The Latest on the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):
12:57 a.m.
The Florida State Seminoles might not have a flashy scorer. They do have plenty of Seminoles who can score.
Ninth-seeded Florida State beat No. 8 seed Missouri 67-54 Friday night in the West Region. A total of 10 different Seminoles scored at least two points -by halftime- as they wore out a Missouri team with only eight players available for this game.
Michael Porter Jr. came off the bench for his third game with Missouri. He finished with 16 points, scoring 13 in the second half as the Tigers tried to rally. But they got within 50-44 only to see the Seminoles reel off 15 straight points.
Florida State plays No. 1 seed Xavier on Sunday.
- Teresa M. Walker reporting from Nashville, Tennessee
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12:50 a.m.
Stanford women’s coach Tara VanDerveer has an idea of what the Virginia Cavaliers men’s team might be going through right now.
The Cavaliers became the first No. 1 seed to lose in NCAA men’s basketball tournament history after falling to the 16th-seeded University of Maryland-Baltimore County, 74-54 on Friday night.
The only other time that has happened in the NCAAs was in 1998 when top-seeded Stanford lost to Harvard on the Cardinal’s home court of Maples Pavilion.
VanDerveer says that Virginia coach Tony Bennett and his team should be “exceedingly proud of their season” and that one game doesn’t define them.
She said in a text to The Associated Press that it was painful for her to watch two players on her team go down with knee injuries.
“The experience really taught me to enjoy each day,” VanDerveer said. “If we are the only two coaches to ever experience the loss I am honored to be in his company!”
__ Janie McCauley reporting.
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12:25 a.m.
There won’t be a No. 12 seed advancing the NCAA tournament.
The last hope for the seemingly yearly 12-5 upset ended on Friday night as No. 5 seed Clemson beat New Mexico State 79-68 in the Midwest Region. It’s just the second time since 2008 a No. 12 seed won’t advance.
Shelton Mitchell scored a season-high 23 points and Gabe Devoe added 22 as the Tigers advanced to the second round for the first time since 1997. Clemson shot 56 percent to knock out the champions of the WAC.
Zach Lofton led New Mexico State with 29 points, but the Aggies had too many stretches without scoring to keep up with the Tigers hot shooting.
Clemson will face No. 4 seed Auburn in the round of 32 on Sunday.
__ Tim Booth reporting from San Diego.
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12:22 a.m.
The University of Maryland-Baltimore County pulled off a shocker.
Check the brackets for proof.
ESPN Stats & Information says there are no perfect brackets left in ESPN’s Tournament Challenge following UMBC’s upset over Virginia.
The Retrievers became the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
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12:02 a.m.
Syracuse is moving on.
The Orange’s trademark zone defense contained TCU for a 57-52 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They’ll face Michigan State in Detroit on Sunday in a matchup of schools with basketball lineage.
TCU shot 17 percent from behind the 3-point arc.
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11:55 p.m.
What a game for Jairus Lyles.
What a night for the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
Lyles’ 28 points led the Retrievers in the history-making, 74-54 upset win over Virginia. UMBC became the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
This was truly a shocker.
UMBC won by pulling away from Virginia after halftime. The teams were tied at the half.
Lyles says that the players just believed in each other. The 74 points ended up being the most that defensive-minded Virginia had allowed this year.
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11:35 p.m.
So much for falling behind 1-7.
The ninth-seeded Florida Seminoles answered a strong Missouri start by outscoring the Tigers 41-13 the rest of the half, taking a 42-20 lead into halftime.
P.J. Savoy led Florida State with nine points, and 10 Seminoles scored at least a bucket apiece.
Missouri didn’t score a field goal in the final 8 minutes after a bucket by Michael Porter Jr. - his lone field goal of the first half after coming off the bench.
The Tigers are shooting 21.7 percent (5 of 23) in just a miserable first half playing without their second-leading scorer Jordan Barnett. The guard was suspended for this game after being arrested for driving while intoxicated last weekend in Missouri.
The winner of this West Region game plays No. 1 seed Xavier on Sunday.
- Teresa M. Walker reporting from Nashville, Tennessee
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11:33 p.m.
UMBC has made NCAA Tournament history.
The University of Maryland-Baltimore County became the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed after upsetting Virginia 74-54.
This was a shocker.
Virginia was the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP poll.
They were no match for the Retrievers, especially after halftime. The game was tied at the half.
UMBC looked like the No. 1 seed.
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11:15 p.m.
Virginia fans are really getting nervous now.
The top-seeded Cavaliers are still down double digits to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County with about 4 minutes left of their first round game in the NCAA Tournament. The Retrievers are trying to become the first No. 16 seed to take down a No. 1 seed.
UMBC is 10 of 21 from the 3-point range and is getting to the basket easily.
The Cavaliers are shooting better from beyond the arc of late, but they’re running out of time. The Retrievers are beating the Cavaliers to the hole on easy 1-on-1 drives.
Virginia is shooting 37 percent overall from the field.
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11:10 p.m.
No. 5 seed Clemson is halfway to making sure there won’t be a No. 12 seed moving on in the NCAA tournament.
The Tigers have a 44-32 lead at halftime over 12th-seeded New Mexico State.
Clemson shot a blistering 58 percent in the first half and during one stretch made 9 of 11 shots. Gabe Devoe has 12 points and Shelton Mitchell has 10 for the Tigers.
Zach Lofton leads the Aggies with 13 points, but New Mexico State struggled to get open looks for stretches of the half.
If New Mexico State can’t rally, it would be just the second time since 2008 a No. 12 seed hasn’t advanced out of the first round.
