Otega Oweh rescued Kentucky with a buzzer-beating 35-footer off the glass to force overtime, then the seventh-seeded Wildcats owned the extra session to escape with an 89-84 win over No. 10 Santa Clara in Midwest Region first-round action on Friday afternoon in St. Louis.
Santa Clara forward Allen Graves hit what looked to be a game-winning 3-pointer when he connected from the right wing with 2.4 seconds left, but Oweh took the inbounds pass and pulled up just in time to send the game to overtime. He then made all four of his free-throw attempts in the extra session when Kentucky outscored Santa Clara 16-11.
Oweh finished with a career-high 35 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Mouhamed Dioubate had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats (22-13), who shot 50.8% to win a rollercoaster game which featured 20 lead changes and 12 ties.
Elijah Mahi led the Broncos (26-9) with 20 points in the program’s first NCAA Tournament game in 30 years. Graves added 17 points and seven rebounds.
No. 2 Iowa State 108, No. 15 Tennessee State 74
The Cyclones dominated the final 38 minutes of action, blowing out the Tigers in St. Louis despite losing All-American forward Justin Jefferson to a knee injury.
Iowa State advanced to play No. 7 Kentucky in the second round on Sunday. Head coach T.J. Otzelberger said X-rays were negative and that Jefferson would be re-evaluated on Saturday before determining his game status against the Wildcats.
Freshman Killyan Toure had 25 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, Nate Heise scored 22 points and Milan Momcilovic added 17 for Iowa State, which forced 16 turnovers. Aaron Nkrumah led Tennessee State (23-10) with 21 points. Antoine Lorick III added 20 points and eight rebounds.
No. 3 Virginia 82, No. 14 Wright State 73
Jacari White scored a season-high 26 points and hit the go-ahead floater off the glass with 4:07 to play as the Cavaliers survived a tough test from the Raiders in Philadelphia.
White made 6 of 8 from 3-point range, Sam Lewis scored 12 points, Malik Thomas added 11 and Thijs De Ridder had 10 for Virginia (30-5), which used a late 11-0 run to create some distance and secure its first NCAA Tournament win since winning the 2019 national championship.
Michael Imariagbe had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Wright State (23-12). Solomon Callaghan added 18 points and combined with Imariagbe to shoot 9 for 15 from behind the arc. The Raiders made 13 3-pointers, the most Virginia has allowed this season.
No. 4 Alabama 90, No. 13 Hofstra 70
Labaron Philon Jr. took over by scoring 21 of his game-high 29 points in the second half as the Crimson Tide shrugged off an early 10-point deficit to handle the Pride during first-round play in Tampa, Fla.
Philon, who sported a bandage on his cut chin in the second half, made 10 of 18 shots and added eight rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. The Crimson Tide (24-9) played without No. 2 scorer Aden Holloway, who was suspended for first-degree felony marijuana possession, but Aiden Sherrill stepped forward with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
Taylor Bol Bowen added 15 points while Amari Allen and Latrell Wrightsell contributed 11 points apiece.
Hofstra (24-11) built a 28-18 lead in hopes of extending its seven-game winning streak, but Alabama recovered to take a 37-35 edge by halftime. Preston Edmead paced the Pride with 24 points, four rebounds and four assists. Cruz Davis had 14 points and six assists while German Plotnikov scored 12 points.
No. 5 Texas Tech 91, No. 12 Akron 71
Jaylen Petty scored 24 points to lead five Red Raiders in double figures as they pulled away late for a win over the 12th-seeded Zips in Tampa, Fla.
Petty made 9 of 14 shots, helming a sensational shooting performance that saw No. 5 Texas Tech (23-10) make a season-best 64.2% of its shots to snap a three-game skid and win its NCAA Tournament opener for the sixth time in its last seven appearances. The Red Raiders face Alabama on Sunday.
Amani Lyles (26 points) and Shammah Scott (20 points) were the only two players in double figures for Akron (29-6), which had a 10-game winning streak snapped and fell to 0-8 in the NCAA Tournament. The Zips entered the day ranked 21st nationally in 3-point accuracy at 37.9%, but they made just 5 of 19 from long range (26.3%).
No. 6 Tennessee 78, No. 11 Miami (OH) 56
Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 22 of his 29 points in the first half and J.P. Estrella added 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Volunteers ended the magical season for the RedHawks in Philadelphia.
