March Madness live bracket updates: Xavier survives Kennesaw State
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Welcome to the happy confluence that is the first Friday of March Madness and St. Patrick’s Day.
This promising day of cool and fun features 16 men’s NCAA Tournament games in the Round of 64 slate. Will there be any more big upsets? On Thursday, No. 15 Princeton stunned No. 2 Arizona and the 13-seeded Paladins of Furman upset No. 4 Virginia.
The first men’s game Friday is at 12:15 p.m. ET between No. 10 USC and No. 7 Michigan State (CBS), and the action won’t stop until around midnight on the East Coast with No. 11 Arizona State and No. 6 TCU tipping off at 10:05 p.m. ET (truTV).
In addition, the women’s first round gets underway. Aliyah Boston and South Carolina gets their title defense started against Norfolk State at 2 p.m. ET (ESPN), while fellow No. 1 seed Virginia Tech takes on Chattanooga at 5:30 p.m. (ESPNU). Caitlin Clark and 2nd-seeded Iowa faces SE Louisiana at 4 p.m. (ESPNU). The final games on the schedule start at 10 p.m. ET with Gonzaga facing Ole Miss (ESPNU) and Princeton matching up against N.C. State (ESPN2).
Think you have what it takes to beat your friends? Test your college basketball skills (or luck) here with USA TODAY’s Survivor Pool. Bookmark our brackets page, too!
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Baylor 74, UC Santa Barbara 56
Adam Flagler scored 18 points for Baylor and LJ Cryer added 15 as the Bears blitzed UC Santa Barbara in the second half to come away with a 74-56 victory.
Caleb Lohner had 13 points off the bench for Baylor, and the Gauchos were held to just 18 points in the second half after leading 36-35 at halftime. Baylor hit 55 percent of its shots and forced 14 turnovers.
UC Santa Barbara was led by Miles Norris, who scored 15 points.
Xavier 72, Kennesaw State 67
Colby Jones’ free throw with 18.3 left gave Xavier the lead and Jack Nunge had a last-second block to secure the win as the Musketeers erased a 13-point second-half deficit and held off the upset bid by 14-seed Kennesaw State, which was making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Jerome Hunter scored 24 points and Nunge had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Xavier, which went 2-12 from 3-point range. Xavier stormed back with a 15–0 run to take the lead with 4:47 left as Kennesaw State went more than seven minutes without making a field goal, missing 11 shots in a row.
Brandon Stroud’s two free throws tied the score at 63 and Demond Robinson’s jumper gave the Owls a 65-64 lead with 2:04 left, but Kennesaw State scored only six points over the final 10 minutes of the game.
The Musketeers move on to take on the winner of Iowa State and Pittsburgh.
Women’s final: Arizona 75, West Virginia 62
Despite entering the tournament on a three-game losing streak, the Wildcats came out refreshed on hot from the field. Arizona built an 11-point lead in the first quarter and…
Read More: March Madness live bracket updates: Xavier survives Kennesaw State 2023-03-17 19:12:32