Northwestern got its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, 68-66 over Vanderbilt, after Commodores guard Matthew Fisher-Davis inexplicably grabbed Wildcats guard Bryant McIntosh on purpose, sending McIntosh to the free throw line for the go-ahead points with 15 seconds left.
Vandy with the late go-ahead bucket! And then… the… foul????? pic.twitter.com/qDI1ANU3NC
Riley LaChance made a layup with 18 seconds remaining in Thursday’s game to put the ninth-seeded Commodores up by one after trailing by as many as 15.
But seconds after the in-bounds pass, Fisher-Davis reached out and grabbed McIntosh while he was in the backcourt. That put eighth-seeded Northwestern in the double bonus, and McIntosh went to the line and calmly swished the free throws with 15 seconds left.
LaChance missed a 3 on the next possession and eighth-seeded Northwestern (24-11) got another free throw.
Vanderbilt head coach Bryce Drew reacts to the costly error late in the second half on Thursday. (Rick Bowmer/The Associated Press)
(12)Middle Tennessee 81, (5)Minnesota 72
Reggie Upshaw scored 19 points, Giddy Potts added 15 and Middle Tennessee took down another Big Ten team in the NCAA Tournament, beating Minnesota 81-72.
Twelfth-seeded Middle Tennessee proved it was no one-year wonder after upsetting Michigan State as a No. 15 seed last March.
The Blue Raiders (31-4) instead played like seasoned NCAA veterans with the way they held off the Gophers’ comeback attempt from a 17-point deficit in front of a loud and large contingent of Minnesota fans.
Upshaw responded with seven straight points, including a 3-pointer and a reverse layup during a 7-3 run to help give Middle Tennessee a 10-point lead with 3:40 left.
No. 12 Middle Tennessee State’s JaCorey Williams celebrates an 81-72 victory No. 5-ranked Minnesota on Thursday. (Morry Gash/The Associated Press)
Coach Kermit Davis’ club will move on to face No. 4 seed Butler in the second round on Saturday.
A season of redemption came to an end for fifth-seeded Minnesota (24-10), which bounced back from an eight-win season in 2015-16 to return to the NCAAs.
(5)Notre Dame 60, (12)Princeton 58
Bonzie Colson scored 18 points and Notre Dame survived a first-round NCAA Tournament scare by pulling out a 60-58 win over Princeton.
The West Region’s 12th-seeded Tigers had a chance to pull ahead on their final possession, but Devin Cannady missed an open 3-pointer just before the final horn. Notre Dame’s Steve Vasturia pulled down the rebound and was fouled.
V.J. Beachem, right, of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish held on to beat Myles Stephens of the Princeton Tigers during the first round of the 2017 NCAA tournament on Thursday. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The Fighting Irish (26-9) nearly squandered an 11-point second half lead. Guard Matt Farrell scored 16 points, but missed the front end of a one-and-one with Notre Dame up 59-58.
Spencer Weisz led the Tigers with 15 points. The Ivy League champion Tigers (23-7) had a 19-game winning streak going into the NCAA Tournament.
(5)Virginia 76, (13)UNC Wilmington 71
London Perrantes scored 24 points, Ottawa’s Marial Shayok added a career-high 23 off the bench and No. 5 seed Virginia rallied from 15 points down to beat 13th-seeded UNC Wilmington.
Perrantes scored 19 points in the second half as the Cavaliers (23-10) got their slow-paced offence going. His biggest bucket was a driving bank shot with 1:37 remaining, which put the Cavs up 71-66.
UNCW (29-6) wouldn’t go away, though. Chris Flemmings drained a 3-pointer from the elbow and then Devontae Cacok hit a layup to make it 73-71 with less than a minute to play. But Shayok answered on the other end, banking in a runner that gave the Cavs some breathing room in the closing seconds.
Virginia advanced past the first round for the fourth consecutive year and won as a No. 5 seed for the first time in four tries. The Cavs can thank Perrantes and Shayok for making it happen.
(4)Butler 76, (13)Winthrop 64
Avery Woodson scored 18 points and tied a career high with six 3-pointers in his tournament debut to lead Butler to win over Winthrop.
Woodson, a graduate transfer from Memphis, hit five 3s in the first half to help the fourth-seeded Bulldogs build a 14-point halftime lead.
A 12-2 run in the middle of the second half gave Butler a 60-43 lead with less than eight minutes left and put the game out of reach for the 13th-seeded Eagles.
Xavier Cooks had 23 points to lead Big South champion Winthrop (26-7).
(4)West Virginia 86, (13)Bucknell 80
Nathan Adrian had 12 points and 10 rebounds, leading West Virginia to an 86-80 win over Bucknell.
Tarik Phillip scored 16 points for the West Region’s fourth-seeded Mountaineers, who struggled at times with the outside-shooting Bison. West Virginia (27-9) avoided a repeat of last year’s first-round meltdown when the third-seeded Mountaineers lost to Stephen F. Austin.
This win sets up a meeting against the region’s fifth-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who hung on for a 60-58 win over Princeton earlier on Thursday.
