Tenth-seeded St. Joseph's led by as many as 10 points in the first half of a matchup with the 7-seed UConn Huskies, but coach Kevin Ollie's squad had all the answers in beating the Hawks in overtime, 89-81, in the NCAA Tournament's round of 64
2014 March Madness bracket: St. Louis slips past NC State, North Dakota State drops Oklahoma
UConn, Saint Louis, Michigan and North Dakota State advanced to the round of 32 on Thursday.
UConn big man Amida Brimah scored with a hook shot off an offensive rebound and also drew a foul with 40 seconds left in regulation. The free throw tied the game at 70, and the Huskies out-scrapped St. Joe's in overtime. Guard Shabazz Napier scored nine points in overtime and finished with team highs of 24 points, six assists and eight rebounds. The Huskies held on by remaining solid at the foul stripe -- they went 18-for-20 from the foul line overall -- in overtime.
Ryan Boatright hit four three-point shots and finished with 17 points; overall, four UConn starters reached double-figures.
The Huskies advance in the East Regional bracket, where the winner of second-seeded Villanova and 15-seed Milwaukee await.
No. 5 Saint Louis 83, No. 12 NC State 80
Saint Louis hacked at North Carolina State to force free throws down the stretch of the second half, and the Wolfpack blew a double-digit lead to fall, 83-80, in overtime. The Billikens face the winner of Louisville and Manhattan in the Midwest Regional.
The Wolfpack led by 16 with just more than eight minutes to play, 11 with three minutes to play and by six with a minute remaining as the Billikens purposely hacked at their opponents. Saint Louis tied the game at 70 to force overtime before pulling away.
Wolfpack forward T.J. Warren scored 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but he couldn't hit a free throw on an and-one opportunity to tie the game with 38 seconds left in overtime.
No. 12 North Dakota State 80, No. 5 Oklahoma 75
North Dakota State's Lawrence Alexander hit a game-tying three-pointer with 12 seconds left to force overtime, and Oklahoma couldn't get any of three decent-enough looks to drop on a final possession in regulation. Those two things helped the Bison upset the Sooners, 80-75, in the second round of the Big Dance. Alexander finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and four assists, all team-highs.
Oklahoma got 25 points from guard Cameron Clark, but the Sooners shot just 35 percent and NDSU to shoot 53 percent from the floor.
The Bison will play the winner of San Diego State and New Mexico State.
No. 2 Michigan 57, No. 15 Wofford 40
Led by 15 points from Nik Stauskas, the Michigan Wolverines beat the Wofford Terriers, 57-40, to advance in the Midwest bracket. Jordan Morgan scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
The Wolverines extended an early lead to 10 in the first half and led, 34-20, at halftime, but the Terriers didn't fold. Wofford pulled within seven points on a three-pointer by Karl Cochran, who had a team-high 17 points, but missed his other nine three-point attempts.
Michigan will await the winner of Texas and Arizona State.
Here’s the updated bracket.
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