THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEVELAND — Darius Johnson-Odum scored 19 points, Jimmy Butler had 15 and Marquette squashed Xavier’s bid for a fourth straight round of 16 appearance with a 66-55 win on Friday night.
The win was the first in the NCAA tournament for the 11th-seeded Golden Eagles (21-14) in two years. Marquette will play Indiana State or Syracuse on Sunday in the East region.
The sixth-seeded Musketeers (24-8) and Michigan State were the only two programs to reach the round of 16 each of the last three tournaments.
Xavier’s Tu Holloway, the Atlantic 10 player of the year, missed his first seven shots and scored only five points.
Marquette led by 13 in the first half and pushed back a small Xavier spurt that sliced the lead to single digits.
North Carolina 102, Long Island 87
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tyler Zeller scored 32 points, John Henson added 28, and North Carolina used its hulking size to overcome sloppiness in its return to the NCAA tournament in a 102-87 victory over scrappy Long Island University on Friday night.
Harrison Barnes added 24 points and 16 rebounds for the second-seeded Tar Heels (27-7) who eventually wore down the 15th-seeded Blackbirds (27-6). The 2009 NCAA champions, relegated to the NIT last season, advanced to the third round of the East Regional.
Julian Boyd scored 18 points, C.J. Garner added 16 and Jamal Olasewere had 15 for LIU, which faded after rallying to tie with under five minutes left in the first half as its nation-best 13-game winning streak was snapped.
The seven-footer Zeller and six-foot-10 Henson kept catching high passes for easy layups over smaller LIU to each record career highs in points.
Washington 68, Georgia 65
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Isaiah Thomas scored 19 points and No. 7 seed Washington held off a late rally to beat 10th-seeded Georgia 68-65 on Friday night in the second round of the East regional.
Scott Suggs added 10 points for the Huskies (24-10), who shot 43 per cent and withstood a frantic final-minute push to win their fifth straight NCAA tournament opener.
Trey Thompkins had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs (21-12), who trailed by 10 with two minutes left but made things interesting in the closing seconds.
Thompkins hit a three-pointer with 5.4 seconds remaining to make it 67-65 and Georgia fouled C.J. Wilcox with 3.7 seconds left. Wilcox made the first and missed the second.
Jeremy Price got the rebound for the Bulldogs and flung the ball downcourt. Thomas got a hand on the pass but Travis Leslie scooped it up and hoisted a three that bounced high off the glass after the buzzer.
Syracuse 77, Indiana State 60
CLEVELAND — Defensive stopper Rick Jackson scored a season-high 23 points, C.J. Fair added 14 and Syracuse began taking care of "unfinished business" in the NCAA tournament with a 77-60 win over Indiana State in a second-round game Friday night.
The third-seeded Orange (27-7) want to make up for last season’s disappointing tourney appearance, when their title run as a No. 1 seed ended with a loss to upstart Butler in the round of 16. Jackson, the Big East’s top defensive player, scored six straight during a crucial stretch in the second half when Syracuse finally pulled away from Indiana State (20-14).
Syracuse will play Big East brethren Marquette on Sunday in a third-round game. The Golden Eagles won the regular-season matchup between the schools.
Jake Kelly scored 12 to lead the Sycamores, who got within four in the second half but had no answer for Jackson.
Illinois 73, UNLV 62
TULSA, Okla. — Mike Davis tied his season high with 22 points, Demetri McCamey added 17 points and seven assists and Illinois dominated UNLV 73-62 Friday night to set up another meeting between Fighting Illini coaches past and present in the Southwest Region of the NCAA tournament.
The ninth-seeded Illini (20-13) took control with an early 15-0 run and led by as many as 25 in a surprisingly easy rout after losing 10 of their previous 16 games to bring into question whether they’d even make it onto the 68-team bracket.
Bruce Weber’s squad led by double digits throughout the second half against eighth-seeded UNLV (24-9), with former Illini coach Lon Kruger in charge. Next up for Illinois is a Sunday night clash against No. 1 seed Kansas and Weber’s predecessor, Bill Self.
Oscar Bellfield scored 14 to lead the Runnin’ Rebels, who lost for just the second time in their last eight games.
VCU 74, Georgetown 56
CHICAGO — Brandon Rozzell led four players in double figures and VCU made 12 three-pointers to stun Georgetown with a 74-56 win that showed any remaining doubters the Rams do, indeed, belong in the NCAA tournament.
Rozzell tied his career high with six 3-pointers and finished with 26 points, while Joey Rodriguez had 17 points and seven assists. Bradford Burgess and Jamie Skeen added 12 each.
It is the first time the 11th-seeded Rams (25-11) have won more than one game in the NCAA tournament, and they’ll now play third-seeded Purdue on Sunday in the Southwest Region. The Boilermakers beat St. Peter’s 65-43 earlier Friday.
Not even the return of point guard Chris Wright could help the sixth-seeded Hoyas, who were handed their worst loss in the NCAA tournament since a 24-point drubbing by top-seeded UMass in the 1996 East regional finals. Wright, who broke his left hand Feb. 23 in the second half against Cincinnati, had six points on 3-of-13 shooting and just two assists.
Purdue 65, St. Peter’s 43
CHICAGO — E’Twaun Moore scored 19 points and JuJuan Johnson added 16 with 16 rebounds Friday night as third-seeded Purdue routed St. Peter’s 65-43 in the second round of the NCAA’s Southwest Region.
The Boilermakers (26-7), who made the round of 16 the previous two seasons, will face the Georgetown-Virginia Commonwealth winner Sunday at the United Center for a return trip.
Winning their first game in the NCAA tournament is commonplace for the Boilermakers. They’ve now captured their opener in their last 13 appearances.
Kansas 72, Boston 53
TULSA, Okla. — Marcus and Markieff Morris combined for 31 points as Kansas found its shooting touch in the second half of a 72-53 win over Boston University on Friday night.
The win was the first NCAA tournament game for the Jayhawks since being sent home by Northern Iowa in the second round last season.
They appeared to still be feeling some of the aftereffects of that loss in the first half against the Terriers. Kansas (33-2) led just 33-29 at halftime and shot 42 per cent. The Jayhawks found their touch in the second, hitting 62 per cent of their shots and pulling away while avoiding last season’s heartbreak and becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed.
John Holland led Boston (21-14) with 19 points, with 15 coming in the first half. The loss snaps the Terriers’ 11-game winning streak.