No. 1 seed Virginia rallied from 14 points down Friday to beat No. 16 seed Gardner-Webb 71-56, averting another first-round exit as a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cavaliers trailed 30-16 with 6:42 left in the first half of the South Region opener in Columbia, S.C., but rallied and cut the Runnin’ Bulldogs (23-12) lead to six at halftime.
Virginia (30-3) then opened the second half with a 25-5 run to put to rest any thoughts of an upset. The Cavaliers used their trademark stifling defense to force 11 Gardner-Webb turnovers in the first 12 minutes after the break.
De’Andre Hunter led the Cavaliers with 23 points and Mamadi Diakite added 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds.
Jose Perez scored 19 points for Gardner-Webb, which was playing in its first NCAA Tournament.
Last year the Cavaliers were the top seed in the tournament and lost by 20 to No. 16 seed Maryland Baltimore County.
Caleb Homesley scored 22 of his 30 points in the second half and Lovell Cabbil hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:16 to play to send 12th-seeded Liberty to its first NCAA Tournament win in school history, over fifth-seeded Mississippi State in San Jose.
The Flames (29-6) were making their fourth tournament trip in school history, but lost twice as a No. 16 seed and once in the play-in game. This year’s team had more respect, a higher seeding and capitalized on the opportunity.
Homesley helped rally Liberty from a 10-point deficit in the second half by scoring 14 points in a span of less than five minutes. Cabbil then hit from long range to make it 72-70 and celebrated with an enthusiastic fan section that made the cross-country trip from Virginia for the game.
Liberty did the rest at the foul line to spoil the first tournament trip for Mississippi State (23-11) in a decade.
The Flames advanced to the second round of the East Region to play the winner of the game between Saint Louis and Virginia Tech.
Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 27 points to lead the Bulldogs and Reggie Perry added 21.
Cabbil finished with 18 points and Myo Baxter-Bell added 13.
Mississippi State appeared poised to take control when Peters started a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer and ended it with a layup that made it 63-53 midway through the second half.
The Bulldogs had used their superior size to control the paint on both ends and had broken open a tight game before the Flames responded. Homesley was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all three foul shots. He then hit two from long range to cut it to 67-64.
Homesley also hit a backdoor dunk on a feed from Cabbil to make it a one-point game before hitting a long 3-pointer late in the shoot clock to put Liberty back on top 69-67 with 2:34 to play.
After three free throws from the Bulldogs, Cabbil’s 3 provided the final lead change of the night.
Payton Pritchard scored 19 points, Kenny Wooten protected the rim with four blocks, and 12th-seeded Oregon extended its surprising March run by beating No. 5 seed Wisconsin in the first round in San Jose.
The Ducks (24-12) won four games in four days to win the Pac-12 tournament last week just to make the NCAAs then followed it with an impressive victory over a higher-seeded opponent. Oregon advanced to play No. 13 seed UC Irvine (31-5) on Sunday in the second round of the South Region.
Louis King added 17 points, Paul White scored all 14 points of his points in the second half and Wooten had nine points, six rebounds and the tone-setting blocks to give the Ducks their ninth straight win.
Ethan Happ and Khalil Iverson each scored 14 points to lead the Badgers (23-11).
Admiral Schofield had 19 points and No. 2 seed Tennessee held off a second-half rally by No. 15 seed Colgate in the opening round in Columbus, Ohio.
Jordan Bone added 16 and Jordan Bowden 14 for Tennessee (30-5).
The Raiders (24-11) erased most of Tennessee’s 42-30 halftime lead with an 11-2 run, tied the score midway through the second half, and kept the game close after that.
Schofield hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Tennessee a cushion with 45 seconds left.
Jordan Burns had 32 points for Colgate, which played much of the game without leading scorer Rapolas Ivanauskas because of eye problems.
Jeremy Harris and Nick Perkins each scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds to help lead No. 6 seed Buffalo past No. 11 Arizona State in the West Region in Tulsa, Okla.
CJ Massinburg had 18 points and six rebounds for Buffalo (32-3), which won its 13th straight game.
Zylan Cheatham scored 22 points and had eight rebounds before fouling out with 2:06 remaining for Arizona State (23-11). Romello White and Luguentz Dort each added 12 points.
Arizona State trailed 44-31 at halftime and pulled within nine early in the second half before Buffalo’s 7-0 run pushed its lead to 16 with 16:13 remaining. The Bulls’ advantage never fell below 14 the rest of the way.
Jarrett Culver had 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to help No. 3 seed Texas Tech shake off a slow start against No. 14 seed Northern Kentucky in the first round in Tulsa.
Tariq Owens scored 12 points and Davide Moretti had 10 for Texas Tech (27-6).
