He’s sure to have his voice heard in the locker room with Minnesota trailing 37-31 at halftime. Virginia advanced past the first round for the fourth consecutive year and won as a 5 seed for the first time in four tries. After a brief stint in the NBA, he went into coaching, making stops at Southwest Missouri State, Iowa and New Mexico before becoming UCLA’s coach in 2013. 11 seed Xavier, no stranger to pulling off upsets in the NCAA Tournament, leads sixth-seeded Maryland 65-58 with less than 4 minutes to play in Orlando, Florida. But he played just 9 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. Defending champion and top overall seed Villanova has opened the second half on a 21-6 run after playing from behind for much of the first half to No. "I liked our fight," John Groce said. I love Los Angeles. Murray sat in the first row in the Musketeers section, but was mostly subdued during the first half. He followed that up with 23 points and four steals in Saturday’s come-from-behind 64-59 victory over Florida Atlantic in Sunrise, Florida. Alford said forward TJ Leaf (ankle) and point guard Lonzo Ball (thumb) are both close to 100 percent and will play. Vermont trailed No. Notre Dame guard Rex Pfleuger had to leave the game to get stitches in the first half against Princeton. 16 seed Mount Saint Mary’s. Murray spent the previous two years at Rhode Island. 14 seed Florida Gulf Coast in Orlando, Florida. Woodson scored 17 in a 68-65 win over the Golden Eagles the last time that Butler visited Milwaukee on Feb. 7. But the 24-year-old Florida State product’s nerves were firing on this June night. Bacon has 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting, carrying the third-seeded Seminoles to a 40-36 halftime lead against No. Gonzaga slowly pulled away from South Dakota State for a 66-46 victory. Copyright © 2014 www.NoledOut.com - All Rights Reserved - Trademarks used herein are property of their respective owners. Learn more. Alford was thought to be on the hot seat heading into this season after the Bruins failed to make the NCAA Tournament a year ago, but has turned the program around with a strong recruiting class headed by point guard Lonzo Ball. Florida State: Despite the win over Illinois, Florida State may drop out of the Top 25 due to its loss to unranked Temple on Thursday. For the season, Bacon averages nearly 17 points and five rebounds. 12 seed Middle Tennessee State up by double digits against No. Actor Bill Murray made the trip to Orlando to support Xavier and his son, Luke, who is an assistant for the team. Bacon opened the week with a 20-point, 6-rebound effort in Wednesday’s 90-66 win over Mississippi State. Spurrier sat a few rows behind Florida’s bench Thursday, rooting for the Gators to beat East Tennessee State. A 6-foot-10 freshman, Anigbogu has provided the third-seeded Bruins with energy and a defensive presence off the bench, averaging 4.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. While that might be good for your bracket, maybe not so much in the drama department for March Madness. "That was the key stretch that kind of broke it open," Groce said. 16 Mount St. Mary’s. The guys gave us tremendous energy. You’re talking about arguably the greatest ‘brand’ anywhere on the planet, and we got things going at a very high level now and we’re very excited about it,” Alford said before the Bruins’ NCAA Tournament game against Kent State. Slasher Dwayne Bacon is the Florida State Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 14-20 after averaging 21.5 points, 4 rebounds and a pair of steals in two games this past week. He didn’t seem rattled and asked a team official to take a picture of the stitches that made him look more like a hockey player than a kid in the middle of March Madness. The top-seeded Wildcats, attempting to become the first team to win consecutive titles since 2007, have missed their first eight shots, committed two turnovers and had three shots blocked by Mount St. Mary’s in the opening five minutes. Top Spots. Christie’s son Andrew graduated from Princeton last year and played for its baseball team. Brandon Goodwin has 14 points to pace the Eagles. The sophomore went to the locker room after taking an elbow from Princeton’s Steven Cook while Cook was driving to the basket in their first round game. Tied 44-all with less than 10 minutes to play, the Seminoles outscored the Illini 7-0 in a 56 second span. Among freshmen, Bacon ranks sixth nationally in scoring. 16 seed, a record of 129-0. Illinois: Will face the North Carolina State Wolfpack Tuesday in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge in Champaign, Illinois. Nevada sports book William Hill says 54 percent of bets were placed on Xavier, and 58 percent of the money wagered backed the 2-point underdog. He and the Seminoles will host Charleston Southern on Monday. Mike Ferguson is a Bloguin contributor, the editor of Noled Out and a lifetime Florida State sports enthusiast. Illinois: The Illini came into the tournament having won four of five. "The residual effect of that was (we) were always fresh; (I) was always able to keep a fresh group in there," he said. London Perrantes scored 24 points and Marial Shayok added a career-high 23 off the bench. Spurrier grew up in Johnson City, Tennessee, home to East Tennessee State. The Jackrabbits led for the first 17 minutes of Thursday’s game in the West region and stayed in range for most of the game. UCLA could be without reserve forward Ike Anigbogu for its NCAA Tournament opener against Kent State due to a sprained foot. Florida State is off to an 8-2 start and is on a 4-game winning streak entering Monday. Bacon has 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting, carrying the third-seeded Seminoles to a 40-36 halftime lead against No. The closest call so far came in Buffalo, where 12th-seeded Princeton took fifth-seeded Notre Dame to the final buzzer before falling 60-58. Mike has been featured on SI.com, FoxSports.com and Yahoo Sports while interviewing major sports stars such as 2013 National League MVP Andrew McCutchen. In a classy gesture, Villanova coach Jay Wright went into Bucknell’s locker room following the school’s loss to West Virginia to congratulate the Bison on their season. ... WATCH: Dwayne Bacon Throws Down Vicious Slam Against FGCU. "That's who we are," Hamilton said following No. 5 seed Minnesota, but Las Vegas casinos actually favored Middle Tennessee State. When fourth-seeded Florida polished off 13th seeded East Tennessee State as dinner time on the East Coast approached, the higher-seeded teams improved to 6-0 on the opening day of the tournament. Avery Woodson has the hot hand from 3-point range for fourth-seeded Butler in a first-round game in Milwaukee against 13th-seeded Winthrop. Dwayne Bacon and Henry Ellenson each scored 10 points for the U.S. … Reggie Hearn (sprained ankle) did not play, but the Americans are hopeful he can play Monday at Panama. Steidl went down after he jumped out to defend a 3-point attempt with about two minutes left in the first half. Illinois: Senior guard Tracy Abrams was examined by a trainer during a second half stoppage in play after being inadvertently elbowed in the mouth by Florida State center Michael Ojo, fighting for position in the low blocks. NoledOut.com is a fan web site and is in no way affiliated with the Florida State Seminoles, the NCAA, or any NCAA Properties or Organizations. Spurrier also might be privately pulling for the Buccaneers. Spurrier called ETSU coach Steve Forbes to congratulate him on making the NCAA Tournament. 4 seed Purdue 37-36 at halftime. Pfleuger returned to the bench after getting the stitches and having a concussion ruled out. Trent Forrest's 26 minutes led Florida State. Villanova has looked shaky in the opening minutes of its opener. They gave Bacon and Isaac an opportunity (for) a breather here and there. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment, and may be used on ESPN's media platforms.