Stanford Overcomes One-Man Gang, 66-58

One player couldn’t beat Stanford, although Bradley guard Anthony Parker certainly tried.

Stanford (20-8) made it to the NCAA tournament’s second round for the second year in a row Thursday with a 66-58 victory over Bradley in the East Regional despite Parker’s career-high 34 points.

“We were a one-man wrecking team, [but] you can’t score 58 points and expect to win in the NCAA tournament,” Bradley Coach Jim Molinari said.

Parker had 29 of the first 45 points for Bradley (22-8) and tied a school record by making eight three-point shots. But he scored only five points in the last 6:59 as Stanford guard Brevin Knight took control of the game down the stretch.

Knight scored eight of his team-high 26 points after Parker’s three-point basket brought Bradley (22-8) within five points of Stanford at 50-45. Knight averages 14.7 points.

Parker, who averages 18 points and had previous career high was 30 points, made 11 of 21 shots while his teammates were 11 of 38. He also had 10 rebounds.

Ninth-seeded Stanford’s next opponent Saturday is No. 1-seeded Massachusetts. The Cardinal lost to the Minutemen, 75-53, in the second round last year.

Massachusetts 92, Central Florida 70--The Minutemen forced turnovers on the No. 16-seeded Golden Knights’ first six possessions of the second half to pull away.

Central Florida (11-19), one of two teams in the NCAA tournament with a losing record, trailed by four points at 43-39 at halftime.

Massachusetts (32-1) responded with one of its patented defensive-oriented runs to score the first 12 points of the second half.

Edgar Padilla stole the ball on the first two possessions of the second half and converted them into layups. Dana Dingle had the steal on the third possession and that led to Carmelo Travieso’s three-point basket. Padilla made another steal but was called for an offensive foul trying to score on the breakaway.

The crowd applauded sarcastically when the Golden Knights were finally able to cross the midcourt line. Their problems were far from over as Padilla made two more steals, one leading to his own three-point play and the other resulting in a layup by Marcus Camby that gave the Minutemen a 55-39 lead with 17:44 to play.

Travieso led Massachusetts with 21 points, making six of 10 three-point shots, while Padilla had 15 points, eight assists and seven of his team’s 16 steals. Camby, who had 14 points and 17 rebounds, missed almost seven minutes of the second half after being hit in the face by Reid Ketteler.

Arkansas 86, Penn State 80--The No. 12-seeded Razorbacks, NCAA champions in 1994 and national runners-up to UCLA last year, shot 54%, making 10 of 19 three-point attempts, against the No. 5-seeded Nittany Lions.

Arkansas, which has its worst record in the last nine seasons at 19-12, plays No. 4-seeded Marquette in the second round Saturday.

Penn State (21-7), second in the nation in three-point shooting at 42%, missed 23 of its 30 attempts from beyond the arc. The Nittany Lions went 24 minutes without making a three-point shot and fell behind in that span by as many as 18 points. They were never closer than six points of the Razorbacks, who missed nine of 16 free throws in the final two minutes.

Freshman guard Kareem Reid led Arkansas with 21 points. Center Calvin Booth was Penn State’s top scorer with 20.

Marquette 68, Monmouth 44--The Golden Eagles (23-7) closed the first half with a 9-0 run and used its inside game to dominate the No. 13-seeded Hawks (20-10) in the second half.

Monmouth, making its first NCAA appearance, trailed 39-28 with 15 minutes to play. Marquette’s next 11 points came from inside players Amal McCaskill and Chris Crawford, giving the Golden Eagles control at 50-33 with 12 minutes.