March Madness: No. 16 UMBC stuns top-seeded Virginia in historic upset

Here is a roundup of Friday's action from the NCAA men's basketball tournament

EAST REGIONAL

• Purdue 74, Cal State Fullerton 48
• Marshall 81, Wichita State 75 
• Butler 79, Arkansas 62
• West Virginia 85, Murray State 68

SOUTH REGIONAL

• Cincinnati 68, Georgia State 53
• UMBC 74, Virginia 54
• Kansas State 69, Creighton 59
• Nevada 87, Texas 83 (OT)

MIDWEST REGIONAL

• Clemson 79, New Mexico State 68
• Auburn 62, Charleston 58
• Syracuse 57, TCU 52
• Michigan State 82, Bucknell 78

WEST REGIONAL

• Texas A&M 73, Providence 69
• North Carolina 84, Lipscomb 66
• Xavier 102, Texas Southern 83
• Florida State 67, Missouri 54

SOUTH

UMBC knocks off No. 1 Virginia

Senior guard Jairus Lyles scored 28 points, and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County pulled off the most shocking upset in NCAA Tournament history, defeating Virginia 75-54 on Friday night to become the first No. 16 seed ever to beat a No. 1 seed.

Virginia entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed after going 31-2 this season, including 20-1 in ACC competition.

But the Cavaliers couldn't get anything generated on offence and the nation's top-ranked defence couldn't contain American East Conference champions.

The 74 points were the most Virginia had allowed this year.

Lyles was the catalyst.

He diced up Virginia's defence in the second half, getting the hole easily on six different occasions and making easy layups. He also knocked down a pair of 3-pointers as UMBC built a 16-point lead.

Lyles finished with 23 of his points in the second half and Joe Sherburne finished with 14 points.

Kansas State leads wire to wire

Barry Brown scored 18 points, and ninth-seeded Kansas State led wire-to-wire to post a 69-59 victory over No. 8 Creighton on Friday night despite playing without leading scorer Dean Wade.

Mike McGuirl added 17 points and Kamau Stokes had 11 as the Wildcats reached the final 32 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012. Wade had been expected to play after suffering a stress fracture in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, but never saw the floor.

Nevada storms back to beat Texas

Caleb Martin scored 18 points and made two huge 3-pointers in overtime Friday as Nevada rallied to beat Texas 87-83 for its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2007.

Nevada (28-7) erased a 14-point, second-half deficit and tied it at 68 when Jordan Caroline hit one of two free throws with 3.8 seconds left in regulation. The Wolf Pack came back again after trailing by five early in an overtime session that featured 34 combined points.

The Wolf Pack, seeded seventh in the South Region, advanced to a Sunday matchup with No. 2 seed Cincinnati (31-4). The Bearcats beat Georgia State 68-53.

Cincinnati avoids upset

Jarron Cumberland set career highs with 27 points and 11 rebounds as Cincinnati recovered after blowing a 10-point lead in the second half to beat pesky Georgia State 68-53 in the NCAA Tournament.

"The key to our defence has been it's almost like a 15-round fight," Cronin said. "We feel the other team out. We make adjustments, and the kids do a great job with it. They step up their defensive intensity."

Cincinnati, the No. 2 seed in the South Region, won its eighth game in a row.

MIDWEST

Clemson uses hot shooting to move on

There won't be a No. 12 seed advancing the NCAA tournament.

The last hope for the seemingly yearly 12-5 upset ended on Friday night as No. 5 seed Clemson beat New Mexico State 79-68 in the Midwest Region. It's just the second time since 2008 a No. 12 seed won't advance.

Shelton Mitchell scored a season-high 23 points and Gabe Devoe added 22 as the Tigers advanced to the second round for the first time since 1997. Clemson shot 56 per cent to knock out the champions of the WAC.

Zach Lofton led New Mexico State with 29 points, but the Aggies had too many stretches without scoring to keep up with the Tigers hot shooting.

Clemson will face No. 4 seed Auburn in the round of 32 on Sunday.

Syracuse upsets TCU

Marek Dolezaj scored 17 points before fouling out and 11th-seeded Syracuse shut down sixth-seeded TCU for a 57-52 victory in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.

The Orange (22-13) won for the second time in the tournament and advanced to face third-seeded Michigan State on Sunday by holding off the Horned Frogs with another impressive defensive effort. Both teams shot under 40 per cent from the field.

TCU (21-12) is still without an NCAA Tournament victory since 1987, when coach Jamie Dixon was a player. This was the school's first appearance since 1998, and it was short-lived.

Auburn edges Charleston

Fourth-seeded Auburn is moving on in the NCAA tournament. Barely.

Mustapha Heron had 16 points and Auburn hit some key late free throws to hold off No. 13 seed Charleston 62-58 in the first-round of the Midwest Region on Friday.

The Tigers were in a fight the entire second half and trailed 55-54 with 3 minutes left after a 3-pointer from Charleston's Marquise Pointer. But Bryce Brown's 3 put the Tigers back in front and Jared Harper added a 3-pointer with 1:14 left to give the Tigers a 59-56 lead.

Charleston had chances in the final minute to close the gap but missed three key free throws and Grant Riller's attempt at a tying 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds was well short. It appeared Riller was fouled but no call was made.

