Robinson leads Kansas to 60-57 win over NC State

By DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer
Mar 24, 2:00 am EDT

ST. LOUIS (AP)—Thomas Robinson kept missing easy buckets. Tyshawn Taylor had a shooting performance he’d rather soon forget. Kansas made just two shots from outside 5 feet, and seemed to be in constant trouble against North Carolina State.

Yet a smile kept creeping across Robinson’s face. Taylor spent most of the second half Friday night trying to calm down coach Bill Self, who was stomping along the Jayhawks’ sideline.

“We haven’t been a picture-perfect team all season,” Self said later, “but that’s one thing that’s exciting. The guys take pride in not being perfect. They take pride in winning ugly.”

They certainly won a muddy brawl against the Wolfpack.

Robinson had 18 points and 15 rebounds, Jeff Withey blocked 10 shots to finish one shy of the NCAA tournament record, and the second-seeded Jayhawks held on for a 60-57 victory. They advanced to play top-seeded North Carolina, led by former coach Roy Williams, which escaped with a 73-65 overtime victory over No. 13 seed Ohio earlier in the night.

All the upstarts have headed home.

It’s the bluest of the bluebloods in a Sunday showdown for the Final Four.

“They’re a great team, great coach, great program,” Robinson said. “It’s two great programs and when we do meet, I’m pretty sure it’s going to go down as a big one.”

It figures to be a little more sexy than their game against the Wolfpack.

Both teams struggled to make shots, run offense and get into a flow. Kansas (30-6) even squandered an eight-point lead in the final few minutes, failing to wrap up the win until Richard Howell’s off-balance heave at the buzzer came up well short.

“The guys are tough. They’re tough,” Self said. “They find a way.”

C.J. Leslie had 18 points to lead N.C. State (24-13), despite sitting much of the second half with four fouls. Scott Wood finished with 12 points on 2-for-10 shooting, though his biggest error wasn’t a missed shot but the shot he never even got to attempt.

N.C. State had pulled within 58-57 on a transition layup by C.J. Williams with just over a minute remaining. The teams swapped possessions before Kansas managed to get a layup from Elijah Johnson off an inbound pass from Taylor with 13.5 seconds left.

The Wolfpack crossed midcourt and called a timeout to set up a play, which was designed to get the ball to Wood off a baseline pass. Instead, a skip pass went high and the sharpshooter stepped out of bounds trying to pull it in, giving the ball back to Kansas with 5 seconds to go.

Robinson was fouled and missed the free throw at the other end, but a pass down court and Howell’s tightly guarded shot at the buzzer came up nowhere close, allowing Kansas to escape.

“We did not execute very well. The end of the day, that’s my responsibility,” Gottfried said.

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Top-seeded Kentucky knocks off Indiana 102-90

ATLANTA (AP)—They ran up and down the court, two storied programs going toe to toe.

In the end, Kentucky was just too big, too quick, too good for Indiana.

The top-seeded Wildcats moved another step closer to the only goal that matters in the Bluegrass State, shaking off a rather quiet night from freshman star Anthony Davis to pull away from the Hoosiers 102-90 in the South Regional semifinals Friday.

“It was a war and Indiana played great,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “We just happened to play a little bit better.”

Kentucky (35-2) simply had too many weapons. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 24 points, Doron Lamb 21 and three of their teammates—not Davis, mind you— were in double figures. With that, the Wildcats dispatched the team that beat them back in early December and are off to a regional final for the third year in a row.

They’ll face Baylor on Sunday for a trip to the Final Four.

“I feel like we did a pretty good job,” said Kentucky’s Darius Miller, who added 19 points. “So did Indiana. It was a very intense game. It was up and down for the most part. It was a fun game to be a part of, the way that both teams played.”

Davis wasn’t his usual dominating self after picking up two early fouls. He finished with nine points and 12 rebounds. So it was left to another of Kentucky’s super freshmen to take the starring role. Kidd-Gilchrist had a double-double, also snatching 10 rebounds.

