No. 13 Furman stuns Virginia in first round of NCAA tournament

ORLANDO, Fla. — JP Pegues made a 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds remaining and No. 13 seed Furman completed a rally from a 12-point second-half deficit to hand fourth-seeded Virginia another first-round NCAA Tournament loss, 68-67 on Thursday.

Making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 43 years, the Paladins advanced to the second round in the South Region.

“All year we’ve been saying that this team just knows how to win. … It’s an unbelievable moment,” Furman coach Bob Richey said.

“This game is — interesting might be the word I’d use,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “You feel like, we got it, we got it, and then all of a sudden in a moment’s notice, it changes at the end. That’s tough.”

Furman earned its first tournament berth since 1980 by beating Chattanooga for the Southern Conference title, capping a season-long quest to redeem itself after losing the league’s automatic berth to the Mocs in overtime on a 35-foot buzzer-beater last year.

“I couldn’t help but go back when I saw the shot in the air to a year ago. It’s just a reminder, like we said it all year, count on joy, and you don’t know timing of things. … This team has persevered, and they did it today,” Richey said. “It’s a microcosm of what they learned, and they just keep reliving the lesson and keep finding ways.”

In the aftermath of last year’s disappointment, Jalen Slawson and his best friend, Mike Bothwell, both decided to return for their fifth seasons with the Paladins. Slawson took over the game when Bothwell fouled out with just over six minutes remaining, scoring nine consecutive points to turn a 54-48 deficit into Furman’s first lead of the game, 57-54, with 5:02 to go.

Slawson, the Southern Conference player of the year, finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

“I told Mike that we weren’t going to let today be his last time putting a jersey on, and I know if roles were reversed, the same thing would have happened,” Slawson said. “It didn’t have to just be me. But the game was up there for the taking, and these guys told me they believed in me and told me I was being a little bit passive, told me to be a little bit more aggressive.”

Kihei Clark, who starred as a freshman on Virginia’s 2019 national title-winning team, threw a bad pass that Garrett Hien intercepted at midcourt with seven seconds to go, setting up Pegues’ go-ahead basket, his only 3 of the game.

“As soon as I saw it go into Garrett Hien’s hands, I was like, I want the ball. I feel like those are moments I’ve created my whole life, and I feel like I’m built for,” Pegues said. “I had full belief that it was going in, and it did.”

Reece Beekman’s deep 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim and Virginia was eliminated in the first round as the higher-seeded team for the third time in its past four NCAA tournaments.

(1) ALABAMA 96, (16) TEXAS A&M-CC 75: Alabama buried Texas A&M-Corpus Christi under an early 3-point onslaught, launching the NCAA Tournament’s top seed to a first round romp even with star freshman Brandon Miller going scoreless.

The Crimson Tide set aside the off-court distractions and buried 10 first-half 3s in a predictably easy win over the Islanders at Legacy Arena, less than an hour from campus. It didn’t matter that the All-American Miller sat out the final 14 minutes and missed all five field goal attempts.

(15) PRINCETON 59, (2) ARIZONA 55: Tosan Evbuomwan and Princeton used a late-game run to earn the school’s first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years by topping Arizona. The Tigers scored the final nine points to finish the upset, holding the Pac-12 Tournament champions scoreless over the final 4:21.

Evbuomwan scored 15 points in Princeton’s first tournament victory since beating UNLV in 1998 when current coach Mitch Henderson was a player for the Tigers. Azuolas Tubelis scored 21 points for the Wildcats, who haven’t won a tournament game in consecutive years since 2014-15.

(5) SAN DIEGO STATE 63, (12) CHARLESTON 57: Matt Bradley scored 17 points, including two free throws in the final minute, and San Diego State held on to beat College of Charleston.

The Aztecs won their first game in the Big Dance since 2015 and ended a four-game losing streak. The win snapped an 11-game skid for the Mountain West Conference. The Cougars lost for the first time in six weeks and have not won a tournament game since 1997.

