Tennessee too much for Ohio; ’Nova upset

Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I.

J.P. Prince scored 18 points, and Brian Williams and Wayne Chism had 12 rebounds apiece to lead sixth-seeded Tennessee over No. 14 Ohio, 83-68.

It’s the third time in four years Bruce Pearl’s Volunteers have reached the NCAA’s second weekend. Tennessee (27-8) will play the winner of today’s Ohio State-Georgia Tech game in the round of 16.

Tommy Freeman scored 23 points for Ohio, which was the lowest seed to get out of the first round. But he got little help from Armon Bassett and freshman D.J. Cooper, the guards who starred in the first-round victory over third-seeded Georgetown. They combined for 23 points on 7-of-23 shooting against Tennessee.

The Bobcats (22-15) trailed by six midway through the second half before the Vols went on a 10-1 run to put it away.

No. 10 Saint Mary’s 75, No. 2 Villanova 68

Omar Samhan was an unstoppable Gael force, and Saint Mary’s earned a surprising spot in the NCAA tournament’s round of 16.

Samhan played the game of his career on college basketball’s biggest stage, finishing with 32 points and seven rebounds to lead 10th-seeded Saint Mary’s past No. 2 Villanova and on to Houston for the South Regional semifinals.

Mickey McConnell stopped and fired an arcing 25-footer that banked high off the glass to give the Gaels (28-5) a 68-65 lead with 1:15 left.

Samhan used a two-handed block to turn back Reggie Redding, and McConnell made both ends of a 1-and-1 to make it 70-65.

Star guard Scottie Reynolds struggled again, and the Wildcats (25-8) made an early exit a year after they played in the Final Four. They started 20-1 and collapsed at the end.

No. 3 Baylor 76, No. 11 Old Dominion 68

NEW ORLEANS

With its first NCAA tournament victory in 60 years out of the way, Baylor has now earned an extended stay.

LaceDarius Dunn scored 26 points and the third-seeded Bears outlasted No. 11 Old Dominion in the second round of the South Regional.

Baylor squandered a 14-point first-half lead but went on a late 8-1 run to pull away. Now, the Bears (27-7) head back to their home state to play Saint Mary’s in Houston in the round of 16.

Baylor struggled to beat Sam Houston State in the first round for its first NCAA tournament win since 1950, but the Bears arrived loose and confident against Old Dominion, taking a double-digit lead amid a barrage of early 3-pointers and alley-oops.

After the Monarchs (27-9) rallied to take the lead in the second half, Baylor received a big lift from 7-footer Josh Lomers, who tied a career high with 14 points, 12 in the second half.

Kentucky 90, Wake Forest 60

Darius Miller scored a career-high 20 points and top-seeded Kentucky made easy work of Wake Forest.

It was the second blowout in two games for the Wildcats (34-2), who crushed East Tennessee State 100-71 in their opener.

Miller scored 16 points in the first half to help the Wildcats build an early double-digit lead that ballooned beyond 30 in the second half.

DeMarcus Cousins added 19 points for Kentucky, while John Wall scored 14 and Eric Bledsoe 13.

Al-Farouq Aminu led Wake Forest (20-11) with 16 points.

No. 11 Washington 82, No. 3 New Mexico 64

SAN JOSE, Calif.

Quincy Pondexter scored 18 points, Isaiah Thomas added 15 and 11th-seeded Washington extended its incredible late-season surge all the way to the regional semifinals with a second-round victory over New Mexico.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies (26-9), who have won nine straight, including the Pac-10 tournament and wins over two higher-seeded opponents in the East Regional at the Shark Tank.

Washington ran right past the third-seeded Lobos (30-5), who couldn’t keep up with the breakneck pace and fell behind by 23 midway through the second half.

The Huskies advanced to play next week in Syracuse, N.Y., against the winner of today’s West Virginia-Missouri game. Washington is in the round of 16 for the third time since 2005.

Dairese Gary matched his career high with 25 points for New Mexico, which had a 15-game winning streak and a No. 8 national ranking before losing the Mountain West tournament final last weekend.

Kansas State 84, BYU 72

OKLAHOMA CITY

Jacob Pullen scored 20 of his career-high 34 points in the first half to help dig Kansas State out of an early 10-point hole, and the Wildcats turned away Jimmer Fredette and BYU.

Pullen came alive with a scoring flurry shortly after he and Fredette got tangled up in transition in the first half, and K-State (28-7) wouldn’t trail again in earning its first round of 16 appearance since 1988.

Pullen surpassed 30 points for the third time in his career and helped seal the victory with a 3-pointer and six free throws down the stretch. Equally as important as his scoring was his physical defense against Fredette, who had scored 37 points to get the seventh-seeded Cougars (30-6) past Florida in double overtime in the first round.

Fredette finished with 21 points on 4-of-13 shooting.