Davidson Loses To Marquette: Wildcats Blow Late Lead In NCAA Tournament Opener (VIDEO)

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Davidson tried to do everything it could to close out an upset of No. 3 seed Marquette in the NCAA tournament.

What the Wildcats failed to do was close in defensively on Vander Blue, whose driving layup with a second remaining capped the Golden Eagles' 59-58 comeback victory Thursday in a game that Davidson had in its grasp.

The 14th-seeded Wildcats squandered a nine-point lead with less than seven minutes to play, snapping their 17-game winning streak and ending their hopes of making another deep run in March. But the way they were eliminated was what bothered players the most.

"You can tell by our faces we're not too happy about it," forward Jake Cohen said. "It's just devastating."

Leading 49-40 with 6 1/2 minutes remaining, the Wildcats (26-8) answered Marquette's attempts to rally with two free throws each by Cohen and Nik Cochran and one by J.P. Kuhlman. De'Mon Brooks' layup with 41 seconds left made it 56-51 and forced Marquette to shoot 3-pointers if it wanted to get back in the game.

That's not the Golden Eagles' strong suit, but Blue and Jamil Wilson each made one down the stretch to close to 58-57. Then came Brooks' errant inbounds pass that sailed long and set up Blue's game-winning drive past Cohen.

"I got switched onto him and he got by me," said Cohen, who had 20 points. "Hindsight's 20-20. It's really easy to look back now and draw up something different. He made a big play and made a big shot."

Brooks and Cochran both scored 11 for Davidson, making its second consecutive tournament appearance. The Wildcats became tournament darlings in 2008 when Stephen Curry led them to the regional finals as a No. 10 seed.

The comeback spoiled Davidson's upset bid and halted the nation's longest winning streak. The Wildcats entered the game shooting nearly 47 percent from the field, 37 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the free throw line.

Their numbers weren't as good on Thursday, but the Wildcats thought they had enough.

"We emptied our tank today," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. "Credit Marquette, they made three plays down the stretch."

Early on, though, the Golden Eagles (24-8) couldn't hit from anywhere.

As Marquette was missing 10 of its first 11 attempts, Davidson came out hot, especially from the perimeter. Chris Czerapowicz, Kuhlman and Cohen all made 3-pointers in the Wildcats' 12-2 start.

Davidson's defense was also effective against Marquette's second chances, forcing the Golden Eagles to shoot off balance instead of spotting up. The Golden Eagles regrouped slightly with five straight points, but Cochran answered from beyond the arc to put the Wildcats ahead 15-7 with 12:19 left in the first half.

By halftime, Marquette had closed to 25-23 and the next 10 minutes were tight, with six ties and seven lead changes before Brooks' two free throws put Davidson up 40-38. After Wilson's free throw for Marquette, Tyler Kalinoski followed with a 3-pointer and Cochran added a bank to put the Wildcats up by six, leading to a Golden Eagles timeout with 9:24 left.

The lead stretched to nine with less than seven minutes left, but then came the comeback that Blue will remember for a while.

"All I was thinking was, if I get to the rim, I have to finish," said Blue, who scored seven of Marquette's final 10 points, including a 3 with 28 seconds left. "I'm not ready to go home. I know our team's not ready to go home.

"We got down by like seven, nobody ever panicked. ... Nobody missed a beat. We knew the game isn't over until the clock hits zero."

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VCU Blowout: No. 5 Rams Dominate Akron In NCAA Tournament, 88-42

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- VCU was at its best, pressing, running – and winning with ease.

The fifth-seeded Rams set an NCAA tournament record that stood for about an hour Thursday night, throttling 12th-seeded Akron 88-42 for the most lopsided victory by a team seeded third or lower in the NCAA tournament.

By the end of the night, No. 4 seed Syracuse had broken the mark by routing 13th-seeded Montana 81-34.

Troy Daniels had 23 points and Juvonte Reddic scored 21 for the Rams. They broke a margin-of-defeat record by a team seeded third or lower set by No. 3 Arizona in 1996, when it beat 14th-seeded Valparaiso by 39 points, according to STATS.

