V-RECAPS: First Round | March 14
ESPN.com's NCAA Tournament coverage
SOUTH REGION
(13) UNC Wilmington 93, (4) USC 89-OT: The Trojans staged a furious comeback to send the game into overtime. And it looked like USC would pull it out after freshman Errick Craven hit a big-time trifecta from the corner to tie the game.
But Brett Blizzard and company held tough in the extra period. Give Jerry Wainwright's team credit for scoring what was arguably the biggest upset of the day.
(1) Duke 84, (16) Winthrop 37: No Shock City as Duke easily ran past Winthrop. It was simply too much Jason Williams (19 points), Carlos Boozer (19) and company as Duke moves on to an interesting matchup with a Notre Dame that will fired up. It's the ACC against the Big East.
Duke had to be happy to see USC knocked out of the region, upset by UNC Wilmington. That might have been an interesting Sweet 16 matchup between Duke and USC, but it won't happen.
(8) Notre Dame 82, (9) Charlotte 63: For the Irish, it was too much Matt Carroll and David Graves. They combined to hit 15 of 26 shots, including seven of 11 from three-point range.
It was veteran leadership coming through. Ryan Humphrey posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds as Notre Dame pulled away in the second half big-time.
(10) Kent State 69, (7) Oklahoma State 61: I said it from day one and I'll say it again: The Mid-American Conference should have had more than one team in the NCAA Tournament. Kent State didn't waste any time proving how good the MAC is, running out to a 30-15 lead over Oklahoma State. Remember, the Cowboys are among the power teams and hail from one of the premier conferences in America, the Big 12.
But Kent State's sensational guard, Trevor Huffman (18 points), teamed up with Demetric Shaw (21) on the wing to pull off another March shocker (Huffman was brilliant last year in a tournament upset over Indiana). And Oklahoma State was shut down from 3-point range (4-of-18).
Kent State's Stan Heath, my diaper-dandy coach of the year, has gotten the job done in his first year as a head coach. He was an assistant with Tom Izzo at Michigan State, as was Marquette coach Tom Crean. Kent State has now won 19 straight -- and the MAC is the most underrated conference in the nation.
(2) Alabama 86, (15) Florida Atlantic 78: Maurice Williams, one of my super-seven diaper dandies, really responded big-time, scoring 33 points to meet the challenge of a hungry Cinderella Florida Atlantic team.
The Owls, coached by former UNLV All-American Sidney Green, won just two games three years ago. Now Florida Atlantic was in the big dance and actually led at halftime 40-38 before Williams rallied the Tide back.
Mark Gottfried has to be a little concerned as Rod Grizzard only scored six points for the Tide. If Alabama is going to respond against Kent State in the second round, it needs a better performance out of Grizzard. But in the first round, the freshman Williams was the star of stars as Alabama moved on.
(5) Indiana 75, (12) Utah 56: Tom Coverdale and Jeff Newton were keys as Indiana moved on past Utah, despite the Utes getting a big game from Phil Cullen. He was terrific, going 7 of 8 from three-point range. But the rest of his teammates could not come through.
The Hoosiers move onto a second-round matchup with UNC Wilmington, a Cinderella story after the upset of USC.
WEST REGION
(11) Wyoming 73, (6) Gonzaga 66: Gonzaga, which has been the darling of the NCAA Tournament with an Elite Eight and two Sweet 16 appearances over the last three years, ran into a very physical and aggressive Wyoming team. Josh Davis' defensive heroics and his shot-blocking ability surely created havoc for Gonzaga.
Dan Dickau, the super-senational point guard for the Zags, had a tough day getting open looks. He shot only seven for 24 from the field, and overall the Zags hit only 27 percent. It was a bad evening for Gonzaga shooting the rock, baby. And when you are not shooting the rock against a quality team like Wyoming, you pack your bags and go home.
People have to understand this Wyoming team won the Mountain West Conference regular-season title. The Cowboys have a super player in Marcus Bailey, who came up with big shots to end Gonzaga's dream of advancing in the tournament once again.
(3) Arizona 86, (14) UC Santa Barbara 81: I said it at the begining of the season and I'll say it again: Jason Gardner made a great decision to return to college and pull out of the NBA draft. Gardner was the superstar in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, when Arizona really built up its confidence. And Gardner was the star of stars Thursday, scoring 28 points as Arizona held off UC Santa Barbara.
The Gauchos got a brilliant performance by Mark Hull, who scored 32 points and seemed like he wasn't going to miss from three-point range all night. He hit eight of 11 three-point attempts.
For a while it looked like a UCSB-Wyoming matchup in the second round. Talk about Shock City! But Lute Olson's team came through in the end.
(12) Missouri 93, (5) Miami-Fla. 80: Missouri and coach Quin Snyder also have a shot at redemption in the tourney. Talk about a dangerous No. 12 seed -- the Tigers were ranked second in the AP poll in December after a 9-0 start.
