Valpo’s Miracle Just The Way They Drew It Up Crusaders Win With Play That Rarely Works

Midwest Regional

The play, called “Pacer,” is like many Valparaiso practices for game-ending situations.

They usually don’t work.

“We run those plays every day and we’re like, ‘Coach, why are we running this stuff?”’ Bryce Drew said.

For times like Friday, that’s why.

The play that seldom works in practice worked perfectly in the final 2.5 seconds. Jamie Sykes, a major-league baseball prospect, threw a long pass to Bill Jenkins, who tipped the ball to Drew on the right wing. Drew, who plays for his father, Homer, made a leaning 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the No. 13 seed Crusaders a 70-69 victory over fourth-seeded Mississippi in a first-round game in Oklahoma City.

Jenkins, a 6-6 forward who led the Crusaders with 11 rebounds, went up in traffic and was able to get Sykes’ pass and send it in the direction of Drew, who was streaking by on his left.

“The ball left his hand and the only thing I could do was jump as high as I could and try to find Bryce,” Jenkins said. “God made it happen.”

Drew, who finished with 22 points, had made three 3-pointers before his game-winner but also had missed seven.

“You never think those are going to work, but you can’t draw it up any better,” Bryce Drew said.

Florida St. 96, TCU 87

The Seminoles (18-13), the lowest-seeded at-large team in the tournament, defeated the Horned Frogs (27-6) in a first-round matchup in Oklahoma City.

The 12th-seeded Seminoles, who will play Valparaiso on Sunday, closed the regular season by losing six of seven games. But they showed the form that got them off to a 13-1 start, including victories over Connecticut and Arizona.

Corey Louis and Randell Jackson scored 20 each for Florida State.

Lee Nailon had 32 points and eight rebounds for TCU, but fouled out with 4:15 remaining and the Horned Frogs trailing 84-80.

Kansas 110, Prairie View A&M 52

The Jayhawks (35-3) looked every bit like a top seed, rolling over the 16th-seeded Panthers (13-17) in a first-round game in Oklahoma City.

The Panthers didn’t make a field goal until the 13:37 mark of the first half to make the score 20-5. They started out 0 of 9 from the floor, and later were 2 of 18 and 4 of 25. They wound up 17 of 73 (23 percent).

Rhode Island 97, Murray St. 74

Antonio Reynolds-Dean had 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks to lead the Rams (23-8) past the Racers (29-4) in a first-round game in Oklahoma City.

The eighth-seeded Rams, who will play Kansas on Sunday, surged to a 44-24 halftime lead as No. 9 Murray State shot 27 percent from the field.

Stanford 67, Coll. of Charleston 57

Mark Madsen had 16 points and 17 rebounds and Ryan Mendez made two big 3-pointers, including the tiebreaking basket with 3:05 to play, as the third-seeded Cardinal (27-4) defeated the 14th-seeded Cougars (24-6) in a first-round game in Chicago.

Madsen tipped in a basket, Mendez made a free throw and Madsen scored on another rebound to put Stanford ahead after trailing 52-48. After a tip-in by Johnson, Mendez made a 3-pointer from the left baseline to put Stanford up 56-54.

Carl Thomas tied it for Charleston before Mendez swished an NBA-length 3-pointer to put Stanford ahead to stay.

Western Michigan 75, Clemson 72

Rashod Johnson made eight 3-pointers, converting one into a go-ahead four-point play with 1:31 left as the Broncos (21-7) defeated the sixth-seeded Tigers (18-14) in Chicago.

Eleventh-seeded Western Michigan will play No. 3 seed Stanford on Sunday.

Detroit 66, St. John’s 64

Derrick Hayes scored 27 points as the Titans (25-5) defeated the Red Storm (22-10) in Chicago.

It was the Titans’ first NCAA Tournament victory since 1977, when Dick Vitale was their coach.

Tenth-seeded Detroit will play in Sunday’s second round against Purdue.

Purdue 95, Delaware 56

Mike Robinson scored 19 points and the second-seeded Boilermakers (27-7) raced to an 18-0 lead during their rout of the No. 15-seeded Blue Hens (20-10) in a first-round game in Chicago.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: On TV today 9 a.m.: North Carolina vs. UNCC 11:30 a.m.: Michigan St. vs. Princeton 1:30 p.m.: Richmond vs. Washington 4 p.m. Arizona vs. Illinois St. All games on CBS