Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder finally outplayed Denver in crunch time, beating the Nuggets 92-87 Sunday to knot their second-round series at two games each.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves will try to avoid complacency when they return to action on Tuesday after dominating their first-round playoff series openers.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 127-103 in a matchup between the top two teams in the Western Conference standings.

– Eric Ayala scored 23 points and Maryland clamped down on defense down the stretch to snag a 63-54 victory over No. 7 UConn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night. The 10th-seeded Terrapins held UConn to 32% shooting to overcome the Huskies' strong physical game. Ayala and Darryl Morsell each made a pair of three throws to push the lead back to nine. It was the first meeting between Maryland and UConn since Maryland won in the 2002 regional final en route to its only national championship.

In 2016, 2013 and 1991, seed lines 1-15 all had a team reach the second round. UMBC in 2018 is still the only 16 seed to make the round of 32, but no 15 seed won that year. Ad___8:00 p.m.Don’t expect a track meet when Villanova and North Texas play in the second round of the South Region on Sunday. The matchup between the fifth-seeded Wildcats and 13th-seeded Mean Green features two of the most deliberately paced teams in the NCAA Tournament. UNC Wilmington’s John Goldsberry holds the record for most 3-point attempts without a miss in an NCAA Tournament game.

If he keeps playing this way, the Ohio State senior and his teammates just might keep running deep into March. That, along with 10 3-pointers on the offensive end, was enough to get Ohio State its eighth win in nine games. Ad“Give them credit, they’re a good team," coach Mark Turgeon said of Ohio State. Ohio State trailed 13-5 in the early going before rattling off a trio of 3-pointers in the span of 57 seconds to take the lead. Ohio State was previously 1-6 in College Park, 0-4 since Maryland joined the Big Ten in 2014.

Eric Ayala scored 17 points, while Aaron Wiggins added 15 points and nine rebounds as Maryland beat No. Maryland outscored Wisconsin 38-20 in the paint, limiting the Badgers’ post team of Nate Reuvers and Micah Potter to just 12 points on 6-of-18 shooting. Maryland responded down the stretch to each run the Badgers made trying to take back the lead. Wisconsin: The Badgers dropped 85 points in Michigan State three days earlier. Wisconsin: The Badgers host Minnesota on Thursday.