Pitt edges Mississippi State in back-and-forth First Four game Green Bay hires Wyoming assistant Sundance Wicks as head coach Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ousts Southeast Missouri State in NCAA First Four Damon Stoudamire overcome by emotion as he takes over at Georgia Tech Edey, Jackson-Davis, Wilson headline AP All-America Team Temple ousts coach Aaron McKie after 4 seasons

DAYTON, OH — Jamarius Burton made a good jump with 10 seconds left and Pitt beat Mississippi State 60-59 in Tuesday Night’s Top Four game, which saw 21 lead changes, the most in the NCAA Tournament in five years . .

Mississippi State had a great chance to win at the end, but Shaquille Moore missed a wide-open three-pointer from a corner with two seconds left in the game. DJ Jeffreys’ attempt to give a tip was unsuccessful shortly before the buzzer.

Nellie Cummings led Pitt by 15 points. Greg Elliott scored 13 points and Blake Hinson added 12 as the Panthers (23-11) won the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.

They entered the Midwest bracket as the 11th seed and went out Friday in Greensboro, NC to face the 6th seed Iowa.

“We showed toughness and resilience,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. “We were who we were all year long, and it wasn’t pretty, but it was beautiful.”

Smith’s Tolu’s layup gave Mississippi State a 59-58 lead with 32 seconds left, but Pitt – after a three-minute scoring drought – regained the lead thanks to Burton’s short jumper.

Guillermo Diaz Graham blocked Smith’s out-of-bounds attempt with 2.7 seconds left to set the final sequence.

“I did a block—I don’t even know how—with my left hand,” said the exhausted 6-foot-11 freshman. “Usually I don’t use my left hand. And I blocked it and I knew it was a big game, so I just let the energy come out.”

Dashawn Davis had 15 points for the Bulldogs (21-13) and Moore had 13.

Burton, who spent almost seven minutes on the bench after taking his fourth foul, said he knew his last shot was on target.

“When I had the ball in my hands for the last 30 seconds or so, I just told myself I was made for this,” said Burton, who scored six points. “And I just got to the point and let it go and I had complete confidence in myself. That was pretty much everything that happened.”

FROM THE DEPTH

Three-pointers were scored immediately when the teams scored 13 points in the first half.

Mississippi State, not a very good shooting team, hit four times in the first five minutes, but cooled off after that. The Panthers went 8 of 13 from beyond the arc in their debut period.

In the second half, the teams hit only once from long range.

“Each team will make adjustments at halftime, so I think we should have made the same adjustments and understood what game we were in and used what the defense was giving us,” Cummings said.

GOOD VIEW

Mississippi State coach Chris Jens said he couldn’t object to the choices his players made in the last few seconds.

“It was a hell of a look,” Jans said of Moore missing 3. “Thankfully, we did it fast enough as we had at least one tap on him. I don’t think the second one was probably on time, but at this point it’s all you can ask for, a chance – ball in the air – to win an NCAA Tournament game and still have enough time to get kicked back. ”

BIG PICTURE

Mississippi State: Opened fire from long range, but returned to the inside game in the second half that the Bulldogs took so far. They scored 30 points in paint.

“When you directly pick someone up 49-28, you usually expect to win,” Jans said. “But you have to give Pitt credit, obviously they played well enough to win. In the first half, we tried our best to protect them. We just couldn’t hold back three and it was a one-point game.”

Pitt: Played better on the outside and finally got the lead against a solid Mississippi perimeter defense.

“The attention to detail we had to maintain throughout the game was something we talked about as soon as we knew who we were playing,” Cummings said.

GREEN BAY, Wisconsin. Green Bay hired Wyoming assistant Sundance Weeks to take over her program.

Athletic director Josh Moon announced the hiring. Green Bay was looking for a permanent replacement for Will Ryan, who was fired on January 24 after going 15-61 in 2.5 seasons.

Wicks has been an assistant coach at Wyoming for the past three seasons after posting a 30-32 record as head coach of Missouri Western State’s Division II program in the 2018-2020 season.

The 2019-20 Missouri Western State team went 18-14, marking the program’s first winning season since 2009-10.

Weekes has also been an assistant coach with Colorado (2006-07), Northern Illinois (2007-11), San Francisco (2015-16) and Northern State (2016-18). He was a skills instructor and director of the Arizona Power Basketball Academy from 2011 to 2015.

