By The Associated Press
GREENVILLE, SC (AP) – Duke began leaving the Mike Krzyzewski Hall of Fame of the NCAA Finals tournament with minimal strain, defeating Cal State Fullerton 78-61 on Friday night.
Freshman Paolo Banchera scored 17 points to lead the Blue Devils (29-6), who moved to a double-digit lead in the first 4 1/2 minutes and retained control throughout. Duke increased the score to 10 at the break and increased the lead to 20 in the middle of the second half.
The seeded No. 2 Western Region had five double-digit players playing in a neighboring state, backed by vocal sections of fans who want to be part of what they hope will be Krzyszewski’s six-player title for № 6. Next: Michigan on Sunday’s second tours.
Damari Milstead scored 12 points to lead the 15th seeded Titans (21-11), who missed 15 of 18 shots to open the game.
MICHIGAN STATE 74, DAVIDSON 73
GREENVILLE, SC (AP) – Joey Hauser scored a career-high 27 points and Michigan outscored Davidson to set up a second-round match between Hall of Fame coaches Tom Itzo of the Spartans and Mike Krzyzewski of Duke.
AJ Hogard added 14 points for the Spartans, who are seeded seventh (23-12). In the second half, they had to fight a tough game and then hold on to a desperate comeback in the final seconds.
The Wildcats, seeded No. 10 (27-7), brought the fight to the last minute, even while several quick, and sometimes borderline, whistles stumbled on the stretch.
Luka Brajkovic scored 18 points while shooting 8 out of 10 and brought out Davidson. Sam Menenga added 15 points.
TEXAS TECH 97, STATUS MANTANA 62
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Terence Shannon Jr. scored 20 points and set the dominant tone in the first minutes for Texas Tech, which beat Montana with one of the best shooting games in the first round since expanding the tournament to 64 teams in 1985.
Bryson Williams also scored 20 points behind Texas Tech (26-9), who scored 66.7% (36 of 54) off the field, including making 12 of 20 three-pointers. At some point the Red Raiders tended to break Syracuse’s record of 67.9% (38 out of 56) against Southern Illinois in 1995. They settled for a draw in fourth place.
Texas Tech, number 3, was too big, fast and talented for the Bobcats (27-8), who played in the NCAA for the first time since 1996. The Red Raiders will play Notre Dame at number 11 in the second round.
Xavier Bishop led Montana with 12 points.
Notre Dame 78, ALABAMA 64
SAN DIEGA (AP) – Cormac Ryan scored the highest 29 points of his career, including seven three-pointers, and Notre Dame, who was ranked 11th, recovered from a grueling victory in the top four and night to beat Alabama under sixth number.
Ryan, a senior guard, was 10 of 13 off the field and made his career-best seven of nine attempts from behind the arc for Notre Dame (24-10), who beat Rutgers in double overtime Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio. to earn a trip to San Diego.
Blake Wesley scored 18 points and Paul Atkinson Jr. added 13 points and eight rebounds. Fighting Irish missed six of the first seven throws, but missed 28 of 47 by the end of the course.
Keon Ellis led Alabama (19-14) with 16 points and Jaden Sheckelford scored 13. Junior guard Yahwon Quinerli suffered a left knee injury early in the game and did not return.
SOUTH
Ohio 54, LYALO CHICAGO 41
PITTSBURG (AP) – E.J. Liddell scored 16 points, Big Ten freshman of the year Milk Branham added 14, and Ohio, which sat seventh, closed 10th Loyola Chicago from start to finish.
The Parties (20-11) took the lead to play Villanueva on Sunday, preventing another March run for the Ramblers (25-8), who scored 27% (15 of 56) off the floor.
Braden Norris led Loyola with 14 points, but star Lucas Williamson survived perhaps his worst game of the season. The best player in the history of the program finished the game with four points in shooting 1 out of 10 and made three turns when Loyola failed in the first round after reaching Sweet 16 last season and the Final Four in 2018.
