Duke Barely Survives Round 1 Date with Belmont

AP Sports
Published: March 21, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) - Mighty, mighty Duke let teeny, tiny Belmont
play with the big boys. And, for stretches, get the better of them.
No. 2-seeded Duke actually trailed in the final 15 seconds
before barely avoiding the monumental upset, using every last one
of Gerald Henderson’s 21 points to edge No. 15 Belmont 71-70 in the
first round of the West Regional on Thursday night.
While Belmont couldn’t quite pull off the stunner, it was
surprising enough how close this game was. In a matchup between a
school with three NCAA titles - that would be Duke, of course - and
another that never has won a game in the tournament, it was
Henderson’s driving basket with 11.9 seconds left that erased
Belmont’s final lead.
After ACC defensive player of the year DeMarcus Nelson stole the
ensuing inbounds pass, he was fouled, but he missed at the line.
Belmont got the rebound, and one final chance to make history, with
2.2 seconds left. The Bruins’ leading scorer, Justin Hare, got a
good look at the basket from about 35 feet away, but his shot
clanged off the iron. He winced, and Duke celebrated as though it
had won far more than an opening-round game - something it actually
failed to do a year ago.
Duke (28-5) advanced this time to face West Virginia on
Saturday.
And Belmont (25-9) can go home with heads held high.
West Virginia 75, Arizona 65
WASHINGTON (AP) - West Virginia’s prowess from long range made
Arizona’s 24th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament another
one-and-done performance.
Alex Ruoff scored 21 points, Da’Sean Butler had 19, and the
Mountaineers won.
West Virginia (25-10) took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by
Ruoff with 17:43 left, and another jumper by Rouff from beyond the
arc made it 48-39. After Arizona closed to 60-59, two 3-pointers by
Darris Nichols and another by Ruoff sealed the victory.
Chase Budinger led Arizona (19-15) with 23 points, and Jordan
Hill had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Xavier 73, Georgia 61
WASHINGTON (AP) - Derrick Brown’s 19 points and 11 rebounds led
a balanced-as-usual offense, and No. 3-seeded Xavier avoided a big
upset by rallying to overcome fading Georgia.
Super-sub Josh Duncan scored 20 for the Musketeers (28-6), who
trailed by as many as 11 in the second half but conjured up a 22-6
run to come back.
Xavier will play Purdue on Saturday in the second round.
Terrance Woodbury had 16 points and do-everything guard Sundiata
Gaines’ finished with 13 for Georgia (17-17), which could not
sustain the energy it summoned during last week’s run to the SEC
tournament title.
Purdue 90, Baylor 79
WASHINGTON (AP) - Keaton Grant scored 17 points and Purdue built
a 19-point halftime lead, then cruised to its 10th straight in the
first round since 1993.
E’Twaun Moore added 16 for the sixth-seeded Boilermakers (25-8),
who have won 15 of 18.
Baylor, meanwhile, will have to wait another year before seeking
to end a 58-year winless drought in the NCAA tournament. The Bears
(21-11) were making their first trip to the tournament since 1988
and second since 1950.
Texas A&M 67, BYU 62
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Josh Carter scored 26 points, matching
his career high, as Texas A&M defeated Brigham Young, handing the
Cougars their sixth straight opening-round loss.
Joseph Jones added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the
ninth-seeded Aggies.
Jonathan Tavernari led BYU with 15 points. The Aggies (25-10)
advanced to face top-seeded UCLA.
UCLA 70, Mississippi Valley St. 29
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Freshman Kevin Love scored 20 points as
top-seeded UCLA (32-3) cruised to victory against overmatched
Mississippi Valley State.
Mississippi Valley State (17-16) scored the fewest points in the
tournament since 1946, when Baylor had 29 in a loss to Oklahoma
State. The Delta Devils also set a tournament record for fewest
points in a first-round game, breaking the mark of 32 by Wisconsin
against Missouri State in 1999.
South Regional
Marquette 74, Kentucky 66
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Jerel McNeal scored 20 points and Wesley
Matthews hit eight free throws in the final 31 seconds to help
Marquette beat Kentucky in the first round of the South Regional.
The Golden Eagles overcame 35 points by Kentucky senior Joe
Crawford, who matched a career high before fouling out. Ramel
Bradley added 19 for the Wildcats (18-13).
Sixth-seeded Marquette (25-9) earned its first NCAA tournament
victory since 2003. Marquette gets third-seeded Stanford next.
Stanford 77, Cornell 53
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Kenny Brown scored 18 points and
third-seeded Stanford earned its first NCAA tournament win since
2004, routing Cornell in a matchup of players as good with the
books as they are with a basketball.
