Minnesota 86, Louisville 76

Minnesota found its elusive 3-point stroke just in time to give coach Richard Pitino the NCAA Tournament win he'd been seeking for years.

The 10th-seeded Gophers won their first NCAA Tournament game in six seasons behind 24 points from freshman Gabe Kalscheur, who helped Minnesota roll past Louisville in the opening round of the East Region on Thursday.

The win for Pitino came against school that fired his father. Rick Pitino coached the Cardinals for 16 seasons before his 2017 dismissal.

"This wasn't about getting the win for coach Pitino. It was about getting the win for us in general and advancing to the next round," said Minnesota's Jordan Murphy, who scored 18 points. "That's what makes him happy, and that's what makes us happy."

Amir Coffey also had 18 points for Minnesota (22-13), which knocked down 11 3s despite entering play ranked 344th nationally in made 3s per game.

Five of those triples came from Kalscheur, who finished a point shy of his career high for points.

Kalscheur's layup early in the second half gave Minnesota its first double-digit lead, 43-33, and Murphy's layup made it a 50-38 game with 16:06 left.

The Cardinals went to a full-court press in an effort to slow down the surging Gophers. But that just left Kalscheur open from the same spot on back-to-back possessions, and he drilled two 3s to give Minnesota a 59-43 lead.

Louisville then fouled Kalscheur behind the 3-point line, where he pushed the Gophers' edge to 19 with 9:48 to go.

"I feel like they were giving it to us," Kalscheur said. "We just fed off each other."

Murphy's 3 with 5:28 left — just his seventh all year — made it a 15-point game and typified just how well things were rolling for Minnesota.

"I thought we played really good defense when we needed to. We showed great toughness and grit down the stretch," Pitino said. "You can't undersell it. That's a terrific win for our guys. Being proud of (them is) probably an understatement for these guys."

The seventh-seeded Cardinals (20-14) did cut it to seven late, but Christen Cunningham missed an open 3 that could've made things interesting down the stretch.

Cunningham led Louisville (20-14) with 22 points, and Steven Enoch had 14. The Cardinals finished the season with nine losses in 14 games.

"Really a tough feeling to end your season so quickly," Louisville coach Chris Mack said. "I am very proud of our group. They exceeded a lot of people's expectations."

This was the breakthrough Pitino had been searching for from the Gophers. Minnesota played arguably its best game of the season, and Kalscheur scored more points in 40 minutes than he did in three games during the Big Ten tournament.

Minnesota didn't get a single point from its bench, becoming the first team to win a first-round game since Norfolk State stunned Missouri seven years ago.

Minnesota plays Michigan State on Saturday with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen on the line.

Despite dropping his first NCAA Tournament game with the Cardinals, Mack's future looks bright at Louisville — especially if Jordan Nwora (10 points, 11 rebounds) returns next season. Louisville got no help in the game location, less than 250 miles from Minneapolis, which created a de-facto home game for the Gophers. Louisville did have one famous fan on its side though, as actor Bill Murray watched from behind the Cards bench. Murray's son Luke is an assistant at Louisville.

With 2:46 left and Louisville down 12, Darius Perry banked in a long 3 as the shot clock went off. The officials confirmed it after a video review, making it 76-67 Minnesota. Perry followed with a 3 to pull the Cards within seven, but Minnesota's ability to navigate Louisville's press without putting the ball in danger rendered Louisville's comeback hopes moot.

Villanova 61, Saint Mary's 57

The defending national champions are moving on in the NCAA Tournament.

Phil Booth scored 20 points, fellow senior Eric Paschell added 14 and No. 6 seed Villanova held off Saint Mary's in the first round of the South Region.

Jordan Ford and Malik Fitts each had 13 points for Saint Mary's (22-12), which never trailed by more than eight.

Villanova (26-9) will play third-seeded Purdue on Saturday. Purdue beat Old Dominion, 61-48.

The 11th-seeded Gaels, who pulled off an upset win over Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Tournament, had a chance down the stretch in this one.

Ford's basket in the lane after a few nifty moves got the Gaels within six points at 61-55 with 34 seconds left. After Paschell missed a foul shot on the other end, Fitts cut the deficit to four points with a leaner in the lane.

The Gaels had two more chances in the final seconds after a foul by Booth and some missed free throws. But Fitts hit the rim on a 3-point attempt and Saddiq Bey stole the ball from Ford in the final seconds to seal the win.

Auburn 78, New Mexico State 77

After a teammate passed up an open layup that could have tied the game, New Mexico State's Terrell Brown was fouled behind the arc and missed two of three free throws as the Aggies dropped a heartbreaker to fifth-seeded Auburn in the Midwest Region.

