Ohio stuns Hoyas

How about a standing O for Ohio!

The Mid-American Conference champion Bobcats, who had a losing record in conference play, have found their way in March and now boast an NCAA tournament win for the first time in 27 years.

Georgetown might want to skip the tournament next time it's in Providence, R.I.

Armon Bassett scored 32 points to lead the Bobcats to a convincing 97-83 win Thursday night over the third-seeded Hoyas in the first round of Midwest Regional.

In early March, no one expected Ohio (22-14) to be in this position. The team had just finished a 7-9 season in MAC play and entered the conference tournament as the ninth seed.

Four wins later, Ohio was in the 65-team NCAA field.

Forty minutes later, the 14th-seeded Bobcats are in the second round.

Ohio seized the lead early on its 3-point shooting and never had a serious letdown the rest of the way. The Hoyas (23-11) made a small run in the second half that cut a 19-point lead down to seven.

D.J. Cooper, who scored 23 points, nailed a 3 to the delight of all those green-clad fans who made the trip and cheered them on the whole way. The Bobcats cruised from there and now have won six straight games.

Chris Wright led the Hoyas (23-11) with 28 points. Greg Monroe added 19 points and 13 rebounds.

ALSO THURSDAY

AT OKLAHOMA CITY

Northern Iowa 69, UNLV 66: Ali Farokhmanesh hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 4.9 seconds left to lift ninth-seeded Northern Iowa over UNLV.

Farokhmanesh found himself open after Kwadzo Ahelegbe had chewed up the majority of the clock following Oscar Bellfield's tying 3-pointer for UNLV with 35 seconds remaining. Johnny Moran reversed the ball to Farokhmanesh, who drained the jumper with the shot clock running down.

The Runnin' Rebels (25-9) got one last chance to tie it, but Tre'Von Willis didn't get his 3-pointer off before the final buzzer, and it was off-target anyway.

Farokhmanesh finished with 17 points, including three 3-pointers in the second half, and Ahelegbe added 13 points as the Panthers (29-4) snapped a 20-year drought in the tournament.

Kansas 90, Lehigh 74: Marcus Morris scored 26 points and Sherron Collins added 18 as No. 1 overall seed Kansas defeated scrappy Lehigh.

Kansas (33-2) fell into its pattern of playing in spurts, giving No. 16 seed Lehigh (22-11) hope of making college basketball history.

The Jayhawks led by just six in the first half and didn't pull away until midway through the second.

Kansas moves on to face gritty Northern Iowa in a second-round game.

AT PROVIDENCE, R.I.

Tennessee 62, San Diego State 59: Melvin Goins made his fourth 3-pointer with 19 seconds left after San Diego State cut the deficit to one point, and Tennessee held off the Aztecs.

The sixth-seeded Volunteers (26-8) will play Saturday against No. 14 seed Ohio, an upset winner over third-seeded Georgetown.

Goins and J.P. Prince scored 15 points apiece for Tennessee.

D.J. Gay had 16 points for No. 11 seed SDSU (25-9).