NCAA Tourney: Sunday Third Round Late Games; Florida Gulf Coast Does It Again!

South Region

(1) Kansas 70 (8) North Carolina 58 - The Jayhawks, who couldn't buy a bucket in the first half, couldn't miss in the second, turning a nine-point deficit at the break into a 12-point lead at the midpoint of the second half. As or the Tar Heels, they were just terrible throughout, shooting 30% for the game and often looking distracted disorganized or disinterested.

Kansas, after a slow start, scoring just 21 first-half points, really picked things up in the second, putting down 49 points and running away late. Travis Releford had 22 points to lead all scorers, while teammate Jeff Withey scored 16 and pulled down the same number of rebounds.

The Michigan Wolverines, #4 seed in the region, await the Jayhawks in the next round.

(3) Florida 78 (11) Minnesota 64 - Putting the game out of reach early, the Gators took a 21-point lead into the half, and, while the Gophers cut into the lead to some degree, could never close the final gap.

The Gators blistered the twines at 57%, led by point guard Mike Rosario, who dazzled at 8-for-12 from the field, hitting six of nine form beyond the arc for a game-high 25 points.

West Region

(15) Florida Gulf Coast 81 (7) San Diego State 71 - As the saying goes, if the shoe fits, wear it, and that's exactly what Florida Gulf Coast is doing with Cinderella's glass slipper. The #15 seed Eagles, up a deuce midway through the second half, broke the game open with an exhilarating 17-0 run that left San Diego State gasping for breath.

The Aztecs are the last of the highly-touted Mountain West conference to fall, beaten by the Eagles, the first 15-seed ever to reach the promised land of the Sweet 16.

Sherwood Brown, saddled with foul trouble that kept him on the bench for long stretches of the game, still managed to score 17 points and snag eight boards. Point guard Brett Comer scored 10, whizzing though the Aztec defense to deliver 14 assists. Game high-scorer Bernard Thompson had 23 on 9-for-15 shooting, with a couple of treys.

The stunning twist of fate has them playing the Gators of Florida in the next round. It ought to be exciting, to say the least.

(13) La Salle 76 (12) Ole Miss 74 - Talk about a broken bracket. This was a 13 seed beating a 12 seed, the winner going onto the Sweet 16 to face 9th seeded Wichita State next week. Tyrone Garland hit a runner with 2.5 seconds left, breaking a 74-all tie to send Marshall Henderson and the Mississippi Rebels packing and the Explorers prospecting into the next round.

LaSalle's Ramon Galloway led all scorers with 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting going six for 10 from three-point range.

The Explorers won their third game of the tournament, beating Boise State in a Wednesday First Four play-in game, then topping Kansas State on Friday.

East Region

(2) Miami (FL) 63 (7) Illinois 59 - Miami became the first ACC to reach the Sweet 16, winning a tight game over a determined, motivated Illinois squad that gave the Hurricanes more than they bargained for.

Shane Larkin hit a key three-pointer and nailed a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to secure the Miami win. Larkin had 17 points and five assists. His teammate, Rion Brown, outscored everyone with 21 points, going 7-for-14 with five three-pointers.

The Hurricanes play Marquette next in the Sweet 16.

Midwest Region

(2) Duke 66 (7) Creighton 50 - The Blue Devils became the second ACC team to reach the Sweet 16, along with conference champion, Miami. Duke shot just 39% in their meeting with Creighton, but it was more than enough, as they held the BlueJays to just 30%. Naismith Award finalist Doug McDermott had one of his worst games as a collegian, making just four of 16 shots from the field and just one three-pointer. He did record a perfect 12-for-12 mark from the foul line and was the only Creighton player in double figures with 21.

Duke dominated a rather lackluster game to close out the round of 32. Leading by six points at the half, they ground down the BlueJays and gradually pulled away in typical Blue Devils fashion, ready to face Michigan State in the next round.

NCAA Tourney: Saturday Third Round Early Games; Buckeyes, Hoosiers Advance

West Region

(2) Ohio State 78 (10) Iowa State 75 - The scored knotted at 75, Ohio State's Aaron Craft stepped up to the three-point line with time running down and swished it, leaving upset-minded Iowa State with only 0.5 seconds left. It was not enough for the Cyclones to get off a quality shot, sending the Buckeyes into the round of 16, where they will meet the 6th-seeded Arizona Wildcats.

Ohio State seemed to have the game in hand when LaQuinton Ross scored ten straight points over a 2:34 span to put the Buckeyes up by 11. A few moments later the lead was 13, but the resolute Cyclones went on a 21-5 run to take a 75-74 lead with 2:22 left. A Craft free throw tied the game and after a Sam Thompson steal and a missed shot by Craft that the Cyclones pushed out of bounds, the stage was set for Craft's heroic moment.

