Dylan Page had an upset in his hands but he missed a layup with two seconds left for No. 12 Wisconsin-Milwaukee as fifth-seeded Notre Dame won a wild West Region first-round game 70-69.
Chris Thomas scored 27 points–playing all 40 minutes–to lead Notre Dame.
“What more could I ask for?” Panthers coach Bruce Pearl said. “Our best player had the ball in his hands. He was ready to score, but he drew the defense and got a great look for Dylan. The ball just didn’t go in.”
MIDWEST
No. 3 Marquette 72, No. 14 Holy Cross 68: Travis Diener scored a career-high 29 points for the Golden Eagles.
No. 13 Tulsa 84, No. 4 Dayton 71 : In the biggest upset of the day, Dante Swanson and Jason Parker each scored 24 for Tulsa.
No. 5 Wisconsin 81, No. 12 Weber St. 74: Kirk Penney scored 21 points and the Badgers’ stifling defense (58.7 points allowed per game) held the Wildcats in check until the final minutes.
No. 6 Missouri 72, No. 11 SIU 71: Missouri’s Rickey Paulding drew a questionable foul with 4.1 seconds left, then hit one of two free throws. “You don’t make a call at the end of the game,” SIU coach Bruce Weber said. “The guy’s out of control.”
EAST
No. 8 California 76, No. 9 N.C. State 74 (OT): Freshman Richard Midgely swished a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left to beat the Wolfpack.
No. 1 Oklahoma 71, No. 16 S. Carolina St. 54: Hollis Price only played 11 minutes but the top-seeded Sooners cruised.
SOUTH
No. 4 Stanford 77, No. 13 San Diego 69: Former New Trier standout Matt Lottich scored 17 points and hit a big 3-pointer with 49.7 seconds left.
No. 5 Connecticut 58, No. 12 BYU 53: Emeka Okafor dominated on both ends of the court as he scored 20 points and blocked seven shots for Connecticut.
WEST
No. 11 C. Michigan 79, No. 6 Creighton 73 : Mike Manciel scored a season-high 29 points and Central Michigan made key free throws late to hang on after nearly blowing a 26-point lead.
No. 9 Gonzaga 74, No. 8 Cincinnati 69: Ronny Turiaf (22 points) made a team record-tying 16 free throws as Gonzaga held off late-charging Cincinnati.
No. 10 Arizona St 84, No. 7 Memphis 71: Ike Diogu, Arizona State’s Pac-10 freshman of the year and the team’s leading scorer all season, scored 22 points.
