The Friday afternoon window of the 2015 NCAA Tournament's Round of 64 had three double-digit seeds doing their best to take down favorites. None of them got it done, and West Virginia, Wichita State and Virginia moved on to the weekend's Round of 32.
March Madness bracket 2015: West Virginia, Wichita State, Virginia advance
Friday afternoon was kind to teams at the end of the alphabet.
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West Virginia was one of the trendiest upset picks in the entire March Madness bracket, given the Mountaineers' first foe, a good Buffalo team coached by Bobby Hurley. And the Bulls, making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, gave themselves a shot late, with an extended 18-7 run that spanned more than nine minutes and tied the game at 62-62.
But the Mountaineers made a couple of free throws, and then Tarik Phillip put Cinderella to bed.
That three was followed up by a clutch Phillip rebound at the other end, and West Virginia moved on with a 68-62 win — its first since making the Final Four in 2011.
Wichita State, also no stranger to the Final Four, had a more back-and-forth affair on its hands with Indiana. The Shockers trailed at halftime, by five early in the second half, but clicked off 8-0 and 15-3 runs in the period.
Still, this one wasn't sealed until late, thanks partly to Yogi Ferrell's 24 points for the Hoosiers. This squirming Tekele Cotton finish in the final minute gave Wichita State a four-point lead ...
... but the Shockers needed four more free throws from Ron Baker in the final minute to finish off Indiana by an 81-76 count. Predictably, Tom Crean was mad.
Wichita State’s win sets up a massive Sunflower State showdown on Sunday between the last team from the state to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and Kansas.
In the final game of the mid-afternoon slate, Virginia held off a valiant second-half effort from Belmont to move on to the Round of 32.
The Bruins closed to within two at 62-60 on a Craig Bradshaw three — Bradshaw had 24 points — but promptly conceded a 9-0 run to Virginia and never got closer than nine points again. The 79-67 win moves the Cavaliers on to one of the showcase games of the weekend, a clash with Michigan State that is a rematch of a Sweet 16 classic from last year's tournament.
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