Iowa State used an overpowering second half against North Carolina Central to avoid the kind of upset that has tripped up other highly seeded teams in this NCAA tournament. Then came the bad news for the Cyclones — or, really, the bad break.
NCAA Tournament
Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein got a whole lot of grief from his teammates for a comment he made ahead of his team’s game against Kansas State, when he brazenly said the No. 8 seed Wildcats intended to “shock the world” in the NCAA tournament. Well, they’ll at least have a chance to play the Shockers.
Virginia spent the first half Friday night flirting with losing in a historic upset and the second half playing the style that carried the Cavaliers to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
The billion dollar dream is over. A second day of upsets ended any chance of someone having a perfect NCAA tournament bracket in Warren Buffett’s $1 billion challenge.
Meet your new NCAA tournament darlings: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. Trailing most of the second half after a meltdown against Virginia Commonwealth’s relentless pressure, the gritty ‘Jacks tied the game on Desmond Haymon’s improbable four-play play with 3.6 seconds left in regulation and survived in overtime for a 77-75 win over VCU on Friday night.
North Carolina isn’t going home early like Duke. But only just barely.
Cleanthony Early had 23 points and unbeaten Wichita State faced no resistance from Cal Poly, going to 35-0 for the best start in NCAA history with a 64-37 rout of Cal Poly in the Midwest Region on Friday night.
Top sixth-man Michael Dixon Jr. scored 19 points and hit four free throws in the final 10 seconds to help Memphis hold off the George Washington 71-66 on Friday night in the second round of the East Regional.
Gonzaga and Oklahoma State players, coaches and fans no doubt left Viejas Arena with the shrill sound of the referees’ whistles ringing in their ears Friday. The refs called 61 fouls, which affected the pace and outcome of eighth-seeded Gonzaga’s 85-77 win against Marcus Smart and ninth-seeded Oklahoma State in the West region of the NCAA tournament.
The Midwest Region’s 14-seed Mercer upset 3rd-seeded Duke 78-71 in NCAA tournament.
Andrew Wiggins scored 19 points, Jamari Traylor and Perry Ellis had double-doubles and second-seeded Kansas pulled away down the stretch to beat pesky Eastern Kentucky 80-69 on Friday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Jarnell Stokes scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help Tennessee beat Massachusetts 86-67 on Friday in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Jordan McRae added 21 points for the Volunteers (23-12), the No. 11 seed in the Midwest Regional.
Doug McDermott scored 30 points and third-seeded Creighton got three huge 3-pointers in the second half from Ethan Wragge to beat No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette 76-66 Friday in the West Regional.
Arizona avoided becoming the latest and biggest upset victim in an NCAA tournament that’s been filled with them. Arizona (31-4) appeared to be next in line, falling into an 8-point hole in the opening 6 minutes. Arizona closed in around Weber State (19-12), shutting down the Wildcats during two big first-half runs, seemingly putting the fairytale to bed.
Chasson Randle scored 23 points and No. 10 seed Stanford made an impression in its first NCAA appearance since 2008, leading almost start to finish in a 58-53 victory over seventh-seeded New Mexico on Friday.