Mar 18, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders forward Reggie Upshaw (30) smiles during the second half in the first round against the Michigan State Spartans in the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Scottrade Center. Middle Tennessee State won 90-81. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
ST. LOUIS — The seeding was 15-2. So was the score at the first TV timeout on Friday, but incredibly, it was 15th-seeded Middle Tennessee leading No. 2 seed Michigan State, a lead it held wire-to-wire in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history.
With all five starters scoring in double figures, the Blue Raiders scored a stunning 90-81 Midwest Region first-round win for the school’s biggest victory in at least two generations.
Middle Tennessee (25-9) advances to a Sunday matchup with 10th-seeded Syracuse, while the Spartans (29-6) go home with expectations of a national championship derailed before they ever left the station. It was the eighth time a 15 seed has beaten a 2.
Reggie Upshaw, whose two free throws Saturday gave the Blue Raiders the Conference USA title over Old Dominion, paced MTSU with 21 points. Giddy Potts added 19.
Matt Costello scored a game-high 22 points for Michigan State.
Iowa 72, Temple 70 (OT)
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Adam Woodbury’s putback as time expired gave Iowa a 72-70 win over Temple in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s East Region at the Barclays Center on Friday.
Woodbury grabbed a missed jump shot from Mike Gesell to put in the game-winner.
Iowa (22-10) the seventh seed, will meet second-seeded Villanova in the second round on Sunday. Woodbury’s basket dashed the hopes for an all-Philadelphia second round matchup.
Jarrod Uthoff led Iowa with 23 points and Peter Jok added 16. Woodbury chipped in with 10 points.
Quenton DeCosey topped Temple (21-12) with 26 points. Josh Brown scored 16 points and Jaylen Bond had 14 points and 15 rebounds.
The Owls tied it at 70-70 on a layup from Brown with 51 seconds to play
Brown’s jumper and a traditional 3-point play from DeCosey, who was playing with four fouls, put Temple ahead 68-66, but a three-point play from Jok gave the Hawkeyes a 69-68 edge with 1:52 left in overtime.
DeCosey was fouled by Iowa’s Anthony Clemmons while attempting a 3-pointer well beyond the arc with two seconds left in regulation.
He promptly sank all three shots to force overtime at 63-63. DeCosey scored all of the Owls last seven points.
DeCosey’s layup in traffic with 11.4 seconds to play put Temple within 62-60, but the Owls were forced to foul and Jok sank one free throw for a 63-60 edge.
Iowa went 4:50 without a point before Jok’s free throw with 18 seconds to play pushed the Hawkeyes lead to 62-58. The Hawkeyes went the final 5:08 of regulation without a field goal, missing seven shots.
A layup from DeCosey cut the Iowa lead to 61-58 with 1:51 to play. A jumper from Brown had pulled Temple to within 61-56 with 3:58 remaining.
The Hawkeyes committed their first turnover with 3:40 left to play.
Iowa opened the second half with an 8-2 burst to move its lead to 46-39. Uthoff accounted for four of those points
A jumper from Brown with three seconds left in the half cut Iowa’s lead to 38-37.
The lead switched hands nine times in the first half.
Iowa held a 32-20 lead before the Owls went on a 13-0 run to move ahead 33-32 with five minutes left in the half. DeCosey led the barrage with five points.
Maryland 79, South Dakota State74
SPOKANE, Wash. — Jake Layman scored a season-high 27 points and Melo Trimble had 15 of his 19 points in the first half as fifth-seeded Maryland built leads as large as 18 points before holding off 12th-seeded South Dakota State for a 79-74 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
South Dakota State’s George Marshall hit three free throws with 1:03 to play to pull the Jackrabbits within two points, but Layman drew a foul away from the ball with 43.1 seconds left and hit both free throws to push the lead to four.
Tevin King had a chance to cut the lead with two free throws with 24.4 seconds to play but could only hit one. Maryland (26-8) then got the ball to Layman, who sank two more free throws to extend the Terrapins’ lead to 76-71 with 18 seconds to go.
South Dakota State was not going away, however, after Maryland’s Rasheed Sulaimon was whistled for a foul on Deondre Parks, who was awarded three free throws and hit them all to trim the Maryland advantage to 76-74 with 12.1 seconds to play.
When Maryland’s Jaylen Brantley missed one of two free throws, the door was open for South Dakota State, but the Jackrabbits turned the ball over in the backcourt and the game ended on a Sulaimon breakaway dunk.
Layman torched the Jackrabbits from deep, making 5 of 8 shots from 3-point range. He entered the game averaging 11.2 points, but seems to be heating up after scoring a season-high 26 in a win over Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament.
The Jackrabbits (26-8), champions of the Summit League, managed to keep the game tight early. A 3-pointer by Reed Tellinghuisen with 12:35 left in the first half pulled South Dakota State to a 10-10 tie.
But then Trimble took over. The sophomore guard scored eight of the Terrapins’ next 11 points to establish a cushion that would grow to a dozen by halftime.
