NCAA Men's Tournament: Kansas escapes; Dayton, USC and MSU also advance

Saturday, March 21, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS -- Kansas fans, take a breath.

After Bucknell, Bradley and Baylor, the Bison were every bit as dangerous, but North Dakota State's bid for the upset was denied by dunkin' Cole Aldrich and the confident Jayhawks.

Behind 23 points and 13 rebounds from the long-armed sophomore center in his hometown, defending NCAA champion Kansas held off Ben Woodside and the 14th-seeded Bison and their spirited supporters in an 84-74 victory in the first round Friday.

The Jayhawks, who went one-and-done in the tournament in 2005 and 2006 against Bucknell and Bradley and were bounced early from the Big 12 tournament by Baylor, advanced to the second round of the Midwest region to play 11th-seeded Dayton on Sunday.

"I just wanted to keep the lead," said Sherron Collins, whose career-high 32 points helped neutralize Woodside's swiftness. "Keep the lead and maybe, you know, get away with this one."

Kansas (26-7) was ahead the entire second half, but the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Regional rarely led by double digits.

"We had to get tougher today to win, and that's a good thing," Kansas coach Bill Self said.

Woodside's 37 points led Self to declare him the best guard his team faced this season, and his third 3-pointer pulled North Dakota State (26-7) to 73-67 with 2:25 remaining. But the 6-foot-11 Aldrich soared above the lane for a one-motion putback, his eighth dunk of the game, on the next possession that essentially ended the Bison's hope.

"We tried to front him, and they quite got a few lobs over us," said NDSU's Brett Winkelman, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. "Then we tried to play behind him. He's a great player, and obviously he's going to have a great future. It was frustrating not being able to do a little more."

Self warned Collins about Woodside, who also played all 40 minutes.

"I didn't know he was THAT good," said Collins, who had eight assists and was so steady that Kansas had only five turnovers in all.

In their first season of eligibility for the NCAA tournament after a four-year waiting period following their move from Division II, the Bison proved they indeed play pretty good basketball up on the prairie.

They were within three points several times down the stretch, but the unheralded Summit League champions couldn't clear that last hurdle and clearly wore down during the second half.

Starting center Lucas Moormann, one of the five seniors who redshirted as freshmen for this chance to play in the tournament, fouled out with 5:47 left. NDSU went only 3-for-11 from 3-point range after halftime after making 7 of 13 before.

"It couldn't have gotten much better," Moormann said, reflecting on his career. "Obviously, if we would have won a couple games in the tournament it would have been better, but it's still anything more than I could have imagined."

The crowd was roughly three-quarters in favor of NDSU, the sea of yellow shirts and green hats rising and roaring with nearly each Bison basket. NDSU had three players dive for loose balls in the opening minutes and made its first four 3-pointers, giving the fans from the Fargo area plenty to stand up and cheer for. Woodside was the impetus for so many of those yells and screams, with all those quick drives to the basket for soft layups off the glass.

"It's very fulfilling when you look up in the stands and all you see is green and yellow," Woodside said. "It's something myself and the rest of this team I think will never forget."

Dayton 68, West Virginia 60, Midwest Regional

Chris Wright scored a career-high 27 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Flyers to their first NCAA tournament victory since 1990, sending coach Bob Huggins and sixth-seeded West Virginia to an early exit.

Charles Little added 18 points for Dayton (27-7), which was 1-13 against Huggins' teams dating to his days stomping up and down the Cincinnati sideline. The Flyers will play third-seeded Kansas.

Darryl Bryant had 21 points and Devin Ebanks added 14 points and 12 rebounds for West Virginia (23-12), which had won at least two games in the NCAA tournament in each of its past four appearances.

Southern California 72, Boston College 55, Midwest Regional

Taj Gibson was a perfect 10 for the Trojans, going 10-for-10 from the field for 24 points to lead the victory over cold-shooting Boston College. Adding six rebounds, five assists and three blocks, Gibson epitomized USC's fast-breaking, take-it-to-the-hoop, athletic style.

