March madness on Thursday: Princeton upsets Arizona, Furman upsets Virginia

Another run awaits the Broncos. Boise State fell back to 0-9 in its NCAA tournament appearances despite outrebounding Northwestern. The Broncos are 0-4 under coach Leon Rice, who a day earlier before their practice spoke passionately about the difference a win in March would make to his program.

“It would mean so much to our fans,” he said, adding, “I want it so badly for our players to keep them going. I want to keep this group together as long as I can keep this group together. You can’t do that if you lose. The moment you lose, it’s over.”

By Thursday evening it was over; the Broncos finished 24-10 and were headed home.

The feel for Northwestern was similar to its debut tournament appearance in 2017. Then the Wildcats slipped past Vanderbilt 68-66 in the first round before losing to Gonzaga. To play for the winner of the game that followed here at the Golden 1 Center – UCLA vs. UNC-Asheville – Northwestern can achieve its first Sweet 16 in school history with a win on Saturday. – Scott Miller

The Missouri defense went against the state of Utah.

SACRAMENTO — Utah State hung around. Once they found openings in 3-point territory, they figured the Aggies would sprint past Missouri with the 10th seed.

But that never happened. The No. 7-seeded Tigers, a team considered potential victims of the excitement in the first round of the men’s NCAA tournament, won the game 76-65.

Missouri’s pressure defense handicapped an Aggies team ranked fifth in the nation with 3-point field goal percentage, keeping it 0-11 in the first half and just 4-24 for the game. Utah State was 0 for 13 before junior guard Steven Ashworth, who is sixth in the nation by 3-point percentage (.443), finally took down one with 17:51 points remaining. For the game, the Tigers held Ashworth from 3-point land to 2 for 10.

“Our approach was to pressure the entire court,” said Missouri security guard D’Moi Hodge. “We know what they wanted. They wanted jump shots. We tried to force them into the basket so they make two and let the big man score.