Round Two of NCAA men’s tournament ends Friday with many upsets and triumphs

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Bradley Beal had 14 points and 11 rebounds, reserve Casey Prather scored a career-high 14 and Florida pulled away in the second half to beat Virginia.

The Gators (24-10) finished the first half on a 17-4 run to shake off a slow start and get out to a 30-22 lead. They shot 70 percent in the second half, pushing their lead to more than 20 points.

Florida made it to the regional finals last season. The Cavaliers were in the tournament for the first time since 2007.

Mike Scott had 15 points for Virginia (22-10).

Florida, averaging a nation-leading 9.9 3-pointers a game, was 4 of 23 from long range but made 24 of 30 from inside the arc.

No. 9 SAINT LOUIS 61, No. 8 MEMPHIS 54

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kwamain Mitchell scored 22 points, including three big 3-pointers, and Saint Louis rode its gritty defense to a victory over Memphis.

Mitchell closed the first half by banking in a 3, then nailed two others to help coach Rick Majerus and the Billikens (26-7) overturn an eight-point deficit in the second half. They moved on to play the winner of LIU Brooklyn and top-seeded Michigan State on Sunday.

Brian Conklin added 16 points, including five free throws in the final minute to salt the game away.

Will Barton had 16 points for the Tigers (26-9), who had won 20 of their last 23 games.

No. 3 FLORIDA STATE 66, No. 14 ST. BONAVENTURE 63

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Bernard James scored 19 points and Florida State barely avoided a big upset, rallying to beat St. Bonaventure.

The Seminoles (25-9) shook off a slow start and won their sixth straight game, including their run to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship last week. They will play sixth-seeded Cincinnati on Sunday in the third round.

Andrew Nicholson scored 20 points and Demetrius Conger had 14 for St. Bonaventure (20-12), which was trying to win an NCAA tournament game for the first time since 1970.

Florida State used a 16-2 run to take its first lead with 5:15 left on a 3-pointer by Ian Miller. The Seminoles led as much as 60-52 on a dunk by Okaro White with 2:47 left, but had to hold on at the end.

No. 6 CINCINNATI 65, No. 11 TEXAS 59

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Yancy Gates had 15 points and 10 rebounds as Cincinnati started strong and then withstood a late rally by Texas.

The Bearcats (25-10) jumped out to a 16-2 lead while Texas opened the game 1 of 14 from the field and shot 16 percent for the first half. After trailing 31-17 at halftime, the Longhorns attacked, hitting five of their first seven from 3-point range.

With 3:44 to play, Texas’ Jonathan Holmes made a layup to tie it at 52, but the Longhorns never took the lead. Gates hit a shot over Clint Chapman with 1:11 remaining to give Cincinnati a 58-52 cushion, and the Bearcats hit five free throws in the final 36 seconds.

J’Covan Brown led Texas (20-14) with 19 points. Chapman had 10 points and 14 rebounds.

No. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 77, No. 16 VERMONT 58

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Tyler Zeller had 17 points and 15 rebounds to help North Carolina beat Vermont in its NCAA tournament opener despite playing without injured starter John Henson.

Freshman forward James Michael McAdoo added a season-high 17 points for the Tar Heels (30-5), who pushed ahead by double figures late in the first half and then broke the game open after halftime. They improved to 30-1 in NCAA tournament games played in their home state.

Sandro Carissimo had 11 points for the Catamounts (24-12), who beat Lamar in one of Wednesday’s First Four games. That earned them a trip to Greensboro to face the Tar Heels in front of a home-state crowd wearing plenty of light blue.

The Tar Heels didn’t turn in a rousing performance, but they had a danger-free afternoon and advanced to play eighth-seeded Creighton on Sunday. They also bought Henson another two days to recover from that sprained left wrist. The 6-foot-10 junior was hurt during last week’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and missed the last two games in Atlanta.

No. 8 CREIGHTON 58, No. 9 ALABAMA 57

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Doug McDermott scored 16 points and Creighton overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half to beat Alabama for its first NCAA tournament victory in 10 years.