Dwight Lewis scored 20 points and shut down star Eagles guard Tyrese Rice, and DeMar DeRozan added 18 points and nine rebounds. USC (22-12), which went 1-6 in February, maintained the momentum from last week's Pac-10 tournament title and advanced to Sunday's second round against Michigan State.

Gibson's perfect shooting was the second-best performance in NCAA tournament history with a minimum 10 attempts, behind Kenny Walker's 11-for-11 for Kentucky 1986. Gibson matched Marvin Barnes of Providence and Christian Laettner of Duke, who were 10-for-10 in 1973 and 1992, respectively.

Corey Raji led No. 7 seed Boston College (22-12) with 15 points. The Eagles made only one field goal in a dreadful stretch of nearly 13 minutes that ultimately sent them back to Beantown.

Michigan State 77, Robert Morris 62, Midwest Regional

Raymar Morgan scored 16 points and Goran Suton had 11 points and 17 rebounds, and the Spartans bullied 15th-seeded Robert Morris.

Draymond Green added 16 points for the second-seeded Spartans (27-6), who were regular-season Big Ten champs but still had some rough spots thanks to Morgan's walking pneumonia and Suton's gimpy knees. They both looked fine against the overmatched Colonials, and the Spartans regained the form that led to convincing victories over Kansas, Oklahoma State and Texas earlier in the year.

Michigan State will play 10th-seeded USC on Sunday.

Jeremy Chappell was the only player in double figures with 11 for Robert Morris (24-11), a commuter school from suburban Pittsburgh making its first NCAA appearance since 1992.

Wisconsin, Marquette both advance in Boise

BOISE, Idaho -- Wisconsin and Marquette fans will have to tolerate each other in hotel lobbies and elevators for another couple days.

Both schools in the state rivalry have another game to play.

Although both the Golden Eagles and the Badgers are in different regionals, both were sent to open the NCAA tournament in Boise. And the only game to top Marquette's one-point win to start Friday was the way Wisconsin ended it, rallying to beat Florida State 61-59 in overtime.

"I didn't want this to be the last game," said Trevon Hughes, whose acrobatic spinning shot banked in with 2 seconds left to give Wisconsin the win over the Seminoles in the East Regional.

The No. 12 seed Badgers will play No. 4 Xavier on Sunday in the Eastern Regional, followed by Marquette-Missouri in the West.

The sixth-seeded Golden Eagles edged Utah State 58-57 in Friday's opener, blowing a 14-point lead and having to come back from a six-point deficit.

That's nothing compared to what the Badgers did after trailing by 12 at halftime.

"Coach said, '20 minutes is guaranteed to us and nothing after that,'" Wisconsin's Joe Krabbenhoft said. "He said let's take advantage of those 20 minutes on both ends. Every loose ball has got to be ours. Smile. Have fun. Just go out there and have a ball."

The Badgers almost didn't need the OT. Jason Bohannon hit a 3-pointer from about 25 feet as the shot clock expired to give Wisconsin a 52-50 lead with less than a minute to play.

Toney Douglas tied it for the No. 5 seed Seminoles on two free throws and gave Florida State (25-10) a head start in overtime with an early 3-pointer.

Douglas finished with 26 points despite Hughes' relentless defense, which paid off at the end when he knocked away Florida State's inbounds pass as time expired.

The defensive play won't get the same attention as the shot Hughes made to put Wisconsin back ahead. He dribbled left, spun right into the lane, then flipped the game-winner over Douglas and Chris Singleton while drawing a foul, then made the free throw.

"Basically, I came off the screen, they left me open and they let me make a play," Hughes said. "I got in the lane and did what I had to do to get the 'W.'"

Bohannon led Wisconsin with 16 points, including a 3-pointer with the shot clock going off for 52-50 lead with 55 seconds left in regulation.

Keaton Nankivil had 14 and Hughes and Marcus Landry had 10 each for Wisconsin, which endured a six-game losing streak in January.

