‘Nova hangs on in Philly
Top-seeded Villanova had everything going its way, building a 12-point lead while the hometown crowd cheered and former coach Rollie Massimino looked on proudly.
Then, Arizona almost spoiled the party.
Allan Ray scored 25 points, Randy Foye had 24 and Villanova withstood a late run to hold off eighth-seeded Arizona 82-78 in Philadelphia. The Wildcats (27-4) advanced to play fourth-seeded Boston College in the Minneapolis Regional.
Villanova simply couldn’t put away a scrappy Arizona (20-13) team. Arizona’s Ivan Radenovic made a layup and Hassan Adams made two free throws with 1:36 left that cut the gap to 76-74. Foye sank two free throws, but missed two more on the next trip down to keep it a four-point game.
Arizona went to Radenovic again, and his basket with 16.8 seconds to go made it 78-76. Mustafa Shakur’s layup with 8.5 seconds pulled Arizona to 80-78, but it didn’t have enough time to finish the comeback.
Marcus Williams scored 24 points, Shakur had 21 and Adams 20 for Arizona.
At Dayton, Ohio (7) Georgetown (23-9) 70
(2) Ohio State (26-6) 52
Roy Hibbert scored 20 points, Jeff Green 19, Ashanti Cook 17 and Darrel Owens 14 to beat Ohio State in Dayton, Ohio.
Hibbert also had 14 rebounds and three blocked shots for coach John Thompson III, son of former Hoyas coach John Thompson.
After the final seconds ticked away, the happy Hoyas pointed to the elder Thompson at courtside, who stood, raised a fist and flashed a smile.
The trip to the regional semifinals comes in John Thompson III’s second season. His father, who built the feared and ferocious teams of the 1980s, went four seasons before winning twice in the 1976 NCAA tournament.
Georgetown advances to meet Florida on Friday.
It was a bitter loss for Ohio State. This marks the first time since 1996 that a Big Ten team hasn’t made it through the tournament’s first weekend.
Washington Regional
At Philadelphia (1) Connecticut (29-3) 87
(8) Kentucky (22-13) 83
The eagerly anticipated first meeting between Connecticut and Kentucky proved well worth the wait.
Connecticut took control early, then survived a strong comeback bid by the Wildcats in a victory in Philadelphia that put the No. 1 seeded Huskies into the next round.
Marcus Williams scored 20 points, including four clutch free throws in the final 30 seconds, and Rudy Gay had 19 for UConn, which faces Washington.
Patrick Sparks scored a career-high-tying 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting for Kentucky, which failed to reach the round of 16 for the third time in the last 12 seasons. The Wildcats are 3-8 against No. 1 seeds since the selection committee began using seeds in 1979.
Atlanta Regional
At Dallas (2) Texas (29-6) 75
(10) N.C. State (22-10) 54
Freshman guard A.J. Abrams scored 16 points after the starting backcourt of Daniel Gibson and Kenton Paulino got the Longhorns off to a fast start in Dallas.
Texas advanced to the NCAA round of 16 for the fourth time in five seasons, after their first-round exit a year ago. The Longhorns play West Virginia on Thursday.
Abrams scored 10 of his points in an eight-minute span of the second half when he came in after Paulino picked up his third foul.
At Auburn Hills, Mich. (6) West Virginia (22-10) 67
(14) Northwestern St. (22-8) 54
Kevin Pittsnogle scored 14 points to lead the Mountaineers to a win in Auburn Hills, Mich. West Virginia has won two games in back-to-back NCAAs for the first time since the famed Jerry West led it to the title game in 1959 and a regional semifinal the next year.
The Mountaineers led by as many as 25 in the second half, but had to hold off a late rally as the Demons pulled to 57-49 with four-plus minutes left.
Clifton Lee and Keenan Jones each scored 11 for the Demons, the lowest-seeded team to win in the first round.
Oakland Regional
At Dallas (1) Memphis (32-3) 72
(9) Bucknell (27-5) 56
Once their best player went out early with foul trouble, the Bucknell Bison didn’t have a chance against the mighty Memphis Tigers.
The Tigers took full advantage of the Charles Lee’s absence, outscoring the Bison 15-2 for a cushion they rode to victory in Dallas.
Antonio Anderson scored 13 points and Joey Dorsey added 12, helping Memphis win for the 21st time in 22 games. .
The Conference USA champs next take on 13th-seeded Bradley on Thursday in Oakland, Calif.
Chris McNaughton led Bucknell with 15 points.