“In the huddles during timeouts, Michael was the guy firing us up,” teammate Twany Beckham said. “It showed with his play.”

Marquis Teague chipped in with 14 points and Terrence Jones 12.

Christian Watford had 27 points to lead the Hoosiers (27-9), who beat Kentucky 73-72 before Christmas but ended a comeback season with a loss to their border rival. Still, there was nothing to ashamed of, coming up two victories shy of the Final Four after winning a total of 28 games the previous three seasons.

Clearly, Indiana has regained its usual place among the college basketball bluebloods under coach Tom Crean.

“There’s a lot of good things that have happened,” Crean said. “This team has a lot of tremendous character, there’s no doubt about that.”

But Big Blue is moving on.

“We scored 90 points,” Crean said. “They’re a really good team. They’ve got a lot of guys. They’ve got a guy coming off the bench (Miller) who’s going to be a first-round draft pick.”

Indiana’s freshman star, Cody Zeller, had 20 points, while Victor Oladipo provided a spark in the backcourt with 15 before fouling out. Kidd-Gilchrist just kept pounding the ball inside, drawing foul after foul on the Hoosiers, then knocking down the free throws. He went 10-for-10 at the line.

He wasn’t the only one making free throws. Kentucky was a dead-eye 35-of-37 at the line, compared to 13-of-17 for the Hoosiers.

“It’s not any big deal,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. “We’re just taking our time with free throws.”

Jones, who had only four points in the December meeting, signaled this would be a different night by scoring Kentucky’s first five points in the rematch. That set the tone for a shootout, both teams running and gunning in an exhilarating display that kept fans in both blue and red on their feet most of the time.

There certainly wasn’t much to fear on the inside in the opening half, not with the two big men, Davis and Zeller, both spending much of the period on the bench, each saddled with two fouls.

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Acy leads way as Baylor moves into Elite Eight

By Jay Busbee,

ATLANTA – It took exactly 55 seconds for Xavier coach Chris Mack to realize his team was in serious trouble.

Quincy Acy, the bearded heart and soul of Baylor and part of its much-maligned frontcourt, found daylight at the top of the key and buried a head-on jumper.

Quincy Acy's 20 points and 15 boards carried Baylor into the South Region final against Kentucky.
(Getty Images)
“He’s not supposed to do that!” Mack said on the sideline. “Seventeen feet? He’s not supposed to do that.”

But he did. Acy also threw down crowd-rousing jams, reeled in both offensive and defensive rebounds that kept Xavier at a (mostly) comfortable distance in the rear-view mirror, covered for yet another Perry Jones III vanishing act, and singlehandedly willed his third-seeded team into the Elite Eight with a 75-70 victory over the 10th-seeded Musketeers.

“He was a beast,” said Brady Heslip, Acy’s roommate and a starting guard. “He was telling me all week that he wanted to play better because he knew he hadn’t been carrying his weight. He sure did tonight.”

Acy finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds on 8-of-11 shooting. And even that doesn’t tell the entire story of how he dominated Xavier on both ends of the floor.

“He’s a cage-rattler,” Mack said. “I want to see his birth certificate. He’s that kid, when you’re coaching AAU and you look over and he just looks so much bigger and stronger than everybody. … I can take some of the offensive rebound putbacks, but when he starts facing up and hitting jump shots, it’s not what the doctor ordered. It’s not fair.”

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Share the score Share the score Teague’s 24 leads Kentucky over Iowa State 87-71

By COLIN FLY, AP Sports Writer
9 hours, 0 minutes ago

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)—Freshman Marquis Teague finally feels in step with Kentucky coach John Calipari’s offense.

Now, he’s taking the Wildcats to the South Regional semifinals in Atlanta, and maybe a lot farther than that.

Teague scored a career-high 24 points and top seed Kentucky put together another complete performance with a dominating second-half run in an 87-71 victory over Iowa State in the third round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday night.

“I didn’t really care about scoring points. I just wanted to get my teammates involved and do whatever I needed to do to help my team win,” said Teague, who added seven assists. “I was just trying to push the ball in transition and take whatever play they were going to give me. They gave me the layup a lot tonight.”

