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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, March 20, 2009

UCLA survives in East

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

UCLA's Darren Collison, left, and Josh Shipp celebrate around Virginia Commonwealth's Bradford Burgess after a last-second shot by VCU missed, allowing the Bruins to escape a first-round upset.

MICHAEL PEREZ | Associated Press

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PHILADELPHIA — Darren Collison had no doubt Eric Maynor would take the last shot. All he had to do was make sure it didn't go in.

Collison refused to yield in the final seconds, pressuring Maynor into missing a 17-footer at the buzzer to give sixth-seeded UCLA a 65-64 victory over 11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth last night in the opening round of the East Regional.

The Bruins (26-8) kept alive their hopes of a fourth straight trip to the Final Four, advancing to play Villanova (27-7) tomorrow.

"Everybody knew he was going to take that last shot," Collison said. "I mean, it's his team. There's a lot of pressure on him to get the job done. There's a lot of pressure on myself to get a stop. When he tried to get me up in the air, I just had a good contest."

Josh Shipp scored 16, Jrue Holiday had 13 and three others scored in double figures for the sixth-seeded Bruins.

Maynor led VCU with 21 points. The Rams (24-10), of the Colonial Athletic Association, were a popular pick to pull off a 6-11 upset against the Pac-10 powerhouse — even President Barack Obama circled VCU in his bracket.

But UCLA wasn't ready to go home.

Trailing 63-60 with 1:19 left, VCU pulled within a point on a pair of free throws by Bradford Burgess. Alfred Aboya answered with two free throws for the Bruins. Then Maynor hit a pair for the Rams.

Larry Sanders blocked Collison's shot at the opposite end, giving VCU the ball and a chance to win with 11.6 seconds left.

But Collison made up for it on the defensive end.

Maynor, whose last-second, 15-foot jumper knocked out Duke in the first round two seasons ago, got the ball and was closely guarded by Collison. Maynor couldn't get a clean look and his shot grazed the front of the rim as time ran out.

"They knocked me off track a little bit," said Maynor, who averages 22 point per game. "I rushed it. I knew I had to get a shot up at the basket. They did a good job on me. I came up short. Every time I shoot the ball, I think it's going in. Always."

Collison struggled offensively, scoring 10 points on 3-for-10 shooting. But he did his part keeping Maynor in check. Maynor had just six points in the first half and did most of his scoring with Collison on the bench because of foul trouble.

"His defense was spectacular in the first half," UCLA Ben Howland said of Collison. "When he got in foul trouble, Maynor really got going."

DUKE 86, BINGHAMTON 62

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Jon Scheyer scored 15 points to lead five teammates in double figures, and the second-seeded Blue Devils (29-6) made the 15th-seeded Bearcats' (23-9) first appearance in the NCAA tournament a quick one.

"I told our team in preparation for this that this (Binghamton) team was a championship team that we were playing," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "They were winners. That's what makes this tournament so exciting. More than half the teams that are participating are champions. ... This team personified that. They had a lot of pride."

Lance Thomas added 14 points and Gerald Henderson and Nolan Smith added 13 apiece for the Blue Devils, who used a 17-2 run to open up a 62-36 lead with 14:46 remaining.

TEXAS 76, MINNESOTA 62

GREENSBORO, N.C. — A.J. Abrams hit eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points, and Damion James added 18 points and nine rebounds to propel the seventh-seeded Longhorns (23-11) past the 10th-seeded Golden Gophers (22-11), who were making their first tournament appearance since 2005.

Texas led 47-44 with 14:43 left when Abrams went on a personal 12-0 spurt with four 3-pointers as the Longhorns pushed the lead to 59-44 with 10:57 to play. Minnesota didn't get closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

VILLANOVA 80, AMERICAN 67

PHILADELPHIA — Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham each scored 25 points, and the third-seeded Wildcats (27-7) needed a late 19-2 run to rally from a 14-point deficit and fend off the 14th-seeded Eagles (24-8).

Brian Gilmore drained a 3-pointer with 11.9 seconds left in the first half to cap a 9-0 run and give American a 41-31 halftime lead. The Eagles hit 8 of 15 3-point shots in the opening half, but finished just 10-of-31 in the loss that ended their 13-game winning streak, the second-longest in the country.