TUCSON — Don’t call him “one-and-Dunphy” anymore.
Juan Fernandez sank an off-balance 18-footer with less than a second to play to hand seventh-seeded Temple a wild 66-64 victory over No. 10 Penn State and end coach Fran Dunphy’s NCAA Tournament-record losing streak at 11.
“It might have been our time, that’s all,” Dunphy said. “Just our time.”
And a long time coming for one of college basketball’s most respected coaches, whose Owls (26-7) advanced to a third-round matchup Saturday against San Diego State.
Fernandez, double-teamed as time was running out, forced up the winning shot off his right foot while fading to his left just inside the 3-point line. The clock read 0.4 seconds as the ball went through the net.
In the timeout that preceded the shot, Temple’s Khalif Wyatt had some advice for his coach: Put the ball in Fernandez’s hands and let him determine the outcome.
“I was thinking about shooting a jump shot, but I killed my dribble and (Tim) Frazier was right there,” Fernandez said. “For some reason he jumped over to my right and that gave me the space to go left.”
It’s not the kind of shot anyone practices, Fernandez said.
“Like coach said,” he said, “it was our time.”
Talor Battle’s 3-pointer from far behind the arc for the Nittany Lions (19-15) tied it at 64-64 with 12.2 seconds to go.
No. 6 Cincinnati 78, No. 11 Missouri 63
WASHINGTON — The Bearcats took the lead for good midway through the first half and held the Tigers (23-11) to 38 percent shooting.
Big man Yancy Gates had 18 points, including two 3-pointers that doubled his total on the season, and 11 rebounds, powering the Bearcats (26-8) into a rematch with Connecticut — a rare early-round pairing of Big East teams necessitated by the conference’s record 11 bids to the tournament.
No. 3 Connecticut 81, No. 14 Bucknell 52.
Kemba Walker had a career-high 12 assists, scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and the Huskies (27-9) led by 17 points at halftime.
The Associated Press
