Visits: 2
Early in Louisiana State’s basketball season, Coach Will Wade impressed upon his dynamic sophomore guard, Tremont Waters, the importance of ball security by telling him the basketball was like the state of Louisiana.
“If I turn the ball over,” Waters said Friday, “then it’s not good for the state and obviously for our basketball program as a whole.”
Wade, who is suspended indefinitely after being linked to a recruiting scandal, did not accompany the Tigers to their N.C.A.A. tournament games in Jacksonville, Fla. But his advice still resonates for Waters, who ran Louisiana State’s final possession against Maryland on Saturday to perfection, punctuating an intrepid dribble drive with a scoop shot that sent the team to victory.
The No. 3 Tigers avoided what would have been a dreadful collapse against Maryland, beating the No. 6 Terrapins, 69-67, on Waters’s lay-in with 1.6 seconds remaining. Louisiana State advances to play a second consecutive Big Ten team, Michigan State or Minnesota, on Friday night in Washington in what will be its first trip to the round of 16 since 2006, when it reached the Final Four.
To slip Maryland on Saturday, Louisiana State overcame a miserable stretch in the second half, when the Terrapins’ 3-2 zone forced the Tigers into taking deep outside shots. Maryland erased a 15-point deficit, and the teams traded leads until the Terrapins tied the score one final time, on Jalen Smith’s 3-pointer with 25.8 seconds left.
Playing for the final shot, L.S.U. put the ball in the hands of Waters, who started moving toward the basket with about six seconds left. He dribbled toward the 6-foot-10 Smith, hesitated, then ducked around him before flipping an underhand shot off the glass.
Kentucky Sweats Out Wofford
Second-seeded Kentucky clamped down on Fletcher Magee and beat Wofford, 62-56, in a second-round game in Jacksonville, Fla. It was Wofford’s first loss in 22 games. Reid Travis had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (29-6), who advanced to the round of 16.
Magee finished with 8 points on 4-of-17 shooting. He missed all 12 of his shots from behind the arc. The Terriers hit 8 of 27 from 3-point range, including 3 of 15 in the second half.
Nathan Hoover led Wofford (30-5) with 19 points and made four 4s. (AP)
Sunday’s Games
All three No. 1 seeds in action on Sunday reached this point by following a similar, if undesired, formula: They struggled early, stabilized around halftime, then dominated in the second half. Of the three, Duke has Sunday’s most intriguing matchup — and not only because Central Florida Coach Johnny Dawkins once assisted, and played for, Mike Krzyzewski at Duke. The most delicious subplot involves the Blue Devils’ dunker extraordinaire, Zion Williamson, and whether he will attempt to slam on the Knights’ Tacko Fall, who, at 7-foot-6, is nearly a foot taller.
“It’s very hard,” Fall told NCAA.com. “I mean, I won’t allow it. I won’t allow it. I won’t allow him putting me on one of his highlight tapes.”
Central Florida is one of the four No. 9 seeds that moved on, joining Washington, Baylor and Oklahoma in sweeping the No. 8 teams for the first time since 2001. Oklahoma faces Virginia, which, with a victory, would draw what could be the least daunting matchup in the round of 16.
It is the Cavaliers’ good fortune — and, really, no team needed some good fortune more than Virginia after its unceremonious early departure from last year’s N.C.A.A. tournament — that upsets abounded in their quarter of the bracket. Either No. 12 Oregon or No. 13 University of California, Irvine, awaits in the South Region semifinals. The Ducks have won their last nine, the Anteaters have won their last 17 — so, umm, never mind about that least daunting matchup thing.
“I told our guys don’t look at numbers,” Oregon Coach Dana Altman said. “That’s one thing about seeds: People look at numbers, and, man, you can’t do that. They’ve won, what, 31 games. Haven’t lost forever. I don’t care.”
Oregon and U.C. Irvine each won in San Jose, Calif., where another low-seeded team, Liberty, No. 12 in the East, toppled No. 5 Mississippi State. Liberty trailed by 10 points with about seven minutes left when Coach Ritchie McKay called a timeout.
“I said if we come back, we’ll go to In-N-Out Burger,” McKay said when asked what he said in the huddle that possibly could have ignited the Flames’ 27-13 closing run.
More burgers could be in the offing if the Flames, who have won 11 of their last 12 games, can defeat their neighbor in the Old Dominion state, No. 4 Virginia Tech, whose campus is situated just 90 miles from Liberty’s.
Until this college basketball season, perhaps the lone link between Houston and Buffalo was their role in the largest comeback in N.F.L. history, when the Bills overcame a 32-point deficit to oust the Oilers from the playoffs in 1993. The cities’ namesake colleges have won the most games, 32, and, with three losses each, are tied with Gonzaga and Virginia for the fewest defeats.
Their ascension from cuddly midmajors to bona fide behemoths will be on further display Sunday in Tulsa, Okla., where Buffalo, No. 6 in the West, will face No. 3 Texas Tech, and Houston, No. 3 in the Midwest, will play No. 11 Ohio State, which edged Iowa State to improve the Big Ten’s first-round record to 7-1.
“We’ve won 32 games,” Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson said. “One thing that we know how to do is we know how to win a game. That’s apparent.”