The previous mark by a fifth-seeded team against a 12th-seeded squad was set by Wyoming in a 35-point win over Howard in 1981 and matched by Tennessee against Long Beach State in 2007, according to STATS.

"It's a great accomplishment," Daniels said. "We'll take it, but we've got to get ready to play Saturday."

The Rams (27-8) will play fourth-seeded Michigan for a spot in the round of 16.

"That's what we live for," VCU coach Shaka Smart said.

Akron (26-7) was seriously short-handed, and it showed.

In addition to playing without suspended point guard Alex Abreu, the Zips had other problems as well. Starting guard Brian Walsh and reserve center Pat Forsythe were limited by the flu, and reserve guard Deji Ibitayo wasn't even in uniform because of back spasms.

"On top of everything else, we have one guy hurt his back and two guys with the flu," Akron forward Nick Harney said. "But we weren't the only team that had to deal with adversity. There were other teams here that overcame things and won. You have to play the hand you are dealt. We didn't get the job done, and I hate that for the seniors.

"We'll have more chances to get wins in the tournament, but those guys won't."

The way VCU played, though, Akron might've had a lot of trouble even if it was at full strength.

VCU looks as though it might have what it takes to make another run in the NCAA tournament. But unlike its 2011 trip to the Final Four, hardly anyone would be shocked if the Rams win three more games to reach the national semifinals.

Smart wants his players to wreak havoc with a full-court press and a fast-paced offense, and they did just that against the Zips.

Without Abreu, who was arrested on drug trafficking charges two weeks ago, Akron struggled to simply get the ball to the other end of the court.

"We definitely thought we could use that to our advantage and go after them and exploit that," said VCU guard Rob Brandenberg, who scored 14 points and had one of his team's 11 steals.

VCU forced the Zips into 10-second violations twice in less than a minute early in the game after they led 6-4, and the Rams scored 10 straight points to take control for good.

"We used so much energy trying to get the ball up the court, we couldn't guard them," Akron coach Keith Dambrot said.

The Atlantic 10 team sealed the victory by closing the first half with a 16-3 run.

The only question after halftime was how large the winning margin would be, and Smart wasn't going to be satisfied with his reserves cruising to an easy victory.

With his team up by 40 midway through the second half, Smart didn't show any mercy on his former boss and close friend, Dambrot. Smart left his starters in the game until there were about seven minutes left.

"We're not going to fall back and play zone," Smart said. "That's not what we do."

The Rams kept pressing, making behind-the-back passes, hitting layups and draining 3-pointers along with an alley-oop dunk in a relentlessly dominating performance.

"If you're up, you can't let up," VCU guard Darius Theus said. "We made up our minds at halftime that we weren't stopping."

Smart didn't stop coaching even when his team was leading 65-34 with 15:04 left.

Before addressing his players in a huddle, he started the timeout with a face-to-face conversation with Daniels – their noses inches apart – perhaps pointing him toward improving for his next test against the previously top-ranked Wolverines.

"He was telling me to box out," Daniels recalled. "I said, `OK, Coach, I got you.'"

Demetrius Treadwell scored 15 and Zeke Marshall had 11 points for the Mid-American Conference champion Zips, who shot below 35 percent.

While forcing turnovers, VCU took good care of the basketball when it was on offense.

VCU forced 22 turnovers and gave up the ball just seven times – at least once at the end of the game on purpose – to narrowly miss another feat. Since 1990, the largest turnover differential when one team had seven or fewer turnovers was 16 set by Syracuse in 1996 against Mississippi State and matched by Utah State against Ohio State in 2001, according to STATS.

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Follow Larry Lage on Twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/larrylage

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Belmont Falls To Arizona, Still Searching For First NCAA Tournament Win

SALT LAKE CITY -- Belmont is winless in six NCAA tournament appearances and the Bruins have lost big in five of those, including Thursday's 81-64 loss to sixth-seeded Arizona.

Still, coach Rick Byrd said this year's team overachieved.

"It's hard, but I told those guys in there, I wouldn't have given them a chance to win this season (after losing three All-Conference players)," Byrd said.

