NCAA Tournament: 13th seeded Buffalo knocks off Arizona

The University of Buffalo scored the first major upset of the NCAA tournament in convincing fashion Thursday. The13th-seeded Bulls rode a suffocating defensive performance and strong 3-point shooting to knock off Arizona, the South Region’s No. 4 seed, 89-68.

Guards Wes Clark and Jeremy Harris combined for 48 points, and the Bulls held the Wildcats, who some predicted would make the Final Four this year, to 45 percent shooting from the field, including just 11 percent from three-point range.

The upset was the 27th time a No. 13 seed took out a fourth-seeded team in the first round. It last happened in 2016, when Hawaii beat California 77-66.

The Bulls will take on fifth-seeded Kentucky, which squeezed by 12th-seeded Davidson 78-73 earlier Thursday, in the Round of 32 on Saturday in Boise.

No. 4 Gonzaga 68, No. 13 NC-Greensboro 64

The fourth-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs survived a tough matchup against No. 13 North Carolina-Greensboro on Thursday to ultimately win 68-64 and advance to the second round.

Gonzaga trailed 64-62 with less than two minutes left in the game, but Josh Perkins tied the game up with a jumper before Zach Norvell Jr. hit a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left to put the Bulldogs back in front.

Senior forward Johnathan Williams led Gonzaga with 19 points and 13 rebounds, followed by Perkins with 16 points and Norvell with 15.

The Spartans were led by junior guards Francis Alonso and Demetrius Troy, both of whom scored 16 points. Sophomore forward James Dickey added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bulldogs will next play No. 5 Ohio State, which beat No. 12 South Dakota State 81-73.

No. 11 Loyola-Chicago 64, No. 6 Miami (Fla.) 62

The 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago Ramblers upset the sixth-seeded Miami Hurricanes 64-62 on Thursday in the South Regional.

With Loyola-Chicago trailing by one point, Donte Ingram hit a 3-pointer with 1 second left that gave the Ramblers the final lead of the game.

The Ramblers had four players score in double digits in the victory, led by Clayton Custer’s 14 points, followed by Ingram with 13 points.

Lonnie Walker IV led four Miami players in double digits with 12 points.

Loyola-Chicago’s victory was the 50th time in tournament history that an 11th-seeded team beat a No. 6 seed in the first round.

The 6-11 matchup has seen the lower-seeded team win so often lately that it’s almost becoming hard to call them upsets.

The last year that didn’t see a 6-11 upset was 2004 and since then only four years have seen just one such upset. The past two tournaments had three such upsets each year, with Notre Dame in 2016 and Cincinnati in 2017 being the only sixth seeds to advance to the second round.

Loyola-Chicago will now play No. 3 seed Tennessee in the second round on Saturday.

No. 8 Seton Hall 94, No. 9 North Carolina State 83

The No. 8 Seton Hall Pirates beat the No. 9 North Carolina State Wolfpack 94-83 in their first-round Midwest Regional matchup Thursday.

Senior guard Khadeen Carrington led the way for the Pirates, scoring 26 points in the victory. Sophomore guard Myles Powell added 19 points and nine rebounds while senior Desi Rodriguez contributed 20 points.

Senior guard Allerik Freeman led the Wolfpack with 36 points and seven rebounds, while junior guard Torin Dorn had a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The Pirates will next face the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks, who beat Pennsylvania 76-60 earlier on Thursday.

No. 5 Ohio State 81, No. 12 South Dakota State 73

The No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes beat the 12th-seeded South Dakota State Jackrabbits 81-73 on Thursday to advance to the second round.

Ohio State was up 70-60 with 4:40 left in the game before South Dakota State went on a 10-0 run to tie up the game.

Senior guard Kam Williams then scored the game’s next seven points, starting with a 3-pointer at the 1:36 mark followed by four free throws to help seal the win for the Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes were led by junior forward Keita Bates-Diop’s 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Williams totaled 22 points. Junior guard C.J. Jackson added 20 points and nine rebounds for Ohio State.

Junior guard Mike Daum poured in 27 points for the Jackrabbits in the loss.

Next up for the Buckeyes in the second round will be No. 4 Gonzaga, which survived a scare from No. 13 North Carolina-Greensboro before winning 68-64 earlier on Thursday.

