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Ohio upends Georgetown

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — How about a standing O for Ohio!

The MAC champion Bobcats, who had a losing record in conference play, have found their way in March and now boast an NCAA tournament win for the first time in 27 years.

Armon Bassett scored 32 points to lead the 14th-seeded Bobcats to a convincing 97-83 win over the third-seeded Hoyas in the Midwest Region.

In early March, no one expected Ohio (22-14) to be in this position. The team had just finished a 7-9 season in Mid-American Conference play and entered the conference tournament as the ninth seed.

Four wins later, Ohio was in the 65-team field.

Now, the Bobcats are in the second round.

Coach John Groce wouldn’t call it the biggest win in team history. “I certainly think it’s one of them,” he said. “What it does more than anything is it gives belief in our guys in what we’re doing.”

Ohio seized the lead early on its three-point shooting and never had a serious letdown the rest of the way. The Hoyas

(23-11) made a small run in the second half that cut a 19-point lead down to seven.

D.J. Cooper, who scored 23 points, then hit a three, and the Bobcats cruised from there for their sixth straight victory.

Ohio joined Murray State, which knocked off Vanderbilt 66-65 at the buzzer, as the two big upset winners on Thursday.

Chris Wright led Georgetown (23-11) with 28 points.

West Regional

-- (13) Murray State 66, (4) Vanderbilt 65—At San Jose, Calif., Danero Thomas hit a 15-footer as the buzzer sounded and 13th-seeded Murray State (31-4) stunned No. 4 seed Vanderbilt (24-9). It was the school’s first NCAA tourney win in 24 years.

-- (5) Butler 77, (12) UTEP 59—At San Jose, Calif., Shelvin Mack hit a career-high seven three-pointers and scored 18 of his 25 points after halftime to lead the fifth-seeded Bulldogs (29-4) to their 21st straight victory and extend the sport’s longest active winning streak.

Derrick Caracter had 20 points for UTEP (26-7).

-- (7) BYU 99, (10) Florida 92, (2 OT)—At Oklahoma City, Jimmer Fredette scored 37 points, including two three-pointers in the second overtime, to seal the Cougars’ win over 10th-seeded Florida.

Michael Loyd Jr. added 26 points for BYU (30-5). Kenny Boynton scored 27 to lead the Gators (21-13).

-- (2) Kansas State 82, (15) North Texas 62—At Oklahoma City, Denis Clemente had 17 points and six assists, and the second-seeded Wildcats (27-7) recovered from a shaky start to easily beat North Texas (24-9).

Midwest Regional

-- (9) Northern Iowa 69, (8) UNLV 66—At Oklahoma City, Ali Farokhmanesh scored 17 points and hit a three-pointer from the left wing with 4.9 seconds left as ninth-seeded Northern Iowa (29-4) snapped a 20-year victory drought in the NCAA tournament with its win over the Runnin’ Rebels (25-9).

-- (1) Kansas 90, (16) Lehigh 74—At Oklahoma City, Marcus Morris scored 26 points, Sherron Collins added 18 and No. 1 overall seed Kansas (33-2) survived against scrappy Lehigh (22-11).

-- (6) Tennessee 62, (11) San Diego State 59—At Providence, R.I. (AP) – Melvin Goins made his fourth three-pointer with 19 seconds left after San Diego State cut the deficit to one point, and Tennessee

(26-8) edged the Aztecs (25-9).

The will play Saturday against No. 14 seed Ohio, an easy upset winner over third-seeded Georgetown.

Goins and J.P. Prince scored 15 points apiece for Tennessee on coach Bruce Pearl’s 50th birthday.

South Regional

-- (11) Old Dominion 51, (6) Notre Dame 50—At New Orleans, Carleton Scott’s three-pointer rattled out in the closing seconds, and 11th-seeded Old Dominion (27-9) stunned the Irish (23-12).

Frank Hassell scored 15 points to lead Old Dominion, while Ben Hansbrough’s 17 points led the Irish.

-- (3) Baylor 68, (14) Sam Houston State 59—At New Orleans, Ekpe Udoh had 20 points and 13 rebounds to help the third-seeded Bears (26-7) win an NCAA game for the first time in 60 years.

Gilberto Clavell scored 23 for Sam Houston State (25-8).

-- (7) Saint Mary’s 80, (10) Richmond 71—At Providence, R.I., Omar Samhan had 29 points and 12 rebounds, and Saint Mary’s pulled away to win an NCAA tournament game for the first time in six tries since 1959. Mickey McConnell scored 23 points for the Gaels (27-5).

David Gonzalvez had 18 points for Richmond (26-9).

-- (2) Villanova 73, (15) Robert Morris 70 (OT)—At Providence, R.I., Scottie Reynolds, benched at the start of the game, responded with a clutch effort at the foul line late in regulation to help lift the Wildcats (25-7). Reynolds missed 13 of 15 shots from the floor, but the senior made seven of eight free throws in the final 3:06 to send the game into overtime.

Karon Abraham scored 23 to lead Robert Morris (23-13).

East Regional

-- (1) Kentucky 100, (16) ETSU 71—At New Orleans, Eric Bledsoe scored 29 points and his eight three-pointers set a Kentucky record for an NCAA tournament game as the top-seeded Wildcats (33-2) dominated East Tennessee State.

Micah Williams had 18 points for ETSU (20-15).

-- (9) Wake Forest 81, (8) Texas 80, OT—At New Orleans, Ishmael Smith’s pull-up jumper from about 17 feet out with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime lifted the Demon Deacons (20-10), who twice blew double-digit leads in regulation to the Longhorns (24-10).

-- (3) New Mexico State 62, (14) Montana 57—Roman Martinez had 19 points, six rebounds and four assists and third-seeded New Mexico overcame a shaky start to beat 14th-seeded Montana in the NCAA tournament’s East Regional.

Hobson added 11 points, 11 rebounds and six assists while playing with a sprained left wrist for the Lobos, who used a 17-0 run after halftime to briefly break open the game after trailing by a point at the break.