NCAA Tournament bracket: Arizona edges Weber State, Stanford edges New Mexico
Arizona survives a brief scare from Weber State while Mercer stuns Duke and Stanford upsets New Mexico.
After a wild day of upsets on Thursday, top-seeded Arizona avoided the upset bug as the Wildcats battled for a 68-59 victory over Weber State. The ‘Cats started the game on the wrong side of a 7-0 run, but Sean Miller’s boys started to really dig in on the defensive end before blowing the game open.
Here is a look back at all of the early session games from Friday, as well as an updated look at the bracket:
No. 1 Arizona 68, No. 16 Weber State 59
Arizona did what it’s done best all season long on Friday: play defense. UA blocked 11 shots and held Weber State to just 31-percent shooting from the floor. WSU cut the deficit to nine within three minutes, but UA’s lead was never in real jeopardy.
Freshman sensation Aaron Gordon led the way with 16 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two assists. Naismith Award finalist Nick Johnson had a quiet but efficient game with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
No. 14 Mercer 78, No. 3 Duke 71
The Madness continued in the first game of the day as the Mercer Bears stunned the Blue Devils. It was a back-and-forth affair throughout, but the Bears just kept coming down the stretch.
With 1:08 to go, Langston Hall fired a cross-court pass to Daniel Coursey for an and-one dunk. Coursey would convert on the free throw to push Mercer's lead to six. The Blue Devils would get a couple of chances to make it a game, but the Bears continued to convert at the free throw line. As the clock struck zero, the celebration began:
No. 6 Baylor 74, No. 11 Nebraska 60
This was about as one-sided as you can get in games where many experts thought there would be an upset. Baylor came out firing on all cylinders, and Nebraska continued to settle for ill-fated jump shots. The Cornhuskers were down by 20 midway through the second half and never really made it a game.
Cory Jefferson led Baylor with 16 points and six rebounds. Isaiah Austin held down the paint with 13 points and seven boards, while Brady Heslip made 10 free throws on his way to 12 points.
No. 10 Stanford 58, No. 7 New Mexico 53
Another game, another upset. The Cardinal and Lobos were tied at 45-45 with 10 minutes to go, but Stanford somehow found another gear to dig in on the defensive end and hit a couple of clutch shots with the clock winding down. Chasson Randle was the hero, hitting a huge three-pointer and converting on all four of his free throw attempts to put the game on ice.
Next up for the streaky Cardinal is a likely matchup with Kansas in the third round.
Bracket
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