Canada's Andrew Nembhard scores 23 points to help top seed Gonzaga escape upset

Canada's Andrew Nembhard scored 23 points to help top overall seed Gonzaga rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat No. 9 seed Memphis 82-78 on Saturday night in the second round of the men's NCAA Tournament.

Trailing at the half for only the fourth time this season, Gonzaga leaned on its star junior to carry the Zags into its seventh straight Sweet 16. The Bulldogs will face No. 4 seed Arkansas in the West Region semifinals on Thursday in San Francisco.

Drew Timme scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half to lead Gonzaga. Rasir Bolton added 17 and the Bulldogs never trailed after a basket from Timme and Bolton's 3-pointer with 10 minutes remaining that made it 61-57.

But Memphis didn't go away. The Tigers pulled even at 66 on DeAndre Williams' basket. After Nembhard's 3 put the Bulldogs up 76-69, the Tigers still made it a one-possession game with 32 seconds left on Lester Quinones' 3-pointer.

Nembhard, the only consistent free-throw shooter for Gonzaga on the night, made four at the foul line in the final 25 seconds and the Bulldogs (28-3) were on their way to the Sweet 16.

Aaliyah Edwards helps UConn overwhelm Mercer

In the women's tournament, Canada's Aaliyah Edwards scored seven points and added six rebounds as UConn began its run toward a 12th NCAA Tournament title with an 83-38 first-round rout of No. 15 seed Mercer.

Paige Bueckers, last season's national player of the year, played 25 minutes, the most in six games since coming back from a left knee injury that kept her out for more than two months. She led UConn with 12 points, adding five assists and four rebounds.

Christyn Williams had 13 points to lead the Huskies (26-5), who opened the tournament with a win for the 28th straight year. Dorka Juhasz added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Shannon Titus had 12 points to lead Mercer (23-7), which was making its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Southern Conference champion Bears have never won an NCAA Tournament game.

Mercer played much of the game without leading scorer Amoria Neal-Tysor (17 points per game), who went down hard on her left elbow while driving to the basket in the second quarter and had to be helped to the locker room. She finished with four points and came out for the second half with her arm in a sling.

Pellington scores 30 points to lead Arizona 

Canada's Shaina Pellington scored 30 points, Cate Reese added 16 and Arizona outlasted UNLV 72-67 in the opening round of the women's tournament.

The Wildcats (21-7) were jittery early in their first home NCAA Tournament game since 1998, when coach Adia Barnes was still playing. Arizona bounced back after Barnes went deep into her bench — 11 players in the first half — but had a hard time shaking UNLV.

The No. 4 seed in the Greensboro Region, Arizona finally pulled away behind Pellington and Reese, who combined for 22 of the Wildcats' 24 fourth-quarter points. Arizona moves on to face North Carolina in Monday's second round.

Browne's Indiana also advance

Canada's Kiandra Browne and the Indiana Hoosiers are also through.

Mackenzie Holmes scored 19 points to lead Indiana to an 85-51 victory over Charlotte in the first round of the women's tournament. Browne had two points and three rebounds in the game.

Serving as hosts for the first time in the women's tournament, the third-seeded Hoosiers (23-8) used a 22-2 run across a nearly six-minute first-half stretch to blow the game open. Aleksa Gulbe scored the final five in the spurt to make it 33-13 with 6:44 remaining in the half.

The lead never dipped below 20 in the second half as Holmes scored 15 of her points after halftime.

WATCH l North Courts discusses Canadians to watch at March Madness & more:

Canadians around the NBA, Raptors update & Canadians to watch at March Madness | North Courts

3 years ago

Duration 6:17

Vivek Jacob and Jevohn Shepherd provide an update on the Toronto Raptors who are looking to move into the top 6 in the Eastern Conference to avoid the play-in tournament, along with Canadians Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dwight Powell's recent run of strong play.

