Day 3 of NCAA Tournament

Best day of college basketball to watch so far. Thrilling overtimes and fantastic finishes throughout the day which had me jumping out of my seat numerous times.

Saturday Thrillers:

OSU 78 Xavier 71 OT
I thought I was going to see the first 1 seed go down in OSU, who is the first 1 seed I have falling to Tennessee.

Ron Lewis revived the Buckeyes' national championship hopes with a long 3-pointer with two seconds left to force overtime, then Mike Conley dominated OT for a clutch victory over Xavier in a second-round South Regional game Saturday.

Ohio State trailed 55-44 with 7½ minutes left, and was still down 61-52 with 2:54 to play. When Greg Oden fouled out with a hard shove after Xavier's Justin Cage rebounded an errant Buckeyes shots in the final 10 seconds, they looked lost.

But OSU prevailed and showed some poise. Lewis finished with 27 points, going 4-for-5 from 3-point range and making all seven of his free throws. Conley scored 21 and Greg Oden had 14 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and two steals in 35 minutes.

Butler 62 Maryland 59
AJ Graves led the way, scoring 19 points, including a crucial 3-point basket with 2:09 left. Butler never trailed after going up 39-36 on Drew Streicher's 3-point basket five minutes into the second half and hung on in a game Maryland rallied back to tie four times.

After DJ Strawberry hit one of two free throws to cut Butler's lead to 61-59, Maryland failed to get a shot off on its final two possessions. The game ended when Mike Jones was unable to control Eric Hayes' inbounds just before the buzzer sounded.

Texas A&M 72 Louisville 69
The third-seeded Aggies reached the round of 16 for the first time in 27 years, surviving a raucous Rupp Arena crowd.

Freshman Edgar Sosa scored 31 points but after going 15-for-15 from the foul line, missed two free throws with 30 seconds left and Louisville trailing by a point.

The sixth-seeded Cardinals caught a break when Texas A&M's Joseph Jones missed two free throws at the other end. Sosa got another chance, but hit the back of the rim on a long 3-point attempt.

Acie Law made two free throws with 1.7 seconds left, giving him 26 points. Sosa's half court heave bounced off the top of the backboard at the buzzer, setting off a jubilant celebration for the Aggies.

Vanderbilt 78 Washington St. 74 2OT
Derrick Byars scored 27 points, Shan Foster added 20 and Vanderbilt took control in the second overtime, beating Washington State 78-74 on Saturday in a dynamite second-round game in the East Regional.

Ivory Clark rejected Byars' layup attempt from behind with 25 seconds left in the second half -- but teammate Daven Harmeling then missed a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

The Commodores hit eight 3-pointers in the second half -- and they also matched Washington State's defense, holding Cougars guard Kyle Weaver to five points, tying his season low.

Pittsburgh 84 VCU 79 OT
Levance Fields redeemed himself for his missed free throws at the end of regulation, hitting a 3-pointer in overtime, and Pitt recovered after blowing a 19-point lead to beat surprising Virginia Commonwealth 84-79 Saturday in the second round of the West Regional.

Ronald Ramon scored five points in the extra session for third-seeded Pitt, which has never won more than two games in an NCAA Tournament. Pitt meets UCLA and former Panthers coach Ben Howland in San Jose, Calif., next Friday.

Other scores:
Georgetown 62 Boston College 55
UNC 81 Michigan St. 67
UCLA 54 Indiana 49