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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

East, Southwest and West game capsules

East

At Tampa, Fla.

(5) West Virginia84

(12) Clemson76

Darryl Bryant scored 19 points and Kevin Jones added 17 to help the Mountaineers (21-11) down the Tigers (22-12). West Virginia took advantage of a fatigued opponent playing its second game in just more than 36 hours.

Bryant’s four-point play and a long 3-pointer by Jones that tied it at 40 at the half highlighted a game-changing 28-8 run that enabled West Virginia to turn a 10-point deficit into a 57-47 lead.

(4) Kentucky59

(13) Princeton57

Freshman Brandon Knight, held scoreless for more than 39 minutes, made a driving layup with 2 seconds remaining to lift the Wildcats (26-8) past the Tigers (25-7). Knight missed his first seven shots and even found himself on the bench in the closing minute.

But coach John Calipari, who proclaimed, “You can’t count on freshmen” a day earlier, put the ball in Knight’s hands with the game on the line. Knight delivered, and Big Blue advanced to face West Virginia in the third round Saturday.

Southwest

At Denver

(13) Morehead State62

(4) Louisville61

Demonte Harper made a 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 4.2 seconds left to lead the Eagles (25-9) to the upset over the Cardinals (25-10).

After Harper’s go-ahead basket, the Cardinals had a chance to win it, but Morehead’s Kenneth Faried blocked Mike Marra’s attempt.

Terrance Hill scored a career-high 23 points for the Eagles. Chris Smith had 17 points for Louisville.

( 12) Richmond69

(5) Vanderbilt66

Kevin Anderson scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half, including a floater with 18.7 seconds remaining that helped seal the Spiders’ (28-7) upset over the Commodores (23-11).

Vanderbilt had a chance to tie the game with 2.5 seconds left, but Rod Odom’s desperation heave was nowhere near the hoop as time expired.

West

At Tucson

(7) Temple66

(10) Penn State64

Juan Fernandez sank an off-balance 18-footer with less than 1 second to play to give the Owls (26-7) the win over the Nittany Lions (19-15).

The win ended Temple coach Fran Dunphy’s NCAA tournament record 11-game losing streak. Fernandez, double-teamed as time was running out, got off a shot off his right foot while fading to his left just inside the 3-point line.

Fernandez and Ramone Moore scored 23 points each for the Owls. Talor Battle scored 23 for the Nittany Lions.

(2) San Diego St.68

(15) N.Colorado50

Kawhi Leonard had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and the Aztecs (33-2) survived Devon Beitzel’s scoring burst to win their first NCAA tournament game.

The Aztecs had their hands full with the Bears (21-11) of the Big Sky early, looking like that NCAA winless streak would hit seven games.

San Diego State pulled away behind its defense in the second half, holding Northern Colorado scoreless for nearly 7 minutes to avoid the upset.

At Washington DC

(3) Connecticut81

(14) Bucknell52

Kemba Walker had 18 points, a career-high 12 assists and eight rebounds, and No. 3 seed Connecticut earned coach Jim Calhoun his 850th career victory.

Roscoe Smith scored 17 for the Huskies (27-9), who showed no signs of fatigue after winning five games in five days last week to capture the Big East tournament.

Walker’s 12 assists were a school record for an NCAA tournament game. Mike Muscala scored 14 points for the 14th-seeded Bison (25-9).

(6) Cincinnati78

(11) Missouri63

Yancy Gates had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Cincinnati (26-8) made a successful return to the NCAA tournament with a win over Missouri.

The sixth-seeded Bearcats used their stalwart defense to hold the run-all-the-time Tigers to 29 percent shooting in the first half and 38 percent for the game. Ricardo Ratliffe scored 13 points for the Tigers (23-11).