Felix Okpara added 12 points and five rebounds for Tennessee (23-11), which advanced to Sunday’s second round against No. 3 Virginia. Gillespie canned 8 of 12 from the field in the first half, which included 5 of 6 from 3-point range and finished with a game-high nine assists.
Peter Suder scored 27 as the only player in double figures for Miami (32-2), which dropped two of its final three games after setting a school and Mid-American Conference record with a 31-0 regular season. The RedHawks entered the game leading the nation in field goal percentage at 52.2%, but the Volunteers limited them to a season-worst 35.2% (19 of 54).
West Region
No. 1 Arizona 92, No. 16 Long Island 58
The Wildcats rode a rare 3-point barrage in the first half to overwhelm the underdog Sharks and roll to an easy first-round win in San Diego.
Arizona (33-2) came into the postseason averaging 5.9 3-pointers per game, but Tommy Lloyd’s team eclipsed that average before the final media timeout in the first half as the Wildcats hit 6 of 9 from beyond the arc. Brayden Burries hit four 3-pointers in the first half en route to a game-high 18 points. Koa Peat added 15 points while Ivan Kharchenkov posted 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Long Island (24-11) shot well from deep in its own right, with Mason Porter-Brown (15 points) and Jamal Fuller (11 points) combining to knock down five 3-pointers by intermission, and six of the team’s eight for the contest. However, the Sharks’ struggles to contain the Wildcats on the interior proved insurmountable. Arizona scored 50 points in the paint, a portion of which came off the Wildcats’ 22 second-chance points. The bigger Arizona lineup dominated the glass, 52-31, with 16 on the offensive end.
No. 2 Purdue 104, No. 15 Queens 71
Braden Smith set the NCAA career assists record and scored a game-high 26 points as the Boilermakers used a big run bridging the halves for a rout of the Royals in St. Louis.
Smith finished with eight assists, including the record-breaker with 12:10 left in the first half on Trey Kaufman-Renn’s driving layup. Smith has 1,083 assists for his career, breaking Bobby Hurley’s mark of 1,076 during his career at Duke.
Kaufman-Renn added 25 points and nine rebounds for Purdue (28-8). Jordan Watford and Nasir Mann each scored 10 points for Queens (21-14), which made its first appearance in the Division I tourney in its first year of eligibility.
No. 7 Miami 80, No. 10 Missouri 66
Malik Reneau scored a game-high 24 points and the Hurricanes used an 11-0 run late in the second half to take control in a win over the Tigers in St. Louis.
The Hurricanes (26-8) trailed 54-52 with 7:50 remaining after Mark Mitchell drilled a top-of-the-key 3-pointer, forcing first-year Miami coach Jai Lucas to use a timeout. Miami responded with the big run.
Tre Donaldson added 17 points for Miami, hitting a pair of late 3-pointers. Tru Henderson chipped in with 15 points for the Hurricanes. Jayden Stone scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half for the Tigers (20-13), while Mark Mitchell finished with 19 but made only 4 of 10 shots and committed five turnovers.
No. 9 Utah State 86, No. 8 Villanova 76
MJ Collins Jr. scored seven of his 20 points in the final three minutes as the Aggies outscored the Wildcats 15-3 down the stretch to rally for the first-round win in San Diego.
Mason Falslev, the Mountain West Player of the Year, delivered 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Utah State (29-6), which will face top-seeded Arizona on Sunday. Adlan Elamin added 13 points and seven rebounds while Drake Allen contributed 11 points, six assists and three steals.
Bryce Lindsay paced all scorers with 25 points for Villanova (24-9), which built a 10-point lead early in the second half. Duke Brennan and Tyler Perkins added 15 points apiece. The Wildcats took their last lead, 73-71, with 6:04 to play on Lindsay’s sixth and final 3-pointer.
Utah State responded with a 9-0 run keyed by two Collins’ layups, then he delivered a breakaway dunk that made it 84-74 with 1:13 to go.
EAST REGION
No. 2 UConn 82, No. 15 Furman 71
Tarris Reed Jr. exploded for career highs of 31 points and 27 rebounds, powering the Huskies past the stubborn Paladins in Philadelphia.
