SACRAMENTO — Nearly three many years after some of the gorgeous upsets in N.C.A.A. historical past, the Princeton Tigers delivered one other with a surprising 59-55 victory over second-seeded Arizona on Thursday.
After trailing many of the recreation, No. 15 seed Princeton’s tight protection and crisp passing allowed the Tigers to go on a number of runs within the second half, together with a 9-0 run to shut the sport. With about two minutes left, Ryan Langborg drove the lane to provide the Tigers the lead for good.
To that time, the Tigers had gone to the free throw line simply as soon as for your entire recreation. But with Arizona in hassle, the Wildcats fouled freshman Caden Pierce with 21 seconds to play, and he calmly sank each pictures to make it 58-55.
Arizona’s Courtney Ramey and Kerr Kriisa every missed 3-point makes an attempt within the last seconds, and, when Tosan Evbuomwan grabbed the rebound with three seconds left, Arizona fouled. Evbuomwan made the primary free throw, missed the second and, because the clock expired, the Tigers mobbed one another in celebration. It was their greatest win for the reason that group dispatched U.C.L.A. within the 1996 N.C.A.A. event.
The loss was the second for Arizona as a No. 2 seed; the Wildcats additionally misplaced to Santa Clara in 1993. No. 15 seeds are actually 11-138 all time in opposition to No. 2 seeds. — Scott Miller
Furman toppled Virginia with a well timed steal and a fast rating.
Less than three hours into the spherical of 64 of the lads’s event, No. 13 seed Furman delivered a wild end, knocking off a No. 4 Virginia group that could be finest identified for dropping its first-round recreation because the event’s high general seed 5 years in the past.
This time, it regarded just like the Cavaliers would maintain off a rally by the underdog. Virginia and Furman traded leads within the last 5 minutes of the sport till Virginia went up by 4 factors, 67-63, with 19 seconds left. Garrett Hien drew a foul and hit each free throws — after which got here a breakdown on an inbounds play by the Cavaliers.
Virginia’s Kihei Clark tried to cross the ball midway up the court docket, however it was intercepted by Hien. He shortly handed it to JP Pegues, who nailed a 3-pointer from the wing with about two seconds left. Final rating: 68-67.
“We had them trapped, I was calling for a foul, but the good lord knew it, and they couldn’t hear me,” Furman Coach Bob Richey mentioned on the postgame information convention.
Virginia began the sport on an 8-0 run and constructed what appeared to be a snug lead, sitting on a double-digit margin with beneath 11 minutes left within the recreation. But Furman chipped away and tied the sport with 5:42 left, establishing the livid end.
The loss will sting for the Cavaliers, however they could discover a silver lining of their current previous: After their 2018 first-round loss to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, the Cavaliers got here again the following season to win the championship. — Oskar Garcia
Missouri’s protection clamped down on Utah State.
SACRAMENTO — Utah State was hanging round. Just as quickly as they discovered openings in 3-point territory, the considering went, the Tenth-seeded Aggies have been going to dash previous Missouri.
But that by no means occurred. The No. 7 seed Tigers, a group seen as a possible upset sufferer within the first spherical of the lads’s N.C.A.A. event, received the sport, 76-65.
Missouri’s stress protection stymied an Aggies group that ranked fifth within the nation in 3-point field-goal proportion, holding them to 0 for 11 within the first half and simply 4 for twenty-four for the sport. Utah State was 0 for 13 earlier than the junior guard Steven Ashworth, who’s sixth within the nation in 3-point proportion (.443), lastly swished one with 17:51 remaining. For the sport, the Tigers held Ashworth to 2 for 10 from 3-point land.
“Our approach was to pressure full court,” Missouri guard D’Moi Hodge mentioned. “We know what they wanted. They wanted jump shots. We tried to force them to the basket to make them make two, make the big man score.
“Make them take tough threes, force them into bad shots,” Hodge added. “That helped us in the long run.”
Missouri ranked first nationally with a turnover margin of plus-5.9. The Tigers almost matched that quantity on Thursday: They compelled 15 Utah State turnovers and dedicated solely 10 themselves. — Scott Miller
Kansas performed with out Coach Bill Self.
Kansas coach Bill Self missed Thursday’s first-round NCAA event recreation in opposition to Howard as he continues to get well from a current well being downside.
Norm Roberts, a Kansas assistant coach who had been a head coach at St. John’s, continued to educate the group in Self’s absence.
Self, 60, missed the Big 12 event final week after present process a process to deal with blocked arteries in his coronary heart. The Hall of Fame coach was launched Sunday from a hospital.
Kansas (22-7) went 13-5 within the Big 12, profitable a regular-season title for the seventeenth time throughout Self’s 20-year tenure, however misplaced to Texas, 76-56, within the Big 12 event last on Saturday. The Jayhawks, who received final 12 months’s N.C.A.A. event, are the No. 3 general seed — and No. 1 within the West — this postseason, regardless of dropping three starters from the 2022 title-winning group. — Adam Zagoria
Michigan is recovering simply in time.
BATON ROUGE, La. — The Michigan girls’s group could also be getting wholesome at simply the best time.
The Wolverines performed all of February with out Laila Phelia, who had a leg harm. Phelia, a sophomore guard, is one among three Michigan gamers averaging a minimum of 16 factors per recreation. The group went 4-3 with out her, however she returned for the Big Ten Conference event.