Freshman Anthony Davis had 15 points and 12 rebounds, senior Darius Miller added 19 points and Doron Lamb finished with 16. The Wildcats (34-2) used a 20-2 burst to break away from a tie and next will face fourth-seeded Indiana on Friday.

Teague’s role as point guard has been one of the hardest on a team full of NBA talent. He’s had to learn the position under Calipari and acknowledged earlier this year he worried so much about it he has had sleepless nights.

No more.

“I just was thinking too much. Trying to force shots up sometimes instead of the making the easy play,” Teague said. “Coming out of high school I scored a lot of points, and that’s what I was used to doing. But playing with guys like I’m playing with, you don’t need to do that.”

Not with a team that has this many playmakers.

Kentucky now gets another crack at the Hoosiers, who beat them on a last-second 3-pointer by Christian Watford in December when the young ‘Cats committed a defensive lapse that cost them on the final play.

“That was a rough day for us. Hate to lose any game but the way we lost, that just made it that much worse. Had to move on past that day,” Teague said. “Guess we got ‘em again. We just have to come out and play our hardest. We’re not talking revenge or anything.”

Among the players who have improved the most since then is Teague, often overshadowed and compared to Calipari’s former floor leaders at Kentucky and Memphis, including John Wall, Brandon Knight, Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans.

“I brought him here because when I watched him play, I absolutely loved his game. He is a tough—I call him a pitbull,” Calipari said. “Great athleticism, but a really smart floor game. Now, for us, he could score more, but why would you score more on this team as a point guard? But today, they really left him. I told him, look, you’ve got to keep people honest.”

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Georgetown moves on 74-59 over Belmont

By TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer
13 hours, 24 minutes ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)—For a whole year Georgetown had to live with its failure last March, a second straight early-round NCAA exit. It haunted the Hoyas, angered them, drove them.

On Friday, they made sure it didn’t happen a third time.

Jason Clark scored 21 points, Otto Porter added 16 and Georgetown’s ruthless defense bottled up Belmont’s shooters all over the floor in a 74-59 win Friday, advancing the Hoyas in the NCAA tournament after first-game knockouts the past two years.

“It was so good to get that first game,” said Hoyas center Henry Sims. “But we didn’t come here just to win one game.”

No, the Hoyas plan to hang around this March.

Sims had 15 points, and the third-seeded Hoyas (24-8) shot 61 percent from the floor—70 percent in second half—to advance to Sunday’s third round of the Midwest Regional and a matchup with No. 11 seed North Carolina State, which beat San Diego State in the day’s opener at Nationwide Arena.

Georgetown’s previous two seasons ended with embarrassing opening-round losses to Virginia Commonwealth and Ohio, scrappy mid-majors who made the big, bad Hoyas look silly. This time around, Georgetown played like the Georgetown of old, using inside muscle and a swarming defense that choked the life out of the Bruins.

“They’re well taught, and they’ve got great athletes,” Belmont coach Rick Byrd said of the Hoyas, who went 12-6 in the Big East. “If Syracuse is better than that, I’m glad we didn’t play Syracuse.”

Georgetown was enough. More than enough.

The Bruins had their 14-game winning streak stopped and fell to 0-5 in NCAA appearances. Belmont had to shoot well to pull off the upset. The Bruins had a few good looks but went just 10 of 27 on 3-pointers.

Blake Jenkins scored 17 to lead Belmont, but senior Kerron Johnson, the Bruins’ leading scorer, had just 4—10 below his average.

“We forced a couple of shots inside instead of kicking it out to shooters like we’re normally pretty good at,” guard Drew Hanlen said. “Sometimes we tried to make the hero play instead of just a smart play.”

Leading by nine at half, Georgetown never let Belmont get closer than six in the second half.

Sims controlled the inside and Clark handled things outside for the Hoyas, who look like a team capable of making a deep tourney run.

After Belmont got within 58-49 on Hanlen’s 3-pointer with just under six minutes left, Georgetown went on a 13-2 run to end any doubt—along with Belmont’s season.

