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March Madness live updates, scores, bracket, highlights: Alabama escapes Robert Morris, Baylor tops Mississippi State in NCAA tournament
- Well, it was anything but comfortable for a No. 2 seed’s opening round game. Robert Morris gave the Tide a real scare and led at a few points in the second half before Alabama pulled away for a win.
- Senior guard Mark Sears led the way for Alabama with 22 points and 10 assists, but it was Grant Nelson who provided the spark off the bench when the Tide needed it most. He was forced into action when things got dicey in the second half and came through with some clutch late plays.
- Alabama advances to play the winner of St. Mary’s and Vanderbilt.
- The Tigers finished strong after a slow start and are up 5 at halftime.
- Dain Dainja leads all players with 15 points and 3 blocks. Colby Rogers is right behind him on Memphis with 12 first-half points.
- The Tigers are outrebounding CSU 22-12 and outshooting the Rams from the field 50% to 37.9%.
- The Cyclones are comfortable and having some fun now. Cade Kelderman just pulled up from well beyond the 3-point line to bury a triple and give Iowa State a big lead on Lipscomb.
- They’re now up 25 with 13 minutes left in the game.
- Barring a miraculous late rally, the dream is over for Robert Morris. The Tide have found some momentum with Mark Sears and Grant Nelson leading the way in the second half and it’s a 12-point game with under 2 minutes left.
- When Mississippi State looks back at its 75-72 first-round loss to Baylor, the Bulldogs are going to rue that someone besides Josh Hubbard attempted the potential game-tying 3-point shot.
- Hubbard is Mississippi State’s leading scorer and best 3-point shooter this season. He led the Bulldogs with 26 points on Friday. And yet down 3 in the final seconds, it was Claudell Harris Jr. who took a dribble handoff and let it fly from the left wing.
- Harris missed … badly. Now Mississippi State may be left with some regrets.
- When things got difficult for the Crimson Tide, they turned to veteran guard Mark Sears and mustachioed big man Grant Nelson. They’ve both delivered. Nate Oats had hoped to rest Nelson after he tweaked his knee in the SEC tournament, but he’s been forced into action today with how the game has played out.
- The Tide are up 9 points with just under 3 minutes left in the game.
- Despite Memphis coming back from an early deficit, Colorado State keeps finding answers to keep the game close.
- The Rams are down 31-28 with under 4 minutes to play in the first half, despite being outshot from the field 54.2% to 44%. CSU does have the advantage from distance with a 41.7% to 28.6% edge from 3-point range.
- The Bears hold on for the win after a furious rally by the Bulldogs in the final minutes of the game comes up just short.
- Robert Wright led the Bears with 19 points, but four different players had 12 or more. Josh Hubbard led MSU with 26 points in the losing effort.
- The Bears advance and will likely play No. 1 Duke in the second round on Sunday.
- The Colonials have taken the lead for the first time all game! We have a good one coming down the wire in the East region.
- Game is on TruTV.
- The Colonials are within a single point with less than 8 minutes left in the game
- We’ve got a close game brewing between No. 5 Memphis and No. 12 Colorado State. Early in the first half, the Rams pulled to a six-point lead over the Tigers.
- But Memphis is coming right back, with some rebounds and defensive plays giving the Tigers a chance to make this an even game. With a little over ten minutes left in the first half, the two teams are trading leads. Will one team pull away before halftime?
- It’s telling that Alabama is turning to Grant Nelson for the first time today here. Nate Oats had hoped to rest Nelson after he tweaked his knee in the SEC tournament, but there’s no tomorrow to rest the standout forward for if the Tide can’t escape Robert Morris.
- The Bulldogs have cut it to a one-possession game with less than 2 minutes remaining. That game is on CBS.
- Iowa State outscored Lipscomb 25-8 after the Bisons led 16-15. The Cyclones are 18-of-30 from the field while Lipscomb is shooting just 9-of-25 and have seven turnovers.
- Lipscomb has no answer for Milan Momcilovic. He’s 7-of-9 from the field as Iowa State has jumped out to a 37-21 lead with 2:44 to go before halftime.
- A potential Baylor-Duke second-round matchup would produce a few intriguing storylines.
- That would pit Jeremy Roach against his former team. Roach was a four-year starter at Duke but transferred last offseason in hopes of returning to his natural point guard position.
- That would also pit Baylor freshman Rob Wright against former high school teammate Cooper Flagg. They were two of the stars of the Montverde Academy team that went undefeated last year and won the high school national title.
- Then there’s the NBA component. Flagg is the presumptive No. 1 overall pick. Balor’s VJ Edgecombe might be the second-best draft prospect in this NCAA tournament.
