Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus No. 9-Seed Cincinnati (1st Round) on March 10, 2026 , Loss , 66, to, 73
Final Score
Men's Basketball
66
vs No. 9-Seed Cincinnati (1st Round)
73
The University of Utah Athletics
Bennett Finally Takes The Badgers Past The First Round
3/17/2000 12:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 17, 2000
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - It took Dick Bennett five seasons to finally get Wisconsin past the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Congratulations, Dick. Your reward: No. 1 seeded Arizona.
Jon Bryant scored 21 points, including four straight 3-pointers from the same corner, as No. 8 seeded Wisconsin beat ninth-seeded Fresno State 66-56 Thursday night in the West Regional.
In other games in Salt Lake City, top-seeded Arizona beat No. 16 Jackson State 71-47, No. 5 seeded Texas defeated No. 12 Indiana State 77-61 and No. 4 LSU beat No. 13 Southeast Missouri State 64-61.
On Saturday, Texas will play LSU and Wisconsin will meet Arizona. The winners will advance to the West regional tournament in Albuquerque.
The Badgers (19-13) made it a short NCAA trip for Jerry Tarkanian, who as coach at his alma mater, Fresno State, was making his first appearance since his UNLV team lost in the 1991 title game.
"It was great being back," Tarkanian said. "I just wished we were able to be finish the game."
The Bulldogs (24-10) went 7:26 without a basket through the midpoint of the second half. About the same time, Bryant fired away from his favorite spot on the left and hit four 3-pointers to make it 61-46 with 4:31 remaining.
"I just stood in the corner," Bryant joked, adding, "Andy Kowske was setting good screens, I was trying to move on the baseline and get open. They were able to get me the ball."
It was Wisconsin's first NCAA tournament victory since 1994, making up for last year's 43-32 upset loss to Southwest Missouri State. Bennett's last trip to the second round came in 1994, when his Wisconsin-Green Bay team beat Cincinnati at Ogden, Utah.
"I've been the master of one-and-out here and at Green Bay," Bennett said. "I guess coming to Utah was good for my health."
The Wildcats, on the other hand, might give Bennett a headache.
Arizona (27-6) played sloppy much of the time, but it was more than enough for the talented Wildcats to get past the unheralded Tigers (17-16). And it's unlikely Arizona will struggle twice in a row.
"We were really tight," coach Lute Olson said. "We played like the three freshmen we had on the court. That was one of the things we said at halftime. You've just got to loosen up and play."
Boy, did they.
Gilbert Arenas made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions midway through the second half, and Richard Jefferson added another as the Wildcats buried gritty but unpolished Jackson State with an 11-2 run.
"I was just trying to hit big shots and come out with a lot of electricity and get out team hyped up," said Arenas, who scored 16.
Arizona finished it by outscoring the Tigers 26-10 and holding Jackson State to three field goals in the last 10:48.
"We did a good job defensively the whole game," Olson said. "Offensively, we had a lot to straighten out at halftime. In the second half, we were much more efficient."
Michael Wright had 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Jefferson scored 14 points. Arizona's 7-foot-1 center, Loren Woods, was in street clothes. He will miss the NCAA tournament with an injured back.
Texas 77, Indiana St. 61
Darren Kelly scored 17 points and Texas big men Chris Mihm, Gabe Muoneke and Chris Owens each had 16 as the taller Longhorns (24-8) took advantage of their size against the Sycamores (22-10).
"Our game plan was to play from inside out," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "We felt we had an advantage there."
Mihm, an All-American center, scored 15 points in the first 29 minutes. When he was called for an offensive foul, his fourth, with 10:46 to play, the Sycamores made a brief charge.
Indiana State's Abasi Thompson scored to make it 56-51 with 9:19 to play. But led by the 6-foot-7 Muoneke and 6-8 Owens, the Longhorns outscored Indiana State 21-10 in the final 8:33.
Michael Menser led Indiana State with 22 points. Nate Green, the player of the year in the Missouri Valley Conference, scored five and was held to one point in the second half.
LSU 64, SE Missouri St. 61
Brian Beshara hit a 3-pointer with 17.8 seconds remaining as LSU avoided the upset.
"I was trying to do something with the dribble, maybe penetrate, do something inside. My guy was coming at me so I pump-faked, then I shot it," Beshara said.
In the tournament for the first time since 1993, the Tigers (27-5) hadn't won a first-round game since O'Neal blocked a tournament-record 11 shots in a victory over BYU in 1992.
"We weren't sure how to approach the game, except play hard and try to find a way to get easy baskets," said LSU's Stromile Swift, who had 13 points and six blocked shots.
Roderick Johnson had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Indians (24-7) of the Ohio Valley Conference, playing their first game in the NCAA tournament since becoming a Division I school in 1992.
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