UNC upsets defending champ Baylor in OT

RJ Davis scored a career-high 30 points with a nifty layup while being fouled in overtime, and eighth-seeded North Carolina blew a 25-point second-half lead but still found a way to beat defending champion Baylor 93-86 in the second round of the men's tournament.

Brady Manek had a season-high 26 points before getting ejected because of a flagrant foul midway through the second half, right after his 3-pointer had given the Tar Heels (26-9) their largest lead.

A year after going out in the first round of the tourney in retiring coach Roy Williams' final game, Davis, Armando Bacot and these Tar Heels (26-9) are headed to Philadelphia and a Sweet 16 for first-year coach Hubert Davis.

Davis got his only points in overtime on the off-balance layup with 1:18 left and added the free throw for a 91-85 lead.

Adam Flagler had 27 points for Baylor (27-7), which made only one field goal in overtime. James Akinjo had 20 points while Jeremy Sochan had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The Tar Heels won as No. 8 seed over a top seed for third time. They did so on the way to the Final Four in 2000, 10 years after after beating top-seeded Oklahoma when Davis was a player for Dean Smith.

Baylor lost in the second round for the second time in the last three NCAA tourneys. The Bears, who fell to top-seeded Gonzaga in the round of 32 three years ago, were trying to match the biggest comeback ever in an NCAA Tournament game.

5 Canadians ousted in women's tournament

Brittney Smith came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points and lead No. 7 seed UCF past in-state rival Florida 69-52 in the first round play.

The Gators played the second half without Canadian centre Faith Dut, who scored four points before going down just before halftime grabbing her right ankle and unable to put any weight on that leg. She came out for the second half on crutches.

Canadians Tara Wallack and Jessica Clarke's Washington State team was downed 50-40 by No. 9 Kansas State.

A second-team AP All-America selection, Ayoka Lee rallied in the second half to lead the Wildcats (20-11) to their first tournament victory since 2017. She finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds to help Kansas State overcome a frustrating defensive scheme from Washington State.

Canada's Adebola Adeyeye was also ousted, as the Buffalo Bulls lost 80-67 to the Tennessee Volunteers.

Alexus Dye scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as fourth-seeded Tennessee held off No. 13 seed Buffalo to remain perfect opening an NCAA Tournament at home.

Canada's Phillipina Kyei did not play in the fifth-ranked Oregon Ducks' 73-70 loss to No. 12 Belmont Bruins.

Caleb Houstan, Michigan return to Sweet 16

In the men's tournament, Eli Brooks put Michigan ahead for good with a three-point play and delivered four critical points in the final minute, and the 11th-seeded Wolverines booked the most surprising of their five straight trips to the Sweet 16 by beating No. 3 seed Tennessee 76-68 in second round play.

Brooks finished with 23 points, including a looping, improvised hook shot and two free throws as Michigan (19-14) put away the Volunteers, who had a six-point lead with 8 1/2 minutes left but then went four minutes without scoring. Their cold shooting continued until it was too late.

Providence earns 1st Sweet 16 spot in 25 years

Three Canadians took part in fourth-seeded Providence's 79-51 victory over the 12th-ranked Richmond Spiders.

Cayo led the Spiders with 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting. The rest of the team was 12 for 42 (28.5 per cent).

Noah Horchler scored 16 points and Providence had its best 3-point shooting performance of the season.

Ryan Nembhard, Clayton Henry ousted

Remy Martin scored 20 points, Ochai Agbaji put Kansas ahead for good with his first basket early in the second half, and the Jayhawks held off Creighton 79-72 to also advance to the Sweet 16.

Creighton's Ryan Nembhard, of Aurora, Ont., was out due to injury.

Martin hadn't led top-seeded Kansas (30-6) in scoring all season as the fifth-year senior transfer from Arizona State battled a sore knee, but he's done it in both NCAA Tournament games.

Canada's Clayton Henry scored six points in the No. 12 New Mexico State's 53-48 lost to the No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks.