Six top seeds ousted on first weekend of NCAA tourney

DALLAS (AP) — Loyola-Chicago’s Sweet 16 dreams bounced on the front of the rim, lightly touched the backboard, and rattled a couple times before slipping through the net.

Another prayer answered in the waning seconds, and now Sister Jean’s Ramblers are heading to Atlanta.

Clayton Custer’s jumper got that friendly bounce with 3.6 seconds left, and 11th-seeded Loyola beat Tennessee 63-62 in a South Region second-round game Saturday night.

Custer’s winner came two days after Donte Ingram’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the March Madness logo against Miami, surely to the delight of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the team chaplain and occasional coach, watching from her wheelchair on a platform near the main TV cameras.

“The only thing I can say, glory to God for that one,” said Custer, who began his college career at Iowa State. “The ball bounced on the rim and I got a good bounce.”

The Ramblers were the long-shot story of the first round — until 16th-seed UMBC beat No. 1 Virginia to pull off the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history. That’ll be hard for the Ramblers (30-5) to top, but they’re working on it.

The Missouri Valley champions broke the school record for wins set by the 1963 NCAA championship team.

The small Catholic college in the heart of Chicago will play Nevada in the regional semifinals Thursday.

Nevada 75, Cincinnati 73

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nevada’s Jordan Caroline sat in the Wolf Pack’s locker room and shouted the three words that were being repeated in households across the country.

“What just happened?!?”

Only a comeback that matched the second-largest in NCAA Tournament history.

Nevada rallied from 22 points down in the final 11 minutes Sunday to stun No. 2 seed Cincinnati 75-73 and earn its second Sweet 16 appearance ever. Josh Hall converted an offensive rebound with 9.1 seconds left to make the tiebreaking basket and give Nevada its only lead of the night.

“It’s such an unimaginable feeling,” Caroline said.

The seventh-seeded Wolf Pack (28-7) move on to an all-upstart South Region semifinal matchup with 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago (30-5) on Thursday night in Atlanta. Nevada’s only previous regional semifinal appearance came in 2004.

Nevada earned its trip to Atlanta because Cody Martin led a comeback for the ages.
The only bigger comeback in NCAA history came in 2012, when BYU beat Iona after trailing by 25 points. Nevada's rally is tied for second place with Duke, which erased a 22-point deficit to beat Maryland in the 2001 Final Four.

Syracuse 55, Michigan State 53

DETROIT (AP) — Syracuse barely got into the NCAA Tournament, getting the 68th and final spot.
The Orange have earned the right to keep playing in college basketball's showcase. And, no one will be excited about facing that zone defense.

Tyus Battle had 17 points, Oshae Brissett scored 15, and 11th-seeded Syracuse zoned Michigan State out of the tournament, 55-53 on Sunday to advance to the Sweet 16.

“No one plays zone like we do,” Brissett said. “We’re always moving — and we challenge every shot — so teams never get easy looks against us. That’s why nothing surprises me with our defense.”

Syracuse (23-13) will face second-seeded Duke (28-7) on Friday in the Midwest Region semifinals.

Playing in his hometown with a chance to add another highlight-reel shot to this year’s NCAA Tournament, Cassius Winston missed an opportunity to win the game for the third-seeded Spartans with a shot from about 45 feet just before the buzzer.

The Spartans came up short, long and wide all afternoon and didn’t make a basket in the last 5:41.

The Orange forced the Spartans (30-5) to settle for 3-pointers all afternoon and it worked brilliantly in a duel between Hall of Fame coaches. Michigan State took a school record 37 shots beyond the arc, making just eight.
Syracuse has won three straight since being sent to Dayton for the First Four as what the selection committee chairman acknowledged was the final team to receive an at-large bid. In low-scoring games, the Orange beat Arizona State in Dayton and TCU in the first round.

Kansas State 50, UMBC 43

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The ultimate underdog story is over, but this NCAA Tournament will always be remembered for the sweetest No. 16 in college basketball history.

UMBC’s brief, but historic run ended with a 50-43 loss to ninth seeded Kansas State on Sunday night.

UMBC became the first 16 seed to beat a No. 1, destroying top-ranked Virginia 74-54 on Friday night. After pulling off an all-time sports stunner, the Retrievers ran out of magic against the Wildcats.

As UMBC coach Ryan Odom emptied his bench with 9.4 seconds left, the crowd gave the Retrievers a standing ovation. The players hugged at midcourt. After the game ended, players walked over to the side of the court and gave their fans an appreciative wave.

The dream had ended, but some players managed smiles as they left the court.

Barry Brown led Kansas State with 18 points and Xavier Sneed came up with some huge plays down the stretch, including a monster dunk off an offensive rebound.
The Wildcats (24-11) move on to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2010 when they lost in the Elite Eight to Butler. They will face No. 5 Kentucky on Thursday night.

