PITTSBURGH (Sporting Alert) — Scores and results from the second round at the NCAA DI men’s March Madness basketball tournament on Thursday.
There were expected victories on the day for Kentucky, Notre Dame, Arizona, Villanova and Xavier, while UAB and Georgia State upset respective No. 3 seeds in their contests.
No. 1 Kentucky stretched its unbeaten run to 35 games after hammering No. 16 Hampton 79-56 at the KFC Yum! Center.
The top-ranked Wildcats, who have been dominating their opponents throughout this season, continued that familiar outcome on Thursday night, as Karl-Anthony Towns led the way with 21 points, 11 rebounds and three block shots.
He shot 8-of-12 from the field, while Kentucky out-rebounded Hampton 51-31 in the contest.
Trey Lyles also reached double-digits in scoring with 10 points and six rebounds, while Willie Cauley-Stein finished with seven points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in the win for the Wildcats, who held the Pirates to just 28.8 percent shooting from the field.
Quinton Chievous was the leading contributor for Hampton ((17-18) with 22 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.
Reginald Johnson and Brian Darden each finished with nine points in the defeat.
At the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Thursday afternoon, the third-seeded Notre Dame held off a determined Northeastern to earn a tough 69-65 win to start their NCAA tournament campaign.
The Fighting Irish (30-5), who won the ACC tournament championship, after knocking off Duke and North Carolina, shot 57.4 percent from the field as a team on 27-of-47, while forcing 16 turnovers in the win.
Zach Auguste, after falling into early foul trouble, came back to shot 10-of-14 from the floor for a game-high 25 points, while pulling down five rebounds to lead the way for Notre Dame.
Jerian Grant finished with 17 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals, with Demetrius Jackson, who came up with a huge defensive play in the final seconds, adding nine points on 4-of-6 shooting — eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks in the win.
Forward Scott Eatherton paced Northeastern with 18 points and eight rebounds, while David Walker added 15 points, seven assists and four rebounds for the No. 14 seed Huskies (23-12), who won the Colonial Athletic Association title.
Northeastern, which went 27-of-55 (49.1%) from the floor, battled with the No. 3 seed throughout the game, but the Irish took advantage of the their opponents’ turn overs to score 17 points in that area.
The Fighting Irish, who led 31-27 at halftime, will play the winner of the Texas vs Butler clash on Saturday.
In the days other early tip-off, No. 3 seed Iowa State was stunned 60-59 by the 14th-seeded UAB in a South Region 2nd round action at KFC Yum! Center.
Robert Brown scored 21 points and William Lee added 14, including the last four, while grabbing 12 rebounds to lead the way for the Blazers (20-15), who came into the NCAA contest with all tournament rookies.
Georges Niang scored 11 points and seven board for Iowa State and Jameel McKay collected 10 points and 12 rebounds in the defeat, as the Cyclones scored just four points in the last 3:13 after leading 55-51.
Another upset on the day saw fellow 14th-seed Georgia State stunningly dumping No. 3 seed Baylor from the tournament, following a narrow 57-56 win West Region.
R.J. Hunter drained a 3-point jumper with three-seconds left to lift the Panthers (25-9) to the win.
Hunter ended with 16 points, while Ryann Green finished with 11 and Markus Crider 10 in the win.
No. 1 seed Villanova (33-2) easily rolls to 93-52 win over Lafayette with all five of the Wildcats’ starters scoring in double digits.
Dylan Ennis led the way with 16 points, Daniel Ochefu added 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, while Ryan Arcidiacono finished with 13 points and six assists.
Also scoring in double digits were Darrun Hilliard II and JayVaughn Pinkston, who each had 12 points, with the latter also grabbind six rebounds in the win for Villanova, which shot an impressive 63.2 percent from the field on 36-for-57 shooting.
Dan Trist paced the Leopards with a game high 18 points and nine boards.
In other scores and results on the day, No. 2 Arizona routed 15th seed Texas Southern 93-72, while Butler, UCLA, Xavier and Ohio State all moved on to the next round with a win.
NCAA Tournament Scores
All Updated Box Scores on ESPN Live Scoreboard
(1) Kentucky 79, (16) Hampton 56
(1) Villanova 93, (16) Lafayette 52
(2) Arizona 93, (15) Texas Southern 72
(3) Notre Dame 69, (14) Northeastern 65
(14) UAB 60, (3) Iowa State 59
(14) Georgia St 57, (3) Baylor 56
(4) North Carolina 67, (13) Harvard 65
(6) Butler 56, (11) Texas 48
(11) UCLA 60, (6) SMU 59
(6) Xavier 76, (11) Ole Miss 57
(10) Ohio State 75, (7) Virginia Commonwealth 72
(8) Cincinnati 66, (9) Purdue 65
(5) Utah 57, (12) Stephen F. Austin 50
(4) Georgetown 84, (13) Eastern Washington 74
