PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tarris Reed Jr. had 31 points and 27 rebounds in a dominant NCAA Tournament performance, leading second-seeded UConn to an 82-71 victory over Furman team on Friday night in the first round.
Alex Karaban added 22 points for UConn (30-5), which advanced to play UCLA in the second round of the East Region on Sunday.
For about 36 minutes in Philadelphia, it sure looked like coach Dan Hurley and the Huskies had a chance of heading back home instead.
But Reed wouldn’t let them, the All-Big East center becoming the first player with 30-plus points and 25-plus rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game since Elvin Hayes did it twice in 1968.
The Huskies were 20 1/2-point favorites to thump a school most basketball fans couldn’t even find on a map. The real line that mattered was the final stat line: The Huskies missed 20 of 25 3-pointers with each clang off the rim seemingly sounding the dinner bell for the No. 15-seeded Paladins to come on in and pull off the seismic shocker.
With UConn up 61-52, Furman cheerleaders hit the court to lead fans in their wildly popular school chant.
“FU one time, FU two times, FU three times, FU all the time!”
When Alex Wilkins hit a 3 to make it 69-64 and the Paladins (22-13) still stayed within five with 5:49 left, it seemed Furman was ready to kick up some dust on a tournament Friday filled with mostly chalk results.
But led by Reed, the Huskies had enough in a 12-4 run down the stretch to survive the first round.
UConn played without first team All-Big East selection Silas Demary Jr. after he suffered an ankle injury in the Big East Tournament; and Jaylin Stewart again sat out with a knee injury that’s sidelined him since late February.
They were missed against a Furman team that beat top-seeded East Tennessee State to secure the Southern Conference Tournament and a NCAA Tournament bid.
The Huskies displayed cracks throughout the season — including a loss to St. John’s in the Big East Tournament title game — that threatened to prevent another long March Madness run for a program that expects it.
The injuries didn’t help. Neither did a determined Furman team under coach Bob Richey.
Furman came poised to inject Friday’s slate of tournament games with a needed dose of madness and had UConn on its heels early.
The basketball fans inside the home of the 76ers absolutely erupted — who doesn’t love a March underdog story? — when Furman grabbed a 19-18 lead midway through the first half.
Furman, a Greenville, South Carolina university named after a Baptist pastor, needed more than a prayer to try and upset UConn.
It needed 3s.
The Paladins sank ‘em — six, alone in the first half, none more emotionally-charged than Charles Johnston’s first-half buzzer-beater that sliced UConn’s lead to 40-36.
Johnston thew his arms up in celebration and ran to halfcourt for a violent chest-bump with a teammate as the Paladins scurried off the court into the locker room.
Hurley couldn’t believe it while UConn fan Bill Murray — the actor’s son is an assistant on the Huskies’ staff — could only laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
Furman shot 48% overall from the floor in the half and had some big help in making this one a game from UConn’s dreadful 1-of-14 shooting from 3-point range.
It was nearly a legendary Knight — that is, in fact a Paladin — in Johnston that kept the crowing roaring and an upset brewing.
The 6-foot-11 Australian threw down a monster dunk early in the second half that kept Furman within striking distance at 54-47. After he took one to the house, Tom House, who scored 21 points, buried a 3 that cut the lead to 56-50.
Furman knew how to pull off a March surprise. Furman has made just two NCAA Tournaments since 1980 but used a buzzer-beater to top No. 4 Virginia in 2023.
Furman just couldn’t finish off another March win against basketball’s big dogs.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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