ARIZONA STATE 74, SAINT JOHNS 65
DAYTON, Ohio -- Luguentz Dort overcame
a hard foul and a leg injury, scored 21 points and led Arizona State to a
long-awaited NCAA Tournament victory Wednesday night, 74-65 over St. John's in
the First Four.
The 11th-seeded Sun Devils (23-10) will play Mid-American
Conference champion Buffalo on Friday in the West Region, coming off their
first NCAA Tournament win in 10 years.
Arizona State also provided a Pac-12 breakthrough: the
conference's first NCAA Tournament win in two years. The Pac-12 was 0-3 in the
tournament last season.
St. John's (21-13) was the last team picked for the tournament,
sneaking in despite a late-season fade. The Red Storm wound up one of the first
ones out as well.
Shamorie
Ponds scored 25 points for St. John's, which hasn't won an NCAA
Tournament game since 2000. The Red Storm never led on Wednesday.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE 78, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 74
DAYTON, Ohio -- Tyson Ward scored
23 points, and North Dakota State advanced to the NCAA Tournament round of 64
by beating North Carolina Central in the First Four.
Vinnie Shahid had
14 points, including a pair of foul shots with 8 seconds left to seal the game
for North Dakota State (19-15), which advances to play East Region No. 1 seed
Duke on Friday in Columbia, South Carolina.
Sam Griesel and Jared
Samuelson each added 10 points for the Summit League Tournament
winners. The Bison picked up their second NCAA Tournament win after upsetting
Oklahoma in the opening round in 2014.
N.C. Central (18-16) squandered an outstanding night by
senior center Raasean Davis,
who scored 20 points and pulled down 16 rebounds -- the 16th double-double of
his career. Larry McKnight Jr. also had 20 points and Randy Miller Jr. scored
18 for the Eagles, who lost a First Four game for the third consecutive year.
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