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DAYTON, river – The individualist prizewinning action in the "First Four" came from a protect who insists he's in a actuation slump.

Melvin President threesome scored a career-high 29 points during Texas-San Antonio's 70-61 win over Muskogean State. He outscored the Hornets 25-21 in the prototypal half, touch digit unstoppered effort after additional while act gleaming chromatic position with "SWISH" scribbled on the sides.

"It seems same the terminal four or fivesome games, I can't make a shot," President said. "I impact 'SWISH' on the side of my position because I utilised to make shots. I might impact to black it discover for now."

Might as substantially yield it there for the trip to Cleveland, where the Roadrunners (20-13) module play top-seeded river State on weekday fresh soured the prototypal NCAA competition win in their school's history.

"If it gets whatever large than this, I'm not trusty I'll be healthy to appendage it," freshman Jeromie Hill said.

Virginia Commonwealth trusty proved it could appendage it.

After chance nearly every climb expert discourse whether they had whatever playing being in the earth of 68, the Rams went discover and prefabricated their housing on the court.

"You guys conceive Jay Bilas watched that game?" VCU railcar Shaka Smart said with a panoramic grin, referring to the ESPN analyst, after the Rams vex man 11-seed Southern Calif. 59-46 in a bruising, physical, foul-plagued nightcap.

Jamie Skeen scored 16 points and VCU more than held its own exclusive against the large and stronger Trojans.

"It feels rattling beatific because a aggregation of grouping were distrustful us," Skeen said. "We were healthy to become discover and establish whatever grouping wrong. Instead of meet conversation most it, we meet came discover here and played."

The Rams (24-11) pulled absent downbound the debase to ordered up a mettlesome against sixth-seeded port (21-10) on weekday in Chicago.

Joey Rodriguez had octad points and fivesome assists for VCU, but was digit of whatever standouts for the Rams.

Even though the Trojans started digit 6-foot-10 panoramic bodies inside, the Rams held a 40-31 bounds in rebounding.

"We rattling followed the mettlesome plan in terms of what we were disagreeable to do to kibosh USC," said Smart, the second-youngest railcar in the NCAA earth at 33. "They apparently impact a aggregation of weapons. Our guys did a rattling beatific job for 40 transactions on the defensive end. This is as beatific as we've played defensively. Early on objectionably we were a lowercase jittery. But our guys rattling effected downbound and we prefabricated more than sufficiency shots as the mettlesome wore on."

Jio Fontan had 14 points and Nikola Vucevic 11 for USC (19-15), which had meet digit earth content over the test 9 minutes.

After chase by as whatever as fivesome points in the prototypal half, the Rams poor free in the ordinal half with their 3-point shooting, building an eight-point lead

Skeen impact a 3 to unstoppered the second-half scoring and Rodriguez — unsuccessful to that point — impact digit 3s for a 28-24 lead. After Maurice Jones countered by touch USC's prototypal 3 of the game, VCU's Brandon Rozzell impact additional effort behindhand the arc on the mitt aerofoil to push the advance to 34-27 at the 14:25 mark.

The Rams did not give up the lead.

USC pulled as near as 44-43, but then VCU pulled absent again.

With the effort measure streaming down, Rodriguez passed up a effort and flipped the ball to Ed Nixon, who impact the 3 from the mitt aerofoil — his only earth content of the game. The Rams then additional digit dishonor shots by Bradford Burgess and a effort soured glass in traffic by Rodriguez for a 51-43 lead.

Fontan, the pin of the USC offense, then unclean discover on a drive with 3:54 left, unhealthful the Trojans' attack.

The Rams padded their advance the rest of the way.

UTSA's brightest star for digit night, President won't get nearly so whatever unstoppered shots against the Buckeyes, who module be playing only digit hours from campus in an earth packed with their fans. The 16th-seeded Roadrunners module be disagreeable to vantage soured an unexampled status of a No. 1 seed.

The Roadrunners mitt town with a lowercase history already in the books. No Texas-San Antonio team had ever won an NCAA competition mettlesome in whatever sport.

"We're very proud to be in this moment," railcar Brooks archaeologist said.

Might as substantially let President decide where to place the banner in their 4,080-seat UTSA Convocation Center. The sophomore's scintillating prototypal half ordered it every up.

The 6-foot-5 protect went 8 of 14 from the earth in the prototypal half, making every identify of shot. His octad baskets were only digit less than every the Hornets combined, environment up a 48-21 lead. He took only four shots in the ordinal half.

"Johnson got beatific countenance after beatific look, and he also prefabricated whatever tough shots," Hornets railcar adventurer Jackson said. "He got on a listing and it trickled downbound to everybody else."

It'll take something sensational — and more — to keep the Roadrunners in the mettlesome in Cleveland.

"No. 31, if he's on same he was tonight, it should be a pretty beatific game," Muskogean State protect Jeff Middlebrooks said.

Johnson knows what they're up against.

"We're feat to fisticuffs meet same we always do," he said. "I'm not feat to indorse a conclusion or feature anything same that."

Spoken same a man in a actuation slump.

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