Elmore leads Marshall over Wichita St.
SAN DIEGO – Jon Elmore scored 27 points and Jarrod West hit a huge 3pointer with three minutes left to help No. 13 seed Marshall topple fourth-seeded Wichita State 81-75 Friday in the East Region.
The Thundering Herd (25-10) also got big shots down the stretch from Ajdin Penava and C.J. Burks to win in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1987.
Wichita State (25-8) got 27 points from Conner Frankamp and seemed to be in control midway through the second half, but the Thundering Herd refused to fade despite its lack of NCAA tourney experience.
After Frankamp’s long jumper gave the Shockers a 70-69 lead with just less than 5 minutes to go, Penava made a layup.
Purdue 74, Cal State Fullerton 48
Carsen Edwards scored 15 points and second-seeded Purdue eventually shook off the rust from a long layoff and routed Cal State Fullerton.
Playing for the first time in nearly two weeks after losing to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament final, the Boilermakers (29-6) struggled to make shots down low and beyond the 3-point line and simply looked out of sync.
The Titans (20-12) led midway through the first half, and then Edwards took over. He had a go-ahead layup and scored seven more points to help Purdue lead 31-20 at halftime.
Butler 79, Arkansas 62
Kelan Martin scored 27 points and Kamar Baldwin added 24 to lift 10thseeded Butler to a victory over seventhseeded Arkansas.
The Bulldogs (21-13) raced to a 21-2 lead in the opening minutes. Although Arkansas wiped out that entire deficit before halftime, Butler took control again early in the second.
Jaylen Barford scored 15 points for Arkansas, but the Razorbacks (23-12) struggled in the paint – 6-foot-11 freshman Daniel Gafford managed only two field goals.
After falling behind by 19 early, Arkansas rebounded impressively with a 27-6 run, but the Razorbacks’ lead was brief, and Butler was up 36-31 at halftime.
West Virginia 85, Murray State 68
Jevon Carter scored 21 points, had eight assists and six steals, Teddy Allen added 16 points and No. 5 seed West Virginia overwhelmed 12th-seeded Murray State.
The Mountaineers (25-10) pulled away in the second half and advanced to the round of 32 for the third time in the past four seasons as four players finished in double figures.
Carter had 13 points in the second half and was the trigger of a second-half surge by the Mountaineers after Murray State had trimmed a 14-point lead down to five.
Terrell Miller led Murray State (26-6) with 27 points, but he was the only Racers player to shoot well. Miller made 8 of 11 shots, but his team hit just 41 percent. Murray State had won 13 straight games entering the NCAAs, the second-longest active win streak in the country.
Kansas State 69, Creighton 59
Barry Brown scored 18 points and ninth-seeded Kansas State posted a wire-to-wire victory over No. 8 Creighton despite playing without leading scorer Dean Wade.
Mike McGuirl added 17 points and Kamau Stokes had 11 as the Wildcats won a first-round NCAA Tournament game 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 got on the floor. His teammates picked him up, particularly on defense.
Cincinnati 68, Georgia State 53
Jarron Cumberland had 27 points and 11 rebounds to set career highs in both categories as Cincinnati recovered after blowing a 10-point lead in the second half to beat pesky Georgia State.
Cincinnati (31-4), the No. 2 seed in the South Region, won its eighth game in a row.
After trailing 42-32 early in the second half, Georgia State (24-11) rallied to take a pair of one-point leads, its last one coming on a driving bank shot from D’Marcus Simonds with 9:30 left.
Cincinnati answered by reeling off 10 straight points.
Nevada 87, Texas 83, OT
Caleb Martin scored 18 points and made two huge 3-pointers in overtime as Nevada rallied to beat Texas 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.
Texas A&M 73, Providence 69
Admon Gilder scored 18 points to help Texas A&M hold off Providence.
Robert Williams and Tyler Davis both had double-doubles for the Aggies (2112), the No. 7 seed in the West Region. The teams were tied at 50 with about 9 minutes left but Texas A&M responded with a 12-2 run to finally wrestle control away from the Friars.
Xavier 102, Texas Southern 83
The Xavier Musketeers (29-5) looked every bit like a No. 1 seed their first time around in the role.
J.P. Macura scored 18 of his careerhigh 29 points in the first half, and Xavier routed No. 16 seed Texas Southern in their tournament opener in the West Region.
North Carolina 84, Lipscomb 66
Kenny Williams scored 18 points and defending national champion North Carolina took its time before opening up to beat Lipscomb.
Theo Pinson had 15 points and flirted with a triple-double for the Tar Heels (26-10), the No. 2 seed in the West Region.
Michigan State 82, Bucknell 78
Miles Bridges outlasted Zach Thomas, scoring 29 points and grabbing nine rebounds to help second-seeded Michigan State hold on for a Midwest win over Bucknell.
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.
Auburn 62, College of Charleston 58
Jared Harper made a clutch 3-pointer with 1:17 to go – his only basket of the game – and Auburn held off No. 13 seed College of Charleston 62-58 in a Midwest Region thriller to avoid becoming the second No. 4 seed upset at Viejas Arena on Friday.
Auburn, playing under the cloud of a federal investigation into corruption in college basketball, overcame a horrible shooting performance to win in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003. But it survived in part because Charleston committed 21 turnovers.