Thursdays NCAA Tournament Capsules
March 20th, 2009 Posted in NCAA basketball news, NCAA college basketballWEST REGIONAL
(2) MEMPHIS 81, (15) CAL-NORTHRIDGE 70
KANSAS CITY, Missouri After overcoming heartbreak and tragedy just to get to the NCAA tournament, the Matadors of Cal State-Northridge could not get past the greatest game of Roburt Sallies life.
Sallie, averaging 4.5 points all year for Memphis, scored 35 and the second-seeded Tigers beat the plucky Matadors 81-70, dodging what would have been one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.
Sallie kept Cal State-Northridge at bay during a lackluster first half for Memphis (32-3) and wound up hitting 10-of-15 3-pointers, a first-round tournament record.
The Matadors (17-14), who lost one of their top players in a traffic accident during the season and another to a burglary charge, never seemed intimidated despite being 19-point underdogs. Taking advantage of miserable shooting by most of the Tigers, Northridge led much of the second half and went up by six points with 10:08 to play.
The capacity crowd, decidedly in favor of the underdogs, roared when Vincent Cordells bucket put the Matadors up 62-56. But then Sallie hit another 3-pointer and Antonio Anderson, hardly a factor most of the game, launched a decisive 9-0 run that saved last years national runners-up.
Since the NCAA went to a 64-team format in 1985, only four No. 2 seeds have lost to a No. 15 in the first round. Sallies 10 3-pointers erased the first-round record of nine, set by Michigans Garde Thompson in 1987. At one point in the first half Sallie scored 11 straight points for the Tigers, and hit his first five shots from beyond the arc.
The Tigers were trailing 64-61 when Anderson, who had three fouls and one point early in the second half, finally came to life. The shorter Matadors missed five straight shots and failed to pull down a single offensive rebound, and Andersons bucket made it 64-63.
Then the 6-6 senior hit a 6-footer to put the Tigers on top to stay.
In a back-and-forth flurry midway through the second half, freshman guard Tyreke Evans put in a bucket and was fouled, and made the free throw for a 56-55 Memphis lead. But Willie Galick quickly erased that with two foul shots for the Matadors.
Andersons bad pass turned the ball back to Northridge and Rodrique Mels sank a 3-pointer, then following another turnover, Cordells bucket gave the Matadors a 62-56 lead.
Mels led five players in double figures for the Matadors. Kenny Daniels and Tremaine Townsend each had 14, Mark Hill added 13 and Galick 12.
Evans, the Memphis freshman who replaced Derrick Rose, the No. 1 overall pick in the last NBA draft, finished with 15 points and Anderson wound up with 13.
(1) CONNECTICUT 103, (16) CHATTANOOGA 47
PHILADELPHIA This dominating Connecticut win just might have made an ailing Jim Calhoun feel better.
A.J. Price scored 20 from the outside and Hasheem Thabeet added 20 inside to lift top-seeded Connecticut to its first postseason win in three years, 103-47 over Chattanooga in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Calhoun had not been feeling well the past few days and was not at the Wachovia Center for the opening tip-off. UConn did not say what was wrong with Calhoun or if hell be on the bench for Saturdays second-round game against Texas AM in the West Regional.
Associate head coach George Blaney coached the Huskies (28-4) in Calhouns absence. Stanley Robinson topped the Huskies with 24 points.
The Southern Conference champion Mocs (18-17) were pumped for their shot at becoming the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 in the tournament. They had a nice start, but were simply overmatched by one of the best teams in basketball.
(5) PURDUE 61, (12) NORTHERN IOWA 56
PORTLAND, Oregon ETwaun Moore had 17 points and fifth-seeded Purdue held off a late charge by 12th-seeded Northern Iowa for a 61-56 victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
JaJuan Johnson added 14 points for the Boilermakers (26-9), who led by as many as 14 in the West Regional at the Rose Garden Arena.
Kwadzo Ahelegbe had 11 points for the Panthers (23-11), who closed to within 56-54 on Kerwin Dunhams 3-pointer with 17.4 seconds left. But Chris Kramer made a pair of free throws and Ahelegbe missed a layup on the rim with 7.7 seconds left for Northern Iowa.
Lewis Jackson made one of two free throws on the other end to help seal it.
(9) TEXAS AM 79, (8) BRIGHAM YOUNG 66
PHILADELPHIA With Bryan Davis leading the way, Texas AM beat Brigham Young 79-66 in the first round of the West Regional.
Davis scored 21, Donald Sloan had 14 and the ninth-seeded Aggies handed the Cougars their seventh straight opening-round loss in a rematch from last year. Both teams drew the same seeds last March when AM won 67-62.
The Aggies (24-9) will meet Connecticut Saturday.
Jimmer Fredette scored 18 and Lee Cummard added 17 for BYU (25-8).
