NEW YORK — Notre Dame and Stephen F. Austin went shot-for-shot in an NCAA Tournament game that was about as good as it gets. The power school against the unflinching underdog. The lead never was more than seven for either team.
That it came down to the last shot was no surprise. The hero, though, might have been the most unlikely player on the floor to make a game-winner.
Rex Pflueger tapped in a rebound with 1.5 seconds left and Notre Dame survived 14th-seeded Stephen F. Austin 76-75 on Sunday to reach the NCAA round of 16 for the second consecutive season.
Down one with 17.5 seconds left, sixth-seed Notre Dame grabbed an SFA rebound and put the ball in the hands of Demetrius Jackson. The point guard drove to the basket and missed. Zach Auguste followed for the Irish (23-11) but could not convert. The ball slipped off the rim and with one hand Pflueger flipped it in.
Not only had Pflueger not scored in the game to that point, he hadn’t had a field goal since March 5.
“I just crashed the board,” Pflueger said. “I thought Zach was going to make that last layup, but coach always emphasizes going to the board hard, especially in situations like that, and it just turned out for the best for us.”
A long heave from Stephen F. Austin (28-6) went wide and Notre Dame celebrated by swarming Pflueger.
(7) WISCONSIN 66, (2) XAVIER 63: Bronson Koenig hit two 3-pointers in the closing seconds, the last of them as the buzzer sounded, and seventh-seeded Wisconsin edged second-seeded Xavier in the second round in St. Louis.
The talented sharpshooter who failed to hit from beyond the arc in a first-round win over Pittsburgh connected from well beyond the 3-point line to tie it at 63 with 11.7 seconds remaining.
Edmond Sumner brought the ball up court for Xavier (28-6), and then drove to the basket, running over the Badgers’ Zak Showalter and getting called for an offensive foul with 4.3 seconds to go.
Wisconsin (22-12) called timeout after crossing half court and coach Greg Gard drew up a play for his best outside shooter. Koenig got the inbound pass in front of his own bench and buried the fallaway shot, sending the jubilant Badgers streaming onto the court and into another Sweet 16.
They’ll face Notre Dame on Friday in Philadelphia.
SOUTH REGIONAL
(2) VILLANOVA 87, (7) IOWA 68: Josh Hart scored 19 points and second-seeded Villanova advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009 with a rout of seventh-seeded Iowa in New York.
Villanova’s senior class, led by Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu, made it to the tournament’s second weekend for the first time. They were upset in the round of 32 the last two seasons and didn’t make it that far as freshmen.
The Wildcats (31-5) will meet third-seeded Miami on Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky.
There was no doubt in this one. Villanova led 54-29 at halftime and by as many as 34 points in the second half. The closest Iowa (22-11) got was 16 points in the final minutes.
(5) Maryland 73, (13) Hawaii 60: Melo Trimble scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Maryland beat Hawaii to advance to the Sweet 16, in Spokane, Washington.
Diamond Stone added 14 points for fifth-seeded Maryland (27-8), which advanced to the round of 16 for the eighth time in the past 22 years.
Mike Thomas had 19 points and 11 rebounds for 13th-seeded Hawaii (28-6), which won a tournament game for the first time this season.
Maryland will play Kansas next Thursday.
After a sluggish first half in which Maryland led 28-27, the tempo picked up in the second.
Hawaii went on a 10-4 run to take a 39-36 lead. Then the bottom fell out.
Trimble’s 3-pointer, the first of the game for Maryland after 15 misses, highlighted a 14-0 run that put the Terps ahead 53-41 with just over seven minutes left.
WEST REGIONAL
(1) OREGON 69, (8) ST. JOSEPH’S 64: Dillon Brooks refused to let top-seed Oregon and the Pac-12 Conference be eliminated on the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, scoring 25 points and leading the Ducks to a win over No. 8 seed Saint Joseph’s in Spokane, Washington.
Oregon (29-6) was carrying the banner for the rest of the Pac-12 after the conference posted a collective dud on the opening weekend. Five teams were sent home in the first round and Utah was routed by 11th-seeded Gonzaga in the round of 32, leaving the Ducks as the lone conference representative.
And they were tested by the Hawks, rallying from down 58-51 in the final five minutes to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013. Brooks started the rally with a driving three-point play and put Oregon in front for good on a 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining.
DeAndre’ Bembry led the Hawks (28-8) with 16 points, but the Atlantic 10 tournament champs saw their postseason run ended.
(2) OKLAHOMA 85, (10) VCU 81: Buddy Hield scored 19 of his 36 points in the final eight minutes to help No. 2 seed Oklahoma hold off No. 10 seed VCU in Oklahoma City in the second round.
Hield, who didn’t score for more than 10 minutes to start the game, made 9 of 12 shots in the second half after going 2 for 8 in the first. The senior guard posted at least 30 points for the 11th time this season.
Jordan Woodard scored 17 points and Isaiah Cousins added 15 for the Sooners (27-7), who advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.
Melvin Johnson scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, JeQuan Lewis scored 22 points and Michael Gilmore added 12 for VCU (25-11), which was trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since its Final Four run in 2011.
(3) Texas A&M 92, (11) NORTHERN IOWA 88: Alex Caruso scored 25 points as Texas A&M overcame a 10-point deficit with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation to come back for a double overtime victory over Northern Iowa in Oklahoma City.
The win puts the third-seeded Aggies (28-8) in the Sweet 16 for the third time in school history, the first since 2007.
Danuel House scored all 22 of his points in the second half and overtime, while Jalen Jones finished with 16 for Texas A&M – which has now won 10 of its last 11 games.
Jeremy Morgan had career highs of 36 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Panthers (23-13), who led 69-59 in the final minute of regulation before committing four turnovers in the final 29 seconds to spark the Aggies comeback.
MIDWEST REGIONAL
(10) SYRACUSE 75, (15) MIDDLE TENNESSEE 50: The insufferable zone of Syracuse ground Middle Tennessee State’s magical March ride to a halt, and the No. 10 seed Orange beat the No. 15 seed Blue Raiders in St. Louis to advance to the Sweet 16.
Michael Gbinije poured in 23 points, Tyler Lydon added 14 and the Orange (21-13) used a 21-2 charge midway through the second half to crack open a close game and join five other ACC schools in advancing to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
After teetering on the bubble a week ago, they’ll play No. 11 seed Gonzaga on Friday in Chicago.
The Blue Raiders (25-10), who shredded so many brackets with their upset of second-seeded Michigan State, made things tough on Syracuse for a while. They led early in the second half and still trailed just 40-39 with 16:02 to go, but proceeded to make one of their next 16 field-goal attempts.
The Orange became the sixth and perhaps most unlikely of the ACC schools to advance to the Sweet 16, a record number for a single conference since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The league went 12-1 in the opening two rounds with only Pittsburgh losing.
Darnell Harris led Middle Tennessee State with 11 points, while Reggie Upshaw — who scored 21 points against the Spartans — was held to two on 1-for-10 shooting.
Trevor Cooney got Syracuse off to a good start with three early 3s, but he was just as valuable alongside Gbinije at the top of its zone. The long, athletic guards were able to cut off the Blue Raiders before they could drive to the basket, forcing them to take a series of off-balance jumpers.
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