Elmore’s 27 lead 13thseeded Marshall over Wichita State

SAN DIEGO » The Marshall Thundering Herd celebrated like never before.

For the first time in six tries during 62 years, the Thundering Herd won an NCAA Tournament game.

Jon Elmore scored 27 points and Jarrod West hit a huge 3-pointer with three minutes left to help No. 13 seed Marshall topple fourth-seeded Wichita State 81-75 in the East Region.

When the buzzer sounded, West raised his arms in the air and joyously ran practically the length of the court before joining his teammates in celebration.

“Long time!” coach Dan D’Antoni said moments later. Was it ever. The Thundering Herd (25-10) made its first NCAA tourney appearance in 1956 and made its most recent one in 1987, losing all five along the way. The 1987 loss was later vacated due to infractions. Its only postseason victories were in the NIT in 1967, when D’Antoni was on the team.

“So we’ve got a little bit to do,” said D’Antoni, the older brother of Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni. “I like these guys. I like the chance riding with them, fun to be on a trip with and they’re fun to watch to play and it’s real fun when we win. So we’re going to try to do that one more time.

“I told them the beginning goal is to win the NCAA Tournament. Wherever we get in the car driving down the road to that championship, when it stops we’ll all get off and we’ll be happy because we like who is in the car. We like the journey we’re on. We’re looking forward to the next leg, and I have confidence in these guys that they’ll give you a real good ballgame and got a great chance to win.”

Marshall joined Buffalo as 13th seeds to win this week. On Thursday night, Buffalo beat No. 4 seed Arizona.

The Thundering Herd also got big shots down the stretch from Ajdin Penava and C.J. Burks and will play No. 5 seed West Virginia in the next round.

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.

(2) Purdue 74, (15) CS-Fullerton 48

DETROIT » Rust, it turned out, was the least of Purdue’s problems against Cal State Fullerton.

Boilermakers center Isaac Haas broke his right elbow in Purdue’s victory and will miss the rest of the NCAA Tournament.

The 7-foot-2, 290-pound senior took a hard foul midway through the second half when Cal State Fullerton forward Dominik Heinzl pulled him down, trying to defend him. Haas hurt the same elbow in a win over Louisville in November.

“My whole body hit kind of awkward,” he said. “I just laid there for a second. When I rolled over, that’s when I felt my elbow.”

Haas left the game briefly, but returned and was joking about the hard fall when asked if he or the court got the worst of it.

“Probably the floor, honestly,” he said.

Not long after Haas and his teammates were making light of the injury during postgame interviews, Purdue released a statement from coach Matt Painter saying the big man will need surgery on his arm.

Second-seeded Purdue (29-6) will play Arkansas or Butler in Sunday’s second round with 7-3 center Matt Haarms likely replacing Haas, who averaged 14.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and had nine points and 10 rebounds in the first-round victory.

(5) Cincinnati 85, (12) Murray State 68

SAN DIEGO » 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 in the first round of the East Region.

The Mountaineers (2510) 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.

Next up for West Virginia: A Mountain State showdown with 13thseeded Marshall far away from home.

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.

(10) Butler 79, (7) Arkansas 62

DETROIT » Kelan Martin scored 27 points and Kamar Baldwin added 24 to lift 10th-seeded Butler to a victory over seventhseeded Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region.

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.

The Bulldogs advance to play second-seeded Purdue on Sunday.

Jaylen Barford scored 15 points for Arkansas, but the Razorbacks (2312) struggled in the paint — 6-foot-11 freshman Daniel Gafford managed only two field goals.