VCU rallies to stun N. Carolina in OT
No. 12 seed High Point pulls the first big upset by beating Wisconsin
VCU guard Terrence Hill Jr., right, and forward Barry Evans react after their overtime victory over North Carolina on Thursday in Greenville, S.C.
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT| ROUNDUP
GREENVILLE, N.C. — Terrence Hill Jr. made a stepback 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in overtime and 11th-seeded VCU erased from a 19-point second-half deficit to stun sixth-seeded North Carolina 82-78 on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the South Region.
Hill finished 7 for 10 from 3-point range and scored 20 of 34 points after halftime as VCU won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2016.
Nyk Lewis added 16 points to seal the game for the Rams, who will face No. 3 Illinois in the second round on Saturday.
Henri Veesaar had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels.
ILLINOIS 105, PENN 70: David Mirkovic had 29 points and 17 rebounds as the Illini dominated Penn. Keaton Wagler added 18 points, seven assists and seven rebounds for Illinois.
NEBRASKA 76, TROY 47: Pryce Sandfort scored 23 points, and Nebraska beat Troy for its longawaited first NCAA Tournament victory. The fourth-seeded Cornhuskers entered March Madness as the only school from a power conference without a tournament win — they were 0-8. Victor Valdes scored 14 points for 13th-seeded Troy.
VANDERBILT 78, MCNEESE 68: Tyler Tanner had 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and fifth-seeded Vanderbilt rallied to beat No. 12 McNeese. The Commodores trailed by 12 points in the first half and then took control after the break. Garwey Dual scored 16 points, and Larry Johnson added 15 for McNeese.
TEXAS A&M 63, SAINT MARY'S 50: Rashaun Agee had 22 points and nine rebounds, and No. 10 seed Texas A&M beat seventh-seeded Saint Mary's. Ruben Dominguez added 11 points for the Aggies. Joshua Dent scored 18 points and Liam Campbell added 15 for Saint Mary's. Paulius Murauskas, who had averaged 18.8 points per game, scored four on 1-for-6 shooting.
HOUSTON 78, IDAHO 47: Kingston Flemings scored 18 points, and Emanuel Sharpe added 16 for the Cougars. Chris Cenac Jr. had a career-high 18 rebounds for Houston, which lost to Florida in last year's final. Kolton Mitchell scored 14 points for 15th-seeded Idaho, a heavy underdog making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990.
WEST
HIGH POINT 83, WISCONSIN 82: Chase Johnston made his first 2-point basket of the season, a fast-break layup with 11.7 seconds remaining that gave No. 12 seed High Point an upset victory over fifth-seeded Wisconsin in the West region. Johnston finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Panthers. Nick Boyd finished with 27 points and John Blackwell added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Badgers, who have lost to a lower-seeded team in each of their last four NCAA Tournament appearances.
ARKANSAS 97, HAWAII 78: Darius Acuff Jr. had 24 points and seven assists, and No. 4 Arkansas continued its strong play after winning the SEC tournament, beating No. 13 Hawaii. Meleek Thomas had 21 points and eight rebounds for coach John Calipari's Razorbacks.
TEXAS 79, BYU 71: Matas Vokietaitis had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and No. 11 seed Texas — fresh off a last-second win over NC State in the First Four — knocked off sixthseeded BYU, overcoming 35 points from Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa, who played every minute of the game. Voikietaitis grabbed as many rebounds (11) as the Cougars had as a team in the first half.
GONZAGA 73, KENNESAW STATE 64: Graham Ike scored 19 points, and third-seeded Gonzaga held off tenacious No. 14 seed Kennesaw State. Davis Fogle added 17 points for the Bulldogs. The Owls got to within 69-64 in the final minutes, but Ike answered with a jumper and Gonzaga held on.
EAST
DUKE 71, SIENA 65: Duke barely avoided a shocking upset, with the No. 1 overall seed having to rally from 13 points down and going ahead for good in the final five minutes to beat 16th-seeded Siena. Cameron Boozer had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who needed a comeback against a fearless upstart playing just five players right up to the final seconds. Gavin Doty scored 21 points to lead the Saints.
TCU 66, OHIO STATE 64: David Punch delivered a textbook entry pass to Xavier Edmonds, who converted a layup to beat the shot clock with 4.3 seconds left as No. 9 seed TCU held off a furious second-half rally by eighth-seeded Ohio State. Micah Robinson made four 3-pointers and scored 18 points to lead TCU, and Punch added 16 points and 13 rebounds. John Mobley Jr. scored 15 points for Ohio State.
LOUISVILLE 83, USF 79: Isaac McKneely scored 23 points, and sixth-seeded Louisville hung on to beat South Florida. Louisville showed signs of struggling without starting point guard Mikel Brown Jr., who missed his fifth straight game with back issues. Joseph Pinion scored 27 points for No. 11 South Florida.
MICHIGAN STATE 92, NDSU 67: Carson Cooper matched his career-high with 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as thirdseeded Michigan State routed No. 14 North Dakota State to reach the second round for the 22nd time in 28 consecutive appearances under coach Tom Izzo. Damari Wheeler-Thomas scored 16 points to lead the Summit League champions.
MIDWEST
MICHIGAN 101, HOWARD 81: Morez Johnson Jr. had 21 points and 10 rebounds on a perfect shooting night, and No. 1 seed Michigan rode a second-half surge past 16th-seeded Howard. Towering center Aday Mara had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Wolverines. Johnson shot 8 of 8 from the field as Michigan won its 32nd game, one short of the program record set in 2017-18.
SAINT LOUIS 102, GEORGIA 77: Dion Brown scored 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting, all on layups and dunks, and the Billikens blew out the Bulldogs. Amari McCottry added 13 points and nine rebounds, while Robbie Avila had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists for the No. 9 seed.