Weeks will look to rejuvenate the Horizon League program, which has gone 16-71 over the past three seasons. Green Bay has not competed in the NCAA Tournament since 2016, which was the last of three consecutive seasons in which Phoenix won at least 23 games.

Green Bay has gone 3-29 this season. Freddie Owens posted a 1-10 record as interim head coach after the departure of Ryan, the son of former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan.

“There is a history of victory and a tradition of excellence that is now dormant, not dead, and we will RECOVER that tradition from the ashes,” Wicks said in a statement from the university.

DAYTON, Ohio. Isaac Mushila scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi held on to a 75–71 win over southeastern Missouri to claim the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi hit 3-of-4 on the free throw line in the last 15 seconds to freeze the game and enter Alabama with the top seed in the Southern Region.

“In order to find a way to win, I am very happy and proud of these guys, obviously the city, the university and all the Islanders fans who are watching this game all over the country.” — Texas A&M-Corpus. This was stated by Christie’s coach Steve Lutz. “They must be very excited.”

The 16th-seeded Islanders (24-10), winners of the Southland Conference, returned to the top four for the second straight season and led by all but 23 seconds.

Southeastern Missouri (19-17) closed a 10-point gap in Game 1 of this NCAA tournament to tie at 64 when Chris Harris hit both free throws with 3:07 left.

Trevian Tennyson pulled out of control to give Texas A&M-Corpus Christi a 72–69 lead with 22 seconds left, but Philip Russell made a layup on the other end to bring the Redhawks down to one.

Jalen Jackson made two free throws with 14 seconds left to extend the lead to 74-71, and Russell failed to get a good look at a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left.

Mushila caught the rebound and converted one of his two free throws to secure the final advantage.

Jackson led the Islanders with 22 points, scoring 14 of 18 on the free throw line. Ross Williams added 13 points, Tennyson added 12 and the De’Lazarus Keys grabbed 10 rebounds.

“It’s a surreal moment,” Jackson said. “We were in that position last year, but on the other side.”

Harris scored 23 points before fouling 16th seed Southeastern Missouri, the Ohio Valley Conference tournament champion. The Redhawks converted 9 of 20 on the free throw line and made 47% from the field.

“That’s all these guys have been doing all season is keep fighting, clinging, making well-timed shots, playing big and making defensive stops, putting yourself back in position to maybe win the game,” said the coach of the state of South-West. Eastern Missouri Brad Korn. . “Free throws and rebounds cost us that opportunity.”

SIMPLE – BETTER

Lutz is no stranger to the March Madness spotlight.

The former Purdue assistant led the Islanders to their second NCAA Tournament last season, losing on the same floor they won on Tuesday. Lutz spent four seasons with the Boilermakers and they made the playoffs every year, including appearances in the Elite Eight.

This time, Lutz wanted to make sure his team learned from the past.

“Part of that is because you also want to make sure your guys seize the moment, but don’t think the moment is too important,” Lutz said. “This is another basketball game and we are playing with a good team. So as long as we can get back on track, I felt like we’d be fine.”

BE TOGETHER

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s top scorer scored four points and was 1 of 4 in the first half.

But in the second, Jackson scored 18 points and added to the lead in a decisive moment, scoring 12 of 14 on the free throw line.

Jackson scored seven of the Islanders’ last 11 points after Southeast Missouri tied the game at 64.

“Just be together. Basketball is a running game,” Jackson said. “We knew they were going to run away at some point, so we just had to stay together.”

BIG PICTURE

Southeastern Missouri: Trouble plagued the Redhawks during their second run in the NCAA Tournament. They were whistled 31 times, helping Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to 27 of 35 on the line.

Texas A&M Corps Christi: The absence of Terrion Merdix, the team’s leader in assists and steals, will be a major challenge for the Islanders. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi had 14 turnovers, their best in six games.

NEXT

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will play Alabama, who took first place overall.

“Our guys are battle-tested. They are not afraid of the moment,” Lutz said. “You have to go play and you have to accept it. But history tells you that not many 1 seeds beat 16 seeds, which is why we have the NCAA Tournament.”

ATLANTA – Damon Stoudamire managed to say one word – “Wow!” before he was overwhelmed with emotion.

The longtime NBA quarterback is thrilled to be back in college play by leading the men’s basketball program, which he believes could once again become a national powerhouse.

Again, Staudamire is not the first coach at Georgia Tech to express such optimism.

Staudamire was officially named as the Yellow Vests coach, ending a frantic search that took just three days after Josh…