Michigan additionally performed its final two video games in February with out Leigha Brown, the fifth-year guard who scores a team-leading 18 factors per recreation and whose 5.9 assists per recreation rank fifteenth in Division I.
In late February, the Division I choice committee regarded Michigan as a top-16 seed, which might have allowed the Wolverines to host the primary and second rounds on campus in Ann Arbor. But Michigan closed the month with three losses in 4 video games, together with a street loss to sub-.500 Wisconsin.
Michigan slid to a No. 6 seed, forcing it to journey to Louisiana State’s campus, the place it’s going to tackle Eleventh-seeded U.N.L.V. on Friday on the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
But the group sees positives to the time missed by its leaders. The sophomore guard Jordan Hobbs began each recreation in February and posted three double-figure scoring video games. Greta Kampschroeder and Cameron Williams additionally elevated their roles.
“A lot of people got experience that maybe they wouldn’t have if Laila was still there,” Emily Kiser, a graduate ahead who averages 16.2 factors and seven.1 rebounds per recreation, mentioned in a information convention. “So I think we’re coming back stronger from it.”
Kiser expects a bodily recreation in opposition to U.N.L.V., which enters the event having received 22 consecutive video games. But Michigan will enter with its high three scorers — Brown, Phelia and Kiser — again collectively.
“Because other teams aren’t able to do that, just take away one player, we’re able to have other options,” Phelia mentioned. — Evan Easterling
Injuries could play a starring position.
ALBANY — Some of the highest groups within the males’s N.C.A.A. event are coping with important accidents to key gamers.
Houston guard Marcus Sasser, the participant of the 12 months within the American Athletic Conference, suffered a groin harm within the semifinals of the convention event. Houston was nonetheless put in as a No. 1 seed and the No. 2 general behind Alabama regardless of the uncertainty round its first first-team all-American since Hakeem Olajuwon.
On Wednesday, forward of Houston’s Thursday evening recreation in opposition to No. 16 Northern Kentucky, Coach Kelvin Sampson instructed reporters that Sasser can be “one of those infamous game-time decisions.”
Fully wholesome, Houston could have the very best backcourt in school in Sasser, who averages 17.1 factors and three.2 assists, and Jamal Shead, who averages 10.3 factors and 5.4 assists. But with out Sasser, Houston could wrestle to attain.
Miami’s Norchad Omier is a 6-foot-7 ahead from Nicaragua who averages 13.6 factors and 9.7 rebounds; he additionally performs a key position as an enormous, bodily physique within the group’s defensive scheme. Omier missed most of Miami’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinal in opposition to Duke with an ankle harm, however he regarded good throughout an on-court exercise Thursday at MVP Arena in Albany.
“We’re going to put him through a workout today and see how he does,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga mentioned beforehand. “If he’s good, we’re good. If he’s not, we’ll know it and we’ll make the adjustment.”
Several different groups are lacking additionally key contributors. Tennessee level guard Zakai Zeigler suffered an A.C.L. tear in a win over Arkansas on Feb. 28. Xavier is enjoying with out ahead Zach Freemantle, who has been out since Jan. 28 with a foot harm. And U.C.L.A. doesn’t have Jaylen Clark, probably the greatest defenders within the nation, due to an Achilles harm.
Heading into Thursday’s recreation in opposition to No. 15 U.N.C. Asheville, the No. 2 Bruins have been additionally weighing whether or not to play their freshman massive man Adem Bona, who’s battling left-shoulder soreness after an harm in opposition to Oregon within the Pac-12 event. He did take part in “some stuff” throughout Wednesday’s apply, head coach Mick Cronin instructed reporters.
“He’s going to have to play through some soreness at some point if we’re still playing,” Cronin mentioned. “But he would never be put in harm’s way for his career.” — Adam Zagoria
Obama picked Iona as an upset candidate.
ALBANY — Iona Coach Rick Pitino already admired former President Barack Obama. Now, he’s a fair larger fan.
When Obama posted his N.C.A.A. tournament brackets on Twitter on Wednesday, he picked Pitino and the No. 13 Gaels to upset No. 4 Connecticut within the males’s first spherical, of their assembly Friday afternoon, after which to beat V.C.U. earlier than dropping to Kansas within the spherical of 16.
“I’ve always said that President Obama was one of the most intelligent presidents we’ve ever had, and this lends credence to that,” Pitino cracked on Thursday.
Obama has a males’s Final Four of Baylor in opposition to Duke in a single nationwide semifinal and Houston in opposition to U.C.L.A. within the different. The former president picked Duke over Houston within the last.
In the ladies’s Final Four, Obama picked all No. 1 seeds, with South Carolina, the defending champion, beating Indiana within the last.
Pitino, 70, has been linked to the St. John’s head teaching opening, after the college fired Mike Anderson final week after 4 seasons.
“I have a terrific team coming back,” Pitino mentioned Thursday, including, “It’s going to take a special place for me to consider leaving.”
In addition to teaching stints at Kentucky and with the Knicks and Celtics, Pitino, a Naismith Hall of Famer, additionally beforehand coached within the Big East at Providence, main the Friars to the 1987 Final Four, and at Louisville, which he guided to the N.C.A.A. championship in 2013. That title was vacated after the NCAA dominated that the college had paid escorts to assist recruit gamers. Pitino has denied that he knew something concerning the escort scandal. — Adam Zagoria
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