Category: NCAA Basketball

NCAA Basketball News

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Auburn’s Johni Broome, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner centers of attention in March Madness matchup

Johni Broome and Ryan Kalkbrenner are big men with big-time experience on the March Madness stage. Just not against each other, which makes Saturday night's NCAA Tournament second-round South Region showdown between overall top seed Auburn and No. 9 seed Creighton so compelling. Plot lines abound thanks to the Tigers’ and Blue Jays’ multiple strengths, but the matchup of main men in the middle is the most intriguing.

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Julian Reese and Maryland blow out Grand Canyon 81-49 in March Madness

Julian Reese had 18 points and nine rebounds, and fourth-seeded Maryland pounded No. 13 seed Grand Canyon 81-49 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Ja'Kobi Gillespie added 16 points for the Terrapins (26-8), who will play No. 12 Colorado State on Sunday in the second round of the West Region. Derik Queen, the Big Ten freshman of the year who was averaging 16.3 points and nine rebounds a game, finished with 12 points and 15 boards, becoming the first Maryland freshman with a double-double in the tournament since Jalen Smith in 2019.

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Rick Pitino and John Calipari share a mutual respect. Just don’t call them friends

The Hall of Fame coaches will renew their occasionally acrimonious rivalry on Saturday when Pitino’s second-seeded St. John’s faces Calipari’s No. 10 seed Arkansas for the chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. The matchup has been anticipated since the March Madness brackets were announced, and sealed on Thursday when Arkansas beat Kansas and St. John’s dispatched Omaha in the first round in Providence – where Pitino hung his first Final Four banner. The two have crossed paths over the decades from summer camp to UMass – Pitino’s alma mater and Calipari’s first head coaching job – to the NBA and, most notably, to one of basketball’s most heated rivalries: Kentucky and Louisville.

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Jordan Ross keys rally to help Saint Mary’s beat Vanderbilt 59-56 in March Madness

Saint Mary's guard Jordan Ross keyed a second-half rally while star Augustas Marciulionis dealt with foul trouble, and the seventh-seeded Gaels fended off 10th-seeded Vanderbilt 59-56 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. Ross scored 10 points with Marciulionis on the bench to help the Gaels (29-5) pull even, and Marciulionis hit a couple of clutch shots down the stretch to set up a meeting with No. 2 seed Alabama on Sunday.

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Baylor pulls away as Grand Canyon’s 30-game win streak ends with March Madness loss

Aaronette Vonleh had 25 points and 11 rebounds, leading fourth-seeded Baylor to a 73-60 victory over Grand Canyon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. Jada Walker scored 17 points as the host Bears (28-7) ended the Lopes' nation-leading winning streak at 30 games in Grand Canyon's first NCAA appearance. Baylor will play the Mississippi-Ball State winner in the second round Sunday.

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Playing in his hometown, Amarion Dickerson helps Robert Morris nearly pull off upset of Alabama

Robert Morris' Amarion Dickerson came into the NCAA Tournament known as one of the nation's best shot blockers after being chosen the Horizon League's Defensive Player of the Year. Dickerson scored 25 points and had nine rebounds in the Colonials' 90-81 loss to No. 2 seed Alabama in a first-round game in the South Region in Cleveland. “I'm grateful to go out there and have a good game, but it don’t mean as much to me with the result we got,” said Dickerson, who tied Forest Grant for most points by a Robert Morris player in an NCAA Tournament game.