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Roundup: LSU Survives First-Round NCAA Scare

The Associated Press

Memphis' Tyreke Evans (12) and Cal State Northridge's Tremaine Townsend (33) tie up for a loose ball in the second half. Memphis won, 81-70.

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The Associated Press

Published: March 19, 2009

Updated: 03/19/2009 05:08 pm

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Marcus Thornton scored 30 points and LSU held off a late rally to beat Butler 75-71 on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Tasmin Mitchell had 14 points and Chris Johnson added 12 points for the Tigers (27-7), seeded eighth in the South Regional. They advanced to Saturday's second round against the North Carolina-Radford winner.

Matt Howard scored 22 points before fouling out with 35.7 seconds left for No. 9 seed Butler.

The Bulldogs (26-6) made things interesting by twice pulling within three in the final minute. The last came when Willie Veasley tipped in Gordon Hayward's missed 3 with 5.4 seconds left made it 74-71, before Johnson hit one of two free throws with 4.5 seconds left to seal it.

Hayward, Butler's top 3-point shooter, finished with 12 points for the Bulldogs, who lost in the first round for the first time since 2000.

Maryland Knocks Off No. 7 Seed Cal, 84-71

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Maryland never let California get going from long range. Now the Terps are back in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Grievis Vasquez had 27 points and Maryland shut down the nation's best 3-point shooting team in an 84-71 victory over Cal in the first round of the West Regional on Thursday.

Tenth-seeded Maryland (21-13) disrupted Cal with its pressure defense, rarely giving the Bears a good look from the perimeter. Vasquez controlled the offense and Dave Neal chipped in 15 points, helping the Terps advance past the first round in their ninth straight NCAA appearance.

Maryland will face No. 2 seed Memphis on Saturday.

Cal (22-11), which shot a nation-best 43 percent from 3-point range during the regular season, was 7-for-24 in this one. Theo Robertson led the Bears with 22 points and Jerome Randle had 14, but took just three shots in the second half.

Memphis Holds Off Underdog Cal State-Northridge

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Roburt Sallie had the game of his life with 35 points, and second-seeded Memphis beat Cal State-Northridge 81-70 Thursday to avoid what would have been one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.

Sallie, who was averaging barely 4 points for the Tigers (32-3), sank 10 of 15 3-pointers, a first-round tournament record.

The Matadors (17-14), 19-point underdogs who overcame a sequence of tragedy and off-the-court problems just to reach the tourney, took advantage of miserable shooting by most of the other Tigers and led by six points with 10:08 to play.

But a few minutes later, Antonio Anderson led the Tigers on a 9-0 run and last year's NCAA national runners-up finally took control.

Since the NCAA went to a 64-team format in 1985, only four No. 2 seeds have lost to a No. 15 in the first round.

UConn thrashes No. 16 Chattanooga

PHILADELPHIA — This dominating Connecticut win just might have made an ailing Jim Calhoun feel better.

A.J. Price scored 20 from the outside and Hasheem Thabeet added 20 inside to lift top-seeded UConn to its first postseason win in three years, 103-47 over Chattanooga on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Calhoun had not been feeling well the past few days and was not at the Wachovia Center for the opening tip-off. Calhoun was hospitalized for tests and will be kept overnight for observation. He was admitted Thursday afternoon.

Associate head coach George Blaney coached the Huskies (28-4) in Calhoun's absence. Stanley Robinson topped the Huskies with 24 points.

The Southern Conference champion Mocs (18-17) were pumped for their shot at becoming the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 in the tournament. They had a nice start, but were simply overmatched.

Texas A&M Shoots Past BYU, 79-66

PHILADELPHIA — Bryan Davis drove to the basket, drew a foul and tossed the ball up over his head with his back to the net.

Like most of his higher-percentage shots, it went in.

With Davis leading the way, Texas A&M beat Brigham Young 79-66 in the first round of the West Regional on Thursday.

Davis scored 21, Donald Sloan had 14 and the ninth-seeded Aggies handed the Cougars their seventh straight opening-round loss in a rematch from last year. Both teams drew the same seeds last March when A&M won 67-62.

The Aggies (24-9) will meet the Connecticut-Chattanooga winner Saturday.

Jimmer Fredette scored 18 and Lee Cummard added 17 for BYU (25-8).

Looking for its first tournament win since 1993, BYU came out flat. An outstanding perimeter-shooting team during the season, the Cougars couldn't make a shot early.

Meanwhile, the Aggies couldn't miss. A&M made its first 10 shots and built a 22-7 lead less than eight minutes in. Davis had eight of those 22 on three mid-range jumpers and a reverse layup.

The Cougars missed six straight shots after Emery started the game with a 3-pointer. They were 3-for-15 at one point, and finished 23-for-59 (39 percent), far below their season average of 48.7 percent.

Moore, Purdue Hold Off Northern Iowa, 61-56

PORTLAND, Ore. — E'Twaun Moore had 17 points and fifth-seeded Purdue held off a late charge by 12th-seeded Northern Iowa for a 61-56 victory Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

JaJuan Johnson added 14 points for the Boilermakers (26-9), who led by as many as 14 in the West Regional at the Rose Garden Arena.

Kwadzo Ahelegbe had 11 points for the Panthers (23-11), who closed to within 56-54 on Kerwin Dunham's 3-pointer with 17.4 seconds left. But Chris Kramer made a pair of free throws and Ahelegbe missed a layup on the rim with 7.7 seconds left for Northern Iowa.

Lewis Jackson made one of two free throws on the other end to help seal it.

Tar Heels roll past Radford, 101-58

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Tyler Hansbrough set the Atlantic Coast Conference career scoring record and finished with 22 points to help North Carolina beat Radford 101-58 in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday.

Wayne Ellington scored 25 points to lead the Tar Heels (29-4), the top seed in the South Region. North Carolina played without injured point guard Ty Lawson for a third straight game, but had no trouble advancing to Saturday's second round against LSU.

Hansbrough needed three points to pass Duke's J.J. Redick for the ACC mark. He tied it on a layup about 3½ minutes in, then broke the record on a free throw with 15:43 left in the half.

North Carolina led by 19 points at the break, then steadily increased the margin against the 16th-seeded Highlanders (21-12).

Amir Johnson and Joey Lynch-Flohr each scored 12 points to lead Radford.

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