NCAA Roundup: Eagles edge Davidson

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) Vander Blue’s layup with one second left capped Marquette’s rally from a nine-point deficit and gave the third-seeded Golden Eagles a 59-58 victory over Davidson Thursday in the East Regional at the NCAA tournament.

Blue and Jamil Wilson made consecutive 3-pointers to bring Marquette within 58-57 with 11 seconds left. The Golden Eagles then caught a huge break when De’Mon Brooks’ long inbounds pass went out of bounds at midcourt with 5.5 seconds left, providing another opportunity.

BUTLER 68, BUCKNELL 56

Andrew Smith had a double-double including a career-high 16 rebounds, Roosevelt Jones added 14 points and Butler made its free throws down the stretch to hold off upset-minded Bucknell.

After trailing for most of the game, 11th-seeded Bucknell got back into it with a 19-2 second-half run. But after Joe Willman’s jumper cut Butler’s lead to 43-42 with 6:56 left, the Bison (28-6) went almost five minutes without scoring.

CALIFORNIA 64, UNLV 61

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Allen Crabbe had 19 points and nine rebounds, reserve Robert Thurman scored all 12 of his points on dunks and 12th-seeded California held off UNLV.

Buoyed by the crowd support of a strong contingent so close to Berkeley, the Golden Bears (21-11) held the Runnin’ Rebels (25-10) without a basket for more than 11 minutes in the second half.

MIDWEST REGIONAL

LOUISVILLE 79,

NORTH CAROLINA A&T 48

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Pay attention, No. 1s. This is how it’s done.

Russ Smith scored 23 points and set a Louisville NCAA tournament record with a career-high eight steals, and Peyton Siva had eight assists as the Cardinals demolished North Carolina A&T.

Louisville finished with a season-high 20 steals as it forced the Aggies (20-17) into 27 turnovers.

MICHIGAN STATE 65, VALPARAISO 54

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Derrick Nix had 23 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to help power third-seeded Michigan State past the 14th-seeded Crusaders in the Midwest Regional.

The Spartans went on a 26-5 run in the first half to take control, and cruised to an easy victory.

MEMPHIS 54, ST. MARY’S 52

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Matthew Dellavedova’s 3-pointer from the right wing missed everything as time expired, allowing sixth-seeded Memphis to hold on for a win over 11th-seeded Saint Mary’s.

The Tigers (31-4) led by 15 in the first half but nearly gave the game away in the final seconds.

SAINT LOUIS 64,

NEW MEXICO STATE 44

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Dwayne Evans scored 24 points, Cody Ellis added 12 points and fourth-seeded Saint Louis overwhelmed New Mexico State in the Midwest Regional.

Evans shot 11 of 16 and finished a point shy of his career best to propel Saint Louis past 7-foot-5 New Mexico State freshman Sim Bhullar. The Billikens held Bhullar to four points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

OREGON 68,

OKLAHOMA STATE 55

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Damyean Dotson scored 17 points and Arsalan Kazemi added 11 points and 17 rebounds to help 12th-seeded Oregon extend a run that began in the Pac-12 tournament by beating fifth-seeded Oklahoma.

Dominic Artis scored 13 points and helped frustrate Oklahoma State star freshman Marcus Smart on the defensive end to give the Ducks (27-8) their first tournament win in six years.

WEST REGIONAL

GONZAGA 64, SOUTHERN 58

SALT LAKE CITY — A March Madness warm-up turned into a great escape for Gonzaga.

The Zags got pushed to the limit by Southern, pulling out a victory in the closing minutes to avoid becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16 in the NCAA tournament.

Kelly Olynyk led the Zags (32-2) with 21 points.

WICHITA STATE 73, PITTSBURGH 55

SALT LAKE CITY — Malcolm Armstead scored 22 points, Cleanthony Early added 21 and ninth-seeded Wichita State ousted Pittsburgh.

Freshman Steven Adams led Pitt (24-9) with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Call Hall added 11 points for the Shockers (27-8).

ARIZONA 81, BELMONT 64

SALT LAKE CITY — Mark Lyons scored 23 points and sixth-seeded Arizona rolled past Belmont.

The Wildcats (26-7) used their huge size advantage to shut down the Bruins (26-7), who are 0-6 in tourney games.

Tags: college sports, sports, basketball