When the final horn sounded, the Hoyas looked relieved. And with good reason. Their season was still alive.

“Finally got the monkey off our back,” guard Markel Starks said.

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McCollum leads Lehigh to 75-70 upset win over Duke

By STEVE REED, AP Sports Writer
7 hours, 46 minutes ago

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP)—The Lehigh Mountain Hawks said they weren’t afraid of mighty Duke.

Maybe no one believed them at the time, but the Patriot League champions proved they were serious.

C.J. McCollum scored 30 points and Lehigh upset Duke 75-70 to become the second No. 15 seed to beat a No. 2 during a wild Friday in the NCAA tournament.

“It means a lot as a team, a family and as the Patriot League in general,” McCollum said. “We wanted to come out here and protect this team and this family, get the win and we did that tonight.”

Lehigh forward John Adams said it was a matter of believing in each other.

“We saw on the selection show we had Duke and we thought we could match up very well against them,” Adams said. “We all believed it and we showed it on the floor. Everybody bought into that idea that we could beat them. The rest is history.”

History indeed.

The Mountain Hawks are the sixth 15 seed overall to pull off the trick. Norfolk State edged Missouri 86-84 in the West Regional earlier in the day, and No. 13 seed Ohio knocked off Michigan to add to the madness.

Duke dropped its first tournament game for only the second time in the past 16 years, and this one occurred just 55 miles from its campus. The Blue Devils also lost their opener against 11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth in 2007.

The Blue Devils had no answer for the speedy McCollum, the two-time Patriot League player of the year and the nation’s fifth-leading scorer.

“They had the best player on the court tonight in McCollum,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “He’s been their player of the year, and he’s really one of the outstanding players in the country. You could see why tonight.”

It didn’t help that the Blue Devils hit just 6 of 26 shots from 3-point range.

Lehigh (27-7) led most of the game, drawing support from North Carolina fans who borrowed brown signs from Mountain Hawks supporters that read “Go Lehigh” to root against their rivals.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” forward Justin Maneri said with a deep laugh. “We came to the practice the other day and as soon as you walked in they were going crazy for us and we’re like, `What’s going on?’ They were like, `Go Lehigh, beat Duke!’ They were screaming. It was nice to have fans here that weren’t Duke. I’ve never seen two schools that hate each other so much.”

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Baylor knocks off South Dakota State 68-60

By ARNIE STAPLETON, AP Sports Writer
Mar 15, 11:39 pm EDT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)—The Baylor Bears started out looking like they were the NCAA tournament novices, not South Dakota State.

Baylor came out jittery and fell behind 19-7 in the first 7 minutes, had to ditch its zone defense and finally started to use its superior strength and size to wear down the 14th-seeded Jackrabbits in a 68-60 win at The Pit on Thursday night.

“I know our guys were prepared for a very good game,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “South Dakota State coming in, we had a lot of respect. We knew they were a great team and we’re pleased to get the win. I think in the beginning of the game we showed our jitters a little bit, then after that, I was very pleased with how we calmed down and got back to playing basketball.”

Although the Jackrabbits were in it until the end, they never regained the lead after Pierre Jackson, who led the Bears with 18 points, sank a 3-pointer that put Baylor ahead 24-22 with 5:45 left in the first half.

“They came out there swinging, knocking down open shots, knocking down contested 3s. Coach called a timeout, and we had to re-gather ourselves, and we switched to man,” Jackson said. “A.J. (Walton) came in and brought the defensive punch that we needed, and we got stops and got the lead.”

And never relinquished it.

Both teams nearly made Seth Davis look like a sage, however. The TV analyst proclaimed on the CBS Selection Show that the Jackrabbits would knock off third-seeded Baylor in their inaugural NCAA tournament appearance—much to the dismay of both squads.

Sure enough, the Jackrabbits jumped out to a 12-point lead early and then fought back from a double-digit deficit themselves in the closing minutes before finally falling.

Baylor guard Brady Heslip said the Bears never started to worry that maybe Davis would be taking a bow by night’s end.

