UNDATED (AP) _ The madness has begun in earnest as 32 men’s basketball teams battled Thursday to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
No. 12 Murray State was among three double-digit seeds to win. Ja Morant recorded the ninth triple-double in NCAA Tournament history, delivering 19 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds in the Racers’ 83-66 win over No. 5 Marquette. Markus Howard scored 26 points for the Golden Eagles but shot 9 of 27 as Murray State moved into the next round against No. 4 Florida State.
The Seminoles withstood a barrage of 3-pointers from 13th-seeded Vermont as Mfiondu Kabengele (kab-ehn-GAY’-lee) scored a team-high 21 points in FSU’s 76-69 victory. The Catamounts went 16 for 32 from 3-point range but cooled in the second half just enough for the Seminoles to take over.
Dedric Lawson had 25 points and 11 rebounds while No. 4 Kansas shot 56 percent in an 87-73 drubbing of Northeastern. The Jayhawks outscored the Huskies 50-16 in the paint while grabbing 17 more rebounds to advance to face Auburn.
Jared Harper made all four of his 3-pointers in the second half and had a team-high 17 points to help fifth-seeded Auburn survive a wild finish in a 78-77 triumph over New Mexico State. The Aggies had a chance to tie or win in the closing seconds, but Terrell Brown missed two of three free throws with 1.1 seconds left before Trevelin Queen’s 3 at the buzzer was an air ball.
Skylar Mays hit four free throws in the final 15 seconds to help embattled third seed LSU secure a 79-74 win over Yale. Mays scored 19 points and sealed the game from the charity stripe after the Bulldogs hit four 3-pointers in the final minute. Yale trailed by as many as 18 in the second half.
Maryland will take on LSU on Saturday after Jalen Smith scored 19 points on 8 of 9 shooting to lead the sixth-seeded Terrapins to a 79-77 squeaker over Belmont. Smith threw down a thundering two-handed dunk and drew a foul for a three-point play that gave Maryland a 77-73 lead with 1:41 to play.
No. 10 seed Minnesota won its first NCAA Tournament game in six years behind 24 points from freshman Gale Kalscheur in an 86-76 victory against Louisville. Jordan Murphy and Amir Coffey each had 18 points for the Golden Gophers, who knocked down 11 3s despite entering play ranked 344th nationally in made 3s per game.
Next up for Minnesota is No. 2 seed Michigan State after Big Ten Player of the Year Cassius Winston scored 26 points to lead the Spartans past Bradley, 76-65. Xavier Tillman had 16 points with 11 boards for the Spartans, who trailed by one with seven minutes to go before embarking on a 9-0 run.
Rui Hachimura provided 21 points and eight rebounds to lead top-seeded Gonzaga in a wire-to-wire 87-49 pounding of Fairleigh Dickinson. Killian Tillie came off the bench to add a season-high 17 points for the Bulldogs, who led 53-17 at the break before earning a meeting with Baylor.
Makai Mason scored 22 points and the Bears set a school NCAA Tournament record with 16 3-pointers to beat Syracuse, 78-69. Mason and Jared Butler each hit four 3-pointers, with Butler finishing with 14 points for Baylor.
Kevarrius Hayes had 16 points and Jalen Hudson scored 15 for No. 10 Florida in a 70-61 victory against Nevada. The Wolf Pack trimmed an 18-point deficit to two before the Gators closed the game with an 11-2 run.
The Gators next face second-ranked Michigan, which received 22 points and 10 boards from Charles Matthews in a 74-55 rout of Montana. Ignas Brazdeikis (braz-DAY’-kihs) added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Wolverines, while Jon Teske chipped in 11 points and nine boards.
Keldon Johnson scored 25 points and Reid Travis had 15 as second seed Kentucky hammered Abilene Christian, 79-44. The suspense was gone by intermission as the Wildcats shot 60 percent and held Abilene Christian to 5 of 26 from the field to take a 39-13 lead into the locker room.
Fletcher Magee buried seven 3-pointers and scored 24 points to lead Wofford to an 84-68 victory Seton Hall and set up a meeting with Kentucky. Magee became the most prolific 3-point shooter in Division I history, going past the mark of 504 set by Oakland’s Travis Bader in 2014.
Phil Booth scored 20 points and fellow senior Eric Paschell (PAS’-kul) added 14 for No. 6 seed Villanova in a 61-57 victory against Saint Mary’s. The Gaels led 30-28 at the half, but Booth scored the first five points after intermission to ignite a 12-3 run that put the Wildcats up 40-33.
Purdue will go up against Villanova after Carsen Edwards scored 26 points and the third-seeded Boilermakers coasted to a 61-48 victory against Old Dominion. The junior guard had shot 32 percent in his last 11 games and was 7 for 33 from 3-point range in his last three contests.