(10) MARYLAND 84, (7) CALIFORNIA 71
KANSAS CITY, Missouri Maryland never let California get going from long range. Now the Terps are back in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Grievis Vasquez had 27 points and Maryland shut down the nations best 3-point shooting team in an 84-71 victory over Cal in the first round of the West Regional.
Tenth-seeded Maryland (21-13) disrupted Cal with its pressure defense, rarely giving the Bears a good look from the perimeter. Vasquez controlled the offense and Dave Neal chipped in 15 points, helping the Terps advance past the first round in their ninth straight NCAA appearance.
Maryland will face No. 2 seed Memphis on Saturday.
Cal (22-11), which shot a nation-best 43 percent from 3-point range during the regular season, was 7-for-24 in this one. Theo Robertson led the Bears with 22 points and Jerome Randle had 14, but took just three shots in the second half.
(4) WASHINGTON 71, (13) MISSISSIPPI ST 58
PORTLAND, Oregon Thanks to Quincy Pondexter, even the supposedly vulnerable Washington Huskies didnt go out early.
Pondexter scored a season-high 23 points and fourth-seeded Washington took advantage of early foul trouble to Mississippi States menacing Jarvis Varnado to race past the 13th-seeded Bulldogs, 71-58, in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Jon Brockman had 14 rebounds and 10 points for the Huskies (26-8), who looked far better than the last time they played in this city, losing to Portland of the West Coast Conference to begin the season.
Barry Stewart had 11 points but was able to get off just five shots for Mississippi State (23-13), which reached the NCAAs for the sixth time in eight years by winning six consecutive games – including four in its surprising romp to the Southeastern Conference tournament title.
EAST REGIONAL
(3) VILLANOVA 80, (14) AMERICAN 67
PHILADELPHIA Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham each scored 25 points, and Villanova rallied back from a 14-point hole to beat upset-minded American, 80-67, in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The third-seeded Wildcats (27-7) lost their home-court advantage and nearly lost the game, needing a late 19-2 run in the East Regional to fend off the Patriot League champions.
The 14th-seeded Eagles (24-8) sizzled from 3-point range early and pushed Villanova to the brink of a monumental upset. They just didnt have enough left in their tired legs down the stretch, something the Wildcats exploited in their game-changing spurt.
The loss ended the Eagles 13-game winning streak, the second-longest in the country.
(6) UCLA 65, (11) VCU 64
PHILADELPHIA A long way from home, UCLA barely kept alive its quest for a fourth straight trip to the Final Four.
VCUs Eric Maynor missed a contested 17-footer at the buzzer and the sixth-seeded Bruins held on for a 65-64 victory over the Rams.
UCLA (26-8) advances to play Villanova (27-7) on Saturday.
Josh Shipp scored 16, Jrue Holiday had 13 and three other Bruins scored in double figures.
Maynor led Virginia Commonwealth with 21. The Rams (24-10) were a popular pick to pull off a 6-11 upset – even President Barack Obama circled VCU in his bracket.
But UCLA wasnt ready to go home.
(2) DUKE 86, (15) BINGHAMTON 62
DURHAM, North Carolina Jon Scheyer and Duke werent about to let another one of college basketballs little guys scare them again.
Scheyer scored 15 points to lead six players in double figures and the Blue Devils made Binghamtons first appearance in the NCAA tournament a quick one by routing the Bearcats, 86-62, in the first round.
Lance Thomas added 14 points and Gerald Henderson and Nolan Smith added 13 apiece for the Blue Devils (29-6), the No. 2 seed. They shot 49 percent, put the game away with a huge run to open the second half and advanced to a second-round matchup with seventh-seeded Texas on Saturday.
D.J. Rivera scored 20 points for Binghamton (23-9). The program from upstate New York that jumped to Division I in 2001 and won the America East tournament ultimately was no match for one of the NCAAs most decorated programs.
(7) TEXAS 76, (10) MINNESOTA 62
GREENSBORO, North Carolina A.J. Abrams hit eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points to help Texas beat Minnesota, 76-62.
Damion James added 18 points and nine rebounds for the seventh-seeded Longhorns (23-11), who hit 11-of-20 3-pointers overall to win their tournament opener for the fifth time in six seasons.
Texas had lost seven of its last 14 games dating to late January, but now heads into the second round of the East Region to face the Duke-Binghamton winner on Saturday.
Lawrence Westbrook scored 19 points for the 10th-seeded Golden Gophers (22-11), who were making their first tournament appearance since 2005. It was also Minnesotas first NCAA bid under Tubby Smith, who left Kentucky two seasons ago to rebuild the struggling Big Ten program.
Minnesota got off to its best start in more than 30 years at 16-1, but closed the year by losing 10 of 16.
