Top-seeded Gonzaga fought off a wild Northwestern comeback for a 79-73 victory Saturday night with help from an untimely technical foul on Wildcats coach Chris Collins.
NCAA Tournament
Top-seeded Villanova was bounced from the NCAA Tournament by eighth-seeded Wisconsin, which overcame foul trouble for two of its stars in the second half Saturday to upset the defending champions 65-62 in the East region.
Jevon Carter scored 24 points, and West Virginia is headed to the Sweet 16 for the third time since 2010 following a 83-71 win over Notre Dame.
Two days down and the field has been cut from 68 teams to 32 teams in the NCAA Tournament.
Jawun Evans buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer for Oklahoma State in its 92-91 loss to Michigan, a 2½-point favorite, and the otherwise meaningless shot covered the spread for Cowboys backers.
UCLA raced out for layups, dropped in 3-pointers, piled up the points. The Bruins are the nation’s top-scoring team, so no surprise there.
South Carolina coach Frank Martin had a message for long-suffering fans: It won’t take the Gamecocks 44 years to win another NCAA Tournament game.
Bam Adebayo had 15 points and 18 rebounds on Friday night as Kentucky showed the new kids on their block how it’s done at NCAA Tournament time, gritting out a 79-70 victory over stubborn Northern Kentucky.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo wasn’t sure if his talented but inexperienced freshmen were ready to abandon their more comfortable up-tempo ways and play “smash mouth” basketball.
Grayson Allen has embraced his role as Duke’s sixth man over the past three weeks.
Wichita State’s high-flying offense didn’t get off the ground until the closing minutes, when the Shockers played like the more tournament-experienced team and pulled away to a 64-58 victory over Dayton on Friday night.
Troy Caupain scored 23 points, Kyle Washington added 16 and defensive-minded Cincinnati shot it way past Kansas State 75-61 Friday night in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament.
Josh Jackson insisted a season’s worth of distractions wouldn’t take away from his focus in his first, and likely last, NCAA Tournament.
Jeff Dowtin scored a career-high 23 points with a perfect day at the free-throw line, upstart Rhode Island answered every threat and the Rams ran right into the next round of the NCAA Tournament by stunning cold-shooting No. 6 seed Creighton 84-72 on Friday in an opener of the Midwest Region.
For the second straight NCAA Tournament game, Southern California overcame a double-digit deficit in the second half to win.
