EAST REGION
No. 1 Villanova 76 No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s 56
Donte DiVincenzo dropped 21 points in a game where number one overall seed, Villanova, appeared to be ordinary in the first 20 minutes. With Kris Jenkins struggling and missing his first 10 shots, the Wildcats found themselves holding on to a mere one point lead at the half. From there, the Wildcats exploded and went on a 21-6 run to give themselves a 16 point cushion. Leading the efforts for Mount St. Mary’s was Miles Wilson who scored 22 points. In their journey to become the first team since the 2006-2007 Florida Gators to win back to back championships, Villanova will face eighth seeded Wisconsin over the weekend.
No. 4 Florida 80 No. 13 East Tennessee State 65
ORLANDO– Devin Robinson tied a career high with 24 points and added 7 rebounds to lead Florida to a first round win over East Tennessee State. Breaking the Gators’ school record for most steals in an NCAA Tournament game was Kevarrius Hayes with six. On the opposing end, T.J Crommer scored a team high 19 points for the Buccaneers in their attempt to win their first tournament game since 1992. With the win, Florida will once again have a home crowd advantage as they take on fifth seeded Virginia on Saturday.
No. 5 Virginia 76 No. 12 UNC-Wilmington 71
ORLANDO– London Perrantes and Marial Shayok combined for 47 points as the Cavaliers defeated the Seahawks. Down by as many as 14 points in the first half, Virginia had gone on a 16-1 run to go into halftime with a one point lead. With their leading scorer C.J. Bryce struggling to find a rhythm throughout the game, UNC-Wilmington’s efforts were guided by Chris Flemmings (18 points, 9 rebounds). This is the fourth consecutive year that Virginia has advanced past the first round of the tournament. They will face Florida on Saturday.
No. 8 Wisconsin 84 No. 9 Virginia Tech 74
BUFFALO– Bronson Koenig set a school record with eight 3-pointers made and finished with 28 points for Wisconsin in their victory over Virginia Tech. That would not be the only bright spot for the Badgers though as they also grabbed 12 more rebounds than the Hokies and shot 19-25 from the charity stripe. Leading Virginia Tech in its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2007 was Zach LeDay who had 23 points, with 17 of those coming in the second half. With the win, Wisconsin has their eyes set on their fourth straight Sweet 16 but will have to face Villanova to get there.
WEST REGION
No. 1 Gonzaga 66 No. 16 South Dakota State 46
SALT LAKE CITY– Jordan Mathews paced Gonzaga with 16 points to help them avoid the upset from South Dakota State. Coming into the tournament having won nine of their past eleven games, the Jackrabbits led for the first seventeen minutes and put up a fight before the Bulldogs put the game away late. Mike Daum, the nation’s second leading scorer finished with 17 points for South Dakota State. With Gonzaga’s win, number one seeds are now 129-0 versus number sixteen seeds since 1985. The Bulldogs will face Northwestern in the Round of 32.
No. 2 Arizona 100 No. 15 North Dakota 82
SALT LAKE CITY– Lauri Markkanen paced Arizona with 20 points as they defeated North Dakota in the Round of 64. After going on a 13-1 run early in the game and shooting 61.1 percent, the Wildcats kept adding as they built a 16 point lead at halftime. Along with Markkanen, who is viewed as high first round NBA draft pick, Rawle Alkins contributed 20 points. For the Fighting Hawks, who were playing in their first tournament appearance as a Division I program, Quinton Hooker scored a team high 25 points. With the win, Arizona will prepare for their next game against Saint Mary’s on Sunday.
No. 3 Florida State 86 No. 14 Florida Gulf Coast 80
ORLANDO– Dwayne Bacon and Jonathan Isaac combined for 42 points and 19 rebounds as Florida State held off a late comeback attempt from Florida Gulf Coast. In a matchup where both teams are known to try and dominate the paint, the height of the Seminoles’ rim protectors forced the Eagles to rely on their perimeter shooting. As a result, Florida Gulf Coast shot a mediocre 29 percent from 3 point range while Florida State shot nearly 56 percent from the field in primarily high percentage shooting situations. Leading the efforts for the Eagles were Brandon Goodwin who had a team high 28 points and Zach Johnson who finished with 17 points. In the second round, Florida State will take on Xavier.
No. 4 West Virginia 86 No. 13 Bucknell 80
BUFFALO– Nathan Adrian powered the Mountaineers with a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds). Trying to avoid their second straight first round collapse, West Virginia needed their offense to put up 85 or more points for the seventeenth time this season. For the Bison, Kimbal Mackenzie went 5 for 7 from behind the arc and had a team high 23 points. West Virginia will play the region’s number five seed, Notre Dame, on Saturday.