“No, not at all. We’ve started games sloppy before this year, and we found the resolve to come back,” Heslip said. “Today was no different. We knew that was a great team, and we didn’t think they were going to come out there and just give the game to us. We were ready for a 40-minute fight.”

They got one.

“They really came out swinging and knocking down shots and making some great plays and playing unselfish,” Heslip said. “So none of that (upset talk) crossed our minds. We knew we were going to re-gather ourselves and rebound from it.”

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Cyclones take out defending champ UConn 77-64

By NANCY ARMOUR, AP National Writer
Mar 16, 2:19 am EDT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)—Jim Calhoun and Connecticut didn’t expect their season to end this way.

Their future is equally unpredictable.

“We’re talking about tonight’s game. We’re not talking about me,” Calhoun said after Iowa State stunned the defending national champions 77-64 in the NCAA tournament Thursday night. “I’m going to get on the plane tomorrow, go home and do what I usually do and meet up with the team on Monday. My own personal thing, I don’t think it has any relevance, to be honest with you.”

Chris Allen led four Cyclones in double figures with 20 points, and Iowa State scored its last 14 at the free-throw line to beat UConn, the first time since UCLA in 1996 that the defending champs have lost in the opening game. Calhoun didn’t even wait for the final buzzer, heading for halfcourt with about four seconds left to congratulate Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg.

It is only the second loss in the opening game of the NCAA tournament for UConn under Calhoun.

“I’m surprised as anybody, clearly,” Calhoun said. “I imagine our players are, too.”

For the eighth-seeded Cyclones, meanwhile, it’s their biggest victory in a season of them, having knocked off Kansas and Baylor during Big 12 play.

Royce White had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Scott Christopherson also had 15 for the Cyclones. Iowa State shot 48 percent from the floor and had a whopping 41-24 edge in rebounds.

“I feel like just we wanted it more,” Allen said. “I felt like we was doing everything we needed to and played hard.”

Next up for Iowa State: Overall No. 1 seed Kentucky in the third round of the South Regional on Saturday. The Wildcats routed Western Kentucky earlier Thursday.

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No. 2 seed Kansas rolls through Detroit 65-50

OMAHA, Neb. (AP)—Kansas coach Bill Self hardly broached the topic of fellow No. 2 seed Missouri’s upset loss to Norfolk State on Friday. He figured there was no need—his players already knew.

He made sure to mention another No. 2 seed, Duke, also went down.

“The Duke game was going on and there was 5 seconds left or 20 seconds left when I finished doing my pregame,” Self said. “I told them then, `Hey, Duke’s getting ready to get beat, too.”’

It served as a warning to the Jayhawks.

They most certainly heeded it.

Thomas Robinson bullied his way for 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the second-seeded Jayhawks rolled to a 65-50 victory over Detroit in the second round of the Midwest Regional.

“I didn’t make a point of it because sometimes you make a point, it could add pressure, saying it’s possible. But I did say, `Hey, the one thing is we have to make sure Detroit doesn’t play well,” Self said of the earlier upsets. “When teams get comfortable anything can happen.”

After the first 15 minutes, Detroit never looked comfortable.

Doug Anderson led the Horizon League-champion Titans with 15 points before fouling out with 11:06 left. Ray McCallum, the son of the Detroit coach, added eight points on 4-for-15 shooting.

“I’m really proud of my guys,” said Detroit coach Ray McCallum. “We played one of the truly great teams in the country tonight, and that really, pretty much tells the story.”

Elijah Johnson added 15 points and Tyshawn Taylor had 10 for the Jayhawks (28-6), despite spending much of the second half in the locker room with cramps. Self said that Taylor received IV fluids during the game and should be 100 percent for Sunday night’s game against Purdue.

Kansas toyed with the Titans (22-14) early on before ramping up the defense, eventually holding them to 32 percent shooting and 3 for 17 from beyond the arc.

“They do a good job of not letting you get in the paint. That’s one of the strengths of my game,” the younger McCallum said. “I felt like I got good looks. It was just one of those games.”

