TULSA -- It's beginning to look like old times for Houston in the NCAA Tournament.
Corey Davis scored 26 points to help the third-seeded Cougars beat Georgia State 84-55 in the Midwest Region on Friday night.
After reaching the national final in 1984, Houston went more than three decades without winning an NCAA Tournament game. Now, the Cougars have tourney wins in back-to-back seasons and are starting to resemble the program that has five Final Four appearances and produced stars including Elvin Hayes, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Fabian White had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Breaon Brady added 13 for Houston (32-3), which will face either Iowa State or Ohio State on Sunday.
Houston rolled out to a 15-3 lead in the first five minutes, and the rout was on. The Cougars shot 52 percent to lead 40-31 at halftime, and then opened the second half on a 10-2 run to put the game out of reach.
D'Marcus Simonds scored 18 points for No. 14 seed Georgia State (24-10), which received an automatic bid as the Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion.
Houston held the Panthers to 30-percent shooting, an impressive effort against a squad that entered averaging 75 points per game.
WASHINGTON 78, UTAH STATE 61
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Noah Dickerson had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and ninth-seeded Washington made a successful return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years, beating Utah State.
Jaylen Nowell, the Pac-12 player of the year, had 19 points and five assists. Top defender Matisse Thybulle helped the Huskies surge ahead to stay late in the first half but was limited by foul trouble the rest of the way. He finished with 10 points, five steals and three blocks.
The Huskies pushed the lead to 13 points early in the second half before Thybulle went to the bench with his third foul. Utah State cut it to 54-53 on Sam Merrill's 3-pointer, but Nahziah Carter hit back-to-back 3s that blunted the comeback. Washington was never seriously threatened down the stretch.
OHIO STATE 62, IOWA STATE 59
TULSA — Ohio State went from barely making the NCAA Tournament to a spot in the second round with an upset of sixth-seeded Iowa State.
Kaleb Wesson had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the 11th-seeded Buckeyes (20-14).
Keyshawn Woods added 19 points for Ohio State, which will play No. 3 seed Houston on Sunday for a spot in the round of 16. Musa Jallow added 11 points for Ohio State.
NORTH CAROLINA 88, IONA 73
COLUMBUS, Ohio — North Carolina completed a perfect first round for top seeds in this NCAA Tournament, but not before Iona became the latest No. 16 seed to show these matchups are no sure thing.
Cameron Johnson scored 21 points as North Carolina quickly erased a five-point halftime deficit to hot-shooting Iona and went on to win.
The Tar Heels (28-6), who came into the tournament as a top seed for a record 17th time, advanced to play Washington on Sunday.
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TEXAS TECH 72, NORTHERN KENTUCKY 57
TULSA -- Jarrett Culver had 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to help No. 3 seed Texas Tech shake off a slow start and beat No. 14 seed Northern Kentucky.
Tariq Owens scored 12 points and Davide Moretti had 10 for Texas Tech (27-6).
Northern Kentucky (26-9) got 23 points from Tyler Sharpe and 11 from Dantez Walton while giving the Red Raiders everything they could handle.
But the Red Raiders, one of the best defensive teams in the nation, responded with a 13-3 run with about 18 minutes remaining to take control. They opened their first double-digit lead during a stretch in which they connected on eight of 10 shots from the floor, and they never led by fewer than 10 the rest of the way.
BUFFALO 91, ARIZONA STATE 74
TULSA -- Jeremy Harris and Nick Perkins each had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Buffalo was hardly bothered by 11th-seeded Arizona State.
The Sun Devils led 14-10 early, but then Buffalo reeled off a 14-2 run over a three-minute span. The Bulls outscored Arizona State 10-5 over another three-minute stretch to push their advantage into double digits.
Arizona State trailed 44-31 at halftime and pulled within 46-37 early in the second half before Buffalo's 7-0 run pushed its lead to 16 with 16:13 remaining. The Bulls' advantage never fell below 14 the rest of the way.
Sports on 03/23/2019