Butler, West Virginia advance : Thirteenth seeded Morehead State pulled off the first big upset of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament today, beating Louisville 62-61. The Cardinals had been ranked fourth in the Southwest Region. Demonte Harper hit a three-pointer in the final seconds as the Eagles delivered the first bracket-buster of the NCAA tournament. This is the first time in 50 years Morehead State beat its cross-state rivals. In other action today, a last-second shot at the buzzer went Butler’s way. Matt Howard scored on a tip-in at the buzzer, giving the eighth-seeded Bulldogs a 60-58 victory over Old Dominion in the second round of the Southeast Regional. Howard was on the left side of the basket after Shawn Vanzant missed from the right side. Howard went up with his right hand and put the ball in an instant before time expired. A year ago, Butler’s magical run to the NCAA championship game ended with a narrow miss at the buzzer against Duke. In this game, the Bulldogs got the bounce they needed. Howard and Shelvin Mack each scored 15 for Butler (24-9), which will play the winner of today’s Pittsburgh-UNC Asheville game. The Bulldogs have won 10 straight. Meanwhile, Clemson’s quick turnaround eventually caught up with the Tigers in the NCAA tournament. Darryl Bryant scored 19 points and Kevin Jones added 17 to help No. 5 seed West Virginia overcome a slow start and wear down the 12th-seeded Tigers, 84-76 in the second round of the East Regional. The Mountaineers (21-11) advanced to play fourth-seeded Kentucky or No. 13 seed Princeton, taking advantage of a fatigued opponent playing its second game in just over 36 hours.
Names bandied about for next Lady Tigers coach: Now that Van Chancellor has stepped down as the LSU women’s basketball coach, speculation is starting on who will replace him as leader of the Lady Tigers. Louisiana Gannett News has listed several contenders that Athletic Director Joe Alleva may call, such as Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, a native of Hammond and an ex-Louisiana Tech star; Maryland coach Brenda Frese; UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell; and Florida State coach Sue Semrau.
