented Blue Devils withstood an early push from Iona (20-14) to win

■ VILLANOVA 87, RADFORD 61: PITTSBURGH – Jalen Brunson scored 16 points and top-seeded Villanova hit 14 3-pointers to rout Radford.

The Wildcats (31-4) played to near-perfection for the first 30 minutes and led 44-23 at halftime.

The Highlanders (23-13) posed no threat at becoming the first 16 seed to ever knock off a No. 1 in the tournament.

■ Ohio State 81, South Dakota State 73: BOISE, Idaho — Kam Williams made a tiebreaking four-point play with 1:36 left, then added a trio of free throws after being fouled on another 3-point attempt, lifting Ohio State to an 81-73 victory over South Dakota State.

Fifth-seeded Ohio State (25-8) built a 13-point lead by reeling off 16 straight points midway through the second half of a game that featured 71 combined 3-pointers.

South Dakota State made a late run at the Buckeyes, scoring 10 straight points to tie it at 70-all.

Williams answered — by being fouled on a pair of 3-pointers. He finished off the four-point play for a 74-70 lead and made all three free throws on the second, making it 77-70 with 64 seconds left.

Keita Bates-Diop had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Buckeyes, who will face Gonzaga in the round of 32 on Saturday.

■ GONZAGA 68, UNC GREENSBORO 64: BOISE, Idaho — Zach Norvell Jr. hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 20.8 seconds left to help Gonzaga escape a major scare in the West Region with a 68-64 victory over UNC Greensboro.

The fourth-seeded Bulldogs (31-4) trailed 64-62 with 1:48 left after squandering a 12-point lead they took early in the second half.

Josh Perkins tied the game at 64, and after Greensboro’s Francis Alonso forced up a miss, Gonzaga got the rebound and worked the ball to Norvell, a redshirt freshman, who spotted up from the right elbow and made the 3 for the lead.

Alonso got called for an offensive foul on the next possession, but Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura missed a pair of free throws. Marvin Smith had a chance to tie it and his 3-point attempt looked spot on, but it bounded in and out. Norvell made one more free throw to ice the game and finish with 15 points.

■ KENTUCKY 78, DAVIDSON 73: BOISE, Idaho — Kentucky topped Davidson 78-73 in the NCAA tournament despite failing to make a single 3-pointer, snapping a nation-best streak of 1,047 games with a 3 that began in 1988.

The fifth-seeded Wildcats went 0 for 6 from behind the line and didn’t even try one over the final 8:46.

The last time Kentucky didn’t make a 3-pointer was at the Great Alaska Shootout against Seton Hall on Nov. 26, 1988 — when Eddie Sutton was coaching, LeRon Ellis was the team’s leading scorer and the 3-point arc was only in its third year in the college game.

UNLV now holds the longest streak at 1,040 games.

From Wire Reports

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