It was a good day for Big 12 Basketball during the second round of the Men's NCAA Tournament. With wins for Kansas State, Baylor and Iowa State. However Wichita State was knocked off by VCU.
PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Rodney McGruder scored 30 points and Jordan
Henriquez added 15 points, nine rebounds and six blocks to lead
eighth-seeded Kansas State over ninth-seeded Southern Miss 70-64 in
the second round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday.
The Wildcats (22-10) advanced past their opening tournament game
for the third straight year and will face Syracuse in the third
round on Saturday. Jordan Henriquez was strong with 15 points, 9 rebounds,
6 blocks and 2 assists while hiting 9-10 free throws.
Neil Watson led Southern Miss (25-9) with 16 points, LaShay Page
had 15 and Kentucky transfer Darnell Dodson scored all 14 of his
points in the second half. But the Golden Eagles let a chance to
win their first-ever tournament game slip away in the final minutes.
Southern Miss led by as many as five points in the second half
but had no answer when McGruder and freshman point guard Angel
Rodriguez (13 points) keyed a late surge.
The defending champs have been bounced from the tournament for
the first time since UCLA in 1996. Chris Allen led four Iowa State
players in double figures with 20 points in a 77-64 triumph over
Connecticut. The Cyclones (23-10) led by 22 in the first half and earned
the right to play Kentucky on Saturday.
The South Regional also included third seed Baylor (28-7) squeezing out
a 68-60 win over No. 14 South Dakota State after trailing by 12 in
the first half. Pierre Jackson finished with 18 points and Brady
Heslip added 17 as the Bears now face former Big 12 school Colorado.
The 11th seed Buffaloes knocked off UNLV 68-64.
VCU defeats Wichita State 62-59 to advance
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) _ Bradford Burgess hit a key 3-pointer with
1:33 left and Shaka Smart coached VCU to another tournament
surprise, holding off Wichita State 62-59 in the South Regional on Thursday.
The 12th-seeded Rams (29-6) led by as many as 13 in the second
half, but the Shockers closed to 54-53 on Garrett Stutz's layup
with 5:39 left. Troy Daniels hit a 3-pointer for the Rams, and Joe
Ragland answered with his own for Wichita State.
Toure Murry made a 3 that gave Wichita State the lead, but
Burgess came back with his big shot to give the Rams a 60-59 edge.
Darius Theus' runner from about six feet provided the final margin.
Stutz's long jumper just before the buzzer was off for
fifth-seeded Wichita State (26-6).
VCU made it all the way to the Final Four last season.
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