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With Aaron Craft's last-second shot, No. 2 Ohio State remained the lone high seed left in the NCAA tournament's most-busted bracket. Craft made a 3-pointer with a half-second left, and Ohio State escaped Dayton - a place of Buckeye heartaches - with a 78-75 victory over Iowa State on Sunday. Ohio State (28-7) needed Craft's only 3-pointer of the game - an arching shot over 6-foot-7 defender Georges Niang from the top of the key - to avoid yet another upset in the oh-so-wild West Regional. Four of the top five seeds fell fast and hard in the first weekend. Craft left the Buckeyes in position to fritter away a late lead, then saved them in the final second. RECAP
#1 Indiana 58, #9 Temple 52
Victor Oladipo hit a key 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining and Indiana, minutes away from being the second No. 1 seed to be swept from the NCAA tournament, held off Temple 58-52 on Sunday in the East Regional. The Hoosiers (29-6) trailed by four with 2:56 left, but closed with a big run to advance to the round of 16 for the second straight year. Indiana will play No. 4 seed Syracuse in the regional semifinals on Thursday in Washington. Temple's Khalif Wyatt scored 31 points to lead the Owls (24-10), who gave one of the Big Ten's big boys all they could handle before collapsing when it mattered most. Oladipo, who spent the afternoon trying to slow down Wyatt, scored 16 and Cody Zeller added 15 for the Hoosiers. RECAP
#3 Florida 78, #11 Minnesota 64
Mike Rosario scored 25 points and Florida used an overpowering first half to roll past Minnesota and into the NCAA tournament round of 16 for third consecutive year with a 78-64 win Sunday in the South Regional. The No. 3 seed Gators (28-7) shot a blistering 65 percent in the first half and led by 21 by halftime. The win earns Florida a return trip to the Lone Star State to play their next game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Andre Hollins scored 25 points to lead the No. 11-seed Gophers (21-13). Hollins' 3-point shooting sparked a second-half rally that pulled Minnesota within seven points, but Rosario's sixth 3-pointer with 3 minutes left pushed the Gators' lead back to 16 and effectively locked up the win. RECAP
#2 Miami (Fla.) 63, #7 Illinois 59
Shane Larkin hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with a minute left and Miami gained possession on a ball knocked out of bounds that probably should have gone to Illinois, helping the Hurricanes hold on for a 63-59 victory Sunday night to advance to the NCAA round of 16. After Larkin's first field goal in about 9 1/2 minutes, D.J. Richardson missed a 3-pointer. In the fight for the rebound, the ball appeared to ricochet off the hands of Miami's Kenny Kadji out of bounds. But the Hurricanes kept the ball, and Durand Scott made two free throws after that. Brandon Paul had 18 points for Illinois (23-13). RECAP
#1 Indiana vs. #9 Temple, approximately 2:45 p.m. ET, CBS
#11 Minnesota vs. #3 Florida, 6:10 p.m. ET, TNT
#2 Ohio State vs. #10 Iowa State, 12:15 p.m. ET, CBS
Freshman forward Mitch McGary scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds, helping the University of Michigan men's basketball team advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen for the first time since the 1993-1994 season with a 78-53 victory over fifth-seeded Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday afternoon at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The fourth-seeded Wolverines shot 31-of-60 (52 percent) from the floor in the game, including 10-of-11 (91 percent) from the free throw line while holding the Rams to just 23-of-58 (40 percent) from the field and 3-of-16 (19 percent) from three-point range. U-M also held the advantage on the boards, outrebounding VCU, 41-24. RECAP
Michigan State 70, Memphis 48
Michigan State is into the round of 16 for the NCAA tournament - as usual. Gary Harris scored 16 of his career-high 23 points in the first half and the third-seeded Spartans cruised past sixth-seeded Memphis 70-48 on Saturday, putting the Tom Izzo-led program in the regional semifinals for the fifth time in six years and the 11th time in his career. Michigan State (27-8) will play the winner of the Duke-Creighton game on Friday in the Midwest Regional semifinals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. RECAP
#3 Michigan State vs. #6 Memphis, approximately 2:45 p.m. ET, CBS
Illinois 57, Colorado 49
Brandon Paul and Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson made consecutive 3-pointers to give Illinois back the lead with 6 minutes left and the No. 7-seed Illini pulled out a tough 57-49 win over No. 10 Colorado in a game of wild momentum swings Friday in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Illinois led by 16 at halftime only to watch Colorado rip off a 21-2 run in the second to grab the lead. The Illini looked desperate until Paul and Richardson coolly knocked down their shots to put Illinois ahead 48-44. Four free throws by Paul eventually put the game out of reach for the Illini (23-12) who will play No. 2 seed Miami on Sunday. RECAP
Indiana 83, James Madison 62
Indiana's got a few brutes, some big boys from the Big Ten who know how to throw their weight around. But in their NCAA tournament opener, the Hoosiers turned to their speedy, 178-pound point guard to make James Madison's knees buckle right away. Yogi Ferrell was the bully. Ferrell scored Indiana's first nine points and had 14 in the first six minutes as top-seeded Indiana powered its way to an easy 83-62 win in the second round of the East Regional on Friday. RECAP
