Hokies Rally At The Finish...Winthrop Shocks The Irish...Wisconsin Rallies From 18 Down

Friday, March 16th 2007, 4:35 pm

By: News On 6

UNDATED (AP) Virginia Tech, the #5 seed in the West Regional, rallied to outscored Illinois 12-0 in the final 4:30 minutes, to beat the 12th-seeded Illini 54-52. Deron Washington led the Hokies with 14 points, and Coleman Collins added 13.

Kansas, top seed in the West, rolled past Niagara 107-67 after being bounced out of the last two NCAA tournaments in the first round. Mario Chalmers led the Jayhawks with 19.

One of the most entertaining games of the NCAA tournament was in Spokane, where 11th seed Winthrop knocked off #6 Notre Dame 74-64 in the Midwest Regional.

The Eagles blew a 20-point lead in the 2nd-half before closing the game on a 12-1 run to earn their first ever NCAA tournament victory in seven tries. Craig Bradshaw pumped in 24 points and Torrell Martin added 20 and a career-high eleven rebounds.

The Irish shot just 3-13 from the foul line and 5-22 from beyond the arc. Next up for Winthrop is Oregon, which held off Miami of Ohio, 58-56. Aaron Brooks scored 18 points for the 3rd-seeded Ducks.

Lute Olson's Arizona Wildcats were knocked out of the first round after losing 72-63 to Purdue. Carl Landry powered the Boilermakers with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Chris Kramer and Chris Lutz added 16 points.

Memphis, #2 seed in the South Regional, also moved into the second round with its 23rd consecutive win, a 73-58 decision over North Texas in the South Regional at New Orleans. Chris Douglas-Roberts was high man for the Tigers with 16 points while Andre Allen added 14.

Next up for Memphis is Nevada, which edged Creighton 77-71 in overtime. Marcelus Kemp scored 9 of his 27 points in OT.

Also in the South Regional, Chris Lofton scored 22 points and JaJuan Smith added 21 as Tennessee ripped Long Beach State 121-86. Ramar Smith contributed 19 points for the Vols, who shot 58% and tied a team record for points in a game.

J.R. Reynolds poured in 28 points and 4th seed Virginia has advanced to play Tennessee after blowing out Albany 84-57. Reynolds hit his first seven shots after combining to go 9-44 from the field in his previous three games. Sean Singletary added 23 points and 9-assists for the Cavaliers, who were never threatened after jumping out to a 19-2 lead.

In the Midwest Regional, Texas A&M Corpus Christi looked like it was about to produce the biggest upset of this year's NCAA tournament. But players couldn't close the deal. 2nd-ranked Wisconsin survived a major scare to beat the Islanders 76-63 behind Kammron Taylor's 24 2nd-half points.

The 15th-seeded and lightly regarded Islanders scored the first 10-points of the game and built an 18-point 1st-half lead in a bid to become the fifth 15th-seed to beat a #2 seed in tournament history.

UNLV takes on Wisconsin next after bouncing Georgia Tech out of the tournament. Michael Umeh and Wendell White each scored 19 points as the 7th-seeded Runnin' Rebels beat Georgia Tech 67-63 in Chicago. White also had 8-rebounds for UNLV, which won despite shooting just 31%.

In the East Regional, Kevin Durant had a splendid opening NCAA tournament game with 27 points and 8-rebounds to lead 4th-seeded Texas to a 79-67 victory over New Mexico State.