Bryant scores 17 and leads No. 8 Illinois to 1st March Madness win in 25 years over No. 9 Creighton
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Genesis Bryant scored 17 points and No. 8 Illinois earned its first NCAA Tournament victory in 25 years Saturday night with a 66-57 win over No. 9 Creighton.
Illinois' tough defense frustrated Creighton's outside shooters as the Illini also dominated on the boards. Kendall Bostic added 12 points and 17 rebounds for Illinois (22-9), which advances to the second round on Monday against the winner of No. 1 Texas (31-3) against No. 16 William & Mary.
Morgan Maly led Creighton (26-6) with 18 points and Lauren Jensen scored 17. But the Bluejays' top scorers all season — both scored more than 2,000 points in their careers — were mostly contained on a tough shooting night. Creighton shot just 36% against a stifling Illinois defense and was just 6 of 22 on 3-pointers.
Illinois led 51-41 early in the fourth quarter before Creighton pulled within 58-54 on Jensen's tough layup through the lane with 2:08 to play.
The rally ended when Bryant missed two free throws for the Illini on the next possession but Berry Wallace grabbed the rebound over two Creighton defenders for an easy putback basket.
Takeaways
Illinois: Bostic and Berry muscled their way over Creighton defenders time and again as Illinois won the rebounding 42-32 and second-chance scoring 32-22. Illinois came into the NCAA Tournament on a four-game losing skid and hadn't won a game since Feb. 16.
Creighton: The Bluejays brought an experienced team with four senior starters who were playing in their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays had not advanced past the second round since 2022 and were clearly expecting a deeper run than a first-round exit.
Key moment
Creighton rallied from an early 12-point deficit to quickly get within two early in the third quarter. But Illinois answered with consecutive 3-pointers from Bryn Shoup-Hill, a 26% 3-point shooter on the season.
___
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
36 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Casey Schmitt's 1st career grand slam powers Giants past Dodgers 6-2 in series opener
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Logan Webb tossed seven innings of two-hit ball, Casey Schmitt hit his first career grand slam off Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 on Friday night in the series opener between the NL West's top two teams. Webb (6-5) allowed two runs, struck out four and walked three for his first win since May 16 against the Athletics. He twice struck out Shohei Ohtani, who was hitless in four at-bats. Schmitt's grand slam traveled 423 feet to left-center with two outs in the third, snapping a 1-1 tie. Yamamoto sandwiched walks to Jung Hoo Lee and Heliot Ramos around two strikeouts before walking Wilmer Flores to load the bases and set up Schmitt. Willy Adames homered for the Giants in the first. In the second, Webb walked Freddie Freeman and Will Smith back-to-back to open the inning before Max Muncy's fielder's choice grounder to first and Andy Pages' sacrifice fly scored Smith. The Dodgers added another run on Teoscar Hernández's homer off Webb in the seventh. The teams are meeting for the first time this season, and it's the latest they've gone in a season without playing each other since 1999. The Dodgers were 9-4 against the Giants last year, including 6-1 at home. Key moment Giants catcher Andrew Knizer had his first hit and first homer of the season off Justin Wrobleski in the eighth. The ball went off the wall in center. Key stat The Giants rapped out 10 hits, including three by Dominic Smith. Up next ___
San Francisco Chronicle
36 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Agustín Ramírez homers twice to power Marlins past Nationals 11-9
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rookie Agustín Ramírez hit two home runs and Eric Wagaman had three RBIs to help the Miami Marlins hand the Washington Nationals their sixth straight loss, 11-9 on Friday night in a game that included a rain delay of more than two hours. Ramírez hit a solo shot off Nationals starter Mitchell Parker (4-7) in the first for a 1-0 lead and then hit his 10th of the season leading off a four-run third as Miami took a 6-0 lead. It was Ramírez's second multihomer game after hitting two solo shots in a 7-6 loss to Seattle on April 27. Wagaman had an RBI double and Dane Myers added a two-run double as Miami built the six-run advantage. CJ Abrams reached on an infield hit and James Wood followed with his 17th homer to get the Nationals within 6-2 after three. Fortes and Xavier Edwards had RBI singles in the fifth following a delay of 2 hours, 14 minutes for an 8-2 lead. Wood hit a two-run double and Nathaniel Lowe, Alex Call and Keibert Ruiz followed with RBI singles as Washington scored five times in the seventh to pull within 8-7. Miami answered with Wagaman's two-run single and Connor Norby's RBI groundout in the eighth. Parker allowed six runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. Jackson Rutledge got the final two outs in the fourth before the second delay and then allowed two runs. Jose A. Ferrer was tagged for three runs on four hits in an inning. Miami has won three of four against Washington this season. Up next Miami had not announced who will start Saturday's game opposite Washington RHP Trevor Williams (3-7, 5.91). ___
Hamilton Spectator
44 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Agustín Ramírez homers twice to power Marlins past Nationals 11-9
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rookie Agustín Ramírez hit two home runs and Eric Wagaman had three RBIs to help the Miami Marlins hand the Washington Nationals their sixth straight loss, 11-9 on Friday night in a game that included a rain delay of more than two hours. Ramírez hit a solo shot off Nationals starter Mitchell Parker (4-7) in the first for a 1-0 lead and then hit his 10th of the season leading off a four-run third as Miami took a 6-0 lead. It was Ramírez's second multihomer game after hitting two solo shots in a 7-6 loss to Seattle on April 27. Wagaman had an RBI double and Dane Myers added a two-run double as Miami built the six-run advantage. CJ Abrams reached on an infield hit and James Wood followed with his 17th homer to get the Nationals within 6-2 after three. Fortes and Xavier Edwards had RBI singles in the fifth following a delay of 2 hours, 14 minutes for an 8-2 lead. Wood hit a two-run double and Nathaniel Lowe, Alex Call and Keibert Ruiz followed with RBI singles as Washington scored five times in the seventh to pull within 8-7. Miami answered with Wagaman's two-run single and Connor Norby's RBI groundout in the eighth. Edwin Cabrera allowed two runs in a three-inning start for Miami. Tyler Phillips (1-0) got two outs for the win. Parker allowed six runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. Jackson Rutledge got the final two outs in the fourth before the second delay and then allowed two runs. Jose A. Ferrer was tagged for three runs on four hits in an inning. Miami has won three of four against Washington this season. Key moment Calvin Faucher allowed a one-out single before getting groundouts from Robert Hassell III and Abrams to finish off his sixth save in nine opportunities. Key stat Miami's minus-91 run differential is the second worst in the NL followed by Washington at minus-60. Up next Miami had not announced who will start Saturday's game opposite Washington RHP Trevor Williams (3-7, 5.91). ___ AP MLB:
