Kansas State & Mount Saint Mary’s Win First Four Games
Kansas State and Mount Saint Mary’s won their respective First Four games in the NCAA tournament on Tuesday. Here’s a recap of the night’s action:
Kansas State 95. Wake Forest 88
Wesley Iwundu scored 24 points and Kansas State topped Wake Forest, 95-88, in a First Four game of the 2017 NCAA men’s basketball tournament in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday night. The 11th-seeded Wildcats advanced to face sixth-seed Cincinnati in the South Regional in Sacramento on Friday.
Kamau Stokes added 22 points, including 19 in the second half, for K-State (21-13), which shot a stellar 66 percent from the field for the game.
Forward John Collins led the Demon Deacons with 26 points and nine rebounds. Wake Forest (19-14) lost its first NCAA Tournament game in seven years.
Mount Saint Mary’s 67, New Orleans 66
Junior Robinson scored 23 points and Mount Saint Mary’s edged New Orleans, 67-66, in a First Four game of the 2017 NCAA men’s basketball tournament in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday night. With the play-in game vicotry, the 16th-seeded Mountaineers advanced to face top-seeded Villanova in the East Region in Buffalo on Thursday.
Miles Wilson had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the victorious Northeast Conference champions, who rallied after the Privateers had taken a 64-63 lead with just 1:48 to play.
With his team trailing for the first time in the second half, Robinson knocked down a jumper with 1:28 left and The Mount (20-15) held on for the win.
New Orleans (20-12) had a chance for a last-second shot, but the inbound pass was stolen away by the Mountaineers.
Reserve guard Nate Frye led the defeated Southland Conference champs with 18 points.