VILANOVA 80, DELAVER 60
PITTSBURG (AP) – Justin Moore scored 21 points, Colin Gillespie added 14, and Vilanova, seeded second, had no problems with 15th seeded Delaware.
The Wildcats (27-7) used a 35-10 surge at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to turn an eight-point deficit into an explosion.
Delaware (22-13) showed some early struggles with its northern neighbor in meeting programs divided into 43 miles on the map and much more in the college basketball landscape.
That was not enough, as Vilyanova defeated the “Blue Chickens” under a barrage of three-pointers to begin the search for a school for the third national title in seven seasons.
Jarre Davis led Delaware with 17 points.
ILINOIS 54, CHATTANUGA 53
PITTSBURG (AP) – Alfonso Plummer scored 15 points, including free throws 12 seconds before the end, and the fourth seeded Illinois escaped the 13th seeded Chattanooga.
Big Ten co-champion Elijah (23-9) never led until the last minute and survived when Chattanooga star Milk Smith twice missed in the final seconds.
On Sunday, Illinois will play with Houston, which sat at number five.
Central Illinois Kofi Cockburn scored 17 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. His rollback brought “Ilina” ahead 52-51 48 seconds before the end. Smith, the Southern Conference player of the year, in return made a couple of free throws to bring Chattanooga (27-8) back ahead.
Plummer, who scored three 3-pointers to help Illinois move away from an 11-point deficit in the second half, drove left and was fouled. He shot both shots.
HUSTAN 82, UAB 68
PITTSBURG (AP) – Kailer Edwards scored 25 points, Fabian White Jr. added 14 and Houston looked like a team capable of making another deep break in March when they beat UAB.
Edwards, who played three years at Texas Tech before moving to Houston, made six three-pointers – the latter being a last-minute exclamation mark – and controlled the fast pace.
Houston (30-5) reached the Final four years ago, but he has no starters left from that team. The Cougars won 10 out of 11 – nine with double digits.
Jordan “Jelly” Walker finished with 17 points while shooting 6 of 18 to lead the UAB (27-8).
Arizona 87, WRIGHT, STATE 70
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Christian Coloca scored 17 points, made 13 rebounds and made a big splash in the second half for Arizona, which beat Wright State.
Benedict Maturin scored 18 points and Dalen Terry – 16 for the Wildcats (32-3). Arizona won the seventh game in a row and won its first win in the NCAA tournament since defeating St. Mary in the second round in 2017. First-year coach Tommy Lloyd, a longtime assistant at Gonzaga, is taking Arizona to the NCAA for the first time since 2018.
Arizona has advanced against the TCU.
Grant Basil scored 21 points, and Trey Calvin – 16 for Wright State (22-14).
TCU 69, SETON HALL 42
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Mike Miles Jr. scored 21 points, and TCU, who sat ninth, won his first NCAA tournament victory in 35 years, easily beating eighth seed Satan Hall.
The last victory at the Horned Frogs tournament was in 1987 against Marshall, when coach Jamie Dixon was the senior in his alma mater.
Damion Bo scored 14 points for the TCU (21-12), who scored 27 of 53 (50.9%) off the field and led most of the game.
Jamir Harris and Miles Cale scored 11 points each for Setan Hall (21-11), which scored 28.8% off the field, making it the worst figure in the NCAA tournament.
EASTERN REGION
PURDUE 78, YALE 56
MILWAUKI (AP) – Jaden Ivey scored 22 points and Zach Idi controlled the action inside, helping Purdue defeat Yale.
Ivey, one of the fastest players in college basketball, scored 3 on 6 from a 3-point distance and 7 on 9 on the free-throw line in 27 minutes. The 7-foot-4 Eday made the most of his advantage against Champions League Ivy Bulldogs, scoring 16 points and nine rebounds in 19 minutes.
Purdue, seeded No. 3 (28-7), has won the NCAA for the fourth time in his last five tournaments. Next up is Texas in the second round on Sunday.
