TAMPA, Fla. – There’s something about the NCAA tournament that seems to bring out the best in Michigan State.
Playing with the poise and tenacity expected of them in March under coach Tom Izzo, the Spartans had little trouble getting past Colorado 79-64 Friday night in the first round of the South Regional.
Freshman Erazem Lorbek led a balanced offense with 17 points, Chris Hill added 15 and Alan Anderson had 14 for Michigan State. Another freshman, reserve Paul Davis, scored 10 for the Spartans.
Michigan State (20-12) improved to 17-4 in the NCAAs under Izzo, whose .809 winning percentage is the best among active coaches.
Tenth-seeded Colorado (20-12), making its first appearance in the tournament since 1997, started slowly and never really got into synch. Michigan State did a good job of containing the Buffaloes’ inside scoring threats and didn’t allow leading scorer Michel Morandais to take over the game, either.
Texas 82, NC-Asheville 61
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – T.J. Ford took the opening tip, streaked downcourt and sliced through several defenders for an easy layup. Five seconds into the NCAA tournament, Texas was off and running.
Thought by many to be a shaky top seed, the Longhorns overwhelmed North Carolina Asheville at the start and had little trouble in an 82-61 victory Friday.
Ford was at the forefront the whole way. The 5-foot-10 whirlybird sophomore showed why he might be the best guard in the country, zipping passes from all angles. He skipped the ball down low from just over halfcourt for one basket, then flipped it over his shoulder in transition for another hoop that made it 24-8.
Ford finished with only eight points, but had 11 assists. He also corralled seven rebounds, once keeping his dribble despite being knocked to the floor.
Brandon Mouton added 15 points, Brian Boddicker had 14 points and 12 rebounds and James Thomas had 13 points.
Xavier 71, Troy St. 59
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – David West and the Xavier Musketeers want to prove they’re worthy of a No. 3 seed. Consider this a good start.
Handed their highest seed ever in the NCAA tournament, Xavier got through a sluggish start and held off Troy State 71-59 Friday night.
West, the Atlantic 10 player of the year, was slowed by foul trouble and scored only 12 points. Lionel Chalmers hit five 3-pointers to lead the Musketeers with 20, and Romain Sato added 18 as Xavier won for the 17th time in its last 18 games.
The Musketeers (26-5) had never been seeded higher than sixth in the tournament, and they appeared just as nervous in the opening minutes as 14th-seeded Troy State (26-6), whose only previous NCAA tournament experience came in Division II.
The teams combined to miss their first 12 shots.
Florida 85, Sam Hou St 55
TAMPA, Fla. – Florida looked more like a title contender than a team on a losing streak Friday night.
Sophomore David Lee scored a career-high 23 points to help the second-seeded Gators to an 85-55 victory over 15th-seeded Sam Houston State.
Florida (25-7) was the only team to come into the NCAA tournament with three straight losses. Coach Billy Donovan insisted there was no need to panic – that all the games had been close and his team was playing well.
The big question now is whether he was right, or if all the Gators proved was that they were good enough to dismantle Sam Houston State (23-7), the game-but-overmatched champions of the unheralded Southland Conference.
The next test will be more telling – against Michigan State in a rematch of the 2000 title game, won by the Spartans.
Maryland. 75,
NC-Wilmington 73
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Maryland isn’t ready to give up its national championship just yet.
Drew Nicholas hit a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Terrapins a stunning 75-73 victory over North Carolina-Wilmington on Friday night.
Aaron Coombs made two free throws with five seconds left to give the 11th-seeded Seahawks a 73-72 lead, putting them in position to pull off a tourney surprise for the second year in a row.
But Nicholas took the inbounds pass, dribbled nearly the length of the court and managed to launch a fall-away 3 off his back foot with Anthony Terrell right in his face.
The ball swished through as the horn sounded, helping No. 6 seed Maryland avoid becoming the first defending champion since UCLA in 1996 to get knocked out in the first round.
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