Florida State was in the tournament for the first time in 11 years and appeared several times to be on the way to the second round before the plodding Badgers pulled off the upset.

"I think we got beat by a team tonight that stuck to their game plan," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "With the game on the line, they executed."

Marquette (25-9) won Friday's opener despite shooting just 38 percent in the second half.

Lazar Hayward was one point off his career high with 26 points to lead Marquette (25-9), which hit 14 of 17 free throws in the second half -- including 10 straight during a late stretch as it regained the lead.

Hayward, who was averaging 16 points, scored Marquette's first 10 points and was 5-for-6 from the foul line. Jerel McNeal added 14 points and Wesley Matthews scored 11 for the Golden Eagles, who fell behind by six before staging their comeback.

"They came out and we weren't getting after it on the defensive end like we needed to do," McNeal said.

Marquette made 19 of 23 free throws and allowed Utah State (30-5) to just eight foul shots -- two of which the Aggies missed as they were knocked out in the opening round in their fourth straight tournament appearance.

Jared Quayle led Utah State with 18 points. The 11th-seeded Aggies recovered from a dismal first half by shooting 12-for-20 to start the second half.

The Aggies, whose 30 wins were second only to Memphis entering the tournament, haven't won an NCAA game since 2001.

"We battled back in the second half and really gave ourselves a chance to win," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "I thought Marquette did a really great job getting to the free-throw line and that was probably the difference."

Missouri 78, Cornell 59, West Regional

Leo Lyons finished with 23 points and DeMarre Carroll had 13 to help Missouri pull away from Cornell in a West Regional game.

Cornell played the third-seeded Tigers (29-6) tough for a half, trailing by four after the first 20 minutes.

But Missouri's trap started working and the Tigers began moving the ball on offense better to pull away. Carroll scored all but two of his points in the second half. Missouri finished with 19 assists on 28 baskets, as it built the lead to double digits early in the second and coasted in.

Ryan Wittman led the Big Red with 18 points but the nation's third-best 3-point shooting team this year made only six from behind the arc. Cornell (21-10) was much more competitive this year than last, when it lost 77-53 to Stanford in the first round. Still, the Ivy League remained winless in the tournament since 1998, when Princeton beat UNLV.

Xavier 77, Portland St. 59, East Regional

Xavier had the easiest day of Friday's winners, shooting 54 percent and reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament for the third straight year.

C.J. Anderson scored 14 points and Derrick Brown, B.J. Raymond and Dante Jackson added 13 points apiece as Xavier overwhelmed the Big Sky Conference champion Vikings, who were in the tournament for just the second time.

The Musketeers (26-7) stifled Portland State's usual barrage of 3-pointers and showed they could shoot from the outside, too, making 8 of 19 and going 29-for-54 overall in their East Regional opener.

The 3-pointers that got Portland State (23-10) this far weren't enough to stop the Musketeers.

Jamie Jones led the Vikings with 16 points.

Cleveland State advances to face Arizona

MIAMI -- The latest upset win by the Cleveland State Vikings in the NCAA tournament didn't surprise them at all.

Before their victory over Wake Forest, the Vikings were already thinking about the second round of the Midwest Regional.

They advanced Friday night by beating the one-time top-ranked Demon Deacons 84-69. On Sunday, No. 13-seeded Cleveland State plays No. 12 Arizona.

"We're not celebrating, because we still know we have games to win," Cleveland State guard Norris Cole said.

The victory was reminiscent of the Vikings' only other tournament appearance in 1986, when they upset Indiana and Bob Knight in the opening round.

The Vikings (26-10) claim they saw this one coming. Before the game, coach Gary Waters said, his players discussed how they would react to the victory.

"One of the things one of our seniors said to the team is that once this game is over with, we're going to take it in stride and be ready for the next one," Waters said. "I was pretty excited that he said that."

