NCAA: Texas A&M-Purdue game will feature two physical teams

NCAA: Texas A&M-Purdue game likely to be physical

When Texas A&M and Purdue tip off in the second round, the coaching staffs might be wise to pull out some helmets and shoulder pads. Both teams are physical.

Nobody is moreso than Purdue guard Chris Kramer, one of the best defenders in the Big Ten and a former high-school football player who was so good that former coach Joe Tiller used to tell him he could make millions in the NFL if he only switched sports.

Well, Kramer is playing on Sunday now.

Da’Sean Butler and West Virginia are back in the round of 16 for the second time in three years, advancing with a 68-59 victory over Missouri in the East Regional.

The Mountaineers got a scare late but held on from the foul line to set up a regional semifinal against 11th-seeded Washington, which upset No. 6 seed Marquette and third-seeded New Mexico in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.

For as much trouble as the Big East has had this postseason, it went 4-0 in Buffalo with Syracuse and West Virginia moving on.

Cornell’s charmed run continues with an 87-69 victory over Wisconsin, a win so dominant that most of the country didn’t get to see the last 10 minutes of it. CBS shifted its focus to a couple of much closer games, between Michigan State and Maryland, then between West Virginia and Missouri.

To fill in some of the blanks, Ryan Wittman finished with 24 points for the Big Red, who will play top-seeded Kentucky in Syracuse on Thursday. Louis Dale had a game-high 26 points as Cornell put four players in double-figures scoring.

The Badgers got 23 points from Jon Leuer and 18 from Jason Bohannon, but star guard Trevon Hughes was just 3-of-8 shooting for 10 points.

Da’Sean Butler showed some veteran craftiness, getting loose for an offensive rebound after a missed foul shot by Cam Thoroughman. The putback gave West Virginia a 65-57 lead, and when Missouri couldn’t score at the other end, the Mountaineers were headed back to the line.

The crowd is starting to celebrate a Mountaineers win already, with 45.5 seconds left on the block and Tigers 3-pointer threat Kim English fouled out.

Draymond Green hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to give Michigan State an 82-81 lead, and the Terps came back at the other end to regain the lead, forced to run an offensive play because they didn’t have a timeout and getting an inside basket from Greivis Vasquez.

The veteran Spartans came right back, though, with Korie Lucious giving a quick up-fake and letting fly a 3-pointer from the top of the key that left the tip of his fingers with about half a second left on the clock.

Ballgame.

Vasquez played an inspired game but was left sitting on his rump, his head buried in his jersey as the Spartans celebrated. They’re heading on to a regional semifinal against Northern Iowa following their 85-83 victory over Maryland.

Whew.

Give it to Greivis!

The Spartans’s third turnover in the final couple minutes has allowed Maryland to take its first lead since 7-6, with Vasquez scoring inside to make it 81-80 with under a minute to go.

The fiery guard has been the catalyst of the Terps’ late charge, scoring eight of his 19 points.

Maryland forced back-to-back turnovers and has gone on a 10-0 run in a span of about 30 seconds to trim Michigan State’s lead from 15 earlier in the game to 80-79 with 1:27 to go.

Spartans coach Tom Izzo called a timeout after Greivis Vasquez knocked down a 3-pointer in the corner to make it a one-point game.

How much do the Spartans miss Kalin Lucas and Chris Allen, both out with injuries, and their ballhandling and free-throw shooting ability?

Da’Sean Butler is 12 of 13 from the foul line for West Virginia, while Missouri is 10 of 18 as a team. That’s a big reason that the Mountaineers are clinging to a 58-53 lead with under 4½ minutes to go.

The Mountaineers are in the bonus, too, so they’ll be parading to the foul line a lot in the closing minutes.

Evan Turner had 24 points to go with nine rebounds and eight assists, and Ohio State has moved into the regional semifinals with a 75-66 victory over Georgia Tech.

The second-seeded Buckeyes will play sixth-seeded Tennessee on Friday in a region that is suddenly wide open without the overall No. 1 seed Kansas.