Deshaun Thomas led the Buckeyes with 22 points and five rebounds.

East Region

(1) Indiana 58 (9) Temple 52 - Demonstrating incredible resolve and perseverance under pressure, Indiana scored the final ten points of the game to oust Temple from the tournament and advance to the next round.

Temple's Khalif Wyatt scored a game-high 31 points, but Victor Oladipo, who drew Wyatt as a defensive assignment for most of the game, came up with the decisive shot when it counted, nailing a straight-on three-pointer with 15 seconds left to put Indiana up by four. Christian Watford made a pair of free throws, after a missed attempt by Temple, to seal the deal.

Oladipo led Hoosier scorers with 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting to go with eight rebounds. The Hoosiers meet Syracuse in the round of sixteen.

NCAA Tourney Saturday Third Round Late Games; #1 Gonzaga 'Shocked' by Wichita State

Midwest Region

(1) Louisville 82 (8) Colorado State 56 - Louisville, the #1 overall seed in the tournament, once again employed high-pressure defense and the hot shooting of Russ Smith to decimate another opponent. By the end of the first half, the Cardinals had already broken the game open with a 15-point bulge and continued to press their advantage in the second half.

Smith was on fire, scoring a game-high 27 points on 7-for-15 shooting including four of seven from three-point land and a 9-for-10 mark from the foul line. Louisville advances to the Sweet 16 to face 12-seed, Oregon.

(12) Oregon 74 (4) Saint Louis 57 - While this result may come as a surprise to some, other observers believe that Oregon was badly mis-seeded and should have been no worse than a four, having won the PAC-12 tournament.

The margin of victory was more than most expected, though all the scores on this sub-regional Saturday have been more or less of the blowout variety.Damyean Dotson led all scorers with 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting, with a 5-for-6 mark from beyond the arc.


West Region

(6) Arizona 74 (14) Harvard 51 - After winning the first NCAA tournament game in school history Thursday with their victory over New Mexico, Harvard seemed out of gas and up against a determined opponent as the Wildcats led the entire game, holding the Crimson to 28% shooting.

Mark Lyons had a game-high 27 on 12-for-17 shooting, including a trio of threes.

(9) Wichita State 76 (1) Gonzaga 70 - The Shockers of Wichita State stunned the #1-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs, eliminating the first of the #1 seeds in the tournament with a 16-7 run to close out the game. Wichita State took an early lead into the half, but Gonzaga rallied to lead, at one point, by eight points.

Not giving an inch, the Shockers' resolve and a spate of three-pointers by Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker late in the game provided the winning margin. Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk was the game's high scorer with 27 points. Both Early and Baker hit four threes and scored 16 points.

After Davidson - which had won 17 in a row - was defeated on Thursday night by Marquette, Gonzaga's 15-game winning streak became the longest in the nation, ended by #9 seed Wichita State from the Missouri Valley.


East Region

(3) Marquette 74 (6) Butler 72 - In one of the more hotly-contested and physically-demanding games of the tournament, Marquette avenged a buzzer-beater win by Butler way back in November, when the Bulldogs won, 72-71, on a last-second shot by Rotnei Clarke, in the Maui Invitational.

Marquette's Vander Blue was the difference here, as the 3rd-seeded Golden eagles advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Blue had a game-high 29 points on 9-for-15 shooting, including three of four from three-point range and a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.

Marquette will face the winner of tomorrow's Illinois-Miami match-up.

(4) Syracuse 66 (12) California 60 - CJ Fair and James Southerland led Syracuse to the Sweet 16 with 18 and 14 points, respectively.

The Orange joins fellow Big East teams, Louisville and Marquette in the round of 16.

NCAA Tourney: Saturday Third Round Early Games: Wolverines, Spartans Advance

South Region

(4) Michigan 78 (5) VCU 53 - The Commodores wanted to press the Wolverines, but it didn't work, as Trey Burke found open teammates and Michigan built a 15-point half time lead that VCU was never able to overcome.

6'10" freshman Mitch McGary got a rare start and came through with a huge effort, leading all scorers with 21 points on 10-for-11 shooting and 14 rebounds. Burke dished seven assists and scored 18 points as the Wolverines cruised to an unexpectedly easy victory and became the first team in the tournament to reach the Sweet 16.

Midwest Region

(3) Michigan State 70 (6) Memphis 48 - The spartans took an early 15-point lead, but Memphis began employing an exotic triangle-and-two defense which slowed down Michigan State and allowed the Tigers to close to within three points (32-29) at the break.

That didn't faze the Spartans, however, as Michigan State opened the second half with a 13-3 run and put their own defensive pressure on Memphis, holding the Tigers to just 19 points in the half and 30% shooting for the game.

Gary Harris was the game's high scorer with 23 points on 6-for-9 shooting (4 of 7 on threes).