ATLANTA REGIONAL

Iowa falls to N’western State

Stuck in the corner with time running out, all Jermaine Wallace could do was heave the ball and hope.

Swish!

Wallace hit a fadeaway 3-pointer with a split second left, and little Northwestern State pulled off a shocker with a furious rally, beating Iowa 64-63 Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Down by 17 with 8 1/2 minutes left, the 14th-seeded Demons from Natchitoches, La., stormed back to down the Big Ten tournament champions in the Atlanta Regional.

After Wallace made the shot that will be shown for years, he tore off his jersey – a la Brandi Chastain – as his teammates hollered and hugged all over the court.

Hawkeyes star Greg Brunner made one of two foul shots with 14.6 seconds left for a 63-61 lead. The Demons came down court, missed a shot and Wallace corralled the rebound.

Wallace turned and, as he was falling out of bounds, scored with five-tenths of a second left.

Under the net where Wallace’s shot cleanly fell, Brunner was on his back with his jersey pulled over his face. Iowa (25-9) was a third seed, and finished No. 15 in the final regular-season national rankings.

Northwestern State (26-7) plays West Virginia in the second round on Sunday.

ALSO AT AUBURN HILLS (6) West Virginia (21-10) 64

(11) So. Illinois (22-11) 46

Kevin Pittsnogle scored 18 points to lead the Mountaineers.

The Mountaineers made 11 3-pointers and are headed to the second round in back-to-back seasons for the first time since Jerry West’s days in 1959-60.

Jamaal Tatum and Matt Shaw each scored 12 points for Southern Illinois.

AT Dallas (10) N.C. State (22-9) 58

(7) California (20-11) 52

Cameron Bennerman made a tough 15-footer off the right side of the foul line, then faked a defender to get an open 3-pointer with 32.3 seconds left as the Wolfpack defeated the Golden Bears.

Bennerman led the way by scoring 12 of his 18 points in the second half. Sensational sophomore Leon Powe couldn’t bail out Cal. He made only 5 of 13 shots, including only one in the second half, and that was with 16:57 left. Powe finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

(2) Texas (28-6) 60

(15) Penn (20-9) 52

The Ivy League-champion Quakers trailed by one point and had the ball with 5:53 left. But Eric Osmundson missed a 3-pointer, P.J. Tucker grabbed the rebound, and Daniel Gibson drove for the first of consecutive layups to put Texas up 45-40.

LaMarcus Aldridge finished his first NCAA tourney game with 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Longhorns.

OAKLAND REGIONAL

at auburn hills (13) Bradley (21-10) 77

(4) Kansas (25-8) 73

Marcellus Sommerville scored 21 points and made five 3-pointers as the Braves handed the Jayhawks their second consecutive first-round defeat.

Mario Chalmers scored eight of his 15 points in the final five minutes for Kansas, which has lost in the first round in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.

(5) Pittsburgh (25-7) 79

(12) Kent State (25-9) 64

Aaron Gray scored 17 and Ronald Ramon had 16 – both shooting 6 of 6 from the field – to lead a balanced attack for the Panthers, who made 67 percent of their shots.

Carl Krauser had 11 points and nine assists and Levon Kendall added 10 points for Pitt.

AT DALLAS

(9) Bucknell (27-4) 59

(8) Arkansas (22-12) 55

Charles Lee and Kevin Bettencourt led an offense that lived on the 3-pointer, carrying the Patriot League champions into the second round of the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.

Bucknell led nearly the entire game, but had to sweat it out in the final minutes. Its postgame celebration was more relief than the joy Bucknell players felt following their stunning upset over Kansas last March.

Bucknell made a season-high 11 3-pointers and only six shots inside the arc.

(1) Memphis (31-3) 94

(16) Oral Roberts (21-12) 78

Conference USA player of the year Rodney Carney had 19 points and Andre Allen matched his season high with 11 – all in a late first-half spurt that put Memphis ahead to stay.

The Tigers were down 33-29 late in the first half and looked vulnerable.

But with their 3-point shooting and balanced scoring – five players in double figures – the Tigers, playing their first game as a top seed, had plenty to withstand Oral Roberts.

MINNEAPOLIS REGIONAL

At Dayton, Ohio

(2) Ohio State (26-5) 70

(15) Davidson (20-11) 62

Ron Lewis came off the bench to score 16 of his 19 points in the second half.

Ian Johnson matched his career high with 26 points and also had 10 rebounds for the No. 15 seed Wildcats.

(7) Georgetown (22-9) 54

(10) Northern Iowa (23-10) 49

Seven-foot-2 Roy Hibbert scored 17 points to lead the Hoyas into the second round.

Northern Iowa had no one to match up with Hibbert, who went 8 of 10 from the field and had nine rebounds before fouling out with 1:11 to go. He also set the tone inside on defense – the Panthers opened the second half in a 2-of-18 shooting slump against the Big East’s stingiest defense.

At Philadelphia

(8) Arizona (20-12) 94

(9) Wisconsin (19-12) 75

Behind tough defense and outstanding shooting, the Wildcats had little trouble against the Badgers.

Playing in his hometown, Mustafa Shakur had 17 points and nine assists, Hassan Adams scored 21 and Ivan Radenovic added 18 points for Arizona.

The Wildcats shot 59 percent (35 for 59). Alando Tucker scored 19 and Kammron Taylor had 12 for Wisconsin.

(1) Villanova (26-4) 58

(16) Monmouth (19-15) 45

With a crowd that seemed to abandon the Wildcats, along with their accurate shooting and smart decision making, Villanova looked nothing like the team that shared the Big East title with Connecticut.

Still, Allan Ray returned from a scary eye injury to score 19 points, Randy Foye added 17 points for the Wildcats.

Dejan Delic led the way for Monmouth with 17 points.

WASHINGTON REGIONAL

At Philadelphia (1) Connecticut (28-3) 72

(16) Albany (21-11) 59

Marcus Williams scored a season-high 21 points and Denham Brown added 17, helping the Huskies overcome a 12-point, second-half deficit to defeat the Great Danes.

Jamar Wilson had 19 points and Kirsten Zoellner and Lucious Jordan each had 12 for Albany.

Albany led 50-38 8 1/2 minutes into the second half, before the Huskies went on a 20-4 run.

(8) Kentucky (22-12) 69

(9) UAB (24-7) 64

Bobby Perry scored 19 of his points in the second half, nine straight early in the half, and made all 10 of his free-throw attempts to lead the Wildcats.

Paul Delaney led UAB with 13 points. Marvett McDonald added 10 points.

At Dayton, Ohio (3) North Carolina (23-7) 69

(14) Murray State (24-7) 65

Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 24 points for the Tar Heels, his 14th 20-point game and a Carolina freshman record.

It wasn’t secure until Marcus Ginyard – yes, another freshman – made two free throws with 16.5 seconds left for a 69-65 lead.

Fourteenth-seeded Murray State was trying to become the first team in 10 years to knock out a defending champion in the first round. The last champ to make such an early exit was UCLA, which was seeded fourth when it lost to Princeton 43-41 in 1996.

(11) George Mason (24-7) 75

(6) Michigan State (22-12) 65

The Patriots used hot shooting, a balanced attack and rebounding superiority to upset the Spartans.

Folarin Campbell scored 21 points and made all eight of his shots from the field, Will Thomas had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Lamar Butler and Jai Lewis each had 13 points for George Mason. Maurice Ager had 27 points for MSU.