Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ó His teammates weren’t going to let Roburt Sallie have all the fun in this NCAA tournament.
Bouncing back from a first-round malaise that might have sunk them if not for Sallie’s record-setting shooting, Memphis hit a sizzling 70 percent in the first half Saturday and rolled past Maryland 89-70 in the second round of the West Regional.
All of a sudden the Tigers looked and felt like the team that rode a 25-game winning streak into the tournament they nearly won a year ago.
“Everybody was hitting out there,” said Shawn Taggart, who had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the start-to-finish domination of the 10th-seeded Terps.Sallie, the surprise hero of Thursday’s hard-fought victory over No. 15 seed Cal State Northridge, came off the bench and kept up his 3-point onslaught by hitting his first three, making him 13-for-19 for the tourney.
But in the meantime, Tyreke Evans scored 19 points and was one of five Tigers with at least 13.
The second-seeded Tigers (33-3) knocked the Terps (21-14) on the ropes with a 9-0 run in the opening minutes and led by as many as 23 while mounting a 53-33 halftime lead.
Purdue 76, Washington 74
PORTLAND, Ore. ó JaJuan Johnson and Purdue just rejected Washington’s desperate attempt to stay in the NCAA tournament. Now comes top-seeded Connecticut.
Johnson scored 22 points and had two huge blocks in the final minute as fifth-seeded Purdue held off a frantic charge to beat the fourth-seeded Huskies 76-74 Saturday to advance to its first regional semifinals since 2000.
E’Twaun Moore scored 14 points and made the clinching free throws with 5.5 seconds remaining. The Boilermakers (27-9), the Big Ten tournament champions, led the entire game, but nearly blew a 14-point lead to the desperate, determined Huskies.
Isaiah Thomas scored 24 points, Quincy Pondexter had 20 with 10 rebounds and Jon Brockman added 20 points with 18 rebounds ó the 60th and final double-double of his career ó for Washington (26-9).
UConn 92, Texas A&M 66
PHILADELPHIA ó Jim Calhoun returned to his regular seat on the bench and led Connecticut to a familiar spot in the round of 16.A.J. Price scored 27 points, Jeff Adrien had 23 and Connecticut dominated Texas A&M from the opening tip in a 92-66 victory on Saturday, putting the Huskies in the round of 16 for the 12th time under their longtime coach.
After getting treatment for dehydration and missing Connecticut’s first-round game, Calhoun came back and never had to worry. Stanley Robinson had 12 points for the top-seeded Huskies (29-4).