College Men’s field of 64 set
DAYTON, Ohio — Paul Atkinson Jr.’s putback layup with 1.4 seconds left in the second overtime gave Notre Dame an 89-87 win over Rutgers in a wild First Four game Wednesday night.
Ron Harper Jr. tied it with a long 3-pointer with 22 seconds left in the second OT. Notre Dame’s Blake Wesley then missed a shot before Atkinson grabbed the rebound and put back the winner.
Atkinson finished with 20 points, Nate Laszewski 18 and Cormac Ryan 16 to lead the Irish (23-10), who as the No. 11 seed advance to face sixth-seeded Alabama in a first-round game Friday in San Diego.
Caleb McConnell had career-high 23 points and Ron Harper Jr. 22 for the Scarlet Knights (18-11).
Both teams shot a respectable 51% for the game.
McConnell scored 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor as Rutgers built a 41-36 lead at the half. He put the finishing touches on the scoring before intermission, going the length of the court and putting up a fast-break layup at the buzzer.
Rutgers went up by eight to open the second half on Harper’s 3-pointer, but Notre Dame chipped away. The Irish got up by as many as five late before the game got tight again.
Geo Baker’s 3-pointer tied it at 69 for Rutgers with 1:24 left. Rutgers got the ball back, but Harper and Baker both missed shots that would have given the Scarlet Knights the win in regulation.
BIG PICTURE
Notre Dame: Fought back from a halftime deficit, wouldn’t go away and finally found a way to win it.
Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights played well enough to win, but didn’t take advantage of chances to put away the Irish.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame advances to a first-round game Friday against No. 6 Alabama in San Diego.
WRIGHT STATE 93, BRYANT 82
DAYTON, Ohio — Tanner Holden had 37 points and 11 rebounds and Wright State beat Bryant 93-82 on Wednesday night for its first NCAA Tournament victory.
Playing inside the University of Dayton Arena just 12 miles from its home court, Wright State (22-13) advanced to play top-seeded Arizona in San Diego on Friday in the West Region.
“It was a frantic-paced game,” Wright State coach Scott Nagy said. “We haven’t had many teams this year come at us like that just after every make and miss and turnover.”
Holden was 11 of 15 from the field. Tyler Calvin added 21 points, and Grant Basile had 14.
Peter Kiss, the NCAA’s leading scorer, led Bryant (22-10) with 28 points.
“Our guys played hard enough to win, we just didn’t play well enough to win,” Bryant coach Jared Grasso said.
The Raiders led 44-42 at halftime behind 20 points from Holden.
Both teams were seeded 16th.
GUARDING THE NATION’S BEST
Kiss entered the game averaging 25.1 points per game.
Wright State guard Tim Finke drew the assignment of guarding Kiss. Finke forced Kiss to make four turnovers and shoot below his season average of 45.6% from the field.
“Tim’s a fantastic defender. We’ve known that all year,” Basile said. “He made him work for it.”
HOLDEN’S HOT HAND
Holden made a season-high 14 free throws, including a perfect 8-for-8 clip in the first half. He finished just one point shy of tying his career high.
“I think it was definitely a good booster for us,” Holden said. “Emotionally, I thought the crowd did a great job being energetic and getting into it. It’s awesome to be able to do this, like Grant said, in your backyard.”
BIG PICTURE
Bryant: The Bulldogs shot a season-low 16.7% from 3-point range, going 1 for 13 in the second half.
Wright State: The Raiders had 44 rebounds, their second-most of the season. They have 13 offensive rebounds.
UP NEXT
Wright State: Vs. No. 1 Arizona on Friday in San Diego.
“I think we’re all confident and we’re going there to win,” Holden said. “We’re not just going there for the experience of March Madness.”
