Queen’s buzzer-beater lifts Maryland

SEATTLE — Derik Queen banked in a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer, and Maryland advanced to the Sweet 16 in a thriller, beating Colorado State 72-71 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

Jalen Lake drilled a rainbow 3-pointer over Queen with 6 seconds left to give No. 12 seed Colorado State a 71-70 lead. The Rams were seeking to become the lowest-seeded team to reach a regional semifinal in this edition of March Madness, which had been light on upsets and buzzer-beaters.

Queen took care of the last-second heroics, even though his team was the favored one.

Maryland coach Kevin Willard called timeout with 3.6 seconds left and got the ball to Queen, the 6-foot-10 freshman center from Baltimore, who drove to his left, elevated over two defenders and kissed it off the glass as the horn sounded. The Terrapins advanced to face the West Region’s No. 1 seed, Florida, in San Francisco.

Queen led fourth-seeded Maryland (27-8) with 17 points, Rodney Rice scored 16 and Julian Reese had 15 points and 11 rebounds as each of Maryland’s starters known as the “Crab Five” scored in double figures. Maryland’s bench totaled two points.

Nique Clifford had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Colorado State (26-10) and Lake scored 13 points.

Brea leads the way for Kentucky

MILWAUKEE — Koby Brea matched a career high with 23 points and Kentucky beat Illinois 84-75 to advance beyond the NCAA Tournament’s opening weekend for the first time since they reached the Elite Eight in 2019.

Kentucky (24-11), the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region, faces No. 2 seed and Southeastern Conference rival Tennessee on Friday in Indianapolis. The Wildcats have already beaten the Volunteers twice this season.

“Who knows where we’re going to go from here, but this group, what a blessing to be around this group,” coach Mark Pope said.

Proctor, Flagg help No. 1 seed Duke

RALEIGH, N.C. — Tyrese Proctor couldn’t miss. And top-seeded Duke showed the toughness to push back when pushed.

Proctor had career highs of seven 3-pointers and 25 points to continue his recent tear, helping Duke beat Baylor 89-66 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Freshman star Cooper Flagg had 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Blue Devils (33-3), the East Region headliners who faced little drama in two home-state wins to secure a spot in the Sweet 16.

“For us to win by this margin, I think this speaks to the level of killer instinct that our guys have, the competitiveness and the connectivity,” coach Jon Scheyer said.

Elsewhere:

n Sean Pedulla scored 20 points, Jaemyn Brakefield had 19 and Mississippi beat Iowa State 91-78 to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history.

n Chris Youngblood led six players in double figures with 13 points and No. 2 seed Alabama powered its way past seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s 80-66 to reach the Sweet 16 for a third straight year.

n Jaden Akins scored 16 points, including a 3-pointer that put Michigan State ahead to stay, and coach Tom Izzo took the Spartans to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time with a 71-63 victory over New Mexico.

Texas fires Terry

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas fired basketball coach Rodney Terry on Sunday after a disappointing first season in the Southeastern Conference and another quick exit from the NCAA Tournament.

The move comes two years after Terry led Texas to the Elite Eight in the 2022-2023 season when, as an assistant coach, he took over the program at midseason after then-coach Chris Beard was arrested on a felony family violence charge and was fired. The charge against Beard was later dismissed.

Terry’s ability to keep the team together and thrive amid the turmoil saw Texas win the Big 12 Conference Tournament, then make its deepest run in the NCAA Tournament since 2008. He was rewarded with the full-time job and a five-year, $15 million contract.

Elsewhere:

n Virginia athletic director Carla Williams is hoping the obvious choice was the right one. Williams named VCU coach Ryan Odom — whose father was a Cavaliers assistant and who handed the program its most historic and crushing defeat in the 2018 NCAA Tournament — as the full-time replacement to Tony Bennett on Saturday.

n N.C. State has made it official: McNeese’s Will Wade is the Wolfpack’s new men’s basketball coach. The school announced the hiring Sunday, coming a day after Wade’s McNeese team lost to Purdue in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Hall, Kitts rally South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Bree Hall had 11 points and Chloe Kitts scored all her 10 points in the second half as top seed South Carolina pulled away after trailing at halftime to beat ninth-seeded Indiana 64-53 on Sunday in the women’s NCAA Tournament and reach the Sweet 16 for the 11th straight time.

The Gamecocks (32-3) will take on either fourth-seeded Maryland or fifth-seeded Alabama in the Birmingham 2 Regional next week. Those teams play Monday night.

Not that anyone at Colonial Life Arena was locking South Carolina into that game after a dreadful first-half performance where they shot just 10 of 29 and trailed the Hoosiers 26-25 at the break. But the Gamecocks came out on fire in the third quarter, hitting nine of their first 10 shots for a 20-7 run to take control.

Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said it was a cacophony of player voices during halftime, all identifying what the players had not done the first two quarters and how to get back to being themselves after the break.

“It’s not like a board meeting where there’s one person talking at a time,” Staley said, smiling. “It is chaos.”

Elsewhere:

n Talaysia Cooper had 19 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and five assists and Zee Spearman added 17 points and five rebounds as fifth-seeded Tennessee beat fourth-seeded Ohio State 82-67.

n Agnes Emma-Nnopu scored 23 points with four 3-pointers, Hailey Van Lith had a double-double against her former team and second-seeded TCU advanced to its first NCAA Sweet 16 with an 85-70 win over seventh-seeded Louisville.

n Madison Scott scored 14 points, including a tiebreaking jumper in the final minute, and Mississippi advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 69-63 victory over Baylor on the Bears’ home court.

n Temira Poindexter hit a corner 3-pointer with 56 seconds left in overtime — her eighth 3 of the game — and fifth-seeded Kansas State dodged four misses by No. 4 seed Kentucky in the closing seconds to win 80-79.

n Hannah Hidalgo scored 21 points and No. 3 seed Notre Dame routed No. 6 seed Michigan 76-55.

n Ashlon Jackson scored 14 of her 20 points in the third quarter to power No. 2 seed Duke to a 59-53 victory over 10th-seeded Oregon.

The Associated Press