MARSHALL 81, WICHITA STATE 75
SAN DIEGO -- Jon Elmore scored 27 points and Jarrod West hit a huge three-pointer with three minutes left to help No. 13 seed Marshall topple fourth-seeded Wichita State 81-75 Friday in the East Region.
The Thundering Herd (25-10) also got big shots down the stretch from Ajdin Penava and C.J. Burks to win in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1987. Marshall plays West Virginia in the next round.
Wichita State (25-8) got 27 points from Conner Frankamp and seemed to be in control midway through the second half, but the Thundering Herd refused to fade despite its lack of NCAA tourney experience.
After Frankamp's long jumper gave the Shockers a 70-69 lead with just less than 5 minutes to go, Penava made a layup. The next time down the floor, West buried a long three and raised his right hand in celebration after giving the Thundering Herd a 74-70 lead.
Shaquille Morris responded with a slam dunk for the Shockers before the 6-foot-9 Penava made another layup and Burks had a steal and a layup to give Marshall a six-point lead.
Frankamp hit a three with 44.1 seconds left before Marshall benefited from a critical call. With 36.2 seconds left, Zach Brown of Wichita State blocked a shot by Jannson Williams and the ball went out of bounds. After a long video review, the referees awarded the ball to Marshall, and Penava had a slam dunk off an inbounds pass.
Wichita State blew several chances to pull any closer. Landry Shamet missed the front end of a one-and-one with 28.9 seconds remaining and the Shockers then missed two three-point attempts in the next 12 seconds before turning the ball over.
Penava scored 16 points, Burks 13 and Williams 10. Morris had 12 for the Shockers and Shamet 11.
Elmore scored nine consecutive points midway through the second half, including two three-pointers, to help Marshall keep pace after it allowed the Shockers to go on a 15-1 run spanning halftime.
Frankamp responded with threes on consecutive possessions for Wichita State.
PURDUE 74, CALIFORNIA STATE-FULLERTON 48
DETROIT -- Carsen Edwards scored 15 points and second-seeded Purdue eventually shook off the rust from a long layoff and routed Cal State Fullerton to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Playing for the first time in nearly two weeks after losing to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament final, the Boilermakers (29-6) struggled to make shots down low and beyond the three-point line and simply looked out of sync.
Purdue advanced to face Butler.
The Titans (20-12) led midway through the first half, and then Edwards took over. He had a go-ahead layup and scored seven more points to help Purdue lead 31-20 at halftime.
The Big West Tournament champions couldn't put up much resistance in the second half as Purdue started making three-pointers and using its Big Ten big bodies score inside to lead by 20-plus points.
WEST VIRGINIA 85, MURRAY STATE 68
SAN DIEGO -- Jevon Carter had 21 points, 8 assists and 6 steals, Teddy Allen added 16 points and No. 5 seed West Virginia overwhelmed No. 12 seed Murray State.
The Mountaineers (25-10) pulled away in the second half and advanced to the round of 32 for the third time in the past four seasons as four players finished in double figures.
Next up for West Virginia: A Mountain State showdown with No. 13 seed Marshall far away from home.
Carter had 13 points in the second half and was the trigger of a second-half surge by the Mountaineers after Murray State had trimmed a 14-point lead down to five.
Terrell Miller led Murray State (26-6) with 27 points, but he was the only Racers player to shoot well. Miller made 8 of 11 shots, but his team hit just 41 percent. Murray State had won 13 consecutive games entering the NCAAs, the second-longest active win streak in the country.
Sports on 03/17/2018