The lead grew to 18 points in the second half with Maryland’s hot shooting and its advantage on the boards.
South Dakota State freshman Mike Daum did what he could to keep the Jackrabbits in contention, scoring nine of his 16 points in the second half.
Syracuse 70, Dayton 51
St. LOUIS — The 10th-seeded Orange issued their rebuttal to critics as they routed the seventh-seeded Flyers in a Midwest Region first-round game.
When the NCAA Tournament field was announced on Sunday, Syracuse was panned as one of the teams which netted an undeserved bid because of its 1-5 finish to the regular season.
Malachi Richardson paced Syracuse (20-13) with a game-high 21 points before fouling out, while four other teammates joined him in double figures. Tyler Roberson contributed 10 points and 18 rebounds as the Orange owned the glass 48-28, including 28-14 in the second half.
Charles Cooke led Dayton (25-8) with 14 points.
Hawaii 77, Cal 66
SPOKANE, Wash. — The 13th-seeded Rainbow Warriors ousted the fourth-seeded Golden Bears in the South Region first round to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history
Quincy Smith scored 19 points, Roderick Bobbitt added 17 and Stefan Jankovic had 16 to pace Hawaii (28-5).
Cal (23-11) pulled to within a point late in the first half and midway through the second, but the Rainbow Warriors beat the Bears back with the balanced scoring attack.
Villanova 86, UNC Asheville 56
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Daniel Ochefu returned to the starting lineup after being hampered by an ankle injury, scoring 17 points and pulling in 10 rebounds in the second-seeded Wildcats’ win over the 15th-seeded Bulldogs in the South Region first round.
Villanova (30-5) moves into Sunday’s second round. Ryan Arcidiacono scored 14 points and Kris Jenkins added 12 for the Wildcats.
Dylan Smith paced Asheville (22-12) with 14 points. The Bulldogs never led.
Oklahoma 82, CSU Bakersfield 68
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma refused to become another No. 2 seed gone sour even though 15th-seeded Cal State Bakersfield refused to go away.
Guard Buddy Hield scored 27 points to lead the way as the Sooners survived with an 82-68 victory over CSU Bakersfield Friday afternoon in an NCAA Tournament West Regional first-round game.
Oklahoma plays Virginia Commonswealth next.
Even with a huge crowd from just down the road in Norman, Okla., behind Oklahoma, the Sooners rarely led by double digits against the Roadrunners.
Oklahoma (27-7) finally came up with the right combination of defensive stops and shooting touch on the offensive end to take control in the final three minutes.
Jordan Woodard and Hield each hit 3-pointers, sandwiched around a key block by forward Khadeem Lattin on the other end. Hield’s trey put the Sooners ahead 75-65 with 2:31 remaining.
Center Aly Ahmed scored 16 to lead the Roadrunners (24-9), but Oklahoma clamped down on him and held him scoreless in the second half.
Hield chased down a loose ball from the CSU Bakersfield end to about 15 feet beyond the arc on Oklahoma’s side of the court. He then took one dribble and pulled up to hit a 3-pointer.
On the next trip down the floor, Hield went into the lane, then kicked the ball out to forward Dante Buford on the right wing. Buford hit the wide-open trey, capping a 10-0 run that put the Sooners ahead 55-46 with 12:51 left.
But the Roadrunners made enough plays to stay in the contest. Guard Damiyne Durham hit a jumper to cut Oklahoma’s lead back down to six with 9:35 left.
Hield hit a shot in the lane and completed a three-point play for a nine-point lead. But CSU Bakersfield made the next two baskets, including a layup by Durham to stay within five.
CSU Bakersfield jumped to an early lead by holding Oklahoma scoreless for the first two minutes. Guard Kevin Mays hit a pair of free throws to put the Roadrunners ahead 8-0 with 17:52 left in the first half.
But Oklahoma bounced back with a 14-2 run capped by Isaiah Cousins’ steal and coast-to-coast layup that put the Sooners ahead 14-12 with 13:19 to go before halftime.
The Roadrunners stayed close for much of the first half. Ahmed banked in a jump shot from near the top of the key that tied it at 23.
Oklahoma opened up a 12-point lead when Hield turned a steal into a fast-break layup with 54 seconds left in the first half.
But even then the Roadrunners wouldn’t go away. Guard Brent Wrapp got into the lane for a layup and Ahmed hit a three-point shot just before the first-half buzzer to cut the Sooners’ lead to 41-34 at the break.
Ahmed scored 16 points in the first half, while Hield led Oklahoma with 11.
VCU 75, Oregon State 67
OKLAHOMA CITY — It wasn’t exactly an upset as the 10th-seeded Rams executed their game plan and defeated the seventh-seeded Beavers in the West Region first round.
JeQuan Lewis scored a team-high 21 points with seven rebounds and eight assists, while Mo Alie-Cox added 20 points and grabbed seven boards for VCU (25-10).
Gary Payton II led Oregon State (19-13) with 19 points
