SAN JOSE, Calif. - Danero Thomas hit a 15-footer as the buzzer sounded and 13th-seeded Murray State stunned No. 4 seed Vanderbilt 66-65 on Thursday in the NCAA tournament.
President Barack Obama must have been onto something picking the revved-up Racers (31-4) to get past the first round in the West Regional. It was the school's first victory in the NCAA tournament in 24 years, and Murray State will play UTEP in the second round.
For the second time in as many NCAA appearances, Vanderbilt (24-9) bowed out early as the higher seed. The Commodores were a first-round upset victim of Siena in 2008 when seeded fourth.
Jermaine Beal made two free throws with 12.7 seconds left to give Vandy the lead. B.J. Jenkins missed a rushed 3-pointer on the other end, but the ball went out of bounds off a Vanderbilt player with 4.2 seconds left, giving Murray State the final shot.
No. 5 Butler 77, No. 12 UTEP 59
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Shelvin Mack hit a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored 18 of his 25 points after halftime to lead the fifth-seeded Bulldogs.
Gordon Hayward scored 13 points and Matt Howard added 11 as Butler (29-4) won its 21st straight game to extend the sport's longest active winning streak.
Derrick Caracter had 20 points for UTEP (26-7), which won 16 straight games and a league title before a tournament loss to Houston last Saturday. Randy Culpepper added 16 points, but the Miners' defense couldn't stop the patient outside shooting of the Bulldogs.
No. 7 BYU 99, No. 10 Florida 92, 2OT
OKLAHOMA CITY - Jimmer Fredette scored 37 points, including two 3-pointers in double overtime, to seal the Cougars' thrilling win over 10th-seeded Florida.
Fredette made a 3 from the top of the key to put the seventh-seeded Cougars (30-5) ahead 90-83 with 2:42 left, then added another with just over a minute remaining to put the game away.
Michael Loyd Jr. added a career-high 26 points for BYU.
Kenny Boynton scored 27 points for the Gators (21-13), who rallied from a 13-point deficit in their first NCAA tournament game since winning back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.
No. 2 Kansas State 82, No. 15 North Texas 62
OKLAHOMA CITY - Denis Clemente had 17 points and six assists, and the second-seeded Wildcats had a 46-21 advantage inside to avoid becoming an opening-day upset victim.
Kansas State (27-7) gathered itself after a shaky start, riding its defense into the second round for the second time in three years. The Wildcats held the Mean Green (24-9) to 31 percent shooting and stymied Josh White to only three points.
Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly added 15 points each for Kansas State, which will play BYU and sharpshooter Jimmer Fredette.
South Regional
No. 11 Old Dominion 51, No. 6 Notre Dame 50
NEW ORLEANS - Carleton Scott's 3-pointer rattled out in the closing seconds, and 11th-seeded Old Dominion stunned the Irish and star Luke Harangody.
The Fighting Irish rushed the ball up the court as the clock wound down, but Scott's attempt to tie the game didn't fall and Harangody's putback at the buzzer wasn't enough.
Frank Hassell scored 15 to lead Old Dominion (27-8), which held Harangody to four points - and scoreless until the final minute. The Monarchs will play Baylor in the second round.
Ben Hansbrough scored 17 points to lead the Irish (23-12).
No. 3 Baylor 68, No. 14 Sam Houston State 59
NEW ORLEANS - Ekpe Udoh had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and LaceDarius Dunn scored 13 to help the third-seeded Bears win an NCAA tournament game for the first time in 60 years.
Udoh also had five assists, two blocks and two steals for Baylor (26-7), which broke open a close game down the stretch. It's the school's first tournament win since beating BYU in 1950.
Gilberto Clavell had 23 points and Preston Brown added 13 for 14th seed Sam Houston State (25-8), which tied it at 55 on a short floater by Ashton Mitchell with 3:48 to go.
The game remained tied until Quincy Acy dunked to put Baylor ahead for good with 2:30 left.
No. 7 Saint Mary's 80, No. 10 Richmond 71
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Omar Samhan had 29 points and 12 rebounds despite spending most of the game in foul trouble, and Saint Mary's pulled away to win an NCAA tournament game for the first time in six tries since 1959.