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Xavier edges Notre Dame 67-63 in NCAA

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) Tu Holloway kept attacking the paint and knocking down tough shots for Xavier throughout the second half. It's no surprise the senior guard came through with the basket to help the Musketeers advance in the NCAA tournament.

Holloway banked in the go-ahead shot over Jack Cooley with 21.3 seconds left, helping Xavier rally to beat Notre Dame 67-63 on Friday night in the second round of the South Regional.

Holloway finished with 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting, including a flurry that helped the 10th-seeded Musketeers (22-12) rally from 10 down in the second half against the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish (22-12).

``He's made such big plays through the course of his career,'' Xavier coach Chris Mack said. ``The moment's never too big for him.''

Holloway had 17 points in the second half, the last coming when he rounded a screen from Kenny Frease and sent a high-arcing shot over Cooley's outstretched arm for the 64-63 lead.

``Coach Mack called my number, and it's a shot I practiced over the summer,'' Holloway said. ``I work hard for moments like this, and fortunately through the graces of God the ball went in. I knew it was big.''

After a free throw from Dezmine Wells pushed the lead to two, Notre Dame's Eric Atkins drew a blocking foul to get to the line with 2.8 seconds left. He swished the first free throw, but official Michael Stuart ruled that Jerian Grant left his position behind the 3-point arc too early as he ran in for a rebound, giving the ball back to Xavier.

The same unusual call was made at a critical moment of top-seeded Syracuse's 72-65 victory over UNC Asheville during the second round of the East Regional on Thursday.

On the ensuing inbounds pass, Pat Connaughton was whistled for an intentional foul when he grabbed Wells' jersey trying to deny him the ball. Wells knocked down both free throws to push the lead to four with 2.8 seconds still on the clock to ensure the victory.

``It's too bad that happens, but there was a lot of plays,'' Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said of the lane-violation call. ``We missed some free throws. There were a lot of plays that culminated in not being able to escape with a win.''

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South Fla works over Cal 65-54 in NCAA tourney

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) Ugly, ugly, ugly. Just the way South Florida likes it.

The Bulls introduced the NCAA tournament to the Big East's nastiest defense Wednesday night, putting more than just a chill into a California team that had never seen anything like it. The Bulls allowed only 13 points in the first half and brushed their way to a 65-54 victory.

South Florida (21-13) will play No. 5 seed Temple in Nashville on Friday, a matchup of teams known for gritty defense. Few have been better than this one for the first 20 minutes on the NCAA stage.

The Bulls swarmed `em, bumped em' and swatted their shots away - those that weren't air balls, that is.

California (24-10) didn't score over the last 8:55 of the first half, missing 10 shots and turning it over twice while South Florida pulled ahead 36-13.

Guard Jorge Gutierrez, the Pac-12 player of the year, was held to 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

It wasn't all defense that got it done for South Florida. Freshman point guard Anthony Collins, a thin-built player with a youthful face that reminds coach Stan Heath of a 12-year-old kid, played like a star in his first NCAA tournament game, scoring 12 points. Victor Rudd had 15 points

The Golden Bears won't soon forget the way they got worked over. They must have felt as if there were six Bulls on the floor at times playing defense.

No, only five. The refs counted.

The Bulls set a Big East record by giving up only 56.9 points per game this season. Their problem: They score about as many points as they give up. South Florida didn't have a player average in double figures for the season.

Realizing he didn't have many scoring options, Heath instituted the defense-first, defense-last philosophy that got them to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 20 years and, now, their first win. The Bulls came in 0-2 in the tournament.

Other teams exult when one of their players hits a big basket. The Bulls cheer from the bench as the other team passes the ball around helplessly and hopelessly.

They were cheering their defense from the opening tip.

The first time down the court, Gutierrez forced a running shot that was too hard, a taste of the misery ahead. California missed its first five shots and eight of its first nine, helping South Florida pull ahead 15-3.

Collins made a driving layup, a floater, a 15-foot pull-up jumper and a layup off his steal during the opening run, getting South Florida's unpredictable offense moving.

