SPOKANE, Wash. — Siyani Chambers scored 11 points, including five straight in the final 2 minutes, and 12th-seeded Harvard won its second NCAA tournament game in history, upsetting fifth-seeded Cincinnati 61-57 on Thursday in the East Regional. ADVERTISING SPOKANE, Wash.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Siyani Chambers scored 11 points, including five straight in the final 2 minutes, and 12th-seeded Harvard won its second NCAA tournament game in history, upsetting fifth-seeded Cincinnati 61-57 on Thursday in the East Regional.
Wesley Saunders led the Crimson (27-4) with 12 points as Harvard pulled off an upset for the second straight year. Last year, Harvard upset New Mexico as a 14 seed.
The Crimson became the first Ivy League school with NCAA tournament wins in consecutive years since Princeton in 1983-84.
Sean Kilpatrick led Cincinnati (27-7) with 18 points, but the Bearcats failed to win a tournament game for the second straight year.
MICHIGAN ST. 93, DELAWARE 78
Adreian Payne scored a career-high 41 points to get Michigan State off to a solid start in the NCAA tournament.
Payne, a 6-foot-10 senior, scored 12 straight points in the first half to help the fourth-seeded Spartans (27-8) to an 18-point lead.
He set an NCAA tournament record by making all 17 of his free throws and broke the program’s tournament scoring record, set previously by Greg Kelser in 1979.
UCONN 89, SAINT JOSEPH’S 81, OT
Shabazz Napier shook off a miss at the second-half buzzer to score nine of his 24 points in overtime and lead seventh-seeded Connecticut.
DeAndre Daniels scored 18 while freshman center Amida Brimah forced overtime by completing a three-point play in the final minute for UConn (27-8). The Huskies won their first tournament game under coach Kevin Ollie, who took over two years ago after Jim Calhoun stepped down because of health issues.
VILLANOVA 73, MILWAUKEE 53
Darrun Hilliard scored 16 points, JayVaughn Pinkston added 13 for second-seeded Villanova.
No. 15 seed Milwaukee (21-14), the surprise champion of the Horizon League, made it a game all the way, leading much of the first half before fading late.
Villanova (29-4) was eager to get back on the court after being upset last week by Seton Hall in the Big East tournament quarterfinals, but the effect of that loss seemed to linger.
DAYTON 60, OHIO ST. 59
Vee Sanford scored on a layup with 3.8 seconds left to lift 11th-seeded Dayton.
Sanford finished with 10 points, while Dyshawn Pierre led the Flyers (24-10) with 12 points in a matchup of Ohio schools separated by about 75 miles.
The sixth-seeded Buckeyes (25-10) had one last chance to pull out the victory, but Aaron Craft’s driving 10-footer hit off the backboard and rolled off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
SYRACUSE 77, W. MICHIGAN 53
Syracuse’s backcourt of Trevor Cooney and Tyler Ennis combined for 34 points and the Orange defense clamped down.
Western Michigan (23-10), the Mid-American Conference champion, had won 14 of 16 games and was in the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade.
PITTSBURGH 77, COLORADO 48
Talib Zanna scored 16 of his 18 points in the opening half, helping ninth-seeded Pittsburgh build a 28-point lead.
The Panthers (26-9) shot 51 percent and played stifling defense.
FLORIDA 67, ALBANY 55
Dorian Finney-Smith scored 16 points, most of them on dunks, and top-seeded Florida used a second-half surge to beat 16th-seeded Albany.
The Gators (33-2) showed some vulnerability, though, while extending their school-record winning streak to 27 games.
WISCONSIN 75, AMERICAN 35
Ben Brust scored 17 points and second-seeded Wisconsin devastated American with a 22-5 run to close the first half.
The second-seeded Badgers (27-7) recovered from a brief first-half rut and seven-point deficit to extinguish the dreams of the 15th-seeded Eagles (20-13).
OREGON 87, BYU 68
Elgin Cook scored a career-high 23 points for seventh-seeded Oregon.
Joseph Young had 19 points for the Ducks (24-9), who had to stage a big comeback to beat the Cougars 100-96 in overtime in December. There was no comeback needed this time, with Oregon turning away every charge by BYU in the second half.
SAN DIEGO STATE 73, NEW MEXICO STATE 69 OT
In the fourth and final overtime game on Day 1 of March Madness, San Diego State outlasted New Mexico State.
New Mexico State’s Kevin Arnois made a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left in regulation Thursday night to push the game to overtime.
The four extra periods were the most in a single day in NCAA tournament history.
MICHIGAN 57, WOFFORD 40
Glenn Robinson III scored 14 points and second-seeded Michigan started their quest for a second straight trip to the Final Four.
The Wolverines (26-8) capitalized on their decisive edge in athleticism on the undersized and No. 15 Terriers (20-13) but still had some nervous moments after missing 15 of their first 18 shots in the second half.
TEXAS 87, ARIZONA STATE 85
Cameron Ridley’s buzzer-beating layup lifted Texas into the third round.
Jonathan Holmes missed badly on a long 3-pointer for the seventh-seeded Longhorns in the final seconds, but Ridley emerged from the scrum with the ball and banked it in as time expired over the outstretched fingers of an ASU defender.
LOUISVILLE 71, MANHATTAN 64
Luke Hancock hit two huge 3-pointers in the final 1:19 to help Louisville finally shake free from tenacious Manhattan.
The defending national champion Cardinals were down 58-55 with less than 4 minutes to play before coming alive from the 3-point line.
Silky smooth guard Russ Smith, who finished with 18 points, got things going with a game-tying 3 from the wing.
SAINT LOUIS 83, N.C. STATE 80, OT
Rob Loe scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, helping St. Louis wipe out a late 14-point deficit and pull away in overtime.
Jordair Jett overcame a slow start to score 18, doing most of his damage while the fifth-seeded Billikens (27-6) were making their comeback in the last five minutes of regulation.
By wire sources
