Marquette's Jones, New Mexico's Dent headline intriguing guard matchup in South Region

CLEVELAND (AP) — Marquette's Kam Jones and New Mexico's Donovan Dent will face each other Friday night in an intriguing NCAA Tournament first-round matchup of do-everything guards.

Jones and the seventh-seeded Golden Eagles take on Dent and the 10th-seeded Lobos in Cleveland in a South Region game.

Jones was an AP All-America second-team selection for the Golden Eagles (23-10) after being third in the Big East in scoring at 18.9 points per game and second in assists (6.1 per game).

Dent, the Mountain West Player of the Year and an honorable mention All-America pick, is the only player in Division I averaging at least 20 points (20.6) and six assists (6.4).

“I told the guys when we first started introducing New Mexico, understand this: He averages more points per game than Kam and more assists per game, in a league that’s comparable," Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. "We’ve got five teams in the NCAA Tournament, the Mountain West got four. So it’s a heck of a challenge.”

The matchup extends beyond Jones and Dent. Marquette's Stevie Mitchell will be tasked with defending Dent, while Tru Washington of New Mexico (26-7) gets the assignment in guarding Jones.

Dent said he is expecting a physical matchup against the Golden Eagles.

“We think on the defense side, they remind us a lot of San Diego State. They run a lot of 1 through 5. And we have to attack 1-on-1 to really get the matchup we want,” Dent said.

South Region play starts with an afternoon doubleheader in Milwaukee. Third-seeded Iowa State faces No. 14 seed Lipscomb, followed by sixth-seeded Mississippi taking on No. 11 North Carolina.

Region action shifts to Cleveland at night with Marquette-New Mexico first up, with second-seeded Michigan State and No. 15 Bryant as the nightcap.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has been called many things. Superstitious and a believer in omens are not two of them.

The Spartans (27-6) begin this year’s NCAA Tournament in Cleveland with a first-round matchup against Bryant (23-11). The last time Michigan State went through Cleveland, it won a national championship in 2000.

“I just wish it worked that way, but I’m not sure that’s God’s plan. It’s great. It brings back good memories. But the sad part is, none of my guys were born then,” Izzo said. “I’m not sure they’re thinking, whoa, yeah, we started back then. I’ll never forget it, even though it’s been too long ago.”

The other difference is that the Spartans' games in 2000 took place at Cleveland State's arena, which is 1.3 miles from the downtown Cleveland arena and site of this weekend's games. The home of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers is hosting games for the third time.

Izzo also knows that a No. 2 seed in no way is a guarantee out of the first round. He still has memories of a 90-81 loss to 15 seed Middle Tennessee in 2016.

Bryant is third in Division I in blocked shots (6.0) and fourth in rebounds (41.2). Fifth-year senior Earl Timberlake is the first player in America East Conference history to average at least 15 points (15.5), eight rebounds (8.2), 4.5 assists (4.7) and 1.5 blocked shots in a season.

Ole Miss encountered just about every kind of test imaginable this season from playing in the Southeastern Conference, which sent a record 14 teams to the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels’ first-round opponent – North Carolina – has a style of play that reminds them of one particular SEC team.

“I’d say the pace they play at – they like to get out in transition and play a really fast pace – kind of reminds us of Alabama a little bit, how they like to score in the first seven or eight seconds of a possession, kind of (get) it ahead in transition,” Ole Miss guard Sean Pedulla said. “I feel like there are some similarities between them and Alabama.”

Rebels guard Jaylen Murray also brought up the Alabama comparison while talking about how North Carolina likes to get up and down the floor.

Ole Miss (22-11) got arguably its biggest win of the season on Jan. 14 when it won 74-64 at then-No. 4 Alabama. The Rebels believe that could help them prepare for what they might see from North Carolina (23-13).

This game represents an interesting matchup between North Carolina’s offense and Ole Miss’ defense.

North Carolina ranks 18th in the nation in offensive efficiency and has committed 10.8 turnovers per game, the third-lowest average in school history. Ole Miss ranks 12th in turnover margin.

“They hang their hat on the way they play defensively,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis.

North Carolina didn’t bother returning to Chapel Hill after its 95-68 First Four blowout of San Diego State on Tuesday night. The Tar Heels instead caught a 2:30 a.m. flight from Dayton to Milwaukee, where Friday’s game is taking place.

Lipscomb’s first-round game against No. 3 seed Iowa State (24-9) represents a homecoming for Atlantic Sun player of the year Jacob Ognacevic, who grew up just over an hour away from Milwaukee in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

It also could represent something of an audition for Ognacevic, a 6-8 forward who intends to enter the transfer portal after Lipscomb’s postseason run has ended. Ognacevic missed the 2023-24 season with a bone bruise in his right knee but has come back to average 20.1 points and 8.1 rebounds this season for the 14th-seeded Bisons (25-9).

“He’s going into the portal this year,” Lipscomb coach Lennie Acuff said. “He’s graduated. I’m fine with that. He’s been a great player for us for four years. Go do it. Good for you. I felt like we were loyal to him, and it worked out as well."