Miami, under coach Perry Clark, was a real surprise this season, but Thursday it was all Missouri. The Tigers jumped out to a 12-0 lead and stretched it to 19-5. The 'Canes couldn't battle back from that two-touchdown deficit. What was even more impressive was that Missouri jumped out to a big lead while getting just two first-half points from Kareem Rush, who led the Tigers with 20.1 ppg this season.
The Tigers' quickness prevailed Thursday. Rickey Paulding (16 points) had a great performance, and they also pounded it inside to Arthur Johnson. Missouri did a solid job on the glass as well. Snyder has taken lots of heat for his team's up-and-down season, but he can silence the critics by continuing to march on this March.
(4) Ohio State 69, (13) Davidson 64: The Buckeyes really had to sweat this one out. Davidson, the Southern Conference champion, gave Jim O'Brien's team all it could handle.
But in the end, it was Brian Brown, Brian Brown, Brian Brown. He scored a career-high 33 points, leading the Buckeyes to the winner's circle.
If Ohio State is to move into the Sweet 16, with a win over Missouri, it must get better performances from Brent Darby and Boban Savovic, who were a combined 3-for-15 from the field.
EAST REGION
(12) Tulsa 71, (5) Marquette 69: Cordell Henry struggled, and Marquette goes as its guards go. Dwyane Wade had a solid performance, but with Henry struggling from the floor (5 of 14), it was Upset City as the 12th seed Golden Hurricane moved on for a date against Kentucky and former coach Tubby Smith.
Tulsa has a great winning mentality. Three of their players -- Dante Swanson, Greg Harrington and Kevin Johnson -- played on their Elite Eight team two years ago and their NIT champion last season. John Phillips, in his first year as head coach, was jubilant to get his big W over the Eagles.
(4) Kentucky 83, (13) Valparaiso 68: This tournament is an opportunity for redemption for Kentucky, which has been in Soap Opera City this year with suspensions and off-court distractions. The 'Cats have played most of the this season without the real Keith Bogans -- but oh, did he come to play Thursday. Bogans returned to his diaper-dandy days, scoring 21 sensational points (4-of-5 on trifectas). Kentucky attacked the basket early and led 41-23 at the half.
Many were saying this could be an upset, because Valparaiso played Kansas tough this year and coach Homer Drew has had success in the Big Dance before -- especially when his son Bryce's buzzer-beater shocked Mississippi and sent Valpo to the Sweet 16. But it wasn't to be this year.
If Kentucky advances to the Sweet 16, Maryland could be waiting. Some big wins now would help erase whatever bad memories the Wildcats have from the regular season, baby.
MIDWEST REGION
(1) Kansas 70, (16) Holy Cross 59: Kansas survived a big-time scare against Holy Cross. Give Ralph Willard's team credit. Last year Holy Cross challenged Kentucky to the wire, losing by only four points. Holy Cross led by six against Kentucky, and this time the Crusaders had a lead until as late as nine minutes left.
But Kansas came back. Drew Gooden made key plays down the stretch and finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds. The All-American had to come through since Kansas was shorthanded with Kirk Hinrich going down with an ankle injury.
In the next round Kansas needs more from Nick Collison, who scored just five points and committed six turnovers. Roy Williams also needs a healthy Hinrich in the lineup.
(8) Stanford 84, (9) Western Kentucky 68: What a strange start! Western Kentucky started the game at the foul line because Stanford did not put its starting lineup in the scorebook 10 minutes before the start of the game, which is a rule. So Western Kentucky had a 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately, not much else went right for the Hilltoppers. Chris Marcus picked up his second foul just three minutes into the game, and Stanford was able to capitalize with Curtis Borchardt getting a double-double, Casey Jacobsen scoring 17 points (though he only shot four of 12 from the field), and Julius Barnes chipping in.
Now Stanford gets a shot at Kansas, which is wondering about the status of Kirk Hinrich.
(2) Oregon 81, (15) Montana 62: Ernie Kent's team struggled early, but it ended up being too much of the two Lukes, Ridnour and Jackson, as well as Frederick Jones.
The terrific trio combined for 28 of Oregon's 34 first-half points. And in the end, the Ducks simply wore down Montana, the Big Sky Conference tournament champion.
Oregon against Wake Forest in the next round should be an interesting matchup. Can the Ducks handle Darius Songaila inside and will Wake get another strong performance from Craig Dawson and Broderick Hicks? And can Wake slow down the two Lukes and bring joy to the ACC by beating the Pac-10 regular-season champ?
(7) Wake Forest 83, (10) Pepperdine 74: The ACC was jumping for joy. A lot of people figured Pepperdine was going to send the Demon Deacons home. Wake Forest had something to prove after being down 43-10 at halftime against Butler last season.
Wake came out strong and jumped out to a 15-2 lead, but Pepperdine came back. Wake prevailed thanks to Craig Dawson's outside shooting and Darius Songaila's inside play, and point guard Broderick Hicks showed tremendous leadership in a steady performance with 15 points and seven assists.
Dawson hit five trifectas to help Wake move on. Skip Prosser's team made up for last year's embarrassment against Butler.
