Wisconsin, Marquette advance in NCAA tournament

The University Wisconsin and Marquette University men’s basketball teams easily won their opening games in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

The Badgers routed Montana 73-49 and Marquette defeated Brigham Young 88-68.

The fourth-seeded Badgers improved to 25-9 as they advanced to Saturday’s third round of the East Regional in Albuquerque New Mexico. They’ll play fifth-seeded Vanderbilt, who defeated Harvard 79-70.

Vanderbilt improved to 25-10 with its win. The Vandy-Badger game will start around 5:10 p.m. Saturday on TNT.

Wisconsin led by 10 points at the half against Montana. The Badgers outscored the 14th-seeded Grizzlies 34-20 in the final 20 minutes.

The Badgers shot 48 percent, while their defense held Montana to 38 percent. Wisconsin also controlled the boards 32-19.

Ryan Evans led the Badgers with 18 points and eight rebounds. Jordan Taylor had 17 points and eight boards.

Wisconsin held Montana’s leading scorer, Will Cherry, to nine boards. Art Steward scored 18 for Montana, which ended its season at 25-6.

Marquette rolls

Jae Crowder, the Big East player of the year, had 25 points and 16 rebounds for the third-seeded Marquette in its victory. Darius Johnson-Odom added 20 points for the Golden Eagles, who will face Murray State in Saturday’s third round.

Murray State advanced with a 58-41 win over Colorado State.

Marquette led by 15 at halftime. BYU started a comeback when the Eagles committed six quick turnovers early in the second half.

Marquette’s lead was just six with about 16 minutes left, but the Eagles pulled away with an 8-0 run.

Brandon Davies had 19 points for BYU, which ended its season at 26-9. Marquette, located in Milwaukee, improved to 26-7.

UW-Whitewater reaches Div. III semi-finals

UW-Whitewater plays Massachusetts Institute of Technology Friday night in the men’s national semi-finals of the NCAA Division III tournament in Salem, Va.

The winner will play either Illinois Wesleyan or Cabrini College for the championship Saturday night.

UW-Whitewater is making its fourth appearance in the Final Four. The Warhawks are 27-4. They’re led by senior forward Chris Davis, who was just named the coaches’ West District Player of the Year.

Davis averages 22 points and eight rebounds a game for UW-Whitewater.

MIT comes in at 29-1 and is making its first Final Four appearance.

Senior center Noel Hollingsworth was just named to the coaches’ All-Northeast District team. He leads MIT with 17.5 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots per game.

Tags: sports, basketball, wisconsin