Strong second half helps UNC avoid historic upset
Miami too much in 2nd half for Buffalo
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Miami coach Jim Larranaga knows what it's like to be the underdog team with something to prove in the NCAA Tournament.
So his final words to his team Thursday before its first-round matchup with Buffalo were all about expecting the unexpected from a scrappy mid-major. The Hurricanes took the message to heart.
Angel Rodriguez had 24 points and seven rebounds as third-seeded Miami held on to defeat No. 14 seed Buffalo 79-72 in the first round on Thursday.
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Sheldon McClellan added 20 points and five rebounds. It is Miami's first tournament win since it went to the Sweet 16 in 2013. The Hurricanes advance to play the winner of Arizona and Wichita State in the second round of the South Region on Saturday.
"There's always a point in the game where (Rodriguez) feels like he's got to score more, and when he does, and he takes advantage of his opportunities, then we have another weapon out there," Larranaga said. "I thought Angel and Sheldon were senior leaders today that really dominated the game."
Miami (26-7) kept the Bulls at bay for most of the second half, leading by as many as 12.
The Bulls (20-15) finally got some traction, closing within 72-68 on a jumper by Lamonte Bearden with less than two minutes to play. But Miami hit enough free throws down the stretch to put the game away.
Buffalo tried to sag in on Miami's big men in the second half, but were bitten several times when the Hurricanes were able to get the ball out to the perimeter for open 3s.
Then on the defensive end the Hurricanes protected the rim, allowing just five second-chance points for the Bulls, while blocking six shots.
"That's the beauty of this team -- we just need one little thing to get us going," Rodriguez said. "And we found it on the defensive end."
Nick Perkins had 20 points and six rebounds to lead Buffalo. Bearden added 19 points.
"I feel like we gave it all that we had and we just came up short," said guard C.J. Massinburg. "Obviously next year we want to get back here."
Miami trailed by 9 points about midway through the first half, before surging to take a 2-point halftime lead.
Oats promised his team would come out attacking, and it did, connecting on four of their first five from beyond the arc to take an early 12-6 lead.
But Miami pecked away the rest of the half and took a 35-33 lead into the locker room after Bearden's layup at the buzzer was waved off.
"They played their tails off for us all year. We missed two open 3s that would have cut that thing to one possession late in the game," Bulls coach Nate Oats said. "I think our kids proved they belong on a big stage like this."
Ferrell, Indiana chew up Chattanooga 99-74
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Yogi Ferrell had 20 points and a season-high 10 assists, O.G. Anunoby pitched in 14 points and No. 5 seed Indiana took charge of its NCAA Tournament opener against Chattanooga on the way to a 99-74 victory on Thursday in the East Region.
Thomas Bryant scored 13 points and Troy Williams added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Hoosiers, who had their high-powered offense in prime form. They shot 37 for 57 from the floor for 64.9 percent. Anunoby, the long-armed freshman forward, was 6 for 7 with a highlight-reel array of 3-pointers and dunks.
Duke Ethridge had 14 points and Justin Tuoyo scored 12 for the No. 12 seed Mocs (29-6), whose stellar first season under young coach Matt McCall came to a screeching end.
The Hoosiers (26-7) dodged the 5-12 danger that eliminated Baylor and Big Ten rival Purdue earlier in the day and did their part to set up a possible second-round matchup of storied programs. Indiana will play the Stony Brook-Kentucky winner on Saturday.
Ferrell, the fiery point guard who is generously listed at 6-foot but has long played well above his height, became the first Indiana player in more than 20 years to win more than one Big Ten regular-season title. But he has never advanced past the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament and is aiming to extend an impeccable college career by another week or two.
Nicknamed Yogi because he liked to eat like the picnic-basket-loving cartoon bear, transcending his given name Kevin, Ferrell played just like a senior should on this stage by directing the diverse Hoosiers offense with a deft vision and a quick step.
He kept the floor well-spaced, driving hard to disrupt Chattanooga's defense and find the open teammate either in the lane off the backdoor cut for an easy dunk or on the wing for a wide-open 3-pointer. The Hoosiers entered the tournament as the third-best shooting team in the nation and would have had a larger halftime lead than 46-37 had it not been for some sloppy turnovers.