No. 2 Duke 89, No. 15 Iona 67

The Duke Blue Devils rode a balanced attack to rout the Iona Gaels Thursday in their first-round Midwest Regional matchup.

Four Duke players were in double digits in the win, led by Marvin Bagley III’s 22 points and seven rebounds. Trevon Duval added 19 points and eight assists while Grayson Allen had 16 points and nine assists and Gary Trent Jr. scored 16 points to go with six rebounds.

Senior forward TK Edogi led the Gaels with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Duke will next play the No. 7 Rhode Island Rams, who beat Oklahoma 83-78 to advance to the second round.

No. 1 Kansas 76, No. 16 Pennsylvania 60

After trailing by as much as 10 in the first half, the top-seeded Jayhawks righted the ship by halftime and went on to beat the 16th-seeded Quakers 76-60 in their first-round Midwest Regional matchup Thursday in Wichita, Kansas.

Kansas pulled out in front 33-26 by halftime and the closest margin in the second half was four points.

Senior guard Devonte’ Graham led the way for Kansas with 29 points, while sophomore forward AJ Brodeur and senior guard Caleb Wood paced Pennsylvania with 14 points each.

Next up for the Jayhawks will be No. 8 Seton Hall, which beat No. 9 North Carolina State 94-93.

No. 7 Rhode Island 83, No. 10 Oklahoma 78

No. 7 Rhode Island recorded the first win of the NCAA Tournament’s first round, needing overtime to beat No. 10 Oklahoma 83-78 on Thursday afternoon in the Midwest Regional in Pittsburgh.

The Rams had a chance to win the game with a last second Stanford Robinson layup, but the ball bounced of both sides of the rim before falling off as the buzzer sounded.

Rhode Island fought through a cold spell in overtime to heat up near the end of OT, at one point going on a 7-0 run to take the lead.

E.C. Matthews led the Rams with 16 points, while Trae Young led the way for Sooners with 28 points.

Rhode Island will next play No. 2 Duke, which rolled over No. 15 Iona 89-67.

No. 3 Tennessee 73, No. 14 Wright State 47

The Volunteers rolled over the Raiders in the teams’ first-round matchup Thursday afternoon in the South Regional at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Tennessee was led by junior forward Admiral Schofield, who posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore forward Grant Williams nearly had his own double-double for the Volunteers with 14 points and nine rebounds.

The Raiders were led by freshman center Loudon Love’s 12 points and nine rebounds.

Up next for Tennessee will be No. 11 Loyola-Chicago, which upset No. 6 Miami (Fla.) 64-62 on a last-second 3-pointer.

No. 1 Villanova 87, No. 16 Radford 61

No. 1 Villanova Wildcats beat the No. 16 Radford Highlanders 87-61 Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA College Basketball Tournament.

Jalen Brunson led the Wildcats with 16 points. Donald Hicks led the Highlanders with 13 points.

Villanova will face either Virginia Tech or Alabama in the second round.

No. 5 Kentucky 78, No. 12 Davidson 73

No. 5 Kentucky squeaked by in the battle of the Wildcats Thursday as the Kentucky Wildcats beat the Davidson Wildcats 78-73 in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament Thursday.

Kevin Knox had 25 points and 6 rebounds to lead Kentucky. Jon Axel Gudmundsson led Davidson with 21 points.

Kentucky will face either Arizona or Buffalo in the next round.

No. 6 Houston 67, No. 11 San Diego State 65

The Houston Cougars beat the San Diego State Aztecs 67-65 in a tight First Round game in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament Thursday.

Rob Gray Jr. had 39 points to lead Houston and Jalen McDaniels had 18 points to lead San Diego State.

Houston will next play either Michigan or Montana.

No. 3 Texas Tech 70, No. 14 Stephen F. Austin State 60

Texas Tech got to the second round of the NCAA College Basketball Tournament Thursday by beating Stephen F. Austin State 70-60.

Keenan Evans had 26 points to lead the Red Raiders. Ivan Canete led the Lumberjacks with 17 points.

Texas Tech will play either Florida or St. Bonaventure in the next round.