Instead the Bruins went on to win 26 games and the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, and even pick up Top 25 votes along the way while relying on plenty of 3-point shots.

Belmont never got going offensively against Arizona, starting 1 of 11 overall and 0 of 4 from beyond the arc before finishing at 39 percent shooting and 30 percent on 3s.

"I think this was pretty simple," Byrd said. "Arizona outplayed us."

Mark Lyons scored 23 points to lead Arizona (26-7), which used its huge size advantage to shut down the Bruins (26-7).

Arizona held a 44-18 edge on the boards, outscored Belmont 36-18 in the paint, blocked five shots and outshot the Bruins from 3-point range.

The Wildcats made 9 of 17 3-pointers, including a critical one from Solomon Hill with 4:40 remaining to stop an 11-2 Belmont run, and shot 57 percent overall.

Bruins guard Ian Clark entered shooting better than 46 percent from 3-point range, tops in the nation, but was 3 of 8 from beyond the arc.

"I don't blame people for picking Belmont," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "They have a great backcourt. They earned the seed they got. You look at them on paper and I don't know if anybody relishes seeing them in their bracket."

Kerron Johnson led Belmont with 22 points and Clark finished with 21.

Kevin Parrom, Kaleb Tarczewski and Nick Johnson added 12 points each for Arizona, which led 32-20 at halftime after closing on an 11-2 run.

Byrd didn't realize Arizona's defense could be so formidable.

Belmont's lowest field goal total this season entering the NCAAs was 22 against Kansas. Arizona held the Bruins to 20.

Arizona led by as many as 21 points, 64-43, with 7:45 remaining before Belmont went on a 10-0 run, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Clark and J.J. Mann. The 3s came just seven seconds apart as Mann stole the inbounds pass.

But Parrom countered with a driving layup and Hill hit another 3-pointer _Arizona's eighth – to bump the Wildcats' lead back to 15 points, 69-54, with 4:29 left.

Arizona's size advantage was evident early as the Wildcats jumped out to a 14-4 lead thanks to a 14-3 edge on the boards and cold shooting by Belmont.

Belmont wouldn't hit its first 3-pointer until Johnson's step-back shot with 10:55 left in the first half. Blake Jenkins followed with a towering dunk off a pass from Johnson to pull the Bruins to 14-9 and Clark's first 3-pointer got Belmont within 16-14 with 8:33 left in the first half.

Arizona closed on a 16-6 run to take a 32-20 lead into the break.

At halftime, the Wildcats had made twice as many 3-pointers (4 of 9) than Belmont (2 of 13).

Nick Johnson was the primary defender on Clark most of the night, with help from Jordin Mayes.

"Sometimes they score and you get the sense that tonight he earned his points," Miller said of Clark. "And that's what we want them to do, earn points."

If Byrd didn't realize Arizona could play that well defensively, Miller said it was because of the Pac-12 competition.

"We have been a good rebounding team all season. But if you put us under the microscope in our conference, we got away from the dominant rebounding team that we once were and we talked about it," Miller said.

Byrd said the Bruins also hurt themselves.

"Again, this is crying over spilled milk, but we missed five layups in the first half," he said. "We missed the same kind of 3s that they made throughout the game, and if you're going to beat a team that is that good and that talented, you kind of have to make it go the other way. You've got to make big-time plays and finish layups and we have to shoot it better than they shoot it, and we didn't do it."

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Cal Upset: No. 5 UNLV Falls To No. 12 Golden Bears In NCAA Tournament, 64-61

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Allen Crabbe clapped his hands toward the roaring crowd. Richard Solomon shook his hips and danced. Senior reserve Robert Thurman pumped his fist lightly, just thankful for a chance to play again.

About the only difference between Haas Pavilion and HP Pavilion turned out to be 50 miles, two letters and one monumental stage in the NCAA tournament.

Buoyed by the support of a strong contingent so close to the Berkeley campus, Crabbe had 19 points and nine rebounds, Thurman scored all 12 of his points on dunks and 12th-seeded California held off fifth-seeded UNLV 64-61 in the second round Thursday.

