Thursday’s March Madness: Princeton Upsets Arizona, Furman Upsets Virginia

For the Broncos, a run is still waiting. Boise State, despite outrebounding Northwestern, dropped to 0-9 in its N.C.A.A. tournament appearances. The Broncos are 0-4 under Coach Leon Rice, who spoke passionately before their practice a day earlier about what a difference a March win would make to his program.

“It would mean so much for our fans,” he said, adding, “I want it so bad for our players, to keep them going. I want to keep this group together as long as I can keep this group together. You can’t do that if you lose. The moment you lose, it’s done.”

By Thursday night, it was over; the Broncos finished 24-10 and were headed home.

The feeling for Northwestern was similar to its first tournament appearance in 2017. Then, the Wildcats slipped past Vanderbilt in the first round, 68-66, before falling to Gonzaga. Set to play the winner of the game that followed here at the Golden 1 Center — U.C.L.A. vs. U.N.C.-Asheville — Northwestern can reach its first Sweet 16 in school history with a victory on Saturday. — Scott Miller

Missouri’s defense clamped down on Utah State.

SACRAMENTO — Utah State was hanging around. Just as soon as they found openings in 3-point territory, the thinking went, the 10th-seeded Aggies were going to sprint past Missouri.

But that never happened. The No. 7 seed Tigers, a team seen as a potential upset victim in the first round of the men’s N.C.A.A. tournament, won the game, 76-65.

Missouri’s pressure defense stymied an Aggies team that ranked fifth in the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage, holding them to 0 for 11 in the first half and just 4 for 24 for the game. Utah State was 0 for 13 before the junior guard Steven Ashworth, who is sixth in the nation in 3-point percentage (.443), finally swished one with 17:51 remaining. For the game, the Tigers held Ashworth to 2 for 10 from 3-point land.

“Our approach was to pressure full court,” Missouri guard D’Moi Hodge said. “We know what they wanted. They wanted jump shots. We tried to force them to the basket to make them make two, make the big man score.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/16/sports/ncaabasketball/march-madness-thursday.html