NCAA Tournament Capsules

NCAA Tournament Capsules

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The MAC champion Ohio Bobcats, who had a losing record in conference play, have found their way in March and now boast an NCAA tournament win for the first time in 27 years.

Armon Bassett scored 32 points to lead the 14th-seeded Bobcats to a convincing 97-83 win over No. 3 seed Georgetown in the Midwest Regional.

In early March, no one expected Ohio (22-14) to be in this position. The team had just finished a 7-9 season in Mid-American Conference play and entered the conference tournament as the ninth seed.

Four wins later, Ohio was in the 65-team field. Forty minutes later, the Bobcats are in the second round.

Ohio seized the lead early on its 3-point shooting and never had a serious letdown the rest of the way. The heavily favored Hoyas (23-11) made a small run in the second half that cut a 19-point lead down to seven, but they couldn’t overcome the Bobcats.

Chris Wright led the Hoyas with 28 points.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Ali Farokhmanesh hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 4.9 seconds left to lift ninth-seeded Northern Iowa over UNLV.

Farokhmanesh found himself open after Kwadzo Ahelegbe had chewed up the majority of the clock following Oscar Bellfield’s tying 3-pointer for UNLV with 35 seconds remaining. Johnny Moran reversed the ball to Farokhmanesh, who drained the jumper with the shot clock running down.

The Runnin’ Rebels (25-9) got one last chance to tie it, but Tre’Von Willis didn’t get his 3-pointer off before the final buzzer and it was off-target anyway.

Farokhmanesh finished with 17 points, including three 3-pointers in the second half, and Ahelegbe added 13 points as the Panthers (29-4) snapped a 20-year drought in the NCAA tournament.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Danero Thomas hit a 15-footer as the buzzer sounded and 13th-seeded Murray State stunned No. 4 seed Vanderbilt.

President Barack Obama must have been onto something picking the revved-up Racers (31-4) to get past the first round in the West Regional. It was the school’s first victory in the NCAA tournament in 24 years, and Murray State will play Butler in the second round.

For the second time in as many NCAA appearances, Vanderbilt (24-9) bowed out early as the higher seed. The Commodores were a first-round upset victim of Siena in 2008 when seeded fourth.

Jermaine Beal made two free throws with 12.7 seconds left to give Vandy the lead. B.J. Jenkins missed a rushed 3-pointer on the other end, but the ball went out of bounds off a Vanderbilt player with 4.2 seconds left, giving Murray State the final shot.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Shelvin Mack hit a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored 18 of his 25 points after halftime to lead the fifth-seeded Bulldogs.

Gordon Hayward scored 13 points and Matt Howard added 11 as Butler (29-4) won its 21st straight game to extend the sport’s longest active winning streak.

Derrick Caracter had 20 points for UTEP (26-7), which won 16 straight games and a league title before a tournament loss to Houston last Saturday. Randy Culpepper added 16 points, but the Miners’ defense couldn’t stop the patient outside shooting of the Bulldogs.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Jimmer Fredette scored 37 points, including two 3-pointers in double overtime, to seal the Cougars’ thrilling win over 10th-seeded Florida.

Fredette made a 3 from the top of the key to put the seventh-seeded Cougars (30-5) ahead 90-83 with 2:42 left, then added another with just over a minute remaining to put the game away.

Michael Loyd Jr. added a career-high 26 points for BYU.

Kenny Boynton scored 27 points for the Gators (21-13), who rallied from a 13-point deficit in their first NCAA tournament game since winning back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Denis Clemente had 17 points and six assists, and the second-seeded Wildcats had a 46-21 advantage inside to avoid becoming an opening-day upset victim.

Kansas State (27-7) gathered itself after a shaky start, riding its defense into the second round for the second time in three years. The Wildcats held the Mean Green (24-9) to 31 percent shooting and stymied Josh White to only three points.

Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly added 15 points each for Kansas State, which will play BYU and sharpshooter Jimmer Fredette.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Carleton Scott’s 3-pointer rattled out in the closing seconds, and 11th-seeded Old Dominion stunned the Irish and star Luke Harangody.

The Fighting Irish rushed the ball up the court as the clock wound down, but Scott’s attempt to tie the game didn’t fall and Harangody’s putback at the buzzer wasn’t enough.

Frank Hassell scored 15 to lead Old Dominion (27-8), which held Harangody to four points — and scoreless until the final minute. The Monarchs will play Baylor in the second round.

Ben Hansbrough scored 17 points to lead the Irish (23-12).

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ekpe Udoh had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and LaceDarius Dunn scored 13 to help the third-seeded Bears win an NCAA tournament game for the first time in 60 years.

Udoh also had five assists, two blocks and two steals for Baylor (26-7), which broke open a close game down the stretch. It’s the school’s first tournament win since beating BYU in 1950.

Gilberto Clavell had 23 points and Preston Brown added 13 for 14th-seeded Sam Houston State (25-8), which tied it at 55 on a short floater by Ashton Mitchell with 3:48 to go.

The game remained tied until Quincy Acy dunked to put Baylor ahead for good with 2:30 left.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Omar Samhan had 29 points and 12 rebounds despite spending most of the game in foul trouble, and Saint Mary’s pulled away to win an NCAA tournament game for the first time in six tries since 1959.

The 10th-seeded Gaels (27-5) will play Saturday against Villanova in the second round.

Mickey McConnell, the West Coast Conference tournament MVP, scored 23 points for the Gaels, who had a 40-18 rebounding edge and 21-4 advantage in second-chance points.

David Gonzalvez scored 18 and Kevin Anderson had 16 for Richmond (26-9).

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Scottie Reynolds responded to his benching with a clutch performance at the foul line in the final minutes of regulation to help the Wildcats survive.

Coach Jay Wright sat Reynolds at the start of the game to make a “teaching point,” and he missed 13 of 15 shots from the floor for Villanova (25-7). But the senior star made seven of eight free throws in the final 3:06 to send the game into overtime, finishing with 20 points.

Karon Abraham scored 23 for Robert Morris (23-13), which had a shot at the buzzer to tie the game in overtime that was no good.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Eric Bledsoe’s eight 3-pointers set a Kentucky record for an NCAA tournament game, and the top-seeded Wildcats dominated throughout in a victory over East Tennessee State.

Scoring 29 points in all, Bledsoe started 8 of 8 on 3s before finally missing his first from long range late in the second half and finishing 8 of 9. Still, he surpassed Tony Delk’s previous school record of seven 3s in the 1996 championship game against Syracuse.

Patrick Patterson scored 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting, including a handful of dunks, while John Wall added 17 points and 11 assists for the Wildcats (33-2).

Micah Williams had 18 points for ETSU (20-15), which trailed by as much as 30 in the first half and never threatened in the second.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Quincy Pondexter drove for a tiebreaking bank shot with 1.7 seconds left, and 11th-seeded Washington extended its remarkable late-season run into the NCAA tournament with a victory over Marquette.

Pondexter scored 18 points and Isaiah Thomas 19 as the Huskies (25-9) won their eighth straight game in dramatic fashion, rallying from a 15-point deficit with 13½ minutes left.

Lazar Hayward missed a half-court heave at the buzzer for the sixth-seeded Golden Eagles (23-11), who didn’t make a field goal in the final 4:33.

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