"I don't buy the home-court theory because there are a lot of people there that didn't buy tickets to watch us. They bought tickets to watch basketball," Cal coach Mike Montgomery said. "But I will buy the theory that it was really great to be close to home because we had preparation time."

Sure seemed that way.

The Golden Bears (21-11) held the Runnin' Rebels (25-10) without a basket for more than 11 minutes in the second half. Cal confused UNLV with 40 minutes of zone defense, which Montgomery couldn't recall employing for such a long stretch since he was at Montana from 1977-86.

The dominant defensive stretch turned a tie game into a nine-point lead. Cal withstood a late UNLV push for its first tournament win since 2010.

The Bears will play in San Jose again Saturday against No. 4 seed Syracuse, an 81-34 winner over Montana.

"That's the most we've ever played zone this year," said Crabbe, the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year. "We took them out of their rhythm."

The Rebels rallied to within a point in the final seconds before missed free throws and a costly inbounds pass sealed the loss.

Bryce Dejean-Jones scored 15 points and freshman NBA prospect Anthony Bennett shook off a poor start to finish with 15 points and 10 rebounds for UNLV, which beat Cal 76-75 in Berkeley on Dec. 9. Despite being the higher seed, the selection committee placed the Rebels in the heart of Cal's alumni base in technology-rich Silicon Valley.

Rebels fans filled up about two sections, and the rest of the red-and-black faithful was sprinkled around the blue-and-gold-clad crowd. Cal's contingent let its presence be known, roaring to its feet at every chance.

UNLV coach Dave Rice refused to use the location as an excuse. Instead, another early exit in the tournament provided enough to grumble about.

"We're bitterly disappointed," he said.

Justin Cobbs added 13 points and five rebounds, and Richard Solomon had 11 points and seven rebounds while playing with the kind of heart and hustle Montgomery has long preached. Cal outshot the Rebels 44 to 32 percent.

The Bears started the second half just the way they did the first – pushing the pace, swarming around in that zone defense and swishing shots with ease to go ahead 37-31 on a 3-pointer by Cobbs.

After the Rebels scored six straight, Cobbs and Crabbe carried Cal's 8-0 spurt to go up 45-37, with both guards converting layups through traffic. Bennett made three free throws after getting fouled by Crabbe before Cobbs answered with another 3-pointer, getting a hard pat on his backside by Crabbe from the bench.

The Rebels then missed 16 shots in a row from the field until Mike Moser – who was hurt early in the first matchup – put back a rebound with 5:16 remaining. The tip ended a drought of 11:14 without a basket, and perhaps even more stunning was that Cal only led 52-46.

"I feel terrible," Bennett said. "I wanted to go far into this tournament. Things didn't work out for us."

Thurman alone almost topped UNLV's output after halftime. The senior, who had 12 points over his previous five games, had almost as many field goals (five) in the second half as the entire Rebels team (eight).

The 6-foot-10 forward finished all of his baskets for dunks and bullied Bennett – a projected lottery pick in the NBA draft – on both ends for all but the final few minutes.

"I just got really lucky because Justin and Allen really penetrated well," said Thurman, a perfect 6 for 6 from the floor. "And I did what most big guys are supposed to do."

By the time Thurman's last dunk went through, all UNLV could do was prolong the game with fouls.

The Bears broke down and gave up five straight points, including a three-point play that started when Bennett outmuscled Crabbe for a layup to slice Cal's cushion to 60-58 with 14.4 seconds remaining.

Cobbs and UNLV's Anthony Marshall each went 1 for 2 on free throws before Marshall hit a pair to trim Cal's lead to 62-61. The Rebels missed a chance to foul Cobbs and let precious seconds tick away before wrapping up Crabbe with 1.6 seconds remaining.

Crabbe made both shots, then Solomon intercepted a desperation inbounds pass near midcourt to seal the game for good.

Cal became the second 12th-seeded Pac-12 team to win in San Jose. Earlier in the day, conference tournament champion Oregon beat fifth-seeded Oklahoma State 68-55 in a second-round game in the Midwest Region.

"Shows you that our conference is tough," Cobbs said. "It's tough from top to bottom. Teams are playing well right now. So all the bad press we were getting before maybe wasn't true."

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