The first edition of the College Basketball Crown kicked off on Monday with opening-round action. And what a debut it was!
Utah and Butler came down to the wire, with the Bulldogs emerging with an 86-84 win on a late bucket. After that, Boise State showed why the Broncos are the favorites to win the entire tournament with their 89-59 win over George Washington. Butler and Boise State will face off in the second round Wednesday.
[Related: 10 names to know in the College Basketball Crown]
Then, Nebraska staged an impressive second-half comeback against Arizona State. The Cornhuskers boast one of the best players in the tournament, senior Brice Williams, who had a game-high 30 points in the win.
The nightcap pit Georgetown against Washington State. Despite playing with a limited roster, the Hoyas rallied for the victory behind a superhuman effort from Malik Mack, who finished with 37 points. Williams and Mack will meet when Nebraksa and Georgetown play Wednesday.
Here are Monday’s highlights!
The Hoyas were shorthanded due to illness, but the players who were available gave it their all Monday night in an 85-82 win over Washington State — and none more so than Malik Mack. The sophomore guard erupted for a career-high 37 points, with eight made 3-pointers and two late free throws to give Georgetown a three-point lead.
Malik Mack drains a clutch 3-pointer to help seal Georgetown’s victory over Washington State
Even more amazingly, Mack was under the weather and almost didn’t play.
The 3-point line let Georgetown, who trailed for most of the evening, stick around. The Hoyas made 13 treys compared to just five for the Cougars. Eventually, the Hoyas took their first lead of the second half with just under five minutes remaining.
Four Washington State players put up double-digit scoring efforts, led by LeJuan Watts with 22 points.
Mack almost single-handedly kept the Hoyas in the game in the first half, with 20 points through the first 20 minutes. In a one-minute stretch near the end of the half, he went on a one-man 9-0 run, hitting back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to get Georgetown within one point. The Cougars got a basket right before the buzzer to go into the break leading 42-39.
One person who was not impressed with either team’s defensive performance at halftime, though. Georgetown coach Ed Cooley said, “It looks like Stevie Wonder is guarding Ray Charles out there.”
Even so, both teams put on a show in an exciting contest that came down to the final minute. The Cougars even had a chance to tie the game on a last-second 3 after Watts intentionally missed a free throw. The shot hit the rim, and Georgetown now moves on to play Nebraska.
Brice Williams scored 30 points, his 18th game this season with 20 or more points, and Nebraska rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat Arizona State 86-78.
Coming into the tournament, Nebraska had dropped five straight games to end the season. It looked like the Cornhuskers would make that six in a row when they trailed Arizona State 38-30 at halftime and 43-32 with 18:34 to play.
Five minutes into the second half, they were down 49-39. Then the Huskers started playing with tempo.
Even more importantly, Williams got some help. In the first half, Nebraska got its usual output from the prolific scorer. He led the Cornhuskers with 13 points, while the rest of the team combined for 17 points (zero of which came from the bench).
In the second half, fellow senior Juwan Gary hit another gear and came away with 18 points.
Juwan Gary finishes the layup on the fastbreak, extending Nebraska’s lead over Arizona State
Connor Essegian came off the bench to go on a solo 8-0 run. With 8:49, he tied it at 58-all with a corner 3. All 17 of his points came after halftime.
In their final collegiate game, seniors Alston Mason (23 points) and Basheer Jihad (21 points) led the way for Arizona State. Jihad had a game-high 15 points at halftime and finished with a career-high 12 from the free-throw line.
Boise State was left out of the NCAA Tournament. On Monday, the Broncos had a message to send to the selection committee with a dominating 89-59 win over George Washington.
The Revolutionaries entered the game at 21-12, their best record since 2016, and for most of the first half, they hung around with the Broncos. George Washington jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead, and only trailed by six points at the half (32-26). But its defense couldn’t slow down Boise State.
The Broncos got help from everyone in the first half, with 17 of their points coming from the bench and eight of those courtesy of Javan Buchanan.
Boise State’s Javan Buchanan throws down a dunk in the first half vs. George Washington
BSU’s defense also stepped up, forcing 11 turnovers in the first half and 22 turnovers overall.
But the star of the matchup was Tyson Degenhart, who led all scorers with 19 points and was a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point land. He helped blow the game wide open as Boise State went on a 25-7 run halfway through the second half.
RJ Keene II scores on a put-back, plus a foul, extending Boise State’s lead over George Washington
Degenhart also chipped in with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. He’s now 10 shy of 2,000 career points.
Pearson Carmichael added 15 points and a game-high six steals for the Broncos.
Boise State had five players in double figures. George Washington had three: Trey Autry (16 points), Rafael Castro (11 points) and Ty Bevins (11 points).
Butler comes away with 86-84 nail-biting win over Utah
It was a back-and-forth game all afternoon, one that came down to the final minutes. Pierre Brooks II took it right to the hole with 3.2 seconds left, giving Butler an 86-84 lead.
Utah had one more chance but couldn’t connect on the running attempt that would have sent the game to overtime.
The Bulldogs are advancing to the quarterfinals, thanks in large part to Brooks’ effort. The senior forward, highlighted as one of FOX Sports’ players to watch in The Crown, totaled 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including a 4-of-8 day from behind the arc. Brooks had 17 of those points after in the second half. He also led his team with nine rebounds and three assists.
Utah held a 46-42 lead at halftime and got an assist throughout the game from super fan Corey, who made sure he made his voice was heard whenever Butler went to the free-throw line.
Corey’s screaming had an effect on the Bulldogs, who went just 13-of-20 from the charity stripe. Brooks admitted as much after the game.
But unfortunately for the Utes, it wasn’t enough to get the win.
Keanu Dawes finished with 19 points for Utah, while sharp-shooting Gabe Madsen had 17 points, 15 of which came from the 3-point line.
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