NCAA Men's Roundup: Canada's Nembhard helps Gonzaga rally, upsets galore

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Drew Timme gathered his Gonzaga teammates at midcourt, pointed at the scoreboard showing a 10-point halftime deficit for the top overall seed and expressed a few choice words.

Timme's goal was to spark his teammates with words. He did it with his play on the court, too.

Or as Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said, ``the Drew Timme effect came into play.''

Timme scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half, and Gonzaga rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat No. 9 seed Memphis 82-78 on Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Trailing at the half for only the fourth time this season, Gonzaga leaned on its star junior to reach its seventh straight Sweet 16. The Bulldogs (28-3) will face No. 4 seed Arkansas in the West Region semifinals on Thursday in San Francisco.

``What I said was, no matter what happens, no matter what the score is, win or lose, this could very well be the last 20 minutes of basketball you ever play, and go out with no regrets,'' Timme recalled.

That was the G-rated version. But his point was made and the Bulldogs responded.

Canadian Andrew Nembhard added 23 points, Rasir Bolton scored 17 and Gonzaga never trailed after a basket from Timme and Bolton's 3-pointer with 10 minutes remaining that made it 61-57.

North Carolina 93, Baylor 86 (OT)

FORT WORTH, Texas -- RJ Davis scored a career-high 30 points with a nifty layup while being fouled in overtime, and eighth-seeded North Carolina blew a 25-point second-half lead but still found a way to beat defending champion Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Brady Manek had a season-high 26 points before getting ejected because of a flagrant foul midway through the second half, right after his 3-pointer had given the Tar Heels (26-9) their largest lead.

A year after going out in the first round of the tourney in retiring coach Roy Williams' final game, Davis, Armando Bacot and these Tar Heels (26-9) are headed to Philadelphia and a Sweet 16 for first-year coach Hubert Davis. North Carolina will face UCLA in the East Region semifinals.

Davis, who had five 3-pointers in regulation, got his only points in overtime on the off-balance layup with 1:18 left and added the free throw for a 91-85 lead.

Adam Flagler had 27 points for No. 1 seed Baylor (27-7), which was 1-of-11 shooting in overtime. James Akinjo had 20 points while Jeremy Sochan had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

All-Atlantic Coast Conference power forward Bacot had 15 points and 16 rebounds for North Carolina.

UCLA 72, SAINT MARY'S 56

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Tyger Campbell scored 16 points and fourth-seeded UCLA completed a more conventional path to the Sweet 16, beating fifth-seeded Saint Mary's.

UCLA (27-7), which went all the way from the First Four to the Final Four last year, instead knocked off two worse-seeded foes in Akron and then the Gaels (26-8).

The Bruins lost star Jaime Jaquez Jr. to a right ankle injury with 6:58 in the game. He winced as he was helped off the court by teammates and later returned to the bench with his ankle wrapped in ice. Jaquez finished with 15 points, all in the first half.

Logan Johnson scored 18 points for Saint Mary's.

SAINT PETER'S 70, MURRAY STATE 60

INDIANAPOLIS -- Saint Peter's broke the hearts of Kentuckians yet again, getting 17 points from KC Ndefo to beat Murray State and complete its rise from obscurity into the Sweet 16.

Two days after tossing eight-time national champion Kentucky out of the bracket, the tiny Jesuit school from Jersey City, New Jersey, became the third 15 seed to advance to a regional semifinal, joining Oral Roberts last year and Florida Gulf Coast in 2013.

Saint Peter's (21-11) ended a 21-game winning streak and a memorable season for Murray State (31-3), located 265 miles from Lexington in Kentucky's southeastern corner.

Coach Shaheen Holloway's next task is preparing his team for an East Region semifinal Friday in Philadelphia against Texas or Purdue, who play their second-round game on Sunday.

Doug Edert came off the bench to score 13 points for the Peacocks, including some big baskets late.

Justice Hill made five 3-pointers for 19 points and Tevin Brown scored 14 for Murray State.

MICHIGAN 76, TENNESSEE 68

INDIANAPOLIS -- Eli Brooks put Michigan ahead for good with a three-point play and delivered four critical points in the final minute, and the 11th-seeded Wolverines beat No. 3 seed Tennessee to book the most surprising of their five straight trips to the Sweet 16.

Brooks finished with 23 points, including a looping, improvised hook shot and two free throws as the Wolverines (19-14) put away the Volunteers, who had a six-point lead with 8 1/2 minutes left but then went four minutes without scoring.

Big man Hunter Dickinson had 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Wolverines, who will face either second-seeded Villanova or longtime rival Ohio State, the No. 7 seed, in Thursday's South Region semifinals in San Antonio, Texas.

Kennedy Chandler had 19 points and Josiah-Jordan James had 13 for Tennessee (27-8), which had a seven-game winning streak snapped.

Michigan coach Juwan Howard, who was suspended five games at the end of the season for punching a Wisconsin assistant coach in the handshake line, showed a different side after the game.

KANSAS 79, CREIGHTON 72

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Remy Martin scored 20 points, Ochai Agbaji put Kansas ahead for good with his first basket early in the second half, and the Jayhawks held off Creighton to advance to the Sweet 16.

Martin hadn't led top-seeded Kansas (30-6) in scoring all season as the fifth-year senior transfer from Arizona State battled a sore knee, but he's done it in both NCAA Tournament games. Kansas will face fourth-seeded Providence in the regional semifinals in Chicago.

The short-handed Bluejays (23-12) stayed close with an uncharacteristically hot showing from 3-point range. One of the worst teams in the country from beyond the arc, ninth-seeded Creighton went 12 of 28.

Arthur Kaluma scored 24 points, going 4 of 10 from long range for the Bluejays.

PROVIDENCE 79, RICHMOND 51

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Noah Horchler scored 16 points and Providence had its best 3-point shooting performance of the season, routing Richmond to reach its first Sweet 16 in 25 years.

The fourth-seeded Friars (27-5) looked like a juggernaut against the Spiders, posting the most lopsided NCAA Tournament victory in program history.

Providence controlled the game from the start and went up 21 on Richmond (24-13) less than two minutes into the second half when Horchler swished a 3 from the corner. The Friars shot 52% from the field, and a season-best 54.5% from 3. They came in shooting 34.3% from long range.

Nathan Cayo led the Spiders with 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting.

ARKANSAS 53, NEW MEXICO STATE 48

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Au'Diese Toney's fastbreak dunk capped the decisive run with about six minutes left and fourth-seeded Arkansas beat No. 12 seed New Mexico State to reach the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year.

JD Notae scored 18 points before fouling out with 1:22 left and Jaylin Williams had 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Razorbacks (27-8). Notae's replacement, Chris Lykes, hit all four free-throw attempts in the final 10 seconds to secure the win after the Aggies closed within two points on Teddy Allen's 3-pointer with 12 seconds left.

The Razorbacks will play top-seeded Gonzaga or No. 9 Memphis in San Francisco on Thursday.

Allen was limited to 12 points after scoring 37 in the first round against Connecticut. Johnny McCants scored 16 points and added 12 rebounds for New Mexico State (27-7). The Western Athletic Conference champion was denied a chance to reach the Sweet 16 for the second time in school history and first since 1992.