The Aggies (30-5) were trailing 78-76 when guard A.J. Harris had his defender beat and looked to be headed to the glass for the tying bucket. He instead lobbed out to Brown, who was spotted up at the elbow for a possible game-winner. Brown missed but was fouled with 1.1 seconds left.

With Auburn's J'von McCormick grabbing his throat as Harris toed the line, Brown missed the first, made the second, then watched the third one rim out.

Auburn (27-9) knocked the ball out of bounds on the rebound and New Mexico State had one more good look, but Trevelin Queen's 3 at the buzzer was an air ball.

Auburn will play fourth-seeded Kansas on Saturday.

Maryland 79, Belmont 77

Maryland's Darryl Morsell made a crucial defensive stop as Belmont went for a last-second upset in the NCAA Tournament, allowing the Terrapins to escape in the East Regional.

The mid-major powerhouse from Nashville, Tennessee couldn't knock off the No. 6-seeded Terrapins (23-10) from the Big Ten, despite a 35-point performance by Dylan Windler.

Maryland was clinging to a one-point lead and the shot clock was off as Belmont (26-6) had a chance to win it at the buzzer. The Bruins didn't bother calling a timeout to set up a play; they knew what they wanted to do — a backdoor pass to Windler. But Morsell anticipated the pass and stepped in front of Windler to pick intercept the pass while the Bel-mont star tumbled to the court.

Morsell was fouled with 2.5 seconds to go, sending him to the foul line for two shots. He made the first and missed the second, and Windler heaved an unsuccessful desperation shot from midcourt.

Jalen Smith led four Maryland players in double figures with 19 points, including a huge three-point play with 1:41 remaining, and Bruno Fernando added 14 points and 13 rebounds

Belmont led by as many as 12 points in the first half and went to the break with a 40-34 lead.

Maryland will play No. 3 LSU on Saturday.

Florida 70, Nevada 61

Kevarrius Hayes scored 16 points, Jalen Hudson added 15 and 10th-seeded Florida beat Nevada in the West Region in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after squandering most of an 18-point lead.

Andrew Nembhard, whose last-second shot beat LSU in the Southeastern Conference Tournament last week, drove to the basket for a layup with 1½ minutes left and Florida scored the last seven points after the Wolf Pack had cut the lead to two points.

The Gators (20-1) won their tournament opener for the third straight year and became the third double-digit seed to win on Thursday. They'll play second-seeded Michigan on Saturday.

Cody Martin scored 23 points and twin brother Caleb Martin had 19 for the Wolf Pack (29-5). The two combined for 28 of their team's 33 points in the second half.

KeVaughn Allen made back-to-back shots to start a 12-0 run early in the second half that swelled the lead to 51-33 with 14 minutes left.

Florida State 76, Vermont 69

Mfiondu Kabengele had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Florida State held off a barrage of 3-pointers from 13th-seeded Vermont in the opening round of the West Regional.

Terance Mann added 19 points for the fourth-seeded Seminoles (28-7), who were tied with the Catamounts at halftime but pulled away late. Florida State faces No. 12 Murray State on Saturday.

Anthony Lamb had 16 points to lead a balanced, long-range attack for Vermont (27-7), which lost for the first time in seven games. Three Catamounts finished with 15 points.

The America East champions stayed close by hitting 16 of 32 3-point attempts. The Seminoles countered by wearing out Vermont down low, outscoring the Catamounts 30-14 in the paint.

A dunk by Kabengele gave Florida State a 50-45 lead with nine minutes left, part of a 6-0 run that put the Seminoles ahead for good.

Another by the 6-10 sophomore made it 61-53, and the cheers of Vermont fans, who made the four-hour drive south from Burlington, gave way to the tomahawk chop from behind Florida State's bench.

Gonzaga 87, Fairleigh Dickinson 49

One year after dreamers and underdog lovers rejoiced at top-seeded Virginia's first-of-its-kind, first-round loss, Gonzaga crushed any thought of a repeat with a wire-to-wire thumping of Fairleigh Dickinson in the West Region.

Rui Hachimura led the Zags (31-3) with 21 points and eight rebounds. They’ll play No. 9 Baylor on Saturday.

Gonzaga led by 10 after the first 4:12, by 20 after 10:25 and by the score of 53-17 at halftime.

By the time Gonzaga turned it over when Josh Perkins tried flipping a no-look pass backward to Killian Tillie, coach Mark Few looked barely awake, sitting in his chair, cheek cupped in his hand. The Bulldogs led 70-34.

The Knights (21-14) were unable to repeat their amazing shooting three nights earlier in a come-from-behind win over Prairie View A&M in the First Four.

