TEXAS TECH 70, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 60
DALLAS -- Keenan Evans scored 19 of his 23 points after halftime and third-seeded Texas Tech surged late to top Stephen F. Austin 70-60 Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Big 12 runner-up Red Raiders (25-9) closed the game on a 13-2 run. Evans drove for a layup with 3:58 left, putting Texas Tech ahead to stay.
When Evans split through defenders with just over a minute left, he paused briefly to give a quick pose to the camera under the basket.
Evans had only four points in the first half, all on free throws while going 0 for 4 from the field. But he also ignited the highlight play of the night, chasing down an offensive rebound past midcourt and then throwing an alley-oop pass to 6-foot-5 freshman Zhaire Smith, who made a 360-degree spin in the air while completing the dunk.
Texas Tech advances to play Florida or St. Bonventure on Saturday.
SFA (28-7), the Southland Conference tournament champion, led by eight points early in the second half was trying to take down a Big 12 opponent in an NCAA opener for the second time in three seasons. The Lumberjacks beat West Virginia in their last tournament appearance two years ago before losing to Notre Dame.
Ivan Canete had 17 points to lead SFA, while Shannon Bougues had 14, Kevon Harris 12 and TJ Hoyfield 10.
Evan's go-ahead basket began a run that included another dunk by Smith on a pass from Justin Gray, and a 3-pointer from the right corner in front of the Tech bench by Florida transfer Brandone Francis.
Smith was the only other Tech player in double figures with 10 points.
The Red Raiders got their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2005, when advancing to the Sweet 16 with coach Bob Knight. But this is only their third appearance since, having lost first-round games in 2007 and 2016.
VILLANOVA 87, RADFORD 61
PITTSBURGH -- Jalen Brunson scored 16 points and No. 1 seed Villanova hit 14 three-pointers in a romp over Radford.
The Highlanders (23-13) posed no threat at becoming the first 16 seed to ever knock off a No. 1 in the tournament.
Villanova (31-4) played to near-perfection for the first 30 minutes and everyone played a role. Mikal Bridges had 13 points, Eric Paschall scored 11 and Omari Spellman had 10 points and 7 rebounds.
The Wildcats play Saturday against the winner of Virginia Tech-Alabama.
Radford, out of rural southwest Virginia, must have felt like it was playing against ace pop-a-shot players. Villanova led 69-37 with 11:45 left and was shooting 75 percent (25 of 34) overall and 60 percent (12 of 20) from three-point range.
The Wildcats turned an NCAA Tournament game into a glorified scrimmage.
Radford's Christian Bradford opened the game with a three-pointer and the bench erupted. The players should hope someone snapped a photo of the scoreboard as a souvenir for the one time the Highlanders led Villanova in this game.
The rest of the half was pure dominance by the Wildcats.
At one point, Brunson had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Radford? Just 10 total points on 4 of 20 from the floor.
Villanova started the game shooting 13 of 16. For those who struggle with math, that's a crisp 81 percent.
Phil Booth, Bridges, Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo all hit threes in succession to blow open the game. Even when the Wildcats put the ball on the floor, they embarrassed Radford -- Collin Gillespie juked guard Donald Hicks about out of his sneakers and the Highlander fell right on his behind.
Hicks led Radford with 13 points.
ALABAMA 86, VIRGINIA TECH 83
PITTSBURGH — Collin Sexton scored 21 of his team-high 24 points after halftime to lead Alabama to a victory over Virginia Tech for the Crimson Tide’s first NCAA Tournament victory in a dozen years.
John Petty kept ninth-seeded Alabama (20-15) in it while Sexton struggled during a sluggish opening half and finished with 20 points while shooting 6 of 8 on three-pointers. Sexton found a rhythm in the second half, including a handful of big shots over the final five minutes to give the Crimson Tide a bit of breathing room.
FLORIDA 77,
ST. BONAVENTURE 62
DALLAS — Egor Koulechov scored 20 points and Florida (21-12) eased past St. Bonaventure (26-8), ending the Bonnies’ postseason run two days after their first NCAA Tournament victory in 48 years.
Jalen Hudson scored 16 points and Chris Chiozza had 11 assists for the sixth-seeded Gators, who have reached the Elite Eight the past five times they’ve been in the tournament.
Sports on 03/16/2018