The sure sign this was Indiana's night was midway through the second half, when Anunoby's 3-pointer bounced high off the back of the rim and straight down through the net for a 63-45 lead. He scored on the next possession for the Hoosiers, too, with a 360-degree finger roll off a fast break.
Stung by a last-second loss to Michigan in their conference tournament opener and bothered by the unusually low seed for a team that finished 15-3 in Big Ten play, the Hoosiers shot so well it was nearly impossible for the Mocs to set up their full-court press.
Only No. 1 overall seed Kansas brought more wins into this NCAA Tournament than Chattanooga, and the future appears bright under McCall, the former assistant at Florida. But the Mocs must wait at least another year to try for their first NCAA Tournament win since 1997.
After first-half scare, North Carolina tops Florida Gulf Coast
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Brice Johnson scored 18 points and No. 1 seed North Carolina needed an overwhelming second-half start to put away 16th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast 83-67 in Thursday's first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Isaiah Hicks added 12 points off the bench for the Tar Heels (29-6), who led by just a point after a frustration-filled opening 20 minutes in which the Eagles stayed right with the East Region's top seed. But UNC dominated the opening 10 minutes of the second half, running off a 20-3 burst by controlling the boards and locking down defensively to build a 20-point lead.
That helped the Tar Heels avoid the unwanted history of being the first 1-seed to lose to a 16-seed in tournament history.
Florida Gulf Coast (21-14) already owned a bit of underdog history with its "Dunk City" bunch the first 15-seed to reach the Sweet 16, in 2013.
This would've topped that considering the game was in UNC's home state, were the Tar Heels haven't lost an NCAA game in 37 years. But by the end, this one looked a lot like those other 1-vs-16 matchups, with the Tar Heels just too big, deep and athletic for the Atlantic Sun champions.
Christian Terrell had 15 points to lead Florida Gulf Coast, which shot 60 percent in the first half but went 2 for 15 to open the second half as the Tar Heels finally took control.
By the end of the opening 20 minutes, Florida Gulf Coast trailed just 41-40 to cause a mild wave of concern through the home-state crowd of blue-clad fans filling a rival school's arena.
But the Tar Heels started the second half with a 3-pointer from Marcus Paige, followed by a transition layup from Joel Berry II to restore a cushion. Minutes later, Johnson outfought Eagles defenders for a rebound and scored a stickback while being fouled for a three-point play that suddenly had pushed UNC's lead to eight.
By the time Berry grabbed a loose ball and scored while being fouled for his own three-point play, the Tar Heels led 57-45 with 15:07 left - a margin that would not slip below double digits again.
Jakob Poeltl leads Utah past Fresno State 80-69
DENVER -- Sophomore 7-footer Jakob Poeltl scored 16 points and pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds to help Utah hold off feisty Fresno State 80-69 Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Utah, the third seed in the Midwest, used a blistering 19-2 run down the stretch to regain control after falling behind for the first time all night with 10:32 remaining.
Lorenzo Bonham had 17 points and Brandon Taylor added 16 for the Utes (27-8), who will try for their second straight trip to the Sweet 16 when they face Seton Hall or Gonzaga on Saturday night.
Marvelle Harris, the Mountain West's player of the year, led the Bulldogs (25-10) with 24 points. It was their first NCAA appearance since 2001.
The Bulldogs' nine-game winning streak came crashing to a halt after they took a 48-47 lead with 10:32 remaining on Julien Lewis' 3-pointer, capping a 10-0 run over a 90-second span.
Bonham put Utah back on top with a 3 and Jordan Loveridge, whose back-to-back turnovers led to half of the Bulldogs' points in their run, sank two 3s to atone for his errors.
The Bulldogs, who hadn't lost since Feb. 13 in overtime at Nevada, had one last run in them: They scored the next nine points to cut the deficit to 67-59 with 2 minutes left.
Poeltl's three-point play on a nifty spin move halted the run and kept the Bulldogs at bay.
The Bulldogs did a good job on Poeltl early on, limiting him to 2-of-7 shooting in the first half. They used a swarming defense to force him into some mistakes like a throwback pass that resulted in a backcourt violation.
His teammates had his back, however, until he got it going in the second half.