NCAA First Four: Indiana tops Wyoming; Texas Southern outlasts Texas A&M-CC
Trayce Jackson-Davis had 29 points and nine rebounds, Jordan Geromino scored a career-high 15 points and Indiana beat turnover-prone Wyoming 66-58 in a First Four game on Tuesday night.
Indiana (21-13) earned an at-large bid after a good showing in the Big Ten tournament, getting back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016 in its first season under coach Mike Woodson. The Hoosiers move on as the 12th seed in the East and will face fifth-seeded St. Mary’s on Thursday.
With the crowd at University of Dayton Arena heavily tilted — Bloomington, Indiana, is less than a three-hour drive away — the Hoosiers pulled to a 10-point lead with under two minutes left in the game.
Wyoming’s Drake Jeffries hit a pair of foul shots to get the Cowboys within six with 14 seconds left. But Jeffries had to foul Indiana’s Xavier Johnson, who hit a pair from the stripe to put it out of reach.
Hunter Maldonado paced the Cowboys (25-9) with 21 points but turned the ball over 10 times. Graham Ike had 17 to go along with and nine rebounds. The Cowboys had 19 turnovers leading to 17 Indiana points.
Both teams were firing away from the outside early on but not much was falling. Indiana led 30-25 lead at the half despite shooting just 32% and hitting one of eight from three-point range.
The Cowboys couldn’t keep the handle, turning the ball over 13 times in the opening half, including seven by Maldonado. Wyoming didn’t shoot much better in the half, either, just 39%.
Times college sports writer J. Brady McCollough makes his picks and predictions for every game in the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Texas Southern 76, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 67
Bryson Etienne scored 21 points and Texas Southern beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 76-67 on Tuesday night in the First Four of the NCAA tournament.
The Cowboys earned their third NCAA tournament win in five seasons and will play top-seeded Kansas in the Midwest first round. The First Four returned to the University of Dayton Arena for the first time in three seasons.
PJ Henry hit a go-ahead free throw to highlight a 7-0 run in which Texas Southern (19-12) took the lead and never surrendered. He finished with 14 points and shot 10 of 13 at the free-throw line.
John Walker III added 16 points. Brison Gresham grabbed 13 rebounds and scored six points.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (23-12) led by as many as eight points in the opening period and four in the second half. The Islanders’ season ended after they won the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament Saturday.
Trevian Tennyson led the Islanders with 18 points on seven-of-13 shooting while Simeon Fryer scored 12 and Terrion Murdix added 10.
The Cowboys led 32-30 at halftime after trailing for over 10 minutes in the first half. Both teams shot below 40% from the field in the opening period, combining for 15 turnovers and seven steals.
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