By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Coming out of a timeout, Jalen Brunson scored before the buzzer, and the No. 1-seed Villanova Wildcats took a 30-29 lead over the No. 16-seed Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers in the opening round of NCAA Tournament’s East Region at Key Bank Center, Thursday.
Brunson led the reigning national champions with 10 points on five of eight shooting from the floor over the first stanza.
Mount St. Mary’s scored the contest’s first seven points and led by as many as eight before Brunson scored his first basket of the game.
Junior Robinson and Elijah Long both connected from behind the arc to give Mount St. Mary’s a 10-2 lead. The Mountaineers still led 25-24 when Kris Jenkins drove baseline and fed Eric Paschall in the lane for a slam and Villanova’s first lead of the game at 26-25.
The teams traded leads three times before Brunson’s bucket gave Villanova an edge going into the locker room.
Mount’s Miles Wilson leads all scorers with 13 points on four of 10 shooting from the floor and four of four from the free throw line.
Villanova’s Donte DiVincenzo leads all players with eight rebounds. The Wildcats have a 21-14 advantage on the boards.
Mount St. Mary’s has six assists on 10 made field goals.
Villanova has outscored Mount in the paint (20-10) and on second-chance points (9-5). Villanova’s bench has outscored its counterparts 10-0.
Mount has converted five Villanova turnovers into a 6-3 edge in points off miscues.
The winner will play the Virginia Tech-Wisconsin winner on Saturday.
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