No. 5 Notre Dame 60 No. 12 Princeton 58
BUFFALO– Bonzie Colson (18 points) and the Fighting Irish avoided the classic 12 seed over the 5 seed upset in their first game of the tournament. Having come off back to back Elite 8 appearances, the Fighting Irish had an 11 point lead in the second half before nearly seeing it disappear. It was not until Princeton’s Devin Cannady (7 points) missed a 3 point shot in the final seconds that Notre Dame could exhale. Also contributing in the game were Notre Dame’s Matt Farrell (16 points) and Spencer Weisz who had a team high 15 points for Princeton. As a result of the game, Notre Dame will take on West Virginia in the Round of 32.
No. 11 Xavier 76 No. 6 Maryland 65
ORLANDO– Sean O’Mara played a key role off the bench with 18 points as Xavier took down Maryland in an upset. Coming off a 10-0 run which began just before the end of the first half, Melo Trimble (13 points) and the Terrapins appeared to be in control. However, that quickly changed as Trimble turned cold and Maryland went more than 5 minutes without scoring. From there, the Musketeers went on a run of their own with Trevon Bluiett scoring a team high 21 points. Xavier will next play Florida State on Saturday with a Sweet 16 berth on the line.
No.7 Saint Mary’s 85 No. 10 VCU 77
SALT LAKE CITY– Jock Landale compiled 18 points and 13 rebounds as Saint Mary’s defeated VCU. Heading into halftime, the game appeared to be lopsided with the Gaels having shot 64 percent and holding a 46-31 lead. However, in the second half, the game became more contested as VCU’s defensive pressure caused disruption among the Saint Mary’s players. The defense and JeQuan Lewis‘ game high 30 points would not be enough though. Saint Mary’s will play Arizona in the Round of 32 on Sunday.
No. 8 Northwestern 68 No. 9 Vanderbilt 66
SALT LAKE CITY– Bryant McIntosh dropped 25 points to lead Northwestern to their first ever NCAA tournament victory in dramatic fashion. Down by one with only 14.6 seconds left, the Wildcats’ second highest career scorer got fouled by Vanderbilt’s Matthew Fisher-Davis (22 points) as Fisher-Davis thought that his team was the one trailing. As a result, McIntosh made the two ensuing free throws to put his team ahead. Helping Northwestern in the win was also Dererk Pardon who had 14 points and 11 rebounds. On Saturday, the Wildcats will take on the region’s top seed, Gonzaga.
SOUTH REGION
No. 4 Butler 76 No. 13 Winthrop 64
MILWAUKEE– Playing in the first NCAA tournament game of his career, graduate transfer Avery Woodson led Butler to victory after tying a career high with six 3-pointers. With five of those 3-pointers coming in the first half, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 41-27 lead and never looked back. On the opposing side, Keon Johnson played in his last collegiate game finishing with 18 points on 7 of 19 shooting while Xavier Cooks led the Big South champions with 23 points. Looking to advance to their fifth Sweet 16 since 2003, Butler will face Middle Tennessee State on Saturday.
No. 12 Middle Tennessee 81 No. 5 Minnesota 72
MILWAUKEE– Reggie Upshaw paced Middle Tennessee with a team high 19 points in yet another upset of a Big Ten team. Just one year after defeating Michigan State as a number 15 seed, the Blue Raiders took a six point lead into halftime and then withstood a ferocious comeback attempt by the Gophers. Leading Minnesota’s efforts were Amir Coffey (17 points) and Dupree McBrayer (16 points). On Saturday, Middle Tennessee faces Butler at the Bradley Center.
MIDWEST REGION
No. 4 Purdue 80 No. 13 Vermont 70
MILWAUKEE– Caleb Swanigan had 16 points and 14 rebounds as Purdue overcame a slow start to end Vermont’s 21 game win streak. After turning the ball over eight times in the first half, the Boilermakers cut down on the turnovers and shot 55.2 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes of the game. Not to be forgotten was Vincent Edwards who also scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half. For Vermont, Anthony Lamb (Greece Athena) was the key contributor with 20 points and 9 rebounds. With the win, Purdue advances to the second round for the first time since 2012 and will play Iowa State this weekend.
No. 5 Iowa State 84 No. 12 Nevada 73
MILWAUKEE– Monte Morris compiled 19 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists for Iowa State as they continued on to the Round of 32 for the second straight season. Aside from Morris, the three point shot was a key reason for the outcome of the game. The Cyclones went 8-19 from beyond the arc while the Wolf Pack shot below 30 percent on 25 attempts. Although he struggled from 3 point range, Jordan Caroline led Nevada’s efforts with 20 points and 8 rebounds. Iowa State will play Purdue on Saturday in the second round of the tournament.
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