CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Barry Brown scored 18 points, and Kansas State ended UMBC’s brief but historic run in the NCAA tournament with a 50-43 victory Sunday night.
UMBC became the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1, rolling past top-ranked Virginia 74-54 on Friday night.
As UMBC Coach Ryan Odom emptied his bench with 9.4 seconds left, the crowd gave the Retrievers a standing ovation. The players hugged at midcourt. After the game, players walked to the side of the court and gave their fans an appreciative wave.
The dream had ended.
The Wildcats (24-11) move on to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2010, when they lost in the Elite Eight to Butler. They will face Kentucky on Thursday night.
UMBC had only had two field goals in the final six minutes and shot just 29.8 percent for the game.
UMBC’s scrappy defense forced 18 turnovers but managed just three points off those. They finished 6 of 22 from 3-point range, two nights after lighting up Virginia, and 9 of 18 from the free-throw line.
UMBC (25-11) had a chance to take the lead with five minutes remaining, but Arkel Lamar was stripped of the ball on a drive to the lane and Xavier Sneed took the ball the length of the floor for a two-handed dunk.
Brown then hit a fall-away jumper.
Sneed, who scored eight points, had a dunk off an offensive rebound and later knocked down a baseline jumper with a minute left to push the lead to five. Makol Mawien added a dunk on a fast break to seal the victory with 45 seconds left.
The Retrievers showed no sign of a letdown early on, jumping out to a 7-0 lead after Kansas State missed its first eight shots – five from beyond the arc.
Kansas State didn’t score until 13:40 left in the first half, but closed the half on a 17-8 run and led 25-20 despite going 0 of 8 from 3-point range.
NEVADA 75, CINCINNATI 73: Josh Hall converted an offensive rebound for the tiebreaking basket with 9.1 seconds left as seventh-seeded Nevada (28-7) erased a 22-point deficit in the final 11 minutes and stunned second-seeded Cincinnati (31-5) at Nashville, Tennessee.
Nevada’s stirring comeback – the second-largest in tournament history – came just two days after it rallied from 14 points down to beat Texas 87-83 for its first NCAA victory since 2007.
The Wolf Pack move to an all-upstart regional semifinal Thursday night with 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago (30-5).
“Nothing feels better than this,” Nevada Coach Eric Musselman said. “Nothing. Sweet 16!”
Cincinnati never trailed until Hall’s tiebreaking basket but watched its lead disintegrate as it failed to make a basket in the final 5:45.
With the game tied in the closing seconds, Hall got a rebound off a missed shot by Cody Martin. Hall made a move in the paint, then hit the winning basket.
Cincinnati never got off a shot before the buzzer. Cane Broome briefly lost control of the ball, then passed toward Gary Clark as the final seconds ticked away.
As the horn sounded, a stunned Clark lay on his back under the basket while Jordan Caroline of Nevada slid toward midcourt as part of a wild celebration.
Cody Martin had 25 points, seven assists, six rebounds and no turnovers to lead five Nevada players in double figures.
Evans had 19 points and Jarron Cumberland added 17 for Cincinnati.
EAST REGION
PURDUE 76, BUTLER 73: Dakota Mathias sank a 3-pointer with 14.2 seconds left and second-seeded Purdue (30-6), minus standout center Isaac Haas, held off 10th-seeded Butler (21-14) at Detroit to reach the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year.
The Boilermakers led by as many as 10 points in the second half, but Butler cut the deficit to two and had the ball in the final minute. Kalen Martin missed a 3-pointer, and the shot by Mathias at the other end made it 76-71.
Martin scored with 2.1 seconds remaining, and P.J. Thompson missed the front end of a 1-and-1, giving Butler another chance. The Bulldogs called a timeout with 1.8 seconds left, and Kamar Baldwin’s shot from near midcourt hit the rim – although it may have been waved off on a review even if it had gone in.
Vincent Edwards scored 20 points despite early foul trouble for Purdue, and Matt Haarms filled in capably for the injured Haas. The Boilermakers set a school record for victories in a season and are in the regional semifinals for the fourth time under Coach Matt Painter. Purdue faces third-seeded Texas Tech on Friday in Boston.
Haas, the 7-foot-2 center who broke his elbow in Friday’s win over Cal State Fullerton, didn’t play. The 7-3 Haarms started instead and had seven points and six rebounds.
Martin scored 29 points for Butler.
Haas warmed up before the game but wasn’t using his injured arm much, and an official said a few minutes before tipoff that the brace Haas was wearing hadn’t been approved for competition. Haarms, a redshirt freshman, started for the first time this season.
MIDWEST REGION
CLEMSON 84, AUBURN 63: Gabe DeVoe scored 22 points, and Elijah Thomas had 18 points and 11 rebounds for fourth-seeded Clemson (25-9), which closed the first half with a 25-4 run and beat fourth-seeded Auburn (26-8) at San Diego.
The blowout win put Clemson in the Sweet 16 for the fourth time overall and the first since 1997, earning it a spot against Kansas in a regional semifinal.
The final 10 minutes of the first half were a nightmare for Auburn, which made only 6 of 33 shots (18.2 percent) in the first half and 17 of 66 overall (25.8 percent).
Jared Harper made a jumper with 10:33 before halftime to pull Auburn to 18-15. The Tigers then missed their next 18 shots as Clemson raced to a 43-19 halftime lead.
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