NCAA Round-up, March 17 - West Virginia Mountaineers, San Diego State Aztecs and Pittsburgh Panthers
win (part 3)
West Virginia Mountaineers 84 - Clemson Tigers 76
Darryl Bryant and Kevin Jones spearheaded the West Virginia Mountaineers to come from behind and rout Clemson Tigers 84-76 in the East Region.
The 5th ranked Mountaineers took the benefit on an exhausted rival, who is playing its second game just after 36 hours. The Mountaineers started off sluggishly, but quickly put their tiredness aside, as Bryant’s and
Jones set the stage on fire with their furious play that tied the game at 40 each at the half time.
The turning point of the game came in the second half when the Mountaineers made a 28-8 run that allowed them to slash a 10 point shortfall into a 57-47 advantage. The Tigers couldn’t get closer than three points difference.
Bryant made 19 points and his fellow Jones chipped in with 17 for the Mountaineers. Andre Young led the pack by 22 points, as four players made it to the double figures for the No. 12 Tigers.
San Diego State Aztecs 68 - Northern Colorado Bears 50
Kawhi Leonard made his double-double to led the second-seeded San Diego State Aztecs who survived a burst from the 15th-seeded Northern Colorado Bears’ scoring gun to win its first game of the tournament by 68-50.
The Aztecs led the Bears in the first half by six points. The Aztecs stretched the lead as they gathered its defence in the second half, to restrict the Bears at 35 points for nearly seven minutes to avoid the distress.
Leonard had 19 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and one block. Billy White also had a double-double; he counted 14 points and 12 boards for the Aztecs.
Devon Beitzel happened to be that firing gun for the Bears, as he quick fired eight points early in the second half, but in the end it wasn’t enough. Beitzel scored 25 points for the Bears.
Pittsburgh Panthers 74 - North Carolina-Asheville Bulldogs 51
Ashton Gibbs marshalled the bigger, better and the best Pittsburgh Panthers to crush the North Carolina-Asheville Bulldogs 74-51.
The Panthers led the first half by five points, and then Gibbs set the court on fire early as he scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half, which allowed the Panthers to outscore the Bulldogs during a 13-5 run and put the game
away from the foe. The No. 1 seeded Panthers thrashed the inconsistent Big South champions and showed them what real play is, the No. 16s Bulldogs were outrebounded 50-27 by the Panthers. Gibbs made 26 points, two rebounds, one dime and one steal for the Panthers.
Matt Dickey scored 21 points for the Bulldogs, which finished off a patchy week.
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