For now, Ognacevic is looking forward to playing close to home in front of his family and friends. The contingent of Ognacevic fans attending Friday’s game isn’t quite as large as it might have been in other circumstances.

Ognacevic graduated from Lutheran High School, which is playing a state semifinal in Madison, Wisconsin, a little before Lipscomb’s game tips off on Friday.

AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed to this story.

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Marquette's Kam Jones (1) looks to pass during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against the St. John's in the semifinals of the Big East tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

WELCH, W.Va. (AP) — Veronica Taylor doesn't know how to turn on a computer, let alone use the internet.

The 73-year-old can't drive and is mostly housebound in her mountainous and remote West Virginia community, where a simple trip to the grocery store can take an hour by car.

New requirements that Social Security recipients access key benefits online or in person at a field office, rather than on the phone, would be nearly impossible to meet without help.

“If that’s the only way I had to do it, how would I do it?” Taylor said, talking about the changes while eating a plate of green beans, mac and cheese and fried fish with a group of retirees at the McDowell County Senior Center. “I would never get nothing done.”

The requirements, set to go into effect March 31, are intended to streamline processes and combat widespread fraud within the system, according to President Donald Trump and officials in his administration.

They say that's why it's vital for people to verify their identity online or in person when signing up for benefits, or making a change like where the money is deposited.

But advocates say the changes will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable Americans. It will be harder to visit field offices in rural areas with high poverty rates. Often these are the same areas that lack widespread internet service.

Many Social Security field offices are also being shut down, part of the federal government's cost-cutting efforts. That could mean seniors have to travel even farther to visit, including in parts of rural West Virginia.

Donald Reed, who runs a local nonprofit that operates two senior centers, said he has serious concerns about the policy change, and how it’ll affect the people his group serves.

“I’m not anti-Trump — let me say that,” he said. “I think the general public greatly supports looking for waste in government. I do not think the general public understands the consequences of the current actions of the government.”

One in three people live in poverty in McDowell County, once one of the nation’s largest coal producers. Around 30% of the population receives Social Security benefits and 20% lack broadband access. People already face huge challenges in accessing basic needs like food and clothing.

Non-profit groups like The Commission on Aging receive money from the federal government to provide rides to the grocery store, medical appointments and free lunch at the county senior center, and could in theory add a stop to the local Social Security office said Reed, who is the group’s director.

But the transportation grant money is already not enough to meet the need. Last year, Reed ran out of money during the last three months of the fiscal year and had to dip into the Commission’s savings. This year, he said he won’t be able to do so.

Then, last Friday, he found out the Commission had lost an almost $1 million grant he expected, again because of the federal government’s cost cutting.

He had planned to use the money to rebuild one of the two county senior centers, an aging 1980s-era doublewide trailer with limited seating.

“Once the money’s gone, you know, the money’s gone,” he said.

Seniors at the center gather each weekday for lunch. Usually, they might play bingo or cards. On this day, because of the presence of a reporter from The Associated Press, the conversation turned to politics.

Many are Trump supporters. Every county in West Virginia supported Trump in three presidential elections.

Yet all agreed that the recent flurry of executive orders had been difficult to follow, especially since the county’s last local newspaper shuttered, and they weren’t sure what effect they’d have on their lives.

“I don’t understand a lot of the stuff that’s going on right now, and I just can’t pinpoint things together, you know,” said Brenda Hughes, 72, who said she usually goes to the Social Security office in person anyway because she said she’s found it difficult to get a hold of the call center. “But maybe it’s meant to be like that.”

Mary Weaver, 72, said she doesn’t approve of Trump giving Elon Musk so much leeway to cut and change services, and she doesn’t see those measures helping McDowell County.

“He gone run for president, and he’s going to get the presidency, but he’s going to let someone else tell him how to run the country?” she asked, criticizing Trump’s relationship with Musk.

Other residents aren't concerned. Barbara Lester, 64, said she wishes she could sit down with Trump and Musk and tell them they’re doing a fantastic job.

“And with all the money they’re saving from the fraud, they could afford to give their senior citizens an increase,” said Lester, who is retired from construction work.

But for Taylor, who depends on rides from the aging commission for most of her outings, the changes to Social Security may be just one more thing that will be difficult.

There are already many places she wants to go and can’t get to. None of her grandkids live nearby, her daughter lives in Roanoke, Virginia, and her 39-year-old son, who used to live in the Welch area near her, died. The walk from her house to the Social Security office is six miles.

“If I ask people more than two times to take me somewhere, it’s like begging. And I don’t beg nobody to do nothing for me,” she said. “I’m independent like that. I don’t beg nobody for nothing."

Mary Weaver, right, and Veronia Taylor get into a van as they leave the McDowell County Commission on Aging Senior Center in Welch, W.Va., Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

Veronica Taylor talks about how changes to the Social Security Administration's identity verification process will impact people in rural areas while eating lunch at the McDowell County Commission on Aging Senior Center in Welch, W.Va., Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

Mary Weaver reflects on changes to the Social Security Administration while visiting the McDowell County Commission on Aging Senior Center in Welch, W.Va., Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

A sign outside the U.S. Social Security Administration advertises its online services in downtown Welch, W.Va., Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)