Colleges

Kansas shown the door

Marcellus Sommerville scored 21 points and made five 3-pointers and 13th-seeded Bradley handed the fourth-seeded Jayhawks their second straight first-round exit with a 77-73 victory in the Oakland Regional on Friday night.

The Braves picked up their first NCAA tournament victory in 20 years and advanced to play fifth-seeded Pittsburgh in the second round on Sunday.

Unlike the "Bucknell Bummer" a year ago, when Wayne Simien missed a 15-footer at the buzzer to give the 14th-seeded Bison an improbable victory, Kansas looked unprepared and overwhelmed from the start in Auburn Hills, Mich.

The Braves (21-10) led by 14 with 15:38 to go, but let the Jayhawks (25-8) back in the game with three straight turnovers with around the five minutes left.

Mario Chalmers made a 3-pointer after the first takeaway, a three-point play after the second and a runner in the lane after the final one that cut Bradley's lead to 65-62 with 3:45 to play.

NO. 9 BUCKNELL 59, NO. 8 ARKANSAS 55: The Bucknell Bison took the unusual route of making more 3-pointers than 2-pointers to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Charles Lee and Kevin Bettencourt combined for 42 points and nine of No. 9 Bucknell's season-high 11 3-pointers, many of them fired when the shot clock was nearly running out in Dallas.

The Bison (27-6) made only six shots inside the arc, going more than 15 minutes between them at one point.

Arkansas (22-10) was held to its fewest points of the season and in its last 41 NCAA tournament games, dating to 1984.

NO. 1 MEMPHIS 94, NO. 16 ORAL ROBERTS 78: Conference USA player of the year Rodney Carney had 19 points and Andre Allen matched his season high with 11 - all in a late first-half spurt that put Memphis ahead to stay in Dallas.

Even though Memphis (31-3) entered the NCAA tournament as the only team other than Duke with 30 wins, some thought the Tigers might be the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed.

The Tigers were down 33-29 late in the first half and really did seem vulnerable. But with their 3-point shooting and balanced scoring - five players in double figures - the Tigers had plenty to withstand Oral Roberts (21-12) in their first game as a top seed.

Memphis tied a school record for wins, matching the 1984-85 team that went to the Final Four.

The Tigers play Bucknell in the second round of the Oakland Regional on Sunday.

NO. 5 PITT 79, NO. 12 KENT ST. Pittsburgh's Aaron Gray pounded Kent State inside and Ronald Ramon took care of things on the outside. They were so unstoppable, they didn't miss a shot in Auburn Hills, Mich.

The Panthers (25-7) scored so easily and often they frayed the net at one end of the court and just about wore out the twine at the other.

Gray scored 17 and Ramon had 16 - both shooting 6-of-6 from the field - to lead a balanced attack as Pittsburgh made 67 percent of its shots, cruising past the Golden Flashes (25-9) in the first round.

Carl Krauser had 11 points and nine assists and Levon Kendall added 10 for the Panthers.

The 7-foot, 270-pound Gray, who towered over the competition, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked five shots.

[Last modified March 18, 2006, 02:30:29]