Azar Swain scored 18 points in shooting 8 of 19 for Yale (19-12), who won 11 of 13.
Texas 81, Virginia Tech 73
MILOWOKY (AP) – Andrew Jones scored 21 points, Marcus Carr beat the horn in the half, hitting far off the field to finally bring Texas ahead, and the Longhorns defeated Technical Virginia.
The Longhorns, who sat at number six (22-11), have won their first tournament game since 2014.
Texas stepped up on momentum from Kara’s incredible basket and led 17 of 5 1/2 minutes to the end.
Carr scored 15 points and Timmy Allen added 14. Texas got 10 of 19 from the 3-point range, ending a five-game streak in the tournament.
Sean Padula scored 19 points in Virginia (23-13), out of 13 in the last 4 1/2 minutes.
MIDDLE WESTERN REGION
AWERN 80, JACKSONVILLE, 61
GREENVILLE, SC (AP) – Freshman Jabari Smith scored 20 points and 14 rebounds when second-seeded Auburn withdrew from Jacksonville at the end of the first half.
Walker Kessler, Smith’s paint partner, finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks. The Tigers (28-5) have won their 10th consecutive NCAA game and will meet Miami on Sunday for a place in Sweet 16.
K.D. Johnson finished his shooting – he lost in the quarterfinals of the Southeast Conference from Texas A&M 0-14 – and had 10 points and a pair of 3 during the series 17-3, which put the Tigers in control.
Jalen Gibbs scored four 3s and led the Gamecocks (21-11) with 20 points.
Miami 68, Southern California 66
GREENVILLE, SC (AP) – Charlie Moore made two free throws 3 seconds before the end and scored 16 points to lift the 10th seeded Miami over No. 7 in Southern California.
At the last moment, Moore went to the lane, and it seemed that Chavez Goodwin blocked his bed. But a foul was recognized and Moore made free throws.
Miami (24-10) has won its first tournament in six years.
Isaiah Wong scored 22 points in Miami before playing with a score of 2:07 and playing with his team ahead 59-58. 44 seconds before the end, the Hurricanes increased the lead to 65-58, but Drew Peterson, who led the Trojans (26-8), scored 17 points, scored 3 in a row, and his inner basket equalized.
At the end of the first half, “Miami” led with a score of 29-16, but the “Trojans” opened the second half with a series of 17-2 to go ahead and set up a tough fight to the finish.
Iowa 59, LSU 54
MILWAUKI (AP) – Freshman Tyrese Hunter scored 23 points, while Iowa used its tough defenses to beat LSU at number 6.
Isaiah Brockington added 19 points when the Cyclones under No. 11 (21-12) won their first victory in the NCAA tournament since 2017 – also in Milwaukee. They held the Tigers at 37% shooting and made 19 turns, stopping slipping from three games.
Cyclones will meet Wisconsin on Sunday.
Tara Isan scored 18 points for LSU (22-12) and senior Darius Daze scored 14. It was the first game for the Tigers after coach Will Wade was fired last weekend amid allegations of NCAA violations.
WISCONSIN 67, COLGAITE 60
MILWAUKI (AP) – All-American bodyguard Johnny Davis scored 25 points and caused a comeback in the second half when Wisconsin withstood a 3-point Colgate attack.
The Badgers, seeded No. 3 (25-7), broke Colgate’s winning streak of 15 games.
Davis has scored the last 14 Wisconsin points and has shown that he has completely moved away from the injured left ankle that knocked out the Big Ten player of the year from the Badgers regular season finale.
After shooting 3 of 11 in the first half Davis lit up when he was needed by the Badgers. They trailed by as much as five in the second half before moving on to a 10-0 series and kept Colgate without points for more than seven minutes.
Tyler Wall added 15 points and nine rebounds for Wisconsin. Nelly Cummings scored 20 points, and Tucker Richardson – 15 for “Colgate” (23-12), who scored 10 of 22 from a distance of 3 points.
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