The Golden Bears readily acknowledged that they hadn't played anything quite like the Bulls' defense. With four players averaging in double figures, their best chance was to spread the ball around and be patient.

They ran out of patience real fast, prompting coach Mike Montgomery to call a timeout to get his team settled down. Instead, things quickly got worse.

A lot worse.

Gutierrez hit a fade-away 15-foot jumper with 8:56 left in the first half. The Golden Bears wouldn't score again before halftime, with South Florida pulling off a 14-0 run. It ended with a telling moment: California guard Justin Cobbs dribbling toward the basket and failing to even attempt a shot before the buzzer sounded.

Totally discombobulated.

The Golden Bears shuffled toward the locker room with blanks expressions. Their 13 points matched the seventh-fewest in an opening half since the NCAA tournament expanded in 1985, according to STATS LLC.

The Bulls pulled ahead 57-25 with 8:49 left. The only question was how low they could keep the sore. California fouled repeatedly in the final minute, giving itself enough chances to hit the 50-point mark.DAYTON, Ohio (AP) Ugly, ugly, ugly. Just the way South Florida likes it.

The Bulls introduced the NCAA tournament to the Big East's nastiest defense Wednesday night, putting more than just a chill into a California team that had never seen anything like it. The Bulls allowed only 13 points in the first half and brushed their way to a 65-54 victory.

South Florida (21-13) will play No. 5 seed Temple in Nashville on Friday, a matchup of teams known for gritty defense. Few have been better than this one for the first 20 minutes on the NCAA stage.

The Bulls swarmed `em, bumped em' and swatted their shots away - those that weren't air balls, that is.

California (24-10) didn't score over the last 8:55 of the first half, missing 10 shots and turning it over twice while South Florida pulled ahead 36-13.

Guard Jorge Gutierrez, the Pac-12 player of the year, was held to 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

It wasn't all defense that got it done for South Florida. Freshman point guard Anthony Collins, a thin-built player with a youthful face that reminds coach Stan Heath of a 12-year-old kid, played like a star in his first NCAA tournament game, scoring 12 points. Victor Rudd had 15 points

The Golden Bears won't soon forget the way they got worked over. They must have felt as if there were six Bulls on the floor at times playing defense.

No, only five. The refs counted.

The Bulls set a Big East record by giving up only 56.9 points per game this season. Their problem: They score about as many points as they give up. South Florida didn't have a player average in double figures for the season.

Realizing he didn't have many scoring options, Heath instituted the defense-first, defense-last philosophy that got them to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 20 years and, now, their first win. The Bulls came in 0-2 in the tournament.

Other teams exult when one of their players hits a big basket. The Bulls cheer from the bench as the other team passes the ball around helplessly and hopelessly.

They were cheering their defense from the opening tip.

The first time down the court, Gutierrez forced a running shot that was too hard, a taste of the misery ahead. California missed its first five shots and eight of its first nine, helping South Florida pull ahead 15-3.

Collins made a driving layup, a floater, a 15-foot pull-up jumper and a layup off his steal during the opening run, getting South Florida's unpredictable offense moving.

The Golden Bears readily acknowledged that they hadn't played anything quite like the Bulls' defense. With four players averaging in double figures, their best chance was to spread the ball around and be patient.

They ran out of patience real fast, prompting coach Mike Montgomery to call a timeout to get his team settled down. Instead, things quickly got worse.

A lot worse.

Gutierrez hit a fade-away 15-foot jumper with 8:56 left in the first half. The Golden Bears wouldn't score again before halftime, with South Florida pulling off a 14-0 run. It ended with a telling moment: California guard Justin Cobbs dribbling toward the basket and failing to even attempt a shot before the buzzer sounded.

Totally discombobulated.

The Golden Bears shuffled toward the locker room with blanks expressions. Their 13 points matched the seventh-fewest in an opening half since the NCAA tournament expanded in 1985, according to STATS LLC.

