NCAA: Morehead State upsets Kentucky

DENVER - Demonte Harper made a 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 4.2 seconds left Thursday to lead 13th-seeded Morehead State to the first upset of the NCAA tournament, a 62-61 victory over No. 4 Louisville in the Southwest regional.

After Harper's go-ahead basket, the Cardinals had a chance to win it, but Morehead's Kenneth Faried blocked Mike Marra's attempt before the buzzer and Louisville was gone after its first game for the second straight year.

Terrance Hill scored a career-high 23 points for the Eagles (25-9), who next face Richmond.

Faried finished with 12 points and 17 rebounds for Morehead State, which won its first NCAA game since 1984. Chris Smith had 17 points for Louisville (25-10).

Richmond 69, Vanderbilt 66

DENVER - Kevin Anderson scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half, including a floater with 18.7 seconds remaining that helped seal 12th-seeded Richmond's win.

The Spiders (28-7) sprang the second upset of the day at Pepsi Center.

Fifth-seeded Vanderbilt had a chance to tie the game with 2.5 seconds left, but Rod Odom's desperation heave was nowhere near the hoop as time expired.

So much for the Commodores (23-11) vanquishing their tournament demons. They have now stumbled in their last three appearances in the NCAAs.

Kentucky 59, Princeton 57

TAMPA, Fla - Freshman Brandon Knight, held scoreless for more than 39 minutes, made a driving layup with 2 seconds remaining to lift No. 4 seed Kentucky over 13th-seeded Princeton.

Knight missed his first seven shots and even found himself on the bench in the closing minute.

Kentucky will face West Virginia in the East regional.

Upperclassmen carried the Wildcats (26-8) most of the way. Darius Miller scored 17 points, and lone senior Josh Harrellson added 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Dan Mavraides led Princeton (25-7) with 14 points.

Butler 60, Old Dominion 58

WASHINGTON - Matt Howard scored on a tip-in at the buzzer, giving eighth-seeded Butler a victory in the Southeast regional.

