March 29, 2024

Northwestern wins first-ever NCAA Tournament game

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — At Northwestern, the party goes on. At Vanderbilt, there is only one question: What was he thinking?

Northwestern’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, 68-66 over Vanderbilt, came after Commodores guard Matthew Fisher-Davis inexplicably grabbed Bryant McIntosh of the Wildcats on purpose, sending McIntosh to the free throw line for the go-ahead points with 14.6 seconds left.

And though Fisher-Davis scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half to help ninth-seeded Vandy (19-16) rally from 15 points down, his mistake was the main takeaway from this game.

The sequence was set up after Riley LaChance made a layup with 17.8 seconds remaining to put the Commodores up by one.

But seconds after the in-bounds pass, Fisher-Davis reached out and grabbed McIntosh around the waist while the Northwestern guard was dribbling up the backcourt.

That put eighth-seeded Northwestern in the double bonus, and McIntosh went to the line and calmly swished the free throws with 14.6 seconds left for a 67-66 lead.

Northwestern forced LaChance to miss a trey on the next possession and the Wildcats made (24-11) another free throw.

Fisher-Davis heaved a desperation shot at the buzzer, but it missed, and he sunk his head and reached down to his shoes in despair before heading to the sideline where his teammates hugged him.

Middle Tennessee State 81, Minnesota 72

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Middle Tennessee took down another Big Ten team in the NCAA Tournament, though the latest victory didn’t really feel like an upset.

The Blue Raiders stood up to Minnesota’s rugged defense, then blew past the foul-prone Golden Gophers for an 81-72 victory on Thursday.

Reggie Upshaw scored 19 points and Giddy Potts added 15 for the Blue Raiders (31-4).

Amir Coffey had 17 points to lead Minnesota, while Dupree McBrayer added 16.

Purdue 80, Vermont 70

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The drought is over for Purdue. Vincent Edwards and company finished it off with one big push against Vermont.

Edwards scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and the Boilermakers held off the Catamounts 80-70 on Thursday night for their first victory in the NCAA Tournament in five years.

Caleb Swanigan added 16 points, 14 rebounds and four assists for fourth-seeded Purdue (26-7).

Anthony Lamb had 20 points and nine rebounds for Vermont.

West Virginia 86, Bucknell 80

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Coach Bob Huggins has spent the past 10 seasons establishing West Virginia’s reputation on playing a stifling press defense.

The Mountaineers performance Thursday left Huggins relatively unimpressed despite opening the NCAA Tournament with an 86-80 win over Bucknell.

Nathan Adrian scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds, while Tarik Phillip scored 16 points, including hitting all four free throws in the final minute to secure the victory.

Kimbal Mackenzie made 5-of-7 3-point attempts and led the Patriot League-champion Bison with 23 points.

Wisconsin 84, Virginia Tech 74

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bronson Koenig made a school-record eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points and Nigel Hayes added 16 as NCAA Tournament-tested Wisconsin advanced in the East Region with an 84-74 victory over Virginia Tech on Thursday night.

The eighth-seeded Badgers (26-9) made all the big plays in the closing minutes to set up a meeting with top-seeded Villanova on Saturday.

The Wildcats shook off a sluggish and strange first half and downed Mount St. Mary’s 76-56.

Zach Leday scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half to pace the Hokies (22-11).

Xavier 76, Maryland 65

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Trevon Bluiett doesn’t spend a lot of time worrying about missed shots because he knows the makes will eventually come.

After missing his first seven shots and contributing just 3 points in the first half, Bluiett found his rhythm Thursday night to lead No.11 seed Xavier to a 76-65 upset of sixth-seeded Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Bluiett shot 6-of-7 during the final 20 minutes to finish with 21 points.

Florida 80,

East Tennessee State 65

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — After watching countless hours of video on Florida forward Devin Robinson, East Tennessee State coach Steve Forbes knew he would be a matchup problem.

Robinson tied his career-high with 24 points, Kasey Hill added 14 and No. 4 seed Florida used a second-half surge to beat 13th-seeded East Tennessee State 80-65 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

Gonzaga 66,

South Dakota State 46

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — In a tournament made famous by the notion that anything can happen, one thing still has not: In 129 tries, no 16 seed has ever beaten a 1.

Oh, but South Dakota State sure did make it interesting for a while Thursday.

The Jackrabbits of the Summit League gnawed away at Gonzaga for the better part of 35 minutes before the Zags started looking like the No. 1 seed they are and pulled away for a 66-46 victory in the West region.

Jordan Mathews scored 16 points to lead the Bulldogs (33-1). No. 1 seeds are now 129-0 vs. 16s since the bracket was expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Villanova 76,

Mount St. Marys 56

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — For 20 minutes, Villanova looked ordinary, vulnerable, may be even a little scared.

The Wildcats finished like champions.

Donte DiVincenzo scored 21 points and the NCAA Tournament’s top seed shook off a shocking start and stumbled forward in the East region Thursday night with a 76-56 victory over No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s.

Leading by just one at halftime, the Wildcats (32-3) opened the second half with a 21-6 run and took their first step toward defending their championship.

Virginia 76,

UNC Wilimington 71

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Defensive-minded Virginia showed it can play with a little offensive tempo, even using five guards to outpace UNC Wilmington.

London Perrantes scored 24 points, Marial Shayok added a career-high 23 off the bench and No. 5 seed Virginia rallied from 15 points down to beat 12th-seeded UNC Wilmington 76-71 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

Perrantes scored 19 points in the second half as the Cavaliers (23-10) got their slow-paced offense going.

Notre Dame 60, Princeton 58

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Fighting Irish avoided the dreaded upset from a 12th seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Bonzie Colson scored 18 points and the West Region’s fifth-seeded Fighting Irish avoided a meltdown in the final two minutes to hang on for a 60-58 win over the Princeton Tigers on Thursday afternoon.

Butler 76, Winthrop 64

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Butler pushed around a team that had designs on following in its bracket-busting footsteps.

With the way Avery Woodson shot from the perimeter in the first half Thursday, the Bulldogs had little to worry about down the stretch against Winthrop.

Woodson scored 18 points and tied a career high with six 3-pointers in his tourney debut, and the fourth-seeded Bulldogs contained star guard Keon Johnson in a 76-64 win over the 13th-seeded Eagles.

Saint Mary’s 85, VCU 77

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett sounded relieved to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night and grateful, even, to be done with Virginia Commonwealth.

Jock Landale had 18 points and 13 rebounds as seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s held on for an 85-77 victory over No. 10 VCU in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament’s West Region.

JeQuan Lewis paced VCU with 30 points.

Florida State 86,

Florida Gulf Coast 80

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Dwayne Bacon scored 25 points and Jonathan Isaac added 17 points and 10 rebounds to help the third-seeded Florida State Seminoles hold off No. 14 Florida Gulf Coast 86-80 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament late Thursday night.

Brandon Goodwin led FGCU with 28 points and Zach Johnson added 17 points.

Arizona 100, North Dakota 82

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Freshman Lauri Markkanen scored 20 points as second-seeded Arizona cruised to a 100-82 victory over No. 15 North Dakota on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA’s West Regional.

Arizona used a 13-1 run early in the first half to take 24-13 lead and never looked back.

Quinton Hooker led the Fighting Hawks (22-10) with 25 points and Drick Bernstine added 20.