CLEVELAND, 19 March 2005 — Wisconsin-Milwaukee pulled off the first upset of the US college basketball tournament, stunning Alabama 83-73 on Thursday.
Joah Tucker and Ed McCants scored 21 points apiece as the Milwaukee Panthers (25-5) won its first NCAA tourney game in its second try. Two years ago, the 12th-seeded Panthers nearly knocked off Notre Dame, losing 70-69.
The underrated Horizon League champions finished the job this time, outplaying one of the South East Conference’s top programs and continuing a trend of No. 12s beating No. 5s in March. That first-round matchup has produced an upset in 16 of the past 17 tournaments.
Kennedy Winston had 20 points and Ronald Steele 16 for the Alabama Crimson Tide (24-8), who had hoped to have another run like a year ago when they made it to the round of eight. But Alabama got outplayed by a lesser-known opponent from a little-known conference playing in a friendly arena in the Chicago Regional.
If anyone has a home-court advantage it’s the Panthers, who won here three weeks ago and have four straight victories on Cleveland State’s home floor.
Milwaukee has won 10 straight and 18 of 19.
Boston College 85 Pennsylvania 65
At Cleveland, Jared Dudley led a balanced attack with 18 points to pace Boston College.
Next up is Milwaukee-Wisconsin, which advanced to the second round of the Chicago Regional by upsetting Alabama.
On Friday, Boston College (25-4) will be going against its former mascot. Milwaukee’s Bruce Pearl failed to make the Eagles’ basketball team as a walk-on and filled in as the feathery mascot for one NCAA tournament game in 1981.
Tim Begley finished with 19 points for Penn (20-9).
Kentucky 72 Eastern Kentucky 64
At Indianapolis, Kelenna Azubuike and Chuck Hayes each scored 16 points and second-seeded Kentucky dominated the middle to hold off state rival Eastern Kentucky.
Kentucky (26-5) extended its record for NCAA tournament victories to 94 and is now 37-9 in NCAA tournament openers. The Wildcats advanced to Saturday’s second round of the Austin Regional and will face either Cincinnati or Iowa.
The Colonels (22-9) were led by Matt Witt with 21 points and Michael Haney with 12 points, but their first tournament appearance since 1979 ended quickly. Eastern Kentucky’s longest winning streak since 1964-65 ended at seven. The Colonels are now 0-6 in NCAA tournament games and 0-9 against the Wildcats.
Cincinnati 76 Iowa 64
At Indianapolis, Jason Maxiell had 22 points, nine rebounds, six blocked shots and a pair of steals to help Cincinnati advance to the second round.
The Bearcats (25-7) play Kentucky next in the Austin Regional.
With the 6-foot-7 Maxiell repeatedly swatting away shots under the basket and Iowa unable to hit from the outside, the Bearcats limited the Hawkeyes to just one field goal and three free throws in the first 11 minutes of the game.
Jeff Horner had 12 points for the Hawkeyes (21-12), whose leading scorer for the season, Pierre Pierce, was kicked off the team in February after his arrest for assault.
Utah 60 UTEP 54
At Tucson, Arizona, Utah escaped with a victory thanks to a brilliant bit of defense by Tim Drisdom and a critical rebound from an exhausted Andrew Bogut. With Utah leading 56-54, UTEP’s lightning-fast point guard Filiberto Rivera drove the lane. Drisdom stripped the ball away, then was fouled by Rivera. Drisdom’s two free throws made it 58-54 with 15.4 seconds to play.
Jason Williams tried to score inside, but Bogut got a piece of the ball, then saved the rebound as he crashed to the floor. Marc Jackson’s two free throws with 5.6 seconds to go sealed a victory that left the Utes 6-0 in NCAA tournament games at McKale Center. Utah (28-5) has won 23 of its last 25 and next plays Oklahoma in the second round of the Austin Regional.
Bogut played all 40 minutes and had 24 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Omar Thomas led the 11th-seeded Miners (27-8) with 24 points.
Oklahoma 84 Niagara 67
At Tucson, Arizona, Drew Lavender led six Oklahoma Sooners in double figures with 17 points. The third-seeded Sooners (25-7), who didn’t make the tourney last year, struggled with 46 percent field-goal shooting, but were helped out by solid defense that harassed the Eagles into 16 turnovers in the Austin Regional game.
Juan Mendez led the 14th-seeded Eagles (20-10) with 22 points and 15 rebounds. All of Niagara’s current players were a decade or more from being born when the Eagles last appeared in the NCAA tournament in 1970. Back then, future NBA Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy helped the Eagles to a 1-2 record under the tournament’s old format.
Murphy sat in Niagara’s fan section, looking resplendent in a purple pinstriped suit and gray snakeskin shoes.
Washington 88 Montana 77
At Boise, Idaho, Brandon Roy had 17 points and Tre Simmons added 15 to pace top-seeded Washington, which won an NCAA tournament game for the first time since reaching the round of 16 in 1998.
The Huskies (28-5) move on to face Pacific in the second round Saturday of the Albuquerque Regional.
Montana (18-13), led by Kamarr Davis’ 24 points, rallied from a dismal start before fading against the bigger, more athletic Huskies, who wanted to prove they deserved a No. 1 seed after many people doubted their standing.
Pacific 79 Pittsburgh 71
At Boise, Idaho, Pacific survived a sloppy second half and advanced in the Albuquerque Regional. Christian Maraker came back after slamming his head to the floor in the first half and scored 17 points, including a late 3-pointer that helped clinch it and get the eighth-seeded Tigers (27-3) through the first round for the second straight year.
