East Regional roundup: Cincy holds off Texas; Bonnies lose

Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin caught his Bearcats slogging through the beginning of the Big East championship game last week, and it cost them. So when Texas came out slow after an early tip in the NCAA Tournament, Cincinnati was ready to pounce.

"I thought we came out sleepwalking against Louisville, so with the early start I wanted to come out pressuring the ball, denying, trying to get our deflections, get some easy baskets and really take the game to them early on with our physicality and our intensity," Cronin said.

The sixth-seeded Bearcats responded by jumping out to a comfortable lead that helped them withstand a late rally by Texas and win 65-59 in the second round of the East Regional in Nashville, Tenn, on Friday. They will meet No. 3 seed Florida State on Sunday.

No. 11 seed Texas looked as if it had missed its wake-up call and opened the game 1-for-14 from the field. Cincinnati (25-10) jumped out to a 16-2 lead, while the Longhorns (20-14) shot a mere 16 percent for the first half.

Yancey Gates finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Cincinnati. Teammate JaQuon Parker added 13 points, Dion Dixon had 12 and Cashmere Wright scored 11. J'Covan Brown led Texas with 19 points. Clint Chapman had 10 points and 14 rebounds and Julien Lewis scored 14 points.

Florida State 66, St. Bonaventure 63: Florida State beat North Carolina twice this season. Did the same to Duke, too.

But it was Andrew Nicholson and little St. Bonaventure who nearly sent the Seminoles home in their first NCAA Tournament game.

Bernard James scored 19 points and Florida State barely avoided a big upset, rallying to beat the 14th-seeded Bonnies.

The third-seeded Seminoles (25-9) shook off a slow start and won their sixth straight game, including their run to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship last week. They will play sixth-seeded Cincinnati on Sunday in the third round of the East Regional.

Nicholson scored 20 points and Demetrius Conger had 14 for St. Bonaventure (20-12), which was trying to win an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 1970.

Florida State used a 16-2 run to take its first lead with 5:15 left on a three-pointer by Ian Miller. The Seminoles led as much as 60-52 on a dunk by Okaro White with 2:47 left.

The Bonnies hit three three-pointers in the final 1:43 to stay close. They had the ball down by three in the closing seconds but couldn't get a decent look from beyond the arc. Da'Quan Cook had his short jumper blocked by White, and the Seminoles ran out the clock for a huge sigh of relief. -- AP