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 Just two days after Villanova's best shooting performance of the
season, the Wildcats had one of their worst. North Carolina State
took advantage, becoming the first team to knock off a top seed in
this year's NCAA Tournament with a 71-68 victory on Saturday.
The eight-seeded Wolfpack (22-13) advance to the Sweet 16 for the
second time in four years under coach Mark Gottfried after losing in
the second round the last two seasons. Meanwhile, Villanova was left
looking for its first trip to the second weekend of the NCAA
Tournament since 2009.
The Wildcats (33-3) had a 16-game winning streak heading into the
tournament and were picked by many, including President Obama, to
make it to the championship. But a young N.C. State frontcourt that
worried Villanova coach Jay Wright leading up to the game proved to
be his worst nightmare. Freshman forward Abdul-Malik Abu (13 points,
12 rebounds) and sophomore Lennard Freeman (11 points, 12 rebounds)
each finished with double-doubles.
Junior guard Trevor Lacey paced the Wolfpack with 17 points.
After trailing by as many as a dozen points in the second half,
Villanova cut it to two with 41.1 seconds remaining after senior
guard Darrun Hilliard hit two deep 3-pointers in a 40-second span.
The Wolfpack then turned it over, but junior guard Dylan Ennis was
unable to connect on an open 3-pointer with 15 seconds left and four
foul shots by N.C. State sealed the win.
Kentucky 64, Cincinnati 51
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Undefeated and No. 1-ranked Kentucky's chase for
perfection continues.
The Wildcats (36-0) got 13 points from guard Aaron Harrison and
limited No. 8 seed Cincinnati to 32 percent shooting from the field
in a Midwest Regional third-round victory in the KFC Yum! Center.
Forward Trey Lyles added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats,
who will play West Virginia or Maryland in the Sweet Sixteen in
Cleveland.
Guard Troy Caupain led the Bearcats (23-11) with 13 points.
Kentucky shot only 37 percent from the field and was outrebounded
45-38 but took control of the game five minutes into the second
half.
Notre Dame 67, Butler 64 (OT)
PITTSBURGH -- Pat Connaghan saved Notre Dame, and he did it more
than once. The senior wing came up with a big defensive play late in
the second half and hit a clutch 3-pointer in overtime to help the
Fighting Irish overcome Butler to advance to the NCAA Tournament's
Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003.
Butler junior Kellen Dunham, who had been quiet all night, hit a
clutch 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:58 remaining in
regulation to tie the score at 55, but neither team scored again
until overtime. Connaghan then came up with one of several big
plays, blocking a game-winning shot attempt by Dunham in the final
two seconds of regulation.
In the extra session, Connaghan knocked down a 3-pointer from the
right corner off a feed from freshman Demetrius Jackson, giving
Notre Dame a 62-59 lead with 3:08 to play. Guard Steve Vasturia
helped put it away, hitting a 3-pointer with 1:22 left to give the
Fighting Irish a four-point advantage. Vasturia, who only had three
points in the opening-round win over Northeastern on Thursday,
finished with a career-high 20 points.
Jerian Grant, a senior guard and Notre Dame's leading scorer, sealed
the win on a layup with 18 seconds left. He finished with 16 points
and Jackson added 13.
Notre Dame led by as many as 10 points in the first half, but thanks
to the strong play of Butler's Roosevelt Jones, the lead was cut to
31-29 at the break. Jones had 15 first-half points, including 11 of
the last 13 for Butler, and finished with a team-high 23 points.
North Carolina 87, Arkansas 78
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- North Carolina added one more Sweet 16 to its
long postseason resume as the No. 4-seeded Tar Heels, who reached
the round of 16 for the 26th time since 1975, got there by
eliminating No. 5 seed Arkansas.
Carolina guard Marcus Paige led the Tar Heels with 22 points, five
rebounds and five steals. Freshman forward Justin Jackson -- the
hero in Thursday's second-round victory over Harvard when he scored
the final four points -- added 16 points and two steals.
Arkansas, which was seeking its 11th trip to the Sweet 16 but first
since 1996, got a monster game from guard Michael Qualls, who led
all scorers with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Bobby Portis,
the SEC Player of the Year, also posted a double-double with 18
points and 13 rebounds and contributed five steals and four assists.
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North Carolina coach Roy Williams earned his 750th career win,
moving him into 15th in NCAA history. Williams also tied legendary
former Tar Heels coach Dean Smith for the most NCAA Tournament wins
at North Carolina with 32.
Xavier 75, Georgia State 67
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Georgia State's Cinderella story ended in the
third round with Xavier winning behind a season-high 21 points and
six rebounds from forward Jalen Reynolds.
The No. 6 seed Musketeers advanced to their third Sweet 16 in five
years. Xavier (23-13) heads to in Los Angeles to face No. 2 seed
Arizona.
Reynolds was 8 of 9 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free throw
line in his best game since he scored 19 points in a win over
Providence in early February.
There were no heroics this time from Georgia State guard R.J.
Hunter, who sank a 30-footer with 2.7 seconds left Thursday as the
No. 14 seed Panthers stunned No. 3 seed Baylor. He paced Georgia
State (25-10) for the second straight game with 20 points, adding
five assists and four rebounds in likely the final college game. The
junior and two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year is
expected to declare for the NBA Draft.
His father, Georgia State coach Ron Hunter, welled up with tears and
embraced R.J. for nearly 30 seconds when the Panthers' leading
scorer left the game in the final minute
UCLA 92, UAB 75
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Center Tony Parker scored a career-best 28 points
and added 12 rebounds, leading No. 11 seed UCLA to a South Regional
third-round victory over No. 14 Alabama-Birmingham in the KFC Yum!
Center.
Guard Bryce Alford added 22 points and five assists, sending the
Bruins (22-13) to the Sweet Sixteen.
It was the second time this season UCLA defeated UAB. The Bruins
also registered an 88-76 victory in the Battle 4 Atlantis
seventh-place game on Nov. 28 in the Bahamas.
Guard Robert Brown led UAB (20-16) with a game-best 25 points.
Arizona 73, Ohio State 58
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Guard Gabe York came off the bench to knock down
five 3-pointers and lift fifth-ranked Arizona over Ohio State in an
NCAA third-round game at the Moda Center.
York scored a season-high 19 points and guard T.J. McConnell had 19
points, six assists, six rebounds and five steals for the No. 3 seed
Wildcats (33-3), who ran their winning streak to 13 games.
Forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson contributed 11 points, 10 rebounds
and five assists for Arizona, which advances to the West Regional at
Los Angeles next Thursday.
Forward Sam Thompson scored 18 points for Ohio State (24-11). Guard
D'Angelo Russell collected nine points, six rebounds and six assists
for the Buckeyes but made just 3 of 19 shots from the field,
including 1 of 7 from 3-point distance.
Utah 75, Georgetown 64
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Utah outscored Georgetown 18-9 in the final five
minutes to of a NCAA South Regional third-round victory at the Moda
Center.
Five players scored in double figures, including guard Brandon
Taylor with 14 points and guard Delon Wright and center Jakob Poeltl
with 12 apiece, for the fifth-seeded Utes (26-8), who advance to the
South Regionals next Thursday.
Guard Jabril Trawick had 18 points to lead the fourth-seeded Hoyas
(22-11).
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