![]() The Wolverines still had to play 20 more minutes. There was only one problem with Michigan’s outstanding first half against Notre Dame. That includes Friday night’s destruction of West Virginia, when it was difficult to tell which team was seeded third and which was seeded 14th. 29 stumble at Alabama-Birmingham precipitated 21 consecutive victories, only one – against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, natch – by fewer than 10 points. Walking backwards up the court afterward, he stuck out his tongue. But the senior guard Thomas Walkup, the reigning conference player of the year, made 19 of 20 free throws and two 3-pointers, including one with about a minute left that sent Barclays Center into a frenzy. The Lumberjacks did not shoot much better, making 30.9 percent to West Virginia’s 30.8. They also could not protect the ball long enough to generate any sustainable offense. ![]() Even though the Mountaineers, who ranked second in the country in average turnovers forced, mounted a comeback midway through, it never really felt as if they would ever tie the score, let alone snare the lead.įor one thing, they could not shoot West Virginia made 8 of its first 13 shots but finished 16 of 52. Their opportunism – and West Virginia’s sloppiness – only intensified in the second half. Austin will play either Michigan or Notre Dame on Sunday.Īt halftime, the Lumberjacks had scored 18 of their 31 points off 12 turnovers. Austin, the nation’s most adept team at forcing turnovers, created three times as many as it committed en route to the 70-56 upset in an East Region first-round game. The purple-clad wrecking ball swung right through West Virginia, detonating the Mountaineers’ Final Four hopes with a brand of basketball that must have seemed familiar. They can control how well they play, and they demolished teams like no one else in Division I, by the widest average margin in the country. The competition is middling at best, nonexistent at worst, but the Lumberjacks cannot control that. Austin plays in a conference called the Southland, which includes such noted powers as Nicholls State, Central Arkansas and Lamar, who went a combined 26-60 this season. Northern Iowa, however, finished with the shot of the night. In three of the Panthers’ last four wins, the score was in the 50s, but Texas’s offense was too explosive to keep quieted. tournament success, battled back, with balanced scoring across its starting five. But the Panthers, no strangers to N.C.A.A. Taylor (22 points) got hot, and the Longhorns regained a lead as large as five. Texas responded by opening the second half on a 17-3 run. Northern Iowa led by as much as 16 in the first half after going on a 23-2 run. The Panthers, who do not have a starter taller than 6 feet 9 inches tall, like to spread the floor, work the shot clock down, and open up driving lanes to the hoop. It was an uncomfortable matchup for the Longhorns. Thus ended a fantastic game in Oklahoma City that featured multiple lead changes in the final minutes. He banked the game-winning 3-pointer in from just about half-court to win it, 75-72. But Northern Iowa scrambled to get the ball in - declining to use its last timeout - and Jesperson found the ball in his hands. The game was tied with three seconds remaining by Texas’s Isaiah Taylor, whose jumper appeared to force overtime. tournament highlight arrives courtesy of Northern Iowa’s Paul Jesperson, whose heave as time expired gave the 11th-seeded Panthers the upset win over No. What else did this wild day need? How about a halfcourt buzzer-beater?
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