For the third time in the Bob Huggins era, West Virginia is headed to the Sweet 16. The fifth-seeded Mountaineers defeated 4 seed Maryland, 69-59, Sunday night in the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, Ohio.
Games between 4 and 5 seeds always figure to be battles and this one was no different. West Virginia opened up a six-point lead early in the game, but a 9-0 Maryland run put the Terrapins back ahead as the two teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the first half. The Mountaineers closed the half with a quick 8-3 spurt to take a 35-34 lead into the locker room.
West Virginia again went up by six early in the second half, before Melo Trimble responded with a three to cut the deficit in half. Maryland couldn't quite take the lead back, however, with West Virginia going up by seven on a crucial play with 8:25 to go. Daxter Miles Jr. made a layup in transition, and on that play, Trimble went down with an apparent injury. Trimble then left the game and West Virginia repeated itself with another fast-break basket a minute later.
Trimble did not return to the game, and Maryland never threatened again. Devin Williams (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Gary Browne (14 points, five steals) led West Virginia in scoring. Trimble, despite his injury, paced the Terrapins with 15 points.
The reward for the Mountaineers is a date with undefeated No. 1 overall seed Kentucky. That game will be played in Cleveland, Thursday night at 9:45 p.m. ET.
No. 4 Louisville 66 No. 5 Northern Iowa 53
Terry Rozier scored a game-high 25 points as the Cardinals beat Northern Iowa, 66-53, Sunday evening in Seattle.
The win put Louisville into the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year. It will face conference foe NC State in the Sweet 16 on Friday night in Syracuse. The Wolfpack won the only meeting between the two schools this season, 74-65 in Louisville.
Though the Panthers kept the game close, Louisville led most of the night. The Cardinals used a 12-3 run in the first half to take control and pulled ahead by nine at halftime. When Northern Iowa cut the deficit to six with 4:30 to play, Montrezl Harrell woke the Louisville crowd with an emphatic dunk to swing momentum back toward the Cardinals.
Harrell dunked again a couple minutes later and completed a three-point play to ensure the Panthers could not come back. He finished with 14 points to help out Rozier.
Northern Iowa had three players score in double figures in the losing effort, led by Seth Tuttle, who paced the Panthers all season. The senior scored 14 in his final collegiate game.
With the NCAA Tournament field now down to 16, here's a look at the bracket: