Buffalo guard Wes Clark (10) jumps to shoot against Arizona during the first half of a first-round game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament Thursday, March 15, 2018, in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Otto Kitsinger)

   

 
 

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Charles Matthews and the Michigan basketball team opened the 2018 NCAA Tournament on Thursday with a win over Montana in Wichita, Kan. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

  No Bull: Buffalo pulls off big upset, knocks off Arizona, Michigan cruises to round 2

By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Sports

BOISE, Idaho - Inside Buffalo’s locker room hung a handwritten sign with two words: Ball Pressure.

Coach Nate Oats knew the Bulls had a shot at beating big, bad Arizona, but only if they could put lots of pressure on Arizona’s guards and make them shoot from the perimeter.

It worked to perfection.

Call them the bracket-busting Bulls.

Pushing the pace and hounding Arizona into submission, 13th-seeded Buffalo pulled off the NCAA Tournament’s biggest upset of the opening round, rolling to an 89-68 victory over the fourth-seeded Wildcats in the South Region on Thursday night.

“I felt like we had a shot,” Oats said. “I didn’t think we were going to win it like that.”

The MAC’s Bulls have a decided size disadvantage against the Pac-12′s Wildcats and their pair of their 7-footers.

Buffalo (27-8) shredded Arizona’s defense with its quickness, getting to the lane for shots at the rim and kickouts to shooters.

RECAP: Michigan vs Montana

No. 3-seeded University of Michigan basketball team spotted No. 14 seed Montana 10 points to start the game before they controlled play and eased its way to a 61-47 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night at Intrust Bank Arena.



Montana started the game on a 10-0 run and sophomore guard Zavier Simpson was saddled with two early fouls. Despite the lead, Montana also found itself in foul trouble as its biggest player, 6-foot-8 forward Jamar Akoh, and its leading scorer, Michael Oguine, were also hit with two fouls apiece before the first 10 minutes had elapsed.

Michigan kept up the pressure, as the Wolverines came out of the media timeout and junior guard Charles Matthews brought the Wolverines back to even for the first time at 17, with a runner at the 6:39 mark. Senior Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman gave U-M its first lead with a 3-pointer at the 3:51 mark to make it 22-19; Matthews followed with a layup and slam dunk to give U-M its largest lead of the half, 26-21, en route to a 31-28 halftime advantage.

Michigan kept it going to start the second half, highlighted by a step-back floater from Abudur-Rahkman, a driving layup from Simpson and a backdoor feed from Simpson to Duncan Robinson to build a 44-30 lead with 9:51 to play. Michigan's defense, which has been outstanding throughout the year, stepped up the intensity and held the Grizzlies in check to the tune of 1-of-14 shooting to start the half.

UP NEXT

Buffalo will face Kentucky and Michigan takes on Houston in the round of 32 on Saturday.

 

 

 

   
 
 

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