(7) MISSOURI 76, (10) UTAH STATE 65: Missouri used a second-half scoring spurt from Kobe Brown to win its first NCAA Tournament game in 13 years, beating Utah State in Sacramento, Calif.

Brown hit three 3-pointers in a span of just over three minutes to fuel a 13-2 run that turned a two-point deficit into a 62-53 lead.

(8) MARYLAND 67, (9) WEST VIRGINIA 65: Julian Reese and Maryland sleepwalked through the first 10 minutes before rallying to beat the Mountaineers. Reese had 17 points and nine rebounds.

West Virginia’s Kedrian Johnson led all scorers with 27 points, only to have his potential winner glance off the rim as the horn sounded.

(1) KANSAS 96, (16) HOWARD 68: Jalen Wilson had 20 points and seven rebounds for the top seed and defending national champion Jayhawks, who allowed absent and recovering coach Bill Self to rest during an easy victory in Des Moines, Iowa. Self is still recovering from a recent heart procedure.

Gradey Dick had 19 points and 11 rebounds in the freshman’s first NCAA Tournament game. Shy Odom had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Bison, who were making the program’s first tournament appearance since 1992.

(7) NORTHWESTERN 75, (10) BOISE STATE 67: Boo Buie scored 22 points to lead Northwestern to a win over Boise State in the school’s second appearance ever in the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats previously made it to the Big Dance in 2017, and just like that time, they made sure they wouldn’t be one-and-done. Northwestern never trailed in a game that was close most of the way. The Broncos are still searching for their first tournament win, losing their opener for the ninth time in as many tries.

(8) ARKANSAS 73, (9) ILLINOIS 63: Arkansas survived some anxious moments in the second half against an Illinois team that wouldn’t go away and held on to beat the Illini in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Devo Davis and Ricky Council IV scored 16 points apiece to lead the Razorbacks, who used relentless defense and rebounding to build big leads but couldn’t get comfortable until the final minute. Terrence Shannon Jr. had 20 points for the Illini. They lost in the first round for the first time in five tournament appearances since 2011.

(5) DUKE 74, (12) ORAL ROBERTS 51: Jeremy Roach made a career high with 23 points and Dariq Whitehead added 13, helping Duke rout Oral Roberts in first-year coach Jon Scheyer’s debut in the NCAA tournament.

As a former Duke player and assistant, Scheyer helped Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski win two of the legendary coach’s five national titles. Now, he’s trying to orchestrate some March Madness magic of his own.

The Blue Devils,, coming off winning the ACC Tournament, extended their winning streak to 10 games. Oral Roberts entered the tournament on a nation-leading 17-game winning streak.

(1) HOUSTON 63, (16) NORTHERN KENTUCKY 52: With All-American Marcus Strasser watching from the bench, Houston shook off Northern Kentucky for a first-round win.

Chants of “NKU!” and “Overrated!” filled Legacy Arena as the Norse trailed by only three at halftime and made it 36-all with 15:44 remaining. But Houston pulled away behind 16 points from Jarace Walker.

Sasser, Houston’s top scorer and its first AP first-team All-American since 1984, injured his groin last weekend and aggravated the issue against Northern Kentucky Thursday. Sasser sat out the second half.

(2) TEXAS 81, (15) COLGATE 61: Sir’Jabari Rice scored 23 points and the Longhorns shut down the sharpshooting Raiders in Des Moines, Iowa.

Rice made five of his seven 3-pointers in the first half, helping the Longhorns get off to a fast start. Marcus Carr finished with 17 points and Dylan Disu had 17 points and nine rebounds.

Colgate went just 3 for 15 from deep against a relentless and long-armed Longhorns defense. The leading individual 3-point shooter in the country, Oliver Lynch-Daniels, went 1 for 4.

(9) AUBURN 83, (8) IOWA 75: Johni Broome had 19 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots, and Auburn beat Iowa in the first round.

The Tigers made 11 of 12 free throws over the final four minutes. Broome even made his ninth 3-pointer of the season to push the margin into double digits for the first time with 16 minutes left. Payton Sandford led Iowa with 21 points.