West Virginia 84, Clemson 76 — West Virginia was trailing for much of the first half, but surged to tie it up by the break and took a second-half lead early before coasting to the victory. Darryl Bryant led five Mountaineers in double figures with 19 points. Andre Young had 22 for the Tigers. West Virginia will advance to meet Kentucky in the second round on Saturday. Not much of a difference between these two teams in the box score; the Mountaineers just shot a better percentage.
Butler 60, Old Dominion 58 — Butler’s Matt Howard scooped in a layup at the buzzer to win the game for the Bulldogs, who will advance to the second round to face Pittsburgh. Old Dominion had a two-point lead at halftime, but they had massive problems shooting the basketball in the second-half. They hung in on free throw shooting, making 21 to Butler’s 9, but the lack of scoring finally caught up to them in the end.
Morehead State 62, Louisville 61 — Demonte Harper’s only three-pointer of the game came from about 27 feet with 4.2 seconds left, and it gave the Eagles a 63-62 lead. After a timeout, Louisville’s Mike Marra was rejected by Kenneth Faried at the buzzer, with no foul call, and the Eagles held on for the win. They had jumped out to a large lead at the beginning of the game before Louisville fought back to tie it up at halftime. Faried’s 17 rebounds were the big key, as many of them came on the offensive end. The Eagles wound up with nine more shots than the Cardinals.
Temple 66, Penn State 64 — Juan Fernandez’s off-balance and completely covered 18-foot prayer went in with 0.2 seconds left to break a 64 all-tie and send Temple on to the second round. Fernandez and Ramone Moore were both unstoppable, combining to shoot 18-of-29 from the field in the win. Penn State tied the game on a Talor Battle three-pointer with 12 seconds to play, one that would’ve been a few feet away from the line in the NBA, but they come up with the short end of the stick in this game. Temple will move on to face San Diego State in the second round.
Kentucky 59, Princeton 57 — The Tigers tied the game up on a Dan Mavraides jumper with 36.7 seconds left, but Brandon Knight’s only basket of the game followed: a layup where he seemed to float in the air for a good few seconds. The basket unbroke the tie, and Princeton’s long heave was late and short as Kentucky survived to move on to the second round. If Princeton had made a few more three-pointers, they might’ve pulled this one off, but it’s hard to upset a team like Kentucky shooting just 3-of-14 from downtown. Kentucky will play West Virginia on Saturday.
Pittsburgh 74, UNC Asheville 51 — Asheville hung around for the better part of the first 25 minutes, but a long scoreless stretch led the final score to blowout proportions. Asheville shot just 30.9% from the floor under suffocating defense by the Panthers. Ashton Gibbs led the way with 24 points, and Matt Dickey had 21 for Asheville in a losing cause. Pittsburgh will play Butler on Saturday, with the winner advancing to the Sweet 16.
Richmond 68, Vanderbilt 66 — Kevin Anderon’s floater with 18 seconds left gave the Spiders a three-point lead, and Darrius Garrett stole an errant pass with 7 seconds left. A free throw contest ensued and the resulting prayer thrown up on an awkward final possession by Vanderbilt came up very short. Anderson scored 24 points (on 26 shots!) to overtake the Commodores. Festus Ezeli had 20 for Vanderbilt, but Jeffery Taylor was just 1-of-13 from the floor. Richmond built it’s win on three-pointers: they went 12-of-24 from beyond the arc in the upset.
San Diego State 68, Northern Colorado 50 – The Aztecs were never really challenged in a game where they consistently overwhelmed the Bears offense. Northern Colorado shot just 33% from the floor. Kawhi Leonard led the way for the Aztecs with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Devon Beitzel scored 25 for the Bears in a losing effort. The Aztecs will take on Temple on Saturday for the right to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.