INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bam Adebayo had 15 points and 18 rebounds on Friday night as Kentucky showed the new kids on their block how it’s done at NCAA Tournament time, gritting out a 79-70 victory over stubborn Northern Kentucky.
The second-seeded Wildcats (30-5) won their 12th straight and got their first-game jitters out of the way. They also wound up with a surprisingly close finish after pulling ahead by 18 points in the second half.
The Norse (24-11) closed within 75-68 on Drew McDonald’s 3-pointer with 35 seconds left. Malik Monk made four free throws to close it out. Monk, the SEC’s player of the year, missed all of his six shots from beyond the arc and finished with 12 points, eight below his average. Freshman De’Aaron Fox scored 19 points.
Northern Kentucky reached the tournament in its first year of eligibility, only the seventh team to do so since 1970. For the Norse, the tournament was more of a starting point than the end of a season.
Mangok Mathiang scored 18 points and Deng Adel added 16 Friday to help second-seeded Louisville pull away from Jacksonville State 78-63 in the first round of the Midwest Regional.
The Cardinals (25-8) have won five straight opening round games. Louisville was making its first postseason appearance since 2015 after sitting out last year because of a one-year, school-imposed postseason ban for alleged recruiting violations.
Norbertas Giga scored 30 points for 15th-seeded Jacksonville State (20-15), which was one of a record five teams making their first tourney appearance.
And it was a bigger challenge than most expected.
But after trailing for the first 13 minutes, the Cardinals finally took the lead with an 8-2 late in the first half. It closed the half on a 9-4 spurt then opened the second half on 10-2 run to make it 48-33. Louisville led by double digits most of the rest of the game.
Southern California and Rhode Island have become the second and third No. 11 seeds to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. And tenth-seeded Wichita State made it five double-digit seeds reaching Round 2.
Sixth seed SMU had won 16 in a row until Elijah Stewart led the 11th-seeded Trojans to a 66-65 triumph over the Mustangs in Tulsa. Stewart delivered 22 points, including a game-winning 3-pointer after the Trojans trailed by as many as 10 in the second half.
Bennie Boatright and Chimezie Metu each added 14 for USC.
The Mustangs lost despite Semi Ojeleye’s (SHEH’-mee OH’-zhah-layz) 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Jeff Dowtin went 10-for-10 from the line and scored a career-high 23 points as the Rams surprised No. 6 Creighton, 84-72 in Sacramento. Kuran Iverson scored 17 points and Hassan Martin had 12 points and eight rebounds in the Rams’ first NCAA tourney win in 19 years.
The Shockers earned their 16th straight win by holding Dayton to a season-low 31 percent shooting in a 64-58 win against the Flyers at Indianapolis. Zach Brown’s 3-pointer put Wichita State up 51-45 with 5:38 left, the biggest lead by either team up to that point. Landry Shamet had 13 points for the winners.
Third seed Baylor was a winner in Tulsa as Al Freeman came off the bench to score 21 points in a 91-73 romp over New Mexico State. Jo Lual-Acuil scored 16 points and Johnathan Motley added 15 and 10 rebounds as the Bears avoided a third straight first-round exit.
Baylor and Southern Cal will meet on Sunday.
Kansas has cruised into the second round at Tulsa as Frank Mason III contributed 22 points and eight assists to a 100-62 pounding of UC Davis. Josh Jackson chipped in 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting to help the Jayhawks win their opening game of the tournament for the 11th consecutive year.
Kansas closed the half on a 29-7 run to lead 50-28.
The Jayhawks have a Sunday clash with the Michigan State Spartans, who got 19 points from Nick Ward in an easy 78-58 victory against Miami. Miles Bridges had 18 points for the Spartans, who trailed by 12 before going on a 20-2 spurt in the first half.
No. 3 Oregon sailed into the second round as Tyler Dorsey poured in 24 points to lead a 93-77 rout of Iona in Sacramento. Dillon Brooks and Payton Pritchard scored 16 points apiece for the Ducks, who shot 64 percent and led by as many as 27.
Oregon’s next opponent is Rhode Island.
Cincinnati also advanced in Sacramento as Troy Caupain dropped in 23 points and Kyle Washington added 16 to highlight a 75-61 win against Kansas State. The Bearcats hit their first nine shots and shot 62 percent for the game.
Cincinnati’s next foe will be the third-seeded UCLA Bruins, who rode T.J. Leaf’s 23 points to a 97-80 triumph over Kent State. Thomas Welsh provided 16 points for the Bruins, one more than teammates Lonzo Ball and Aaron Holiday.
In Greenville, South Carolina, Justin Jackson scored 19 of his 21 points by halftime as No. 1 seed North Carolina ripped Texas Southern, 103-64. Jackson finished 8 of 13 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range with seven rebounds. Isaiah Hicks added 17 points and Kennedy Meeks had 13 for the Tar Heels.
Jaylen Barford hit the go-ahead layup with 57.8 seconds left to help No. 8 Arkansas hold off Seton Hall 77-71. Barford contributed 12 of his 20 points after halftime, including a pair of game-clinching free throws with 18.3 seconds remaining.
The Razorbacks will face North Carolina on Sunday.
Duke is 34-7 in NCAA openers after Grayson Allen had 21 points off five 3-pointers to send the second-seeded Blue Devils past Troy, 87-65 at Greenville. Jayson Tatum had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Duke, which drained 10 3-pointers in the opening half.
South Carolina has a Sunday meeting with Duke. Sindarius Thornwell had 29 points and 11 rebounds to help the seventh-seeded Gamecocks earn a 93-73 win over Marquette. P.J. Dozier finished with 21 points in South Carolina’s first NCAA Tournament win in 44 years.
