NCAA East Region roundup: Thomason's Pacific run ends vs. Miami

AUSTIN, Texas — Bob Thomason now will have plenty of time to hit the links. He has put in his time as a coach.

Thomason's quarter-century run leading his alma mater, and more than four decades overall as a coach, ended Friday when Pacific lost 78-49 to No. 2 seed Miami in the East Regional of the NCAA tournament.

"I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow, but I have played golf only one time in five months," Thomason said. "I might call my buddy and go out there and play tomorrow."

Thomason had said last year that this season would be his last.

The Tigers (22-13) gave Thomason a 20-point win over Big West Conference regular-season champion Long Beach State in his final home game. They then won the league tournament for his fifth NCAA appearance.

But Pacific was no match for Miami (28-6), the Atlantic Coast Conference's regular season and tournament champions.

"Great team, great pieces. They played tremendous," said Thomason, who was 437-321 in 25 seasons at Pacific. "I'll be rooting for them the rest of the time, so maybe they can win a national championship. If I had to go out in coaching, you want to go out to a great team, but also to a great coach and a class coach, and Jim (Larranaga) is that."

Travis Fulton scored 18 points on six 3s for Pacific, while Khalil Kelley had 11 points and nine rebounds.

(1) INDIANA 83, (16) JAMES MADISON 62: At Dayton, Ohio, freshman Yogi Ferrell scored 14 points in the first six minutes as top-seeded Indiana slam dunked its way past James Madison. Not taking any chances with a No. 16 seed, the Hoosiers (28-6) started fast and built a 33-point lead in the second half over the Dukes (21-15) and opened the tourney with a statement they intend to be around for a while.

(9) TEMPLE 76, (8) NORTH CAROLINA STATE 72: At Dayton, Ohio, Khalif Wyatt scored 31 points, finishing the game with an injured left thumb that had him grimacing before his clinching free throws, and Temple broke with its one-and-done NCAA tournament trend. The ninth-seeded Owls (24-9) opened a 17-point lead before Wyatt — the Atlantic 10's player of the year and top scorer — hurt his left thumb and left the game briefly, returning with black tape on the non-shooting hand.

(7) ILLINOIS 57, (10) COLORADO 49: At Austin, Texas, Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson made consecutive 3-pointers to give Illinois back the lead with 6 minutes left and the seventh-seeded Illini pulled out a tough win over Colorado. Illinois led by 16 at halftime only to watch Colorado rip off a 21-2 run in the second to grab the lead. The Illini looked desperate until Paul and Richardson coolly knocked down their shots to put Illinois ahead 48-44.