Fairleigh Dickinson shot 30 percent and went 6 for 21 from 3-point range. Its star from the win, Darnell Edge, had trouble getting any looks, let alone good ones. He went 2 for 11 for seven points.

Kansas 87, Northeastern 54

Dedric Lawson had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and fourth-seeded Kansas dominated inside in a rout over Northeastern in the Midwest Region.

The fourth-seeded Jayhawks (26-9) had a no-table size advantage inside and used it, out-scoring the Huskies 50-16 in the paint while grabbing 17 more rebounds.

Devon Dotson controlled the offense and scored 18 points, while Dedric's brother, K.J., chipped in 13 points.

Kansas shot 56 percent.

The best shot for the 13th-seeded Huskies (23-11) was to make their 3-point tries. They didn't. The Colonial Athletic Association champions went 6 for 28 from the arc after finishing the regular season 17th in Division I at 38.6 percent.

Sharpshooter Vasa Pusica had a hard time getting separation from the Jayhawks' athlet-ic guards, finishing with seven points on 2-of-11 shooting. Jordan Roland had 12 points to lead the Huskies, who shot 28 percent overall.

Kentucky 79, Abilene Christian 44

Keldon Johnson scored 25 points in a huge mismatch that was over by halftime, and second-seeded Kentucky romped in the Midwest Regional over NCAA Tournament newcomer Abilene Christian.

The Wildcats shot 60 percent in the opening period, held Abilene Christian to 5 of 26 from the field and went to the locker room with a 39-13 lead. They’ll play No. 7 Wofford on Saturday.

Even without PJ Washington, who sprained his left foot in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, the Wildcats had far too many weapons for the Southland Conference representative, a No. 15 seed. Reid Travis added 18 points and Tyler Herro 14.

Jaren Lewis led Abilene Christian with 17 points, the only player in double figures.

The big question: Will Washington be able to go? Kentucky coach John Calipari tweeted before the game that a foot specialist con-firmed the injury was only a sprain, not a frac-ture.

Michigan 74, Montana 55

Charles Matthews had 22 points and 10 rebounds in his best performance since coming back from injury, and No. 2 seed Michigan put away Montana early.

Ignas Brazdeikis added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Jon Teske had 11 points and nine boards for the Wolverines, who led by as many as 27 points in the second half.

The Wolverines (29-6) are in the round of 32 for the third straight year.

Sayeed Pridgett led Montana (26-9) with 17 points.

Montana missed 13 of its first 16 shots and trailed by 13 points 10 minutes into the game.

Matthews was 8 of 12 from the floor while posting his third double-double of the season. He had been a combined 6 of 21 for a total of 15 points in the three games since he came back from a right ankle injury that sidelined him three games.

Zavier Simpson had 10 assists and seven rebounds for Michigan.

Michigan State 76, Bradley 65

Cassius Winston scored 26 points and second-seeded Michigan State held off Bradley in the East Region.

Xavier Tillman had 16 points with 11 boards for the Spartans (29-6), who'll face Big Ten rival, 10th-seeded Minnesota, on Saturday in search of their first trip to the Sweet Sixteen in four years. Michigan State throttled the Gophers 79-55 in East Lansing back on Feb. 9.

Bradley gave the Big Ten champions all they could handle, though.

It was a one-possession game until Matt McQuaid drilled a crucial 3 to put Michigan State ahead 61-55 with 3:31 left. Aaron Henry followed with a layup to cap a 9-0 run, but Darrell Brown hit a 3 for Bradley to make it 65-60.

The Spartans iced the game at the line, where they hit their first 20 and finished 25 of 26.

Bradley (20-15) surged to a 35-34 halftime lead by shooting 6 of 9 from 3-point range.

Elijah Childs scored 19 points and Brown had 17 for the Braves, who went just 3 of 12 from beyond the arc in the second half.

Purdue 61, Old Dominion 48

Carsen Edwards scored 26 points and third-seeded Purdue coasted to victory against Old Dominion in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The third-seeded Boilermakers (24-9) will play reigning NCAA champion Villanova, the sixth-seed in the South Region, on Saturday.

Edwards, the Big Ten's leading scorer, has been slumping recently and dealing with a sore back that he insisted was fine on Wednesday. The junior guard had shot 32 percent in his last 11 games and was 7 for 33 from 3-point range in his last three games.

Ahmad Caver scored 19 points and B.J. Stith had 14 for Old Dominion (26-9). The Monarchs shot 27 percent from the field in their first NCAA appearance since 2011.

The Boilermakers scored the last 11 points of the first half as ODU went stone cold. The Monarchs missed their last 11 shots and went scoreless for 6:17 as Purdue took a control and led 32-19 at the break.

It got no better for the Monarchs in the second half.