Houston 63, Northern Kentucky 52 - Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Top-seeded Houston shook off Northern Kentucky for a 63-52 victory to open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.
The 16th-seeded Norse trailed by only three at halftime and made it 36-all with under 16 minutes to go against the Cougars (32-3). But Houston (32-3) pulled away behind 16 points from Jarace Walker, advancing to face ninth-seeded Auburn on Saturday.
The Norse’s upset bid went down in a hail of clankers, the Horizon League champions shooting just 27.5% from the field (19 of 69) — including a horrendous 5 of 34 from 3-point range — to ruin any chance of becoming the next UMBC.