RALEIGH, N.C. — Sonny Weems kept shooting, and Darian Townes was there to clean up when he missed. The pair helped Arkansas finally earn a second game in the NCAA tournament and bring a swift end to Indiana’s tumultuous season.
Weems scored a career-high 31 points, Townes added 17 points and 12 rebounds and the ninth-seeded Razorbacks beat eighth-seeded Indiana 86-72 on Friday night in the first round of the East Regional.
Weems hit 12 of 14 shots for Arkansas (23-11), which shot 54 percent and snapped a five-game losing streak in NCAA tournament games dating to a first-round victory against Siena in 1999. Their reward for making the second round for the first time in five tries: a date with No. 1 seed and top-ranked North Carolina roughly a 30-minute drive from the Tar Heels’ Chapel Hill campus.
D.J. White had 22 points in his third straight 20-point game and Armon Bassett snapped out of a slump with 21 points and five 3-pointers for Indiana (25-8).
The Hoosiers lost their tournament opener for the first time since 2001, went one-and-done in both the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments and ended its once-promising season on a free fall.
Ranked No. 7 as recently as two months ago, Indiana finished the year by losing four of seven since coach Kelvin Sampson’s scandal-tainted resignation and former Hoosiers guard Dan Dakich was named interim coach.
Eric Gordon, the Big Ten’s freshman of the year and its leading scorer, fizzled in his first tournament appearance. He was 3-of-15 shooting, missed all six of his 3-pointers and finished with just six points — more than 15 below his average.
East Regional games
Tennessee 72, American 57: At Birmingham, Ala., JaJuan Smith finished with 19 points, Wayne Chism added 16 and Tennessee woke up just in time to avoid a big upset in the first round. Ahead 53-51 with 5:45 left, Tennessee (30-4) escaped from a team making its NCAA tournament debut. The Vols held the 15th-seeded Eagles to only one basket the rest of the way. Garrison Carr, the MVP of the Patriot League tournament, poured in 24 points for American (21-12), even though the Vols threw five different defenders at him to no avail. The Volunteers survived to play seventh-seeded Butler on Sunday.
Butler 81, South Alabama 61: At Birmingham, Ala., Pete Campbell hit eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points, and the Bulldogs won their fourth straight first-round game to set a school record for wins. The Bulldogs (30-3) were a No. 7 seed and a popular first-round upset on many brackets. But the 10th-seeded Jaguars (26-7) couldn’t live up to its much-criticized at-large bid.
North Carolina 113, Mount St. Mary’s 74: At Raleigh, N.C., Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson each had 21 points to help the Tar Heels cruise by Mount St. Mary’s in a game played a short drive from their Chapel Hill campus. Wayne Ellington added 16 points for the Tar Heels (33-2), who have won 12 straight and improved to 22-1 in NCAA games played in their home state. North Carolina faces Arkansas in the second round Sunday. Louisville 79, Boise State 61: At Birmingham, Ala., Earl Clark scored 15 points and Juan Palacios had 13 as Louisville cruised to the easy victory. The third-seeded Cardinals rushed to a 10-1 lead and Derrick Caracter’s slam made it 42-26 late in the first half. Leading scorer David Padgett didn’t even take a shot before the break and Louisville still breezed, helped by a dozen 3-pointers. Coming off a disappointing one-and-done performance in the Big East tournament, the Cardinals (25-8) punctuated the rout with several late jams. They next play Sunday against Oklahoma. Matt Nelson scored 17 for Boise State (25-9).
Oklahoma 72, St. Joseph’s 64: At Birmingham, Ala., David Godbold scored a career-high 25 points, including the Sooners’ first 11 of the second half, and they survived a late rally to beat Saint Joseph’s. Godbold and the Sooners (23-11), who had a 25-year postseason streak end last season, built a 19-point lead and watched it dissipate against a Hawks team eager to prove it belonged. Ahmad Nivins’ putback for the Hawks made it 65-61 with 3:29 to play, then Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin scored back-to-back baskets inside to double the lead with about 2 minutes left.
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