Northern Kentucky (26-9) got 23 points from Tyler Sharpe and 11 from Dantez Walton while giving the Red Raiders everything they could handle in the West Region.
Rashard Odomes and Christian James scored 20 points apiece, Kristian Doolittle had 19 points and matched a career-high with 15 rebounds and No. 9 seed Oklahoma blitzed Mississippi with a season high in points in the first round in Columbia.
The Sooners (20-13) scored on eight of their first nine possessions for a 12-0 lead and led by 17 at halftime.
The Rebels (20-13) had looked like a tired team for more than a month, and eight days off didn’t appear to help. Terrence Davis led Ole Miss with 17 points.
Luka Garza scored 20 points, Jordan Bohannon made a three-point play during Iowa’s closing surge as the 10th-seeded Hawkeyes rallied past No. 7 seed Cincinnati in the first round in Columbus.
The Hawkeyes (23-11) got their first NCAA Tournament win in four years despite what amounted to a home crowd for the Bearcats, who couldn’t overcome a subpar game by Jarron Cumberland. He was 3 of 9 from beyond the arc and finished with 18 points.
Point guard Justin Jenifer scored a career-high 19 points for Cincinnati (28-7), which hasn’t made it past the opening weekend for seven straight years.
Zion Williamson had an explosive NCAA Tournament debut with 25 points and a can’t-miss second-half showcase to lead top-seeded Duke over North Dakota State in Columbia.
RJ Barrett led Duke with 26 points and 14 rebounds and combined with Williamson for a prolific showing for the freshmen stars. But it was Williamson who could not be contained in the second half and he turned a tight early contest into a Duke runaway in the first round of the East Region.
Duke led just 31-27 at halftime but Williamson took over after the break. He opened the half by driving on two defenders for a layup that drew a foul. He missed the free throw but Williamson answered with a monster slam.
The highlight, though, came moments later on Williamsson’s breathtaking dribble-behind-his-back-after-chasing-down-his-own-steal layup.
The 6-foot-7, 285-pound freshman outran 5-foot-11 190-pound Vinnie Shahid of North Dakota State for the ball after he tipped it for a steal. Williamson then dribbled behind his back, briefly losing and regaining his balance with a hand on the floor. That cleared room for Williamson to get to the lane and go up and under for a layup.
Just like that, the Blue Devils were up 40-27 and cruising.
The Bison (19-16) never recovered.
Barrett and Williamson gave Duke two players with 20 or more points in their NCAA Tournament debut for the first time since Mark Alarie and Johnny Dawkins did it in 1984.
The Blue Devils (31-5) will face either eighth-seeded VCU or No. 9 seed UCF on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Shahid led the Bison with 20 points.
It’s beginning to look like old times for Houston in the NCAA Tournament.
Corey Davis scored 26 points to help the third-seeded Cougars beat Georgia State in the Midwest Region in Tulsa.
After reaching the national final in 1984, Houston went more than three decades without winning an NCAA Tournament game. Now, the Cougars have tourney wins in back-to-back seasons and are starting to resemble the program that has five Final Four appearances and produced stars including Elvin Hayes, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Fabian White had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Breaon Brady added 13 for Houston (32-3), which will face either Iowa State or Ohio State on Sunday.
Houston rolled out to a 15-3 lead in the first five minutes, and the rout was on. The Cougars shot 52 percent to lead 40-31 at halftime, and then opened the second half on a 10-2 run to put the game out of reach.
D’Marcus Simonds scored 18 points for No. 14 seed Georgia State (24-10), which received an automatic bid as the Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion.
Houston held the Panthers to 30-percent shooting, an impressive effort against a squad that entered averaging 75 points per game.
Noah Dickerson had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and ninth-seeded Washington made a successful return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years, beating Utah State in Columbus.
The Pac-12’s regular season champions swept the league’s awards — top player, best defensive player and coach of the year — and got something from all of them against one of the hottest teams in March.
Eighth-seeded Utah State (28-7) had won 10 in a row and 17 of 18 while taking the Mountain West title. The Aggies got the highest seed in school history and were trying to end their own long NCAA Tournament drought. They haven’t won since 2002, dropping eight in a row — including 2006 against the Huskies.
Washington (27-8) got enough from its top players.
Jaylen Nowell, the Pac-12 player of the year, had 19 points and five assists. Top defender Matisse Thybulle helped the Huskies surge ahead to stay late in the first half but was limited by foul trouble the rest of the way. He finished with 10 points, five steals and three blocks.
Coach of the year Mike Hopkins got a $17.5 million extension through 2025 on the eve of the game, and then led the Huskies to their long-awaited win.
Brock Miller had 13 points for Utah State.