Mar 20, 2015 5 min read

Denzel Valentine scored 16 points and went 6 for 6 at the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to help Michigan State hold off Georgia 70-63 on Friday in the NCAA Tournament’s round of 64.

Travis Trice scored 15 points and Branden Dawson had a strong second half for the seventh-seeded Spartans (24-11), who answered a push from the Bulldogs with a poised run to take back control.

They weren’t so steady coming down the stretch, flirting with blowing a 10-point lead in the final 1:16. Valentine’s free throws were critical as Georgia (21-12) rallied to make it a one-possession game.

Michigan State advanced to face second-seeded Virginia in Sunday’s round of 32.

Charles Mann scored 19 points to lead the 10th-seeded Bulldogs.

Virginia 79, Belmont 67: Malcolm Brogdon scored 22 points and Justin Anderson re-emerged as a scoring threat for second-seeded Virginia.

Anderson had 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting and Anthony Gill added 16 points as the Cavaliers (30-3) moved on to face No. 7 seed Michigan State on Sunday.

Anderson, playing with his broken left pinky taped to his ring finger, scored for the first time since Feb. 7 against Louisville.

Like last year when Virginia avoided a historic upset and held on to beat 16th-seeded Coastal Carolina, the Cavaliers needed a late second-half push to advance.

Northern Iowa 71, Wyoming 54: Paul Jesperson led five Northern Iowa players in double figures with 16 points and Sean Tuttle added 14 and the fifth-seeded Panthers.

Northern Iowa (31-3) built a 21-point lead after scoring 11 of the first 12 points to start the second half. That lead was whittled to seven points twice but the Cowboys could get no closer. Wes Washpun scored eight of his 10 points in the final 9 minutes to help the Panthers advance to face fourth-seeded Louisville on Sunday.

Larry Nance Jr. led Wyoming (25-10) with 16 points.

Louisville 57, Ccal-Irvine 55: Freshman Quentin Snider hit the winning free throws and Terry Rozier made the saving steal for fourth-seeded Louisville.

With the game tied, Snider snagged a rebound in the corner off a long miss by Luke Nelson and drew a foul when Will Davis II crashed into him.

Snider made the free throws with 8.9 seconds left and the 13th-seeded Anteaters (21-13) never got a final shot, thanks to Rozier’s pick of Alex Young as he was moving up the court.

Wayne Blackshear had 19 points for the Cardinals (25-8), who will play fifth-seeded Northern Iowa on Sunday for a trip to the Sweet 16.

Anteaters 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye, the tournament’s tallest player, finished with 12 points and five rebounds.

West region

Kansas 75, New Mexico St. 56: Frank Mason III scored 17 points to lead a balanced attack, and the second-seeded Jayhawks gave the Big 12 its first win of the tournament after three losses on Thursday.

Perry Ellis added nine points for the Jayhawks (27-8), who will face seventh-seeded Wichita State in the round of 32.

The schools, separated by a couple hours of highway, have not played since 1993 because of the Jayhawks’ stubborn refusal to schedule the Shockers.

Oregon 79, Oklahoma St. 73: Joseph Young and Oregon shined just a little bit brighter than Oklahoma State.

Young scored 27 points, Elgin Cook added 18 and the eighth-seeded Ducks beat the Cowboys 79-73 in the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.

Dillon Brooks had 17 points for the Ducks (26-9).

Midwest region

Maryland 65, Valparaiso 62: Dez Wells converted an offensive rebound into a three-point play with 1:44 left and Varun Ram stripped away Valparaiso’s last chance as Maryland held off the determined Crusaders 65-62 on Friday to move on in the NCAA Tournament.

The fourth-seeded Terrapins (27-6), in the tournament for the first time since 2010, advanced to face West Virginia in Midwest Regional on Sunday.

Wichita St. 81, Indiana 76: Fred VanVleet matched his career high with 27 points and Ron Baker made big free throws late for seventh-seeded Wichita State.

By winning, the seventh-seeded Shockers (29-4) set up a much-anticipated Sunflower State showdown with second-seeded Kansas on Sunday.

Baker scored 15 points, making 7 of 8 free throws in the last 2 minutes to allow Wichita State to hold off the Hoosiers (20-14).

Freshman reserve Zach Brown had eight of his career-high 11 points in the second half, with six coming during the Shockers’ decisive run.

South region

Iowa 83, Davidson 52: Aaron White scored 13 straight points as part of Iowa’s 18-3 run early in the second half, and the seventh-seeded Hawkeyes rolled into the South Region round of 32 with an 83-52 rout of No. 10 seed Davidson on Friday.

White finished with 26 points as Iowa (22-11) used its significant height advantage to overwhelm the champions of the Atlantic 10 Conference regular season.

Davidson had no answers on defense and couldn’t match Iowa’s shooting as the Hawkeyes won their first NCAA Tournament game since 2001 when they were also a No. 7 seed and won their opener.