MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Gabby Gregory had 22 points and Ayoka Lee scored 21 to lead Kansas State to a 78-65 win over Portland in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament. The fourth-seeded Wildcats built a big first-half lead and then kept the No. 13 seed Pilots at an arm’s reach the rest of the game. They led 40-28 at halftime. K-State will face the winner of the Colorado vs. Drake game on Sunday in the second round. Portland was led by Maisie Burnham, who had 17 of her 21 points in the second half. The Pilots also got 12 points from Kianna Hamilton-Fisher.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Gonzaga is fresh. The Bulldogs cruised to a stress-free victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament that ended with the starters watching garbage time from the bench. Kansas is fragile. The Jayhawks were missing their top scorer and had to fight to the finish for a first-round win with a depleted roster. It comes as no surprise that the No. 5 Zags head into Saturday’s second-round matchup of power programs as a 4 1/2-point favorite despite being one notch below No. 4 Kansas on the seeding line. It also comes as no surprise that neither Zags coach Mark Few nor his counterpart from Kansas, Bill Self, are buying into any of that.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — LJ Cryer and Damian Dunn scored 17 points each as top-seeded Houston built a quick double-digit lead and pounded 16 seed Longwood 86-46 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Coach Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars lived up to their reputation for smothering defense. They led 10-0 less than four minutes into the game and held the Lancers to 16 points on 26.3% shooting in the first half. Emanuel Sharp added 13 points and Jamal Shead finished with 11 points and nine assists for Houston, which will face Texas A&M on Sunday in the second round of the South Region. Johnathan Massie led Longwood with 10 points.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Jalen Bridges scored 23 points, Ja’Kobe Walter added 19 and third-seeded Baylor coasted past 14th-seeded Colgate 92-67 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Jayden Nunn added 15 points, going 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and RayJ Davis finished with 10 points and nine assists for coach Scott Drew’s Bears, who have won their past six first-round games in March Madness. Keegan Records led Colgate with 14 points. Sam Thomson had 11 and Braeden Smith scored 10. Baylor advances in the West Region to play Clemson in the second round on Sunday.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — John Poulakidas scored 28 points, Samson Aletan made a key block during a wild scramble in the final seconds, and 13th-seeded Yale beat No. 4 seed Auburn 78-76 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. For the second straight year, the Ivy League Tournament champion took down one of the pre-tournament favorites. The Bulldogs won an NCAA Tournament game for just the second time in school history, rallying from a 10-point deficit midway through the second half. Johni Broome led Auburn with 24 points and 13 rebounds.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Tyon Grant-Foster scored 22 points, and Grand Canyon earned its first NCAA Tournament victory as the 12th-seeded Antelopes knocked off No. 5 seed Saint Mary’s 75-66. Grand Canyon became the second No. 12 seed to pull a late-night upset after James Madison took down Wisconsin. The Antelopes did it with style, slashing and shooting their way to expose the No. 2 scoring defense in the country. Grant-Foster was the instigator but he had help. Gabe McGlothan had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Ray Harrison scored 17 points. Mitchell Saxen led Saint Mary’s with 14 points. Aidan Mahaney added 13, but the regular season and tournament champions of the West Coast Conference were bounced.
NEW YORK (AP) — Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 14 points and James Madison pulled off the first 12-5 upset of the NCAA Tournament by beating Wisconsin 72-61. The 12th-seeded Dukes will face fourth-seeded Duke on Sunday in the second round of the South Regional in Brooklyn, where the JMU fans made themselves right at home. The Dukes, who had not been in the tournament since 2013, are into the second round for the first time since 1983 — bringing with them a 14-game winning streak that is the longest in the nation. Max Klesmit kept fifth-seeded Wisconsin kept the Badgers within striking distance with 18 second-half points.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The referee who blew the whistle that worked against Samford at the end of its loss to Kansas in the NCAA Tournament might be following the Bulldogs straight out of town. An NCAA official told The Associated Press it’s routine for evaluators to analyze games and decide which officials move on to call the next round. The NCAA does not comment on judgment calls, meaning the best way to determine its take on the end of the Kansas 93-89 win might be to see if official Lamar Simpson is assigned to either of Saturday’s games in Salt Lake City. Simpson was behind the play with 14.7 seconds left when a Samford player blocked a KU player's layup from behind. Simpson called a foul. Replays showed no contact.
UNDATED (AP) — Another year without a perfect NCAA Tournament bracket. Three people picked the first 28 games correctly in ESPN's contest but all three got knocked out of the competition when James Madison beat Wisconsin on Friday night. Long shots Yale, Oakland and Duquesne also did some damage on the tournament's second day. Only 1,825 perfect brackets survived Thursday's games in ESPN's Tournament Challenge. The odds of picking a perfect bracket at random are 1 in 9.2 quintillion. A record 22 million brackets were entered in ESPN's contest. One person had the distinction of predicting every single winner incorrectly until Colorado squeaked past Florida 102-100.
FRIDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Atlanta at Minnesota 1:05 p.m. (Canceled)
Pittsburgh at Baltimore 6:05 p.m. (Canceled)
Washington at Houston 6:05 p.m. (Canceled)
Final Detroit 4 Philadelphia 3
Final N.Y. Yankees 5 N.Y. Mets 3
Final Seattle 3 Arizona 3
Final Colorado 3 Texas 2
Final Milwaukee 4 Seattle 4
Final Oakland 8 Cincinnati 6
Final Milwaukee 11 Kansas City 5
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Minnesota at Tampa Bay 1:05 p.m. (Canceled)
Final Toronto 5 Boston 1
Final L.A. Angels 2 Chicago White Sox 0
Final Cleveland 10 Texas 0
Final Chicago White Sox 8 Oakland 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
St. Louis at Miami 6:40 p.m. (Canceled)
Final San Francisco 7 Chicago Cubs 3
Final San Francisco 13 Chicago Cubs 12
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Boston 129 Detroit 102
Final Oklahoma City 123 Toronto 103
Final New Orleans 111 Miami 88
Final Minnesota 104 Cleveland 91
Final Memphis 99 San Antonio 97
Final L.A. Clippers 125 Portland 117
Final Indiana 123 Golden State 111
Final L.A. Lakers 101 Philadelphia 94
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final SO Washington 7 Carolina 6
Final Dallas 4 Pittsburgh 2
Final Colorado 6 Columbus 1
Final OT Arizona 2 Seattle 1