Reed shot 12-for-15 from the field and corralled 11 of his rebounds on the offensive glass as UConn (30-5) overcame a poor 3-point shooting night to stave off the Southern Conference champions. The Huskies will face seventh-seeded UCLA in the second round of the East Region on Sunday.
Alex Karaban, who’s aiming for his third national title in four seasons, supported Reed with 22 points and freshman Braylon Mullins supplied 12 points, six assists and three steals while shrugging off an 0-for-8 night from 3-point range. Tom House and Alex Wilkins had 21 points and four 3-pointers apiece to guide Furman (22-13).
No. 4 Kansas 68, No. 13 Cal Baptist 60
Darryn Peterson recovered from a slow start to score 28 points and the Jayhawks weathered the Lancers’ furious second-half rally to win in San Diego.
After missing his first six field-goal attempts, Peterson came alive to go 11-for-18 the rest of the way. He helped Kansas (24-10) build a lead of as many as 26 points early in the second half and set a program record for NCAA Tournament points from a freshman.
Cal Baptist (25-9), making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, shot a woeful 7-for-32 (21.9%) from the floor in the first half. The Lancers’ offensive struggles included 23.2-point-per-game scorer Dominique Daniels Jr. missing 10 of his first 11 field-goal attempts. Daniels exploded in the second half and finished with 25 points.
No. 5 St. John’s 79, No. 12 Northern Iowa 53
Zuby Ejiofor racked up 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks to lead a balanced attack as the Red Storm overwhelmed the Panthers in San Diego.
St. John’s (29-6) scored the game’s first 13 points, led by 19 at halftime and never let Northern Iowa (23-13) get closer than 13 over the final 35:45. Bryce Hopkins posted 13 points and Oziyah Sellers added 11 as the Red Storm won for the 20th time in 21 games.
Trey Campbell’s 14 points paced the Panthers with Leon Bond III adding 12 and Will Hornseth scoring 10. UNI pulled within 65-50 with 5:33 left before St. John’s closed the game with a flurry and pushed its advantage to 26.
No. 7 UCLA 75, No. 10 UCF 71
Eric Dailey Jr. tied his season high with 20 points, Xavier Booker added 15 points and eight rebounds and the Bruins nudged past the Knights in Philadelphia.
Booker added four blocks and two 3-pointers in a clutch performance for UCLA (24-11). The center was in the starting lineup in place of leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau, who was ruled out shortly before tipoff with a sprained knee. Trent Perry contributed 15 points while Donovan Dent played all 40 minutes and provided 10 points, six steals and five assists.
The Bruins led 60-46 on Dailey’s free throws with 7:00 to go, but the Knights got as close as 72-69 on Jordan Burks’ 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. Burks canned six 3-pointers and had 22 points while Riley Kugel scored 13 for UCF (21-12). The Knights went a meager 5-for-16 at the foul line and committed 17 turnovers.
SOUTH REGION
No. 1 Florida 114, No. 16 Prairie View 55
Reuben Chinyelu produced his 19th double-double to lead seven double-figure scorers and help the defending national champion Gators overpower the Panthers in the first round of the NCAA South Region in Tampa.
It was a season high for points for Florida and the 59-point margin of victory was the second largest in tournament history, bettering the 58-point win by Kansas over Prairie View in 1998. The Gators (27-7) will meet ninth-seeded Iowa (22-12) in the second round on Sunday.
Chinyelu scored 14 points, shooting 6 for 9 from the field, with 13 rebounds. Boogie Fland had 16 points, going 6 for 6 from the field, including 2 for 2 on 3-pointers. No. 16 seed Prairie View (19-18) was led by Tai’Reon Joseph with 16 points and Dontae Horne scored 12.
No. 9 Iowa 67, No. 8 Clemson 61
Bennett Stirtz scored 16 points and Kael Combs added 15 as the Hawkeyes never trailed in South Region first-round play at Tampa.
Alvaro Folgueiras had 14 points and Cam Manyawu collected 10 rebounds for Iowa (22-12), which collected the school’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2021 to earn a second-round date with top-seeded Florida on Sunday.
Iowa built a 51-37 lead with 8:39 left that Clemson shaved to 56-51 with 5:12 to go, but the Tigers (24-11) could get no closer. RJ Godfrey scored 15 points and Efrem “Butta” Johnson added 11 for Clemson, which lost despite committing just three turnovers.
–Field Level Media
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