Lewis Dale, the Ivy League player of the year, scored 12 points,
Adam Gore had 11 and Alex Tyler 10 for 14th-seeded Cornell (22-6),
which had its 16-game winning streak snapped. The Ivy League hasn’t
won an NCAA tournament game since 1998.
The Cardinal (27-7) outscored Cornell 43-11 over both halves for
a 58-23 lead.
Pittsburgh 82, Oral Roberts 63
DENVER (AP) - Levance Fields scored 23 points, Sam Young
finished with 14 and Pittsburgh won its sixth straight game.
Fourth-seeded Pitt (27-9) is making its seventh straight NCAA
tournament appearance, though none of those previous teams have
made it past the third round.
Next up, an intriguing matchup Saturday against fifth-seeded
Michigan State, a team with a big-and-brawny reputation much like
Pitt’s.
Robert Jarvis had 16 points for the Golden Eagles (24-9), who
won the Summit League tourney to make their third straight trip to
the NCAAs.
Michigan State 72, Temple 61
DENVER (AP) - Raymar Morgan led a balanced attack with 15 points
and Michigan State advanced despite a sudden shooting slump from
spark plug Drew Neitzel.
Last year, Neitzel was the Spartans’ only option on offense.
Now, he’s got scorers swarming all around. Chris Allen scored 12
points and fellow freshmen Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers each
added eight for fifth-seeded Michigan State (26-8).
Mark Tyndale scored 16 points for Temple (21-13).
Midwest Regional
Kansas 85, Portland State 61
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Brandon Rush scored 18 points and everyone
wearing blue had a blast, as top-seeded Kansas began its NCAA
tournament with a rout of overmatched Portland.
Kansas will play eighth-seeded UNLV in the second round on
Saturday.
The Jayhawks (32-3) led all the way against the Vikings (23-10),
22-point underdogs who simply didn’t have enough weapons to cope
with the size, depth and skill of a Big 12 power.
UNLV 71, Kent St. 58
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Joe Darger scored 18 points and UNLV tied an
NCAA tournament record by holding Kent State to just 10 points in
the first half.
The Mid-American Conference champions averaged a turnover a
minute the better part of the first half, went almost 8 minutes
without a point and trailed 31-10 at halftime. And that was with
UNLV shooting under 40 percent and committing nine turnovers of its
own.
The 10 points were the fewest since Wake Forest scored that many
against Butler in 2001.
Darger made four 3-pointers and Wink Adams scored 17 for UNLV
(27-7).
Mike Scott led Kent State (28-7) with 14 points and 10
rebounds.
Kansas State 80, USC 67
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Turns out, Michael Beasley and O.J. Mayo
weren’t the only freshmen on the court.
Redshirt freshman Bill Walker scored 22 points, true freshmen
Jacob Pullen and Ron Anderson also reached double figures, and
Kansas State’s Kiddie Corps moved on in the NCAA tournament,
beating Mayo-led USC.
Beasley overcame early trouble to have another big game for the
Wildcats (21-11), scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for
the 27th double-double of his brilliant - and likely only - college
season.
The Wildcats moved on to face third-seeded Wisconsin.
Wisconsin 71, Cal State Fullerton 56
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Wisconsin couldn’t shake the 14th-seeded
Titans until deep into the second half, before winning in the first
round of the NCAA tournament.
Brian Butch scored 14 points and Joe Krabbenhoft and Jason
Bohannon 13 apiece for the Badgers (29-4), who won for the 24th
time in 26 games.
Frank Robinson added 11 points for the Titans (24-9).
East Regional
Washington State 71, Winthrop 40
DENVER (AP) - Washington State broke away from a halftime tie to
whip Winthrop (22-12) behind 19 points and eight rebounds from Aron
Baynes.
Kyle Weaver and Robbie Cowgill each had 14 and Derrick Low
scored 11 for Washington State (25-8), which will play Notre Dame
in the second round on Saturday at the Pepsi Center.
The Cougars, who are 51-16 under Tony Bennett, broke open a
29-29 halftime tie with a 23-4 run to cruise to their second
straight opening-round win in the NCAA tournament.
Notre Dame 68, George Mason 50
DENVER (AP) - Luke Harangody had 18 points and 14 rebounds to
lead fifth-seeded Notre Dame (25-7) to its first tournament victory
in five years.
The 12th-seeded Patriots (23-11) had two starters left from
their magical run to the Final Four in 2006, a string of games that
showed little guys still can break through and turn March Madness
into a true free-for-all for more than just a game or two.
One of those players, Will Thomas, had a great game - 10-for-14
for 25 points and seven rebounds, and had his head buried in a
towel as the clock ran down. But really, this George Mason was
nothing like that George Mason, and the first day of the tournament
ended with its big-name underdog on the way home.