DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Jimel Cofer scored all 19 of his points in the second half and overtime and Grambling State rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Montana State 88-81 to earn its first NCAA Tournament win in program history in the First Four on Wednesday night.
The Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Tigers (21-14) advance as the No. 16 seed in the Midwest Region to play No. 1 seed Purdue on Friday night in Indianapolis.
Robert Ford III made his fifth 3-pointer of the game to tie the game at 78 for the Big Sky Conference tournament champions with 2:02 left in overtime, but Grambling iced the game from the free throw line with eight straight points.
Montana State (17-18) went 1 of 6 in the final 1:27.
COLORADO 60, BOISE STATE 53
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Tristan da Silva led the way with 20 points as Colorado won its first NCAA Tournament game in three years, wrapping up the First Four with a win over Boise State.
A layup by Eddie Lampkin Jr. and a pair of foul shots from J’Vonne Hadley capped an 11-0 run and gave the Buffaloes a 56-49 lead with 24 seconds left in what had been a back-and-forth game. Boise State had to start fouling, and Colorado didn’t miss from the line. That sealed it.
KJ Simpson had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Buffaloes (25-10), who advance as a 10th seed to face seventh-seeded Florida in Indianapolis on Friday.
Chibuzo Agbo had 17 points for Boise State (23-11), who dropped to 0-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
___
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