SOUTH REGIONAL
(1) NORTH CAROLINA 101, (16) RADFORD 58
GREENSBORO, North Carolina Tyler Hansbrough set the Atlantic Coast Conference career scoring record and finished with 22 points to help North Carolina beat Radford 101-58 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Wayne Ellington scored 25 points to lead the Tar Heels (29-4), the top seed in the South Region. North Carolina played without injured point guard Ty Lawson for a third straight game, but had no trouble advancing to Saturdays second round against LSU.
Hansbrough needed three points to pass Dukes J.J. Redick for the ACC mark. He tied it on a layup about 3 minutes in, then broke the record on a free throw with 15:43 left in the half.
North Carolina led by 19 points at the break, then steadily increased the margin against the 16th-seeded Highlanders (21-12).
Amir Johnson and Joey Lynch-Flohr each scored 12 points to lead Radford.
(12) WESTERN KENTUCKY 76, (5) ILLINOIS 72
PORTLAND, Oregon Western Kentucky is at it again.
The 12th-seeded Hilltoppers, who made an unexpected run in the NCAA tournament last year, pulled off a first-round upset of fifth-seeded Illinois, 76-72.
Steffphon Pettigrew had 17 points to lead Western Kentucky (25-8), which led by as many as 17 points but had to hold off a late charge by the Fighting Illini (24-10). It was the 19th time in the last 21 years that a 12 seed has beaten a No. 5.
Illinois made a late run to make it a one-possession game in the final minute.
Trent Meacham had a season-high 24 points for the Illini, who were without senior defensive specialist Chester Frazier, who had surgery on his right hand last week.
Western Kentucky will face Gonzaga (27-5) in the second round.
(2) OKLAHOMA 82, (15) MORGAN ST 54
KANSAS CITY, Missouri A dominant Blake Griffin had 28 points and 13 rebounds and survived an ugly incident that got another player ejected as Oklahoma rolled past Morgan State, 82-54.
Griffin missed most of two games because of a concussion he sustained on February 21. The second-seeded Sooners lost those two games and stumbled into the NCAA tournament.
The player of the year favorite took another hard tumble when Morgan States Ameer Ali flipped him over his back and on to the court in the second half after the two became entangled.
Ali was immediately ejected.
Griffin stayed in the game and finished 11-of-12 from the field.
Oklahoma (28-5), which had lost four of its last six, was never threatened by the No. 15 Bears (23-12), who were making their first NCAA appearance.
(4) GONZAGA 77, (13) AKRON 64
PORTLAND, Oregon Josh Heytvelt scored 22 points – seven during a decisive, late run and Gonzaga rallied to get past determined but ultimately overwhelmed Akron, 77-64.
Micah Downs added 15 points for fourth-seeded Gonzaga (27-5), which won for the 19th time in 20 games. The Bulldogs are in their 11th consecutive NCAA tournament but had lost in the first round of the last two.
Getting zapped in the first round by the 13th-seeded Zips seemed possible for a while. Akron (23-13) was up six at half.
Nate Linhart scored 13 points in the first half, but had no field goals after halftime for the Zips, who won the Mid-American Conference tournament to get in to its first NCAA tournament in 23 years.
(8) LOUISIANA STATE 75, (9) BUTLER 71
GREENSBORO, North Carolina Marcus Thornton scored 30 points and LSU held off a late rally to beat Butler 75-71 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Tasmin Mitchell had 14 points and Chris Johnson added 12 points for the Tigers (27-7), seeded eighth in the South Regional. They advanced to Saturdays second round against top-seeded North Carolina.
Matt Howard scored 22 points before fouling out with 35.7 seconds left for No. 9 seed Butler.
The Bulldogs (26-6) made things interesting by twice pulling within three in the final minute. The last came when Willie Veasley tipped in Gordon Haywards missed 3 with 5.4 seconds left made it 74-71, before Johnson hit one of two free throws with 4.5 seconds left to seal it.
Hayward, Butlers top 3-point shooter, finished with 12 points for the Bulldogs, who lost in the first round for the first time since 2000.
(10) MICHIGAN 62, (7) CLEMSON 59
KANSAS CITY, Missouri Shot after shot clanged off the rim, if they hit anything at all. Jumpers, 3-pointers, layups – didnt matter. Clemson just couldnt figure out Michigans zone defense.
Michigan stymied Clemson with its 1-3-1 defense and survived a late scare in its first NCAA tournament game in 11 years, beating the Tigers, 62-59.
The Wolverines (21-13) showed little sign of nerves in their first NCAA game since a booster scandal rocked the program in the 1990s, handling – for the most part – Clemsons frenetic press to move onto the second round. Manny Harris scored 21 points and Stu Douglass added 12 for the Wolverines, who will face Oklahoma or Morgan State on Saturday.
Clemson (23-9) had to dust off its zone offense after facing mostly man coverage during the Atlantic Coast Conference season.