Alabama had a chance to win during the frantic final seconds, but Josh Jones blocked Trevor Releford’s 3-point attempt from the top of the key as time expired.

McDermott, the MVP of the Missouri Valley Conference and the nation’s third-leading scorer at 23.2 points per game, was held scoreless for more than 14 minutes but then scored nine points down the stretch for the Bluejays (29-5).

It was Creighton’s first tournament victory since Terrell Taylor drilled a 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left in double overtime to lift the Bluejays to an upset win over Florida in 2002.

Releford led Alabama (21-12) with 14 points and Trevor Lacey added 13.

No. 13 OHIO 65, No. 4 MICHIGAN 60

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — D.J. Cooper scored 21 points and Ohio held off Michigan for yet another second-round upset in the NCAA tournament.

The underdog Bobcats (28-7) had the Wolverines on their heels throughout the game, but Trey Burke hit a 3-pointer with 4:12 left to cut it to 63-60. Michigan then missed its final five shots, four by Burke.

Michigan (24-10) got the rebound on Burke’s third miss, a 3-point attempt with 22 seconds left, but Evan Smotrycz lost control of the ball and Walter Offutt grabbed it. He was fouled by Smotrycz and sank both free throws with 6.8 seconds left to seal it.

Ohio shot 51.2 percent and held Michigan to 40.7 percent shooting, including 7 for 23 from 3-point range — typically the Wolverines’ comfort zone. Burke finished with 16 points.

No. 3 GEORGETOWN 74, No. 14 BELMONT 59

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jason Clark scored 21 points, Otto Porter added 16 and Georgetown’s ruthless defense bottled up Belmont’s shooters, sending the Hoyas into the next round of the NCAA tournament after early exits the past two years.

Henry Sims had 15 points for the Hoyas (24-8), who shot 62 percent from the floor and will play No. 11 seed North Carolina State in the third round Sunday.

Georgetown’s previous two seasons ended with embarrassing first-round losses to Virginia Commonwealth and Ohio. The Hoyas weren’t going to let that happen a third time to a pesky underdog.

The Bruins (27-8) had their 14-game winning streak stopped and fell to 0-5 in NCAA appearances.

Blake Jenkins scored 17 to lead Belmont, which went just 10 of 27 on 3-pointers.

No. 11 NORTH CAROLINA STATE 79, No. 6 SAN DIEGO STATE 65

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Richard Howell scored 22 points, double his season average, and North Carolina State used its muscle inside and sticky defense to beat San Diego State.

Lorenzo Brown added 17 points and C.J. Leslie 15 for the Wolfpack (23-12), who improved to 12-5 in NCAA tournament openers. N.C. State has won at least one game in seven of its last eight trips.

Jamaal Franklin had 23 points and Chase Tapley 19 for the Aztecs (26-8), regular-season champions of the Mountain West Conference.

No. 10 PURDUE 72, No. 7 SAINT MARY’S 69

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Lewis Jackson made the go-ahead free throws for Purdue with 22.8 seconds left after Saint Mary’s had rallied late from 11 points down to take its first lead.

Jorden Page hit a 3-pointer with 44.2 seconds remaining to finish a 14-2 run that brought the Gaels back from a 66-55 deficit with 4:24 to play.

Purdue’s Terone Johnson and Saint Mary’s Clint Steindl were called for traveling before Jackson made his free throws. Page badly missed what would have been a go-ahead 3 with 10 seconds left, and Robbie Hummel made two free throws for a three-point lead.

Rob Jones, who had 23 points, missed a 3 at the buzzer for the Gaels (27-6).

Johnson had 21 points, Jackson 18 and Hummel and Anthony Johnson scored 10 apiece for the Boilermakers (22-12).

No. 1 Michigan State 89, No. 16 LIU Brooklyn 67

No. 12 South Florida 58, No. 5 Temple 44

No. 10 Xavier 67, No. 7 Notre Dame 63

No. 2 Kansas 65, No. 15 Detroit 50

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