The 10th-seeded Gaels (27-5) will play Saturday against Villanova in the second round.
Mickey McConnell, the West Coast Conference tournament MVP, scored 23 points for the Gaels, who had a 40-18 rebounding edge and 21-4 advantage in second-chance points.
David Gonzalvez scored 18 and Kevin Anderson had 16 for Richmond (26-9).
No. 2 Villanova 73, No. 15 Robert Morris 70, OT
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Scottie Reynolds responded to his benching with a clutch performance at the foul line in the final minutes of regulation to help the Wildcats survive.
Coach Jay Wright sat Reynolds at the start of the game to make a "teaching point," and he missed 13 of 15 shots from the floor for Villanova (25-7). But the senior star made seven of eight free throws in the final 3:06 to send the game into overtime, finishing with 20 points.
Karon Abraham scored 23 for Robert Morris (23-13), which had a shot at the buzzer to tie the game in overtime that was no good.
No. 14 Ohio 97, No. 3 Georgetown 83
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - How about a standing O for Ohio!
The MAC champion Bobcats, who had a losing record in conference play, have found their way in March and now boast an NCAA tournament win for the first time in 27 years.
Georgetown might want to skip the tourney next time it's in Providence.
Armon Bassett scored 32 points to lead the 14th-seeded Bobcats to a convincing 97-83 win over the Hoyas in the Midwest Regional.
In early March, no one expected Ohio (22-14) to be in this position. The team had just finished a 7-9 season in Mid-American Conference play and entered the conference tournament as the ninth seed.
Four wins later, Ohio was in the 65-team field.
Forty minutes later, the Bobcats are in the second round.
Coach John Groce wouldn't call it the biggest win in team history.
"I certainly think it's one of them," he said. "What it does more than anything is it gives belief in our guys in what we're doing."
No. 9 Northern Iowa 69, No. 8 UNLV 66
OKLAHOMA CITY - Using a grind-it-out defense and a clutch shot by Ali Farokhmanesh, Northern Iowa is moving on in the NCAA tournament for the first time in two decades.
Farokhmanesh hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 4.9 seconds left to lift ninth-seeded Northern Iowa over UNLV 69-66 on Thursday night in the first round of the Midwest Regional.
Farokhmanesh found himself open after Kwadzo Ahelegbe had chewed up the majority of the clock following Oscar Bellfield's tying 3-pointer for UNLV with 35 seconds remaining. Johnny Moran reversed the ball to Farokhmanesh, who drained the jumper with the shot clock running down.
The Runnin' Rebels (25-9) got one last chance to tie it, but Tre'Von Willis didn't get his 3-pointer off before the final buzzer and it was off-target anyway.
No. 1 Kentucky 100, No. 16 ETSU 71
NEW ORLEANS - To call this one a yawner would be understating things.
Kentucky's blowout of East Tennessee State in the first round of the NCAA tournament was so thorough that fans were sleeping in the stands - and not even the collective laughs of conscious spectators could awaken some of those caught snoozing on large video boards.
That's what happens when a No. 1 seed leads by 30 in the first half and keeps piling on.
At least the Kentucky fans who stayed awake were rewarded with a record performance by Eric Bledsoe.
Bledsoe's eight 3-pointers set a new high for a Kentucky player in an NCAA tournament game, and the Wildcats dominated throughout in a 100-71 victory over ETSU on Thursday night in the East Regional.
No. 11 Washington 80, No. 6 Marquette 78
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Quincy Pondexter drove for a tiebreaking bank shot with 1.7 seconds left, and 11th-seeded Washington extended its remarkable late-season run into the NCAA tournament with an 80-78 victory over Marquette in the first round of the East Regional on Thursday night.
Pondexter scored 18 points and Isaiah Thomas 19 as the Huskies (25-9) won their eighth straight game in dramatic fashion, rallying from a 15-point deficit with 13½ minutes left.
Washington made two late defensive stops before its senior leader drove by Jimmy Butler from the perimeter and scored the winning basket.
Lazar Hayward missed a half-court heave at the buzzer for the sixth-seeded Golden Eagles (23-11), who didn't manage a field goal in the final 4:33.
Washington will face the winner of third-seeded New Mexico's late game against Montana at the Shark Tank, which was filled with Huskies fans.