__ Tim Booth reporting from San Diego.
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11 p.m.
The Retrievers are on the run against the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The University of Maryland-Baltimore County had a 16-point lead with about 12 minutes left in a first-round game against Virginia, the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP poll. They were tied at the half.
UMBC is trying to become the first No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed in the tourney.
UMBC is 9 of 19 from the 3-point range and is getting to the basket easily.
The Cavaliers are 1 of 12 from beyond the arc and look completely out of sync on offense. The Retrievers are beating the Cavaliers to the hole on easy 1-on-1 drives.
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10:55 p.m.
Heralded Missouri freshman Michael Porter Jr. came off the bench less than two minutes into the Tigers’ game with Florida State.
Porter is making just his third appearance of the season. He played two minutes in the opener before getting shut down with a lower back injury. He returned for the SEC Tournament and shot 5 of 17 and scored 12 points in a loss to Georgia.
Porter has one point and one turnover so far. The game is tied 7-all with 14:51 left in the first half.
-Steve Megargee reporting from Knoxville, Tennessee
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10:30 p.m.
Could this be the night a No. 16 seed finally knocks off a No. 1 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament?
The University of Maryland-Baltimore County is tied with Virginia, the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Poll, at 21-21 at halftime.
The Cavaliers aren’t a great offensive team, but they seem particularly out of rhythm on offense. Virginia is shooting just 39 percent from the field, including 1 of 9 from beyond the arc.
This is not uncharted territory for Virginia.
In 2014, Virginia was a No. 1 seed and trailed by five at halftime to Coastal Carolina but wound up winning 70-59.
The closest a 16 seed has ever come to upsetting a No. 1 was in 1989 when East Tennessee State lost 72-71 to top-seeded Oklahoma and 16th-seeded Princeton lost 50-49 to No. 1 Georgetown.
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10:10 p.m.
The top-seeded Xavier Musketeers are moving onto the second round.
J.P. Macura scored a career-high 29 points, Trevon Bluiett added 26 and Kerem Kanter had 24 as Xavier routed No. 16 seed Texas Southern 102-83 Friday night in the West Region.
This was Xavier’s first time out as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Only the pesky Tigers kept Xavier from never leading by more than 24.
Damontrae Jefferson led five Tigers in double figures with 20 points. He led Texas Southern from the Southwestern Athletic Conference playing every minute of the game.
- Teresa M. Walker reporting from Nashville, Tennessee
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9:50 p.m.
Fourth-seeded Auburn is moving on in the NCAA tournament. Barely.
Mustapha Heron had 16 points and Auburn hit some key late free throws to hold off No. 13 seed Charleston 62-58 in the first-round of the Midwest Region on Friday.
The Tigers were in a fight the entire second half and trailed 55-54 with 3 minutes left after a 3-pointer from Charleston’s Marquise Pointer. But Bryce Brown’s 3 put the Tigers back in front and Jared Harper added a 3-pointer with 1:14 left to give the Tigers a 59-56 lead. Charleston had chances in the final minute to close the gap but missed three key free throws and Grant Riller’s attempt at a tying 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds was well short. It appeared Riller was fouled but no call was made.
Jarrell Brantley had 24 points to lead Charleston.
__ Tim Booth reporting from San Diego.
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9:35 p.m.
Miles Bridges scored 29 points, and third-seeded Michigan State outlasted 14th-seeded Bucknell 82-78.
The Spartans advance to play the winner of the TCU-Syracuse game.
Michigan State led just 44-40 at halftime but held the Bison to 10-of-28 shooting in the second. Zach Thomas scored 27 points for Bucknell before fouling out on a technical with 6:06 remaining.
Bucknell made five 3-pointers in the last 90 seconds or so to make the final score close -a flurry that seemed to impress even the Michigan State fans in Detroit - but the outcome wasn’t really in doubt late.
- Noah Trister reporting from Detroit.
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9:05 p.m.
Barry Brown scored 18 points, and ninth-seeded Kansas State led wire-to-wire to post a 69-59 victory over No. 8 Creighton on Friday night despite playing without leading scorer Dean Wade.
Mike McGuirl added 17 points and Kamau Stokes had 11 as the Wildcats reached the final 32 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012. Wade had been expected to play after suffering a stress fracture in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, but never saw the floor.
His teammates picked him up, particularly on defense.
Creighton came into the game ranked 10th in scoring in Division I at 84.3 points per game but tied a season-low with 59 points after shooting 33.8 percent from the field, including 26 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
Leading scoring Marcus Foster, who spent two seasons at Kansas State, was held scoreless for the first 28 1/2 minutes and finished with five points on 2-of-11 shooting.
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8:45 p.m.
The Xavier Musketeers are looking every bit of a No. 1 seed thanks to senior guards J.P. Macura and Trevon Bluiett.
Macura scored 18 points and Bluiett added 17 as the Musketeers took a 49-37 lead into halftime over No. 16 seed Texas Southern. Macura took care of the scoring early, hitting seven of his first eight shots, including all four beyond the arc. He scored 15 points during a 21-2 run by the Musketeers as Xavier responded to falling behind 20-13. Macura capped the run with a 3 putting Xavier up 34-22 with 7:12 left.
Bluiett scored seven down the stretch, including his third 3-pointer for a 49-29 lead with 1:39 left.
But the Tigers, who won their first NCAA Tournament game in the First Four to advance, finished the half scoring the final eight points. Guard Demontrae Jefferson stole the ball for a layup that not only beat the buzzer but drew a foul. He hit the free throw to pull Texas Southern closer at halftime.
- Teresa M. Walker reporting from Nashville, Tennessee
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