WASHINGTON -- Tiny Belmont out of the Atlantic Sun Conference gave perennial powerhouse Duke all it could handle before the second-seeded Blue Devils escaped with a 71-70 win in the first round of the West Regional in Washington, D.C.
Gerald Henderson scored 21 points to lead Duke, the final two coming after he drove the length of the court for the winning layup with 11.9 seconds left.
Duke's DeMarcus Nelson stole the ensuing inbounds pass. He was fouled, but he missed. Belmont got the rebound, and one final chance with 2.2 seconds left.
The Bruins' leading scorer, Justin Hare, got a good look at the basket from about 35 feet away, but his shot clanged off the rim.
``You won't hear any of our players say we overwhelmed them,'' a relieved Duke coach Mike Kryzyewski said afterward.
Duke takes on West Virginia on Saturday.
-- WEST REGIONAL: Purdue 90, Baylor 79
WASHINGTON -- Keaton Grant scored 17 points and Purdue cruised past Baylor 90-79 in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Boilermakers built a 19-point halftime lead and earned their 10th straight win in the first round since 1993.
-- WEST REGIONAL: West Virginia 75 Arizona 65
WASHINGTON -- Alex Ruoff scored 21 points, Da'Sean Butler had 19, and the West Virginia Mountaineers defeated the Arizona Wildcats 75-65 in the opening round of the West Regional.
West Virginia took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Ruoff with 17:43 left, and another jumper by Rouff from beyond the arc made it 48-39. After Arizona closed to 60-59, two 3-pointers by Darris Nichols and another by Ruoff sealed the victory.
-- WEST REGIONAL: Texas A&M 67 BYU 62
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Josh Carter scored 26 points, matching his career high, as Texas A&M defeated Brigham Young 67-62 in the West Region's first round on Thursday, handing the Cougars their sixth straight opening-round loss.
Joseph Jones added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the ninth-seeded Aggies, who take on top-seed UCLA on Saturday.
-- WEST REGIONAL: UCLA 70 Mississippi Valley State 29
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Freshman Kevin Love scored 20 points as top-seeded UCLA cruised to 70-29 victory against the overmatched Delta Devils in the NCAA tournament.
UCLA is seeking a third consecutive Final Four berth.
-- SOUTH REGIONAL: Michigan State 72, Temple 61
DENVER -- Raymar Morgan led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points and Michigan State ousted Temple from the NCAA tournament with a 72-61 victory in the first round of the South Regional.
The Spartans move on to play Pittsburgh in the second round on Saturday.
-- SOUTH REGIONAL: Pittsburgh 82, Oral Roberts 63
DENVER -- Levance Fields scored 23 points and surging Pittsburgh beat Oral Roberts 82-63 in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Sam Young, the star of Pitt's run through the Big East tournament, had 14 points and DeJuan Blair finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.
-- SOUTH REGIONAL: Marquette 74, Kentucky 66
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jerel McNeal scored 20 points and Wesley Matthews hit eight free throws in the final 31 seconds to help Marquette beat Kentucky 74-66 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The Golden Eagles move on to play Stanford in Saturday's second round. SOUTH
-- REGIONAL: Stanford 77, Cornell 53.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Kenny Brown scored 18 points and third-seeded Stanford earned its first NCAA tournament win since 2004, routing Cornell 77-53 in a matchup of players as good with the books as they are with a basketball.
-- MIDWEST REGIONAL: Kansas 85 Portland State 61
OMAHA, Neb. -- Brandon Rush scored 18 points, and top-seeded Kansas romped to an 85-61 victory over a Portland State team that got quite a hazing in its first NCAA tournament appearance.
The Jayhawks' five seniors and Rush, a junior star who might be headed to the NBA, are determined to go out in style after some bitter disappointments in the tournament.
Next up for Kansas is a date with UNLV.
-- MIDWEST REGIONAL: UNLV 71 Kent St. 58
OMAHA, Neb. -- Joe Darger made four 3-pointers and led UNLV with 18 points, Wink Adams added 17 and the Runnin' Rebels held Kent State to just 10 points in the first half of a 71-58 victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
-- MIDWEST REGIONAL: Kansas State 80 Southern California 67
OMAHA, Neb. -- Kansas State's Kiddie Corps moved on in the NCAA tournament, beating O.J. Mayo-led USC 80-67 in the opening round. Michael Beasley led the Wildcats with 23 points and 11 rebounds for his 27th double-double of the season.
Redshirt freshman Bill Walker scored 22 points, true freshmen Jacob Pullen and Ron Anderson also reached double figures.
O.J. Mayo scored 20 for the Trojans on 6-of-16 shooting.
-- MIDWEST REGIONAL: Wisconsin 71 Cal State Fullerton 56
OMAHA, Neb. -- Wisconsin couldn't shake the 14th-seeded Cal State Fullertin until deep into the second half before winning 71-56 in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Badgers move to a Saturday game against Kansas State in the second round of the Midwest Regional.
The Badgers shot 42 percent and committed 17 turnovers, but they blocked seven shots and outrebounded the Titans 50-to-27.
That was enough to overcome a career-high 31-point night by Fullerton's Josh Akognon.
Brian Butch scored 14 points and Joe Krabbenhoft and Jason Bohannon 13 apiece for the Badgers (29-4), who won for the 24th time in 26 games.
-- EAST REGIONAL: Washington State 71 Winthrop 40
DENVER -- The Washington State Cougars broke away from a halftime tie to beat Winthrop 71-40 in the East Regional behind 19 points and eight rebounds from Aron Baynes.
Kyle Weaver and Robbie Cowgill each had 14 and Derrick Low scored 11 for Washington State, which takes on Notre Dame on Saturday.
-- EAST REGIONAL: Notre Dame 68, George Mason 50
DENVER -- Looking for the next George Mason? Well, it won't be George Mason this time around.
America's NCAA darling two years ago was just another first-round casualtymsgis time around. The Patriots were overmatched in their 68-50 loss to Notre Dame in the East Regional.
Luke Harangody had 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead the fifth-seeded Irish to their first tournament victory in five years.
Thursday
October 24th, 2024
4:30AM
