Dayton upsets Ohio State in first game
Dayton coach Archie Miller has known Ohio State’s Thad Matta long enough to not be fooled by his mentor’s friendly, outgoing demeanor.
“You know how it is. He’ll walk around with a smile on his face,” Miller said Wednesday. “But he’s going to try to stomp your head in the first chance you get.”
Miller then broke into a smile and referred to Matta as “a good guy,” while acknowledging how special it was to spend two seasons working as Matta’s assistant at Columbus.
As if the so-called “Battle of Ohio” needed further subplots with Ohio State (25-6), the South Region’s sixth seed, preparing to face 11th-seeded Dayton (23-10) in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Buffalo on Thursday.
The coaches have known each other for some 20 years, since Matta was an assistant at Miami, Ohio, and first came across Miller in elementary school. Dayton’s starting guard Jordan Sibert spent two seasons with the Buckeyes before transferring to Dayton.
And then there’s the little matter of in-state bragging rights on the line between two schools separated by 75 miles.
Matta called the Buckeye state buzz a little overstated.
“I think people want to put tags on situations,” Matta said. “But for us, and for Dayton, you win or you go home. There’s not a whole lot more than that.”
Harvard 61, Cincinnati 57: Siyani Chambers scored 11 points, including five straight in the final two minutes, and 12th-seeded Harvard won its second NCAA tournament game in history, upsetting fifth-seeded Cincinnati 61-57 in the East Regional.
Wesley Saunders led the Crimson (27-4) with 12 points as Harvard pulled off an upset for the second straight year. Last year, Harvard upset New Mexico as a 14 seed.
The Crimson became the first Ivy League school with NCAA tournament wins in consecutive years since Princeton in 1983-84.
Wisconsin 75, American 35: Ben Brust scored 17 points and second-seeded Wisconsin devastated American, 75-35, with a 22-5 run to close the first half.
Michigan State 93, Delaware 78: Adreian Payne scored a career-high 41 points to get Michigan State off to a solid start in the NCAA tournament with a 93-78 victory over Delaware.
Payne, a 6-10 senior, scored 12 straight points in the first half to help the fourth-seeded Spartans (27-8) to an 18-point lead.
He set an NCAA tournament record by making all 17 of his free throws and broke the program’s tournament scoring record, set previously by Greg Kelser in 1979.
Florida 67, Albany 55: Dorian Finney-Smith scored 16 points, most of them on dunks, and top-seeded Florida used a second-half surge to beat No. 16 seed Albany 67-55 in the NCAA tournament.
The Gators (33-2) showed some vulnerability, though, while extending their school-record winning streak to 27 games.
Coach Billy Donovan’s team sleepwalked through the first half, swapping the lead back and forth with the pesky Great Danes, but Florida’s bench provided a much-needed spark.
Oregon 87, BYU 68: No. 10 seed BYU had four players score in double figures, but it struggled to contain Elgin Cook and seventh-seeded Oregon in an 87-68 loss in the NCAA tournament.
Connecticut 89, St. Joe’s 81: Shabazz Napier shook off a miss at the second-half buzzer to score nine of his 24 points in overtime and lead seventh-seeded Connecticut to a 89-81 win over Saint Joseph’s in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
DeAndre Daniels scored 18 while freshman center Amida Brimah forced overtime by completing a three-point play in the final minute for UConn (27-8). The Huskies won their first tournament game under coach Kevin Ollie, who took over two years ago after Jim Calhoun stepped down due to health issues.
With the game tied at 70 entering overtime, Daniels opened the scoring by completed a three-point play with 3:47 left during a 5-minute period the Huskies never trailed.
Michigan 57, Wofford 40: Glenn Robinson III scored 14 points and second-seeded Michigan started their quest for a second straight trip to the Final Four by beating 15th-seeded Wofford 57-40.