Belmont gives mighty Duke a scare

The No. 2-seeded Blue Devils pulled out a 71-70 opening round win.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mighty, mighty Duke let teeny, tiny Belmont play with the big boys. And, for stretches, get the better of them.

No. 2-seeded Duke actually trailed in the final 15 seconds before barely avoiding the monumental upset, using every last one of Gerald Henderson’s 21 points to edge No. 15 Belmont 71-70 in the first round of the West Regional on Thursday night.

While Belmont couldn’t quite pull off the stunner, it was surprising enough how close this game was. In a matchup between a school with three NCAA titles — that would be Duke, of course — and another that never has won a game in the tournament, it was Henderson’s driving basket with 11.9 seconds left that erased Belmont’s final lead.

After ACC defensive player of the year DeMarcus Nelson stole the ensuing inbounds pass, he was fouled, but he missed at the line. Belmont got the rebound, and one final chance to make history, with 2.2 seconds left. The Bruins’ leading scorer, Justin Hare, got a good look at the basket from about 35 feet away, but his shot clanged off the iron. He winced, and Duke celebrated as though it had won far more than an opening-round game — something it actually failed to do a year ago.

Duke (28-5) advanced this time to face Arizona or West Virginia on Saturday.

And Belmont (25-9) can go home with heads held high.

Texas A M 67, BYU 62

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Josh Carter scored 26 points, matching his career high, as Texas A M defeated Brigham Young, handing the Cougars their sixth straight opening-round loss.

Joseph Jones added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the ninth-seeded Aggies.

Jonathan Tavernari led BYU with 15 points.

Washington State 71, Winthrop 40

DENVER — The Washington State Cougars broke away from a halftime tie to whip Winthrop in the East Regional behind 19 points and eight rebounds from Aron Baynes.

Kyle Weaver and Robbie Cowgill each had 14 and Derrick Low scored 11 for Washington State (25-8), which will play the Notre Dame-George Mason winner in the second round on Saturday at the Pepsi Center.

The Cougars, who are 51-16 under Tony Bennett, broke open a 29-29 halftime tie with a 23-4 run to cruise to their second straight opening-round win in the NCAA tournament.

After making 4 of 8 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Eagles (22-12) stayed away from Baynes and Cowgill down low and missed their first seven shots, four of them from three-point range.