Men’s College basketball roundup Wednesday’s tournament games

NCAA TOURNAMENT

UC Davis 67, North Carolina Central 63

DAYTON

Chima Moneke had 18 points and 12 rebounds as UC Davis won in its first NCAA Tournament appearance, beating North Carolina Central in a First Four game. The 16th-seeded Aggies rallied in the second half and held off North Carolina Central down the stretch to earn a trip to Tulsa to play No. 1 seed Kansas on Friday. Brynton Lemar scored 15 points and Lawrence White added 14 for UC Davis, which had earned a trip to the tournament by winning the Big West Conference Tournament. The Aggies (23-12) won despite 18 turnovers that led to 20 points for streaky North Carolina Central. But the Eagles couldn’t overcome poor shooting that deteriorated even more in the second half. The Eagles pulled within 64-63 with 1:49 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Dajuan Graf. North Carolina Central got the ball back with 37 seconds left, but another 3-point try by Graf was off the mark. Graf had to foul Lawrence White, who made two free throws with 16 second remaining to give the Eagles some breathing room. Lemar hit a foul shot with 4 seconds left to put it away.

USC 75, Providence 71

DAYTON

Bennie Boatwright scored a career-high 24 points as Southern Cal rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half to beat Providence. The comeback victory was revenge for the Trojans, who lost to Providence by one point in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last year. They move on to play 6th-seeded SMU at Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Friday. After Providence led by 15 points at halftime and went up by 17 to start the second half, Southern Cal (25-9) mounted a furious rally. The Trojans closed it to five points at the 10-minute mark, and went up 61-60 on a jumper by Chimezie Metu off a turnover with 6:46 left. Metu hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to put Southern Cal up 71-64 with 1:23 remaining and kept Providence from getting back into it down the stretch. Jordan McLaughlin scored 18 points for Southern Cal, and Metu added 15 on 9-for-12 free throw shooting.Emmitt Holt led Providence with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jalen Lindsey and Rodney Bullock added 17 each.

NIT

Akron 78, Houston 75

HOUSTON

Isaiah Johnson scored 21 points and Noah Robotham made four free throws in the final 18 seconds to send Akron to a victory over Houston, setting a school record with its 27th victory. The seventh-seeded Zips (27-8), regular-season champs of the Mid-American Conference, will play the winner of BYU-UT Arlington in the second round. Jimond Ivey added 10 points and three other Zips had nine each, including Robotham, who made all six of his free throws. A Johnson free throw broke the game’s final tie with 38 seconds to go at 74-73, and then he intercepted a pass under Houston’s basket forcing the Cougars to foul Robotham. Houston’s Rob Gray Jr. made a layup in traffic before Robotham added his final free throws. Gray finished with 24 points and Damyean Dotson, who hit the 1,000 career-points mark, scored 19 for the second-seeded Cougars (21-11), third-place finishers in the American Athletic Conference. There were 16 lead changes and 15 ties with neither team leading by more than seven.

Illinois State 85, UC Irvine 71

NORMAL, ILL.

Deontae Hawkins made a career-high six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points to lead Illinois State to an victory over UC Irvine. Top-seeded Illinois State (28-6) bounced back from a loss to Wichita State in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title game, and will play No. 4 seed Central Florida (22-11) in the second round. Hawkins was 8 of 11 from the floor and made all six 3-point attempts. MiKyle McIntosh and Paris Lee added 13 points apiece for the Redbirds.

Iowa 87, South Dakota 75

IOWA CITY, IOWA

Freshmen Jordan Bohannon scored 19 points with 11 assists, fellow newcomer Tyler Cook scored 18 with eight rebounds and Iowa won over South Dakota. Senior Peter Jok had 20 to lead the Hawkeyes (19-14), one of four top seeds in the 32-team event. Iowa couldn’t quite shake South Dakota, which excelled at crashing the offensive glass and getting to the free-throw line. But the Hawkeyes finally took a double-digit lead on Ahmad Wagner’s layup with 8:31 left, and Wagner’s layup a minute later made it 68-54.

TCU 66, Fresno State 59

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

Kenrich Williams had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his 15th double-double this season and TCU defeated Fresno State. In the second round, TCU, a No. 4 seed, will play Iowa, a No. 1 seed, in the next round. Alex Robinson scored 14 points with five assists for the Horned Frogs (20-15), who held on to win despite missing 4 of 8 free throws in the final 1 1/2 minutes and 16 of 29 for the game. Deshon Taylor scored 13 points and Jaron Hopkins 12 for the fifth-seeded Bulldogs (20-13), who missed four shots in the last 18 seconds.

Syracuse 90, UNC Greensboro 77

SYRACUSE, N.Y.

Andrew White III made seven of his nine 3-point attempts and scored 34 points in leading Syracuse to a victory over UNC Greensboro, giving coach Jim Boeheim a landmark 903rd win. Boeheim moved a victory ahead of Bob Knight for second place all-time in Division I basketball. Boeheim’s total does not include 101 wins vacated as a result of NCAA penalties. White set the Syracuse single-season record with 109 3-pointers, on 269 attempts.

UCF 79, Colorado 74

ORLANDO, FLA.

B.J. Taylor scored 26 points, A.J. Davis added 17 and Central Florida held off Colorado’s late rally. Matt Williams also scored 17 points for No. 4 seed UCF (22-11), playing in its first postseason in five years. The Knights will face the Illinois State-UC Irvine winner in the second round. Colorado used a 15-4 run in a 1:28 span to pull to 77-74 with 14 seconds left. Derrick White made a 3-pointer and converted a 3-point play during the stretch.

Belmont 78, Georgia 69

ATHENS, GA.

Dylan Windler scored 21 points and Belmont hit 14 3-pointers to beat Georgia. No. 7 seed Belmont (23-6) has won five of its last six games and will play at sixth-seeded Georgia Tech (19-15) in the second round. The Bulldogs played without their second- and third-leading scorers, Yante Maten and Juwan Parker. Maten, the Southeastern Conference’s fourth-leading scorer with 18.2 ppg, suffered a setback from his knee sprain following the SEC Tournament, while Parker suffered a partial tear to his right Achilles.

Associated Press