Texas A&M 86, North Carolina 65

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Texas A&M had its big men relentlessly snatching down loose rebounds, its wing players knocking down shots and an entire roster full of guys playing with aggressive confidence.

Stunningly, reigning national champion North Carolina found no match for any of it.
And just as shockingly, the Tar Heels are heading home with the most-lopsided NCAA Tournament loss of Roy Williams' Hall of Fame career.

The seventh-seeded Aggies manhandled the Tar Heels 86-65 Sunday in the second round of the West Region, marking the second straight year the titleholder has been bounced from March Madness before the Sweet 16. They dominated the glass. They used their size to control the paint and block shots. And they pounced when UNC’s small-ball lineup couldn’t make an outside shot.

The Aggies are moving on to the round of 16 for the second time in three seasons.

It was a big upset based on the seeding, North Carolina’s tournament tradition and the fact the Tar Heels have long been practically unbeatable in NCAA games played in their home state. Yet Texas A&M — a team that peaked at No. 5 in the AP Top 25 in December before going on a wild ride due to midseason injuries and suspensions — sure made it all look, well, routine.

Michigan 64, Houston 63

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The unflappable freshman with swag to spare let loose a long 3-pointer just as the buzzer sounded, watched it splash through the net and took off on a dead sprint around the arena.

“I saw everybody celebrating,” Michigan’s Jordan Poole said later, “and I always thought if I hit a shot like that, I didn’t want to get tackled. So I tried to avoid everybody.”

He finally gave up, allowing the sweetest of parties to truly begin.

Poole's buzzer-beater, which came after Houston squandered a chance to lock up a spot in the Midwest Region semifinals, lifted the third-seeded Wolverines to a 64-63 victory Saturday night — and left longtime coach John Beilein struggling to find the right words.
Dramatic? That's a good place to start.
"I'm just trying to appreciate the moment of what just happened," Beilein said. "When he makes that shot, I'm making sure the shot got off. I'm managing my team. I can't even look at the celebration."

That came when Devin Davis had a chance to seal the win, and the Cougars’ gritty forward missed a pair of foul shots with 3.6 seconds left. The Wolverines (30-7) called their final play, and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman found Poole on the wing.

The youngster’s shot hit nothing but net.

Abdur-Rahkman and Moe Wagner scored 12 points apiece to lead Michigan, but it was the unheralded freshman who stole the show. Poole’s flair for the dramatic earned his team a trip to Los Angeles for a West Regional semifinal against Texas A&M next week.

Rob Gray scored 23 points and Davis finished with 17 for the sixth-seeded Cougars (27-8), who were trying to reach their first Sweet 16 since the last of the Phi Slama Jama teams in 1984.

Kansas 83, Seton Hall 79

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Udoka Azubuike had practiced once in the last 11 days because of a lingering knee injury, and the mammoth Kansas forward’s three-minute stretch in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament was about as underwhelming as his herky-jerky free-throw stroke.

He managed to go 22 minutes against Seton Hall on Saturday night.
The Jayhawks needed all of them.

Azubuike stood toe-to-toe with the Pirates’ bruising Angel Delgado, and he drew enough attention on offense to spring his high-scoring guards for open looks. The result was a 28-point performance from teammate Malik Newman, 16 more from Svi Mykhailiuk, and a gritty 83-79 victory that pushed the top-seeded Jayhawks to their third consecutive Sweet 16.

Lagerald Vick added 13 points for Kansas (29-7), which converted every crucial play down the stretch to advance to the semifinals of the Midwest Region. The Jayhawks will face Clemson next week in Omaha, Nebraska.

Gonzaga 90, Ohio State 84

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Zach Norvell Jr. pulled up for 3-pointers, drove fearlessly to the rim and bulled his way into the trees to snare rebounds.

A spectator during Gonzaga’s Final Four run a year ago, the confident, extroverted freshman could be the ticket for a return trip.

Norvell had 28 points, hit six 3-pointers and grabbed 12 rebounds, leading Gonzaga back into the Sweet 16 with a 90-84 victory over Ohio State in the West Region on Saturday night.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a big early lead, withstood a second-half Ohio State charge and made the big plays down the stretch to earn a spot in the West Region semifinals against Florida State in Los Angeles.

Texas Tech 69, Florida 66

DALLAS (AP) — Keenan Evans treats every game like senior night and is doing all he can to keep playing for Texas Tech.
Next stop: Sweet 16.

Evans scored 22 points, making the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2 ½ minutes before his alley-oop pass on the punctuating dunk, as third-seeded Texas Tech beat Florida 69-66 on Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament.

The Red Raiders, in their second year with head coach Chris Beard, are going into the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since 2005.

While the next loss will end All-Big 12 guard Evans’ career, high-flying freshman Zhaire Smith is just getting started.

Smith had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and was on the receiving end of an alley-oop pass with 29 seconds left that punched the ticket for the Red Raiders (26-9) to go to Boston to play Purdue Friday night in the East Region.