A capsule look at what to expect and who to watch in Saturday’s second-round games during the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA Tournament
SPOKANE, Wash. — Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli will take the victory over Cincinnati. He just wishes it had ended a little differently.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Paul Jesperson banked in a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to give 11th seeded Northern Iowa a 75-72 win over No. 6 seed Texas Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s West Region.
There are 16 games today, presenting more entertainment and more opportunities to make money. The bad news is the most recent 16 games put a lot of bettors in a money pit. But bouncing back is part of this exercise.
NEW YORK — V.J. Beacham scored 18 points, including the 3-pointer that gave Notre Dame the lead for good, and the sixth-seeded Fighting Irish rallied to beat 11th-seeded Michigan 70-63 on Friday night in the first round of the East Regional.
ST. LOUIS — James Farr had 18 points and 15 rebounds, fellow big man Jalen Reynolds added 12 points and No. 2 seed Xavier pulled away late for a 71-53 victory over pesky 15th-seed Weber State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Dillon Brooks and his Oregon teammates were glued to their televisions, watching and keeping up on the craziness happening elsewhere in the NCAA Tournament.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Danuel House scored 20 points as Texas A&M pulled away in the second half to win its first NCAA Tournament game since 2010 with a 92-65 first-round victory over Green Bay on Friday night.
ST. LOUIS — Nigel Hayes has been to back-to-back Final Fours with Wisconsin, so he was the obvious choice when freshman forward Ethan Happ asked for some advice before his own NCAA Tournament debut.
NEW YORK — Thomas Walkup scored 33 points and 14th-seeded Stephen F. Austin faced down West Virginia’s full-court pressure with some of its own in-your-face defense, pulling off a rugged, 70-56 first-round upset of the third-seeded Mountaineers Friday night in the NCAA Tournament.
Jake Layman scored a season-high 27 points and Melo Trimble had 15 of his 19 points in the first half as fifth-seeded Maryland built leads as large as 18 points before holding off 12th-seeded South Dakota State for a 79-74 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
Oklahoma refused to become another No. 2 seed gone sour even though 15th-seeded Cal State Bakersfield refused to go away.
Adam Woodberry put back a missed shot at the overtime buzzer to give Iowa a 72-70 victory over Temple on Friday in the first round of the South Regional at Barclays Center.
No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee State sent the biggest shock yet through the NCAA Tournament on Friday, topping second-seeded Michigan State 90-81 in the first round.
Hawaii trailed early in its first-round NCAA Tournament game against fourth-seeded Cal on Friday, but from then on it largely controlled play, ousting the short-handed Golden Bears 77-66 to advance to the second round for the first time in program history.