NCAA Men’s Tourney: Red-Hot Rhody Ousts Creighton

Sacramento, Calif. — Jeff Dowtin scored a career-high 23 points with a perfect day at the free-throw line, upstart Rhode Island answered every threat and the Rams ran right into the next round of the NCAA Tournament by stunning cold-shooting No. 6 seed Creighton 84-72 on Friday in an opener of the Midwest Region.

Kuran Iverson scored 17 points and Hassan Martin had 12 points and eight rebounds as 11th-seeded Rhode Island (25-9) earned its ninth straight victory. The program won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since advancing to the Elite Eight and losing to Stanford in 1998.

Ronnie Harrell Jr. scored a career-high 15 points in Creighton’s 40-percent shooting day.

Michigan 92, Okla. St. 91

Indianapolis — Derrick Walton Jr. scored 26 points and Michigan made 16 3-pointers to hold off Oklahoma State.

The seventh-seeded Wolverines (25-11) set a school record for 3s in an NCAA Tournament game. They have won six straight — five since a frightening plane mishap on the way to last week’s Big Ten Tournament.

Oregon 93, Iona 77

Sacramento, Calif. — With star big man Chris Boucher cheering in a bulky knee brace from the sidelines, Tyler Dorsey scored 24 points to lead four players in double figures, and No. 3 seed Oregon beat 14th-seeded Iona.

The Ducks (30-5) showed they have depth and sheer athleticism to make a special March run, just as coach Dana Altman hoped this week when he challenged role players to make larger contributions in shot-blocker Boucher’s absence.

Louisville 78Jacksonville State 63

Indianapolis — Mangok Mathiang scored 18 points and Deng Adel added 16 to help second-seeded Louisville pull away from Jacksonville State.

The Cardinals (25-8) have won five straight opening round games. Louisville was making its first postseason appearance since 2015 after sitting out last year because of a one-year, school-imposed postseason ban for alleged recruiting violations.

Kansas 100, UC Davis 62

Tulsa, Okla. — Frank Mason III scored 22 points and had eight assists as top-seeded Kansas won its opening game of the NCAA Tournament for an 11th straight year.

Freshman Josh Jackson, making his return after a one-game suspension for an accumulation of embarrassing incidents, added 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting for the Jayhawks (29-5).

South Region

Arkansas 77, Seton Hall 71

Greenville, s.c. — Jaylen Barford hit the go-ahead layup with 57.8 seconds left to help Arkansas hold off Seton Hall.

Barford had 12 of his 20 points after halftime for the Razorbacks (26-9), the No. 8 seed in the South Region. That included his layup off Khadeen Carrington’s turnover at the other end, pushing Arkansas ahead for good as the Razorbacks scored the game’s final seven points.

UNC 103, Texas So. 64

Greenville, s.c. — Justin Jackson broke out of a shooting slump with 21 points to help top-seeded North Carolina roll past Texas Southern.

The ACC player of the year had made just 20 of 60 shots (33 percent) and 7 of 31 3-pointers (23 percent) in his last four games. But he had 19 points by halftime in this one, helping the Tar Heels (28-7) quickly eliminate any chance of an unprecedented upset.

Wichita State 64, Dayton 58

Indianapolis — Wichita State’s high-flying offense didn’t get off the ground until the closing minutes, when the Shockers played like the more tournament-experienced team and pulled away.

The 10th-seeded Shockers (31-4) won their 16th in a row — the second-longest streak in school history — by clamping down on defense and swatting away shots down the stretch. Zach Brown’s 3-pointer put Wichita State up 51-45 with 5:38 left, the biggest lead by either team up to that point, and Dayton never threatened again.

Cincinnati 75, Kansas St. 61

Sacramento, Calif. — Troy Caupain scored 23 points, Kyle Washington added 16 and defensive-minded Cincinnati shot its way past Kansas State.

Cincinnati (30-5) was knocked out the first round a year ago and No. 6 seeds were 0-3 before the Bearcats took the floor, with Maryland, Creighton and SMU all losing to No. 11 seeds.

East Region

USC 66, SMU 65

Tulsa, Okla. — Elijah Stewart hit a late 3-pointer for No. 11 seed Southern California as the Trojans upset sixth seeded SMU.

SMU’s Shake Milton missed a floater at the buzzer.

Stewart had 22 points for the Trojans (26-9). Bennie Boatright and Chimezie Metu each added 14 for USC, which advances to play Baylor in the second round of the East region on Sunday.

Baylor 91, N.M. State 73

Tulsa, Okla. — Al Freeman came off the bench to score 21 points, and No. 3 seed Baylor defeated No. 14 seed New Mexico State.

Jo Lual-Acuil scored 16 points and Johnathan Motley added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears (26-7), who were upset in the first round by Georgia State and Yale the previous two years.

Duke 87, Troy 65

Greenville, s.c. — Grayson Allen had 21 points off five 3-pointers, Jayson Tatum had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and second-seeded Duke continued its perfect postseason.

The Blue Devils (29-7) became the first team to win four games on the way to the ACC Tournament crown last week. They kept up that pace in blowing past the 15th-seeded Trojans (22-15).