Minnesota 83, UCLA 63
Minnesota's Andre Hollins led all scorers with 28 points and added nine rebounds as the 11th-seeded Gophers knocked off the No. 6 seed UCLA Bruins in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, 83-63. The Gophers advance to the third round in the South Regional to face third-seeded Florida on Sunday afternoon. Joe Coleman and Austin Hollins added 16 and 14 points, respectively, while Shabazz Muhammad paced the Bruins with 20. RECAP
Ohio State 95, Iona 70
Sam Thompson had career highs with 20 points and 10 rebounds on Friday night, part of a dominating performance by Ohio State's front line, and the Buckeyes ran away to a 95-70 victory over Iona in the second round of the West Regional. The second-seeded Buckeyes (27-7) are in prime March form with nine straight wins, including their last five games of the regular season and a run to the Big Ten tournament title. Forward Deshaun Thomas has led them in scoring during the streak, averaging 17.6 points per game. He had 24 points as the Buckeyes' fast breaks led to dunks and a season high in points, thrilling the large Ohio State contingent. RECAP
Ole Miss 57, Wisconsin 46
Unable to shake some cold shooting, the Badgers just couldn't shake the Rebels, either. A No. 12 seed, Ole Miss made the most of the Badgers' shooting woes in the second half, pulling away down the stretch to upset the fifth-seeded Badgers, 57-46, Friday in a second-round NCAA tournament matchup at the Sprint Center. Wisconsin (23-12) managed to connect on just 25 percent of its attempts from the floor, including a 1-for-14 stretch to close the game. It added up to the Badgers' first opening-game exit from the tournament since 2006 -- and just the second one-and-done showing for UW in head coach Bo Ryan's 12 seasons at the helm. RECAP
NIT Results
Iowa 75, Stony Brook 63
There's something about second round National Invitational Tournament games for University of Iowa junior Roy Devyn Marble. After scoring a career-high 31 points in the second round NIT game last season at Oregon, Marble netted 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including an 8-of-11 effort from the charity stripe, in the Hawkeyes' 75-63 victory over Stony Brook on in front of a sellout crowd Friday night on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. RECAP
#1 INDIANA vs. #16 James Madison - approx. 4:10 p.m. - TBS [1]
#7 ILLINOIS vs. #10 Colorado - approx. 4:45 p.m. - TNT [1]
The University of Michigan men's basketball team (No. 10 AP, No. 11 Coaches) advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament with a 71-56 victory over 13th-seeded South Dakota State on Thursday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The fourth-seeded Wolverines, who led by four at the break, outscored the Jackrabbits by 11 points in the second half to pull away. U-M shot 28-of-55 (51 percent) from the floor in the game, including 9-of-20 (45 percent) from behind the arc while holding SDSU to just 23-of-52 (44 percent) from the field and 4-of-19 (21 percent) from three-point range. Junior guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and freshman guard Glenn Robinson III led the team in scoring with 21 points apiece, while freshman forward Mitch McGary also contributed in double-digit scoring with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. RECAP
Michigan State 65, Valparaiso 54
Derrick Nix got a pass down low, backed up his beefy body to put an opponent on his back and scored. For much of Michigan State's NCAA tournament-opening win, it was as easy as giving Nix the ball and getting out of his way. Nix had 23 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to help power the third-seeded Spartans past 14th-seeded Valparaiso 65-54 on Thursday with an inspired effort by their only senior. ''It's my last go-around,'' he said. ''And, I'm not ready to be done yet.'' The Spartans went on a 26-5 run in the first half to take control, and cruised to an easy victory much to the delight of a crowd filled with green-clad fans at the home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons. RECAP
#4 MICHIGAN vs. #13 South Dakota State, 7:15 p.m., CBS [1]
[1] - NCAA Second Round - Auburn Hills, Mich.
A 32-6 run spanning the final five minutes of the first half and first 10 minutes of the second half lifted the University of Iowa men's basketball team to a 68-52 victory over Indiana State in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament in front of a sellout crowd of 15,400 fans on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Indiana State's zone defense contributed to a slow Hawkeye start, as the Sycamores led 26-18 with five minutes to go in the first half. Iowa responded with a 13-4 run to take a 31-30 halftime lead before opening half two with a 19-4 spurt to build a 50-34 lead. RECAP
Purdue 81, Western Illinois 67
A.J. Hammons scored 15 points to lead four Boilermakers in double figures and the Purdue men's basketball team downed Western Illinois, 81-67, on Wednesday in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational. The win advances Purdue to a quarterfinal matchup with Santa Clara on Monday at 7 p.m. ET. Purdue shot 58.5 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from three-point territory, getting 14 points from Ronnie Johnson and a dozen from Rapheal Davis as the team's freshmen scored nearly 60 percent of its points. Terone Johnson added 10 on the night. RECAP