The miracle Vikings of 1986 went on to the East Regional final before losing in the final seconds to Navy and David Robinson. The 2009 Vikings must now face Arizona (20-13), which advanced by beating Utah 84-71.

"We understand what the '86 team did was important for our school," Cole said. "But now it's time for a new chapter."

No. 4-seeded Wake Forest (24-7) lost playing in its first tournament game since 2005. The Demon Deacons won their first 16 games and were No. 1 for a week in January, and many expected them to play deep into the tournament.

"It's very disappointing," Jeff Teague said. "We expected to do damage in this tournament. To lose in the first round is hard to take."

The Demon Deacons committed 18 turnovers to six by Cleveland State, which held Wake Forest well below its scoring average of 81 points.

Teague was shut out for the first 13 minutes, totaled two points in the first half and finished with 10, half of his average. Cole scored 22 points for Cleveland State.

The upset was the latest sign of revival in the Vikings' program. They went 4-25 in 2003-04 and 10-21 two years ago, when Waters was in his first season as coach.

"I'm sorry to a lot of people that we broke their brackets," forward George Tandy said. "But we had a lot of confidence. We were prepared."

Arizona 84, Utah 71, Midwest Regional

Nic Wise scored 21 of his 29 points in the second half, Chase Budinger added 20 and 12th-seeded Arizona sent a message to those saying it didn't belong in the field of 65: "We do," Wise said.

Jordan Hill added 17 points and 13 rebounds for Arizona (20-13), which has been in the NCAAs 25 years in a row, but hadn't reached the second round since 2006.

Tyler Kepkay scored 19 points for fifth-seeded Utah (24-10), which was 8-for-32 from 3-point range and matched a season high with 20 turnovers. Lawrence Borha finished with 11 points for Utah, which got 10 points and 10 rebounds from Shaun Green.

The Utes trailed by 13 in the first half, got within 64-62 with about 5 minutes left, but went cold as Arizona sealed the game with a 10-1 run.

Kyle Fogg scored 12 for Arizona, which sweated out Selection Sunday, its tourney streak in serious jeopardy after losing five of its last six games.

"We definitely belong here, and today was not about proving that," Arizona interim coach Russ Pennell said. "That was not our motivation. Our motivation was to win the game and move on."

Syracuse 59, Stephen F. Austin 44, South Regional

Jonny Flynn scored 16 points, Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku each added 12 and the third-seeded Orange exploited a big size differential inside to cruise past NCAA first-timer Stephen F. Austin.

Syracuse (27-9) ran out to a 20-4 lead, never letting the Southland Conference champions get anything going, and will meet Arizona State in Sunday's second round.

Benson Akpan led Stephen F. Austin (24-8) with 12 points, with Nick Shaw adding 10. The Lumberjacks missed 12 of their first 13 shots, and didn't connect from 3-point range until Walt Harris hit from the left wing with 11:25 remaining -- on their 16th try from beyond the arc.

They finished 2-for-21 from 3-point range, which played perfectly into Syracuse's hands.

"How big a win was it?" asked Onuaku, repeating a question posed his way. "Can you say huge?"

Arizona State 66, Temple 57, South Regional

Junior Derek Glasser scored a career-high 22 points, and Arizona State overcame a second consecutive subpar performance by Pac-10 player of the year James Harden.

Harden scored nine points, less than half his average. And while he made only one shot, it was a big one: a 3-pointer with 4:02 left that helped to squelch a Temple comeback.

Glasser also connected from behind the arc. The junior went 4-for-5 on 3s for Arizona State (25-9).

No. 11-seed Temple (22-12) was eliminated in the opening round for the second year in a row and hasn't won a tournament game since 2001. Senior Dionte Christmas scored 29 in his final game for the Owls.

"If you would have told us that James Harden would have ended up with nine points and I would have had 29 points and we lost the game, I would have thought you were crazy," Christmas said.

Siena beats Ohio State in 2 OTs

DAYTON, Ohio -- Ronald Moore hadn't made a shot from behind the arc all night. With the game on the line -- twice -- he made them from the same spot, extending and then ending the longest game in the NCAA tournament so far.