The Yellow Jackets played in the national title game just six years ago, but coach Paul Hewitt might be on the hot seat despite reaching the second round of the tournament. He’s got three former McDonald’s All-Americans in a lineup that has chronically underachieved.

Georgia Tech has only one NCAA tournament win — against Oklahoma State on Friday — since 2005, and hasn’t had a winning conference record in six years. The friction in Atlanta became apparent in February when Hewitt tweeted, “Are you a critic or a supporter of this team? … Supporters will continue to watch this team fight.”

They showed some fight against the Buckeyes before getting knocked out.

Kevin Jones is shining for West Virginia.

He’s hit a baseline jumper, converted a layup off a pretty feed in the lane from Joe Mazzulla, and just drained a 3 from the left corner after pulling down an offensive rebound off a missed shot by Devin Ebanks.

Da’Sean Butler has just made three free throws after being fouled by Michael Dixon, putting the Mountaineers up 52-43 with just under 10 minutes left.

David Lighty went crashing to the floor after going up for a layup on a fastbreak with just over a minute left and getting hammered by three Georgia Tech players. The referee immediately called it an intentional foul, and Buckeyes coach Thad Matta walked out on the court to bark at anybody who would listen.

Lighty walked around for a moment before heading to the free throw line, where he all but sealed the Buckeyes’ victory. Georgia Tech had gone on a nice run late to give itself a chance, but Evan Turner and the Buckeyes have been too much.

Georgia Tech is trying to make something happen, trailing Ohio State 65-55 with about 3 minutes left, by slapping on a full-court press. Ohio State has good foul shooters, so trying to get back into the game down the stretch will be quite the uphill battle.

Evan Turner has 20 points to go with seven rebounds and eight assists for the Buckeyes.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo will have a tough time getting junior guard Durrell Summers on the plane back to East Lansing. He’s been simply outstanding in Spokane.

Summers averaged just over 10 points this season, but had 14 in an opening-round win over New Mexico State. He’s single-handedly dominating Maryland, with a season-high 26 points on 10 of 13 shooting — including 6 of 8 from 3-point land.

Bo don’t know what to do right now in Jacksonville.

Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan was nailed with a technical foul as his Badgers continue to struggle against upstart Ivy League champ Cornell. That sent Ryan Wittman to the line, and he hit the second of two free throws to make it 62-46 with 13:35 remaining.

Jon Leuer has 20 points for the Badgers, but he’s been the only guy scoring. Trevon Hughes has been limited to five.

Georgia Tech is 0 for 6 from beyond the arc in the second half against Ohio State, and Evan Turner and the Buckeyes are starting to pull away.

The Big Ten’s best player is still causing nightmares for Paul Hewitt, now with 20 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists. Maybe that triple-double is still within reach? There’s about 7 minutes remaining.

Who needs Kalin Lucas? The Spartans are 3 for 3 from beyond the arc in the second half with their injured star on the bench.

The Spartans are simply out-hustling Maryland, whether it’s scrapping after loose balls on defense or running Princeton-esque backdoor cuts to the basket on offense. Michigan State leads 60-50 with 13:40 left in the game.

Da’Sean Butler had 19 points for West Virginia, which is a good thing considering how much everybody else is struggling. The rest of the team had scored just 13.

Devin Ebanks and Kevin Jones came up big during the Mountaineers’ run to the Big East tournament title, and they’ll need to start scoring if they want to hang on against Mizzou.

For all those fans accustomed to seeing a bearded mountain man wearing the fur hat as the West Virginia mascot, seeing a woman toting that fake gun has to be a little strange.

Her name is Rebecca Durst, and she’s the second female mascot at West Virginia.

A native of Point Pleasant, W.Va., Durst said she wanted to be the mascot since her sophomore year, when she went to a football game and saw how much energy the mascot created.

To be considered for the position, interested students fill out an application that includes five essay questions. They then participate in a half-hour interview with the Mountaineer Mascot Selection Committee, and four finalists compete in a cheer-off.

Durst is just finishing up her term as the mascot, and will give the job over to Brock Burwell. She’s been a staple this year at football and basketball games, alumni events, parades and community service events.

That’s the kind of stuff that only comes with college sports.