The Bulls pulled ahead 57-25 with 8:49 left. The only question was how low they could keep the sore. California fouled repeatedly in the final minute, giving itself enough chances to hit the 50-point mark.

McGlynn scores 18 points, Vermont beat Lamar 71-59

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) It's been seven years since Vermont's signature win in school history.

The Catamounts think it's about time for another.

North Carolina, are you paying attention?

Freshman Four McGlynn came off the bench to score 18 points and Vermont grabbed an early lead and hung on to beat Lamar 71-59 on Wednesday night in a first-round NCAA tournament game.

Matt Glass added 11 points, Sandro Carissimo 10 and Brian Voelkel had 12 rebounds to help the Catamounts earn a spot against the top-seeded Tar Heels on Friday in Greensboro, N.C.

Their only previous NCAA tournament win was a stunning 60-57 upset of fourth-seeded Syracuse by the 13th-seeded Catamounts in the first round of the 2005 tournament.

``The Syracuse game was a huge win for Vermont and the community,'' Voelkel said. ``Obviously, we're going to come into North Carolina with a lot of confidence and hopefully we can pull off another upset and give the people of Burlington something to cheer about.''

The Catamounts (24-11) shot 50 percent from the field, blending an inside presence with McGlynn's touch from the perimeter.

But the America East tournament champions will be severely tested down where the skies are Carolina Blue.

``Obviously, North Carolina is one of the best teams in the country,'' first-year Catamounts coach John Becker said. ``They've got a roster of future NBA stars. We're just going to do what we do - continue to play our brand of basketball.''

McGlynn, the only player in all of Division I to lead his team in scoring (12.0) without starting a game and yet playing in every contest, provided punch to Vermont's offense.

He entered in the first half and immediately ignited a 13-0 rally that gave the Catamounts a lead that they never relinquished.

``It was my first NCAA tournament game. I thought I played pretty well,'' McGlynn said after hitting 5 of 9 shots from the field including 3 of 5 3-pointers and adding 5 of 6 free throws. ``I got in a good flow. I give all the credit to my teammates.''

Vermont's ability to hang on to a lead has been a rarity at University of Dayton Arena. Both Mississippi Valley State and Iona built big leads and then blew them in first-night losses to Western Kentucky and BYU, respectively.

Devon Lamb and Mike James each had 16 points for Lamar (23-12), which had won six in a row since first-year coach Pat Knight ripped his seniors after a loss in late February. He said they were ``stealing money being on scholarship'' and that his players had problems ``off the court, on the court, classroom, drugs.''

But after the NCAA loss, an emotional Knight fought back tears as he spoke about players who he said would turn the Lamar program around.

``It's obvious. ... I think these guys have done a heck of a job. If people disagree, they're morons,'' he said, sounding a lot like his father, Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight. ``They're down right now. Losing hurts. But what a ride. I'll be talking about them until the day I die, these guys.''

Down by as many as 16 points early in the second half, Lamar kept hanging around. It drew to seven points when Anthony Miles, who added 14 points, drove and hit a layup while falling, then completed the three-point play. On the next possession, he hit a 3.

But Vermont always seemed to keep the Cardinals at arm's length.

Brandon Davis followed by driving the lane and banking in a shot. After a Cardinals miss, Glass popped in a jumper and the lead was back to double figures.

Moments later, after a nifty scoop shot in traffic for a bucket by Lamar's James, McGlynn came in and promptly drilled a 3 from the right wing to make it 59-47 with just over 6 minutes left.

The Cardinals, making their sixth NCAA appearance and first since 2000, never got closer than nine points again.

Knight was disappointed but not down.

``I can't wait until next year. But I'm going to miss these guys,'' he said before choking up. ``It's been a special year. To go from getting fired a year ago (at Texas Tech) and make the NCAA tournament - and it's nothing I did. It's the six seniors.''

McGlynn, who was playing high-school ball in York, Pa., a year ago, was already looking forward to the titanic challenge coming up against the Tar Heels.

``It's going to be awesome to go out there and play with arguably some of the best players in the country,'' he said.

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Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rustymillerap .