Moore's two shots sent Siena to a 74-72 victory over Ohio State in double overtime Friday night, putting the ninth-seeded Saints in a second-round matchup with Louisville, the tournament's top team.

Siena (27-7) trailed by 11 in the second half before sending the Buckeyes (22-11) to a stunning defeat in the first double-overtime NCAA tournament game in their history. Ohio State's Evan Turner scored 25 points, but missed a leaning 15-foot shot just before the buzzer.

Moore missed all four of his shots from behind the arc in regulation. He wasn't supposed to get one in the first overtime -- Ohio State coach Thad Matta told his team to foul, but it didn't -- and he let it fly when he found himself unguarded.

"I felt even though I was 0-fer, I was going to take the shot," he said. "It opened up for me."

In the second overtime, he was supposed to pass to one of two teammates, but neither one was open so he shot away again. A few seconds later, Siena coach Fran McCaffery then wrapped his arms around his point guard and carried him across the floor as the Saints fans, vastly outnumbered by the thousands of Ohio State fans, chanted "Ron-ald Moore."

Louisville 74, Morehead State 54, Midwest Regional

The NCAA tournament's top team pulled off a few dance moves at midcourt during warmups, then stumbled through a few early missteps. Louisville's full-court press -- the thing that makes the Cardinals so dangerous -- took over in the second half, setting up a victory over Morehead State that completed 25 years of perfection by No. 1 seeds.

With the win, No. 1 seeds improved to 100-0 against No. 16s since the tournament expanded in 1985. There have been a few close calls, and Morehead State (21-16) kept up for a half.

Then, history set in.

"Teams see you as a No. 1 seed, they're going to bring more intensity to you," said Andre McGee, who had five steals at the apex of the press. "That's what makes the tournament so special. Any team can beat another team, regardless of name or ranking."

Not during those 100 games, when the top team has tottered but never toppled.

Oklahoma State 77, Tennessee 75, East Regional

Stunningly, after 40 minutes of give-no-ground basketball, everything opened up for Byron Eaton.

Oklahoma State's husky point guard found a clear path to the basket for a three-point play with 7.2 seconds left, lifting his team over Tennessee.

Eighth-seeded Oklahoma State (23-11) will play Pittsburgh, the top seed in the East Regional, in the second round. The Panthers sprawled across the first three rows of seats behind the Oklahoma State basket for the start of the second half, doing a little firsthand scouting.

They were gone long before Eaton -- a five-sport star in high school who also played a little football -- gave the game its final shoulder-down nudge.

Tennessee (21-13) got caught flat-footed, allowing Eaton to drive the lane untouched. Tyler Smith came in late and unsuccessfully tried to block the shot, which fell through the net as Eaton tumbled to the floor after the contact.

Smith had a chance to win it for Tennessee, but his jumper from behind the arc hit the side of the rim and bounced up to the top of the backboard as the buzzer sounded. Smith led all scorers with 21 points.

Pittsburgh 72, East Tennessee State 62, East Regional

Playing as a No. 1 seed for the first time but hardly looking the part, Pittsburgh overcame a sloppy performance and a frightful 40 minutes from No. 16 seed East Tennessee State.

Pitt's massive center DeJuan Blair bullied his way inside for 27 points and 16 rebounds as the Panthers (29-4) managed to extend their season, which with a little more than four minutes left was in jeopardy of ending sooner than they ever imagined.

"We survived," Blair said.

The Panthers had better improve if they want to go much further. They had 18 turnovers, struggled with ETSU's end-to-end press and hardly looked like a squad picked by many to win its first title.

"Having a tough game like that at the beginning keeps you on your toes," Panthers senior forward Sam Young said. "Every game gets harder and harder."

Kevin Tiggs scored 21 for the Buccaneers (23-11), who shot just 31 percent and missed 12 free throws but still had a chance to become the first bottom seed to win a first-round game.

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