MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -Kansas fans, take a breath.
After Bucknell, Bradley and Baylor, the Bison were every bit as dangerous, but North Dakota State’s bid for the upset was denied by dunkin’ Cole Aldrich and the confident Jayhawks.
Behind 23 points and 13 rebounds from the long-armed sophomore center in his hometown, defending NCAA champion Kansas held off Ben Woodside and the 14th-seeded Bison and their spirited supporters in an 84-74 victory in the first round Friday.
The Jayhawks, who went one-and-done in the tournament in 2005 and 2006 against Bucknell and Bradley and were bounced early from the Big 12 tournament by Baylor, advanced to the second round of the Midwest region to play 11th-seeded Dayton on Sunday.
“I just wanted to keep the lead,” said Sherron Collins, whose career-high 32 points helped neutralize Woodside’s swiftness. “Keep the lead and maybe, you know, get away with this one.”
Kansas (26-7) was ahead the entire second half, but the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Regional rarely led by double digits.
” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
Woodside’s 37 points led Self to declare him the best guard his team faced this season, and his third 3-pointer pulled North Dakota State (26-7) to 73-67 with 2:25 remaining. But the 6-foot-11 Aldrich soared above the lane for a one-motion putback, his eighth dunk of the game, on the next possession that essentially ended the Bison’s hope.
“We tried to front him, and they quite got a few lobs over us,” said NDSU’s Brett Winkelman, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. “Then we tried to play behind him. He’s a great player, and obviously he’s going to have a great future. It was frustrating not being able to do a little more.”
Self warned Collins about Woodside, who also played all 40 minutes.
“I didn’t know he was THAT good,” said Collins, who had eight assists and was so steady that Kansas had only five turnovers in all.
In their first season of eligibility for the NCAA tournament after a four-year waiting period following their move from Division II, the Bison proved they indeed play pretty good basketball up on the prairie.
They were within three points several times down the stretch, but the unheralded Summit League champions couldn’t clear that last hurdle and clearly wore down during the second half.
urnament, fouled out with 5:47 left. NDSU went only 3-for-11 from 3-point range after halftime after making 7 of 13 before.
“It couldn’t have gotten much better,” Moormann said, reflecting on his career. “Obviously, if we would have won a couple games in the tournament it would have been better, but it’s still anything more than I could have imagined.”
The crowd was roughly three-quarters in favor of NDSU, the sea of yellow shirts and green hats rising and roaring with nearly each Bison basket. NDSU had three players dive for loose balls in the opening minutes and made its first four 3-pointers, giving the fans from the Fargo area plenty to stand up and cheer for. Woodside was the impetus for so many of those yells and screams, with all those quick drives to the basket for soft layups off the glass.
“It’s very fulfilling when you look up in the stands and all you see is green and yellow,” Woodside said. “It’s something myself and the rest of this team I think will never forget.”
Dayton 68, West Virginia 60, Midwest Regional
Chris Wright scored a career-high 27 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Flyers to their first NCAA tournament victory since 1990, sending coach Bob Huggins and sixth-seeded West Virginia to an early exit.
. The Flyers will play third-seeded Kansas.
Darryl Bryant had 21 points and Devin Ebanks added 14 points and 12 rebounds for West Virginia (23-12), which had won at least two games in the NCAA tournament in each of its past four appearances.
Southern California 72, Boston College 55, Midwest Regional
Taj Gibson was a perfect 10 for the Trojans, going 10-for-10 from the field for 24 points to lead the victory over cold-shooting Boston College. Adding six rebounds, five assists and three blocks, Gibson epitomized USC’s fast-breaking, take-it-to-the-hoop, athletic style.
Dwight Lewis scored 20 points and shut down star Eagles guard Tyrese Rice, and DeMar DeRozan added 18 points and nine rebounds. USC (22-12), which went 1-6 in February, maintained the momentum from last week’s Pac-10 tournament title and advanced to Sunday’s second round against Michigan State.
Gibson’s perfect shooting was the second-best performance in NCAA tournament history with a minimum 10 attempts, behind Kenny Walker’s 11-for-11 for Kentucky 1986. Gibson matched Marvin Barnes of Providence and Christian Laettner of Duke, who were 10-for-10 in 1973 and 1992, respectively.
Corey Raji led No. 7 seed Boston College (22-12) with 15 points. The Eagles made only one field goal in a dreadful stretch of nearly 13 minutes that ultimately sent them back to Beantown.
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Raymar Morgan scored 16 points and Goran Suton had 11 points and 17 rebounds, and the Spartans bullied 15th-seeded Robert Morris.
Draymond Green added 16 points for the second-seeded Spartans (27-6), who were regular-season Big Ten champs but still had some rough spots thanks to Morgan’s walking pneumonia and Suton’s gimpy knees. They both looked fine against the overmatched Colonials, and the Spartans regained the form that led to convincing victories over Kansas, Oklahoma State and Texas earlier in the year.
Michigan State will play 10th-seeded USC on Sunday.
Jeremy Chappell was the only player in double figures with 11 for Robert Morris (24-11), a commuter school from suburban Pittsburgh making its first NCAA appearance since 1992.
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