Colorado State & Wagner Claim ‘First Four’ Wins

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Joel Scott had 23 points and 11 rebounds as Colorado State won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in 11 years, blowing out Virginia 67-42 in the First Four. Nique Clifford scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Rams. Colorado advances as a No. 10 seed to play seventh-seeded Texas in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday. Reece Beekman had 15 points on 4-of-16 shooting for Virginia, which hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since it won the national title in 2019. That stretch includes two first-round losses as a No. 4 seed. Earlier,  Wagner kicked off March Madness with the first NCAA Tournament win in program history, getting 21 points from Melvin Council Jr. and holding off a late rally by Howard to win 71-68 in the First Four. The Northeast Conference champion Seahawks advanced as the No. 16 seed in the West Region and will play top seed North Carolina on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina. Howard trailed by 17 points early in the second half but went on a late 14-2 run, closing within 69-68 on Bryce Harris’ layup with 18 seconds left. Howard attempted three 3-pointers in the last 6 seconds but missed them all.