Achol Akot poured in a season-high 28 points on 12-for-15 shooting and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds as eighth-seeded Oklahoma State rolled past ninth-seeded Princeton, 82-68, at Los Angeles.

Oklahoma State (24-9) will face the California Baptist-UCLA winner in Monday’s second round after shooting 52.5% from the field in the opening round.

Jaydn Wooten came off the bench for 18 points, Micah Gray posted 16 points and Haleigh Timmer added 10 points for the Cowgirls, who led 48-33 at halftime.

Madison St. Rose had 17 points and Ashley Chea and Skye Belker both had 14 points for ninth-seeded Princeton (26-4). Olivia Hutcherson added 10 points, but the Tigers didn’t have enough strength in the lane to contend with the Cowgirls.

Princeton got within 61-53 by the end of the third quarter and Belker’s 3-pointer supplied the first points of the fourth quarter. Wooten responded with two baskets to ignite a 9-0 run that helped Oklahoma State take its edge to 72-58.

A 35-26 rebounding edge for Oklahoma State included 11 offensive boards.

Akot entered the game averaging less than 12 points per game.

–Field Level Media

Cole Caufield had a hat trick and finished with five points, and the Canadiens beat the New York Islanders 7-3 in Montreal on Saturday night

It was the first career five-point game for Caufield, who has 43 goals on the season.

Juraj Slafkovsky had two goals and two assists for his first career four-point game, and Kaiden Guhle had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens (38-21-10, 86 points). Nick Suzuki had four assists and Jacob Fowler made 19 saves.

Emil Heineman, Simon Holmstrom and Matthew Schaefer scored for the Islanders (39-26-5, 83 points). Ilya Sorokin allowed six goals on 32 shots before being lifted in the third period.

Slafkovsky gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 4:10 of the first period when he scored on a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Suzuki during a power play.

Heineman tied it 1-1 at 6:46, getting to a loose puck in the left circle on the rush and beating Fowler far side on a power play.

Holmstrom gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 13:19, scoring on a breakaway when he deked around Fowler before sliding the puck home.

The Canadiens regained the lead with a pair of goals late in the second period.

Alex Newhook tied the game when he scored on a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle at 17:49.

Caufield gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead at 19:08. He took a return pass from Suzuki along the goal line and lifted a shot over Sorokin’s right shoulder.

Schaefer tied it 3-3 just 45 seconds into the third period, scoring a power-play goal on a one-timer from the center point off a return pass from Mathew Barzal.

The Canadiens regained the lead at 3:17 when Guhle scored on slap shot through traffic from the center point.

Slafkovsky made it 5-3 at 8:08 when he scored on a one-timer from the low slot off a pass from Caufield behind the net.

Caufield pushed the lead to 6-3 when he scored from the slot off a pass from Slafkovsky in the right circle at 11:20.

Caufield capped the hat trick with a goal on a 2-on-1 rush at 14:59 for the 7-3 final.

–Field Level Media

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Andrej Stojakovic scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half to help No. 3 Illinois breeze past No. 11 VCU for a 76-55 win in a second-round South Region matchup on Saturday night.

Tomislav Ivisic added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Illinois (26-8), which advanced to its second Sweet 16 in 21 years. It will face No. 2 Houston on Thursday in Houston.

Keaton Wagler scored 14 and Kylan Boswell finished with 12 for the Fighting Illini, who won their first two NCAA Tournament games by a combined 56 points.

Terrence Hill Jr. led VCU (28-8) with 17 points and seven boards, while Barry Evans and Tyrell Ward had 11 apiece. The Rams shot just 7-for-32 (21.9%) on 3-point attempts in the lopsided loss.

Holding a seven-point halftime lead, Illinois opened the second half with Wagler and David Mirkovic’s back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the margin to 13.

Zvonimir Ivisic’s dunk and Boswell’s trey were part of a 7-0 Illinois spurt that put the Fighting Illini ahead 50-32 with 13:24 left. Five straight points from Hill sparked a brief Rams rally, but Wagler’s consecutive baskets, Stojakovic’s dunk and Tomislav Ivisic’s triple gave the Fighting Illini a 59-37 lead.

Illinois’ overwhelming cushion ballooned to 23 on Tomislav Ivisic’s dunk, which was answered by Ward’s 3-pointer at the 3:31 mark. Ben Humrichous’ 3-pointer with 1:52 remaining punctuated the Fighting Illini’s resounding win.

Mirkovic’s layup stamped an early 9-0 run to give Illinois an 11-2 lead. After Boswell’s 3-pointer pushed the margin to 12, VCU stormed back with a 15-3 spurt, tying the game at 23 on Ward’s putback layup.

The Rams grabbed their first lead on Hill’s mid-range jumper with 3:09 left in the first half. From there, Stojakovic answered with a personal 9-0 run to close the half and give the Fighting Illini a 35-28 lead at the break.

– Jack Batten, Field Level Media