Bridges leads MSU past Bucknell

Miles Bridges outlasted Zach Thomas, scoring 29 points and grabbing nine rebounds to help second-seeded Michigan State hold on for an 82-78 win over Bucknell on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Thomas fouled out on a technical with 6:06 left and finished with 27 points. He put on a show in the first half, scoring 20 points and making all three of his shots beyond the 3-point arc to keep the Bison close.

The Spartans (30-4) made the most of playing about 75 miles from campus in a packed arena with green-and-white clad fans in the stands. They roared when Bridges dunked, as he did once on a spectacular slam off an offensive rebound, and jeered when replays showed a foul called against their team.

Michigan State will play the winner of the Syracuse-TCU game on Sunday.

EAST

Marshall shocks Wichita State

Another No. 4 seed has been sent packing.

No. 13 seed Marshall beat Wichita State 81-75 in the first round of the East Region on Friday.

Jon Elmore was spectacular for the Thundering Herd. The senior guard scored 27 points, including a number of deep three-pointers in the second half. Ajdin Penava added 16 points and had a key basket late.

The key sequence came with about two minutes left when Penava scored on a drive to give the Herd a 76-72 lead. C.J. Burks then stole the ball in the backcourt, and his dunk gave Marshall a 78-72 lead.

Butler blows out Arkansas

Butler defeated Arkansas 79-62 in the NCAA East Region in Detroit, the Southeastern Conference's first loss in six tournament games.

Kelan Martin scored 27 points and Kamar Baldwin added 24 for the Bulldogs, who will play Purdue in a second-round game Sunday.

Butler held a 45-25 rebounding advantage and made 11 of 26 3-pointers, with Martin accounting for five of them.

Jaylen Barford had 15 points for Arkansas, which shot 35 per cent and was just 4 of 18 on 3s.

Purdue handles Cal State Fullerton

Carsen Edwards and Vincent Edwards scored 15 points apiece, and second-seeded Purdue shook off a slow start to roll past No. 15 Cal State Fullerton 74-48 in the NCAA East Region.

The Boilermakers (29-6) will play No. 10 Butler in the second round on Sunday.

Kyle Allman Jr. had 21 points to lead the Titans (20-12), who shot 32 percent and committed 17 turnovers in their first NCAA Tournament game since 2008. Carsen Edwards and Vincent Edwards hit 3-pointers late in the first half to help Purdue start pulling away after a 4-for-23 shooting funk.

Purdue had a scary moment when star center Isaac Haas was pulled to the floor in the second half. He landed on his back and seemed to be in a good deal of pain before getting up to go to the sideline. His right elbow was wrapped in ice after the game.

West Virginia dumps Murray State

West Virginia did its part and has set up one crazy Mountain State showdown way out on the West Coast.

The fifth-seeded Mountaineers ousted No. 12 seed Murray State 85-68 in the first round of the East Region. The victory sets up a round of 32 matchup with in-state rival Marshall on Sunday. The 13th-seeded Thundering Herd upset No. 4 seed Wichita State earlier Friday.

West Virginia's do-everything star Jevon Carter led the way with 21 points and seven assists. Carter was also part of a tremendous defensive effort on Murray State standout Jonathan Stark. Stark entered the game averaging 21.8 points per game but was held to nine points on 1-of-12 shooting.

WEST

Florida State escapes Missouri

The Florida State Seminoles might not have a flashy scorer. They do have plenty of Seminoles who can score.

Ninth-seeded Florida State beat No. 8 seed Missouri 67-54 Friday night in the West Region. A total of 10 different Seminoles scored at least two points —by halftime— as they wore out a Missouri team with only eight players available for this game.

Michael Porter Jr. came off the bench for his third game with Missouri. He finished with 16 points, scoring 13 in the second half as the Tigers tried to rally. But they got within 50-44 only to see the Seminoles reel off 15 straight points.

Florida State plays No. 1 seed Xavier on Sunday.

Xavier eases into 2nd round

The Xavier Musketeers looked every bit like a No. 1 seed their first time around in the role at an NCAA Tournament.

J.P. Macura scored 18 of his career-high 29 points in the first half, and Xavier routed No. 16 seed Texas Southern 102-83 Friday night in their tournament opener in the West Region.

The Musketeers (29-5) will play either No. 9 seed Florida State or eighth-seeded Missouri on Sunday for a berth in the Sweet 16.

Trevon Bluiett added 26 points, and Kerem Kanter had 24 for the Big East's regular season champs.

North Carolina takes care of business

Reigning national champion North Carolina has advanced to the second round.

The 2-seed Tar Heels beat No. 15 seed Lipscomb 84-66 in Charlotte to open West Region play. That improved UNC to 34-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in its home state.

The Tar Heels will face seventh-seeded Texas A&M on Sunday.

Texas A&M pulls away in 2nd half

No. 7 seed Texas A&M pulled away in the second half to beat 10th-seeded Providence 73-69

T.J. Starks scored 15 points after a scoreless first half and the Aggies advanced to face the winner of North Carolina and Lipscomb in Charlotte on Sunday in a West Region game. A&M big men Tyler Davis and Robert Williams dominated inside, combining for 27 points and 29 rebounds. The Aggies started the game by missing their first 10 shots.

Providence was one of the best teams in the country in tight games this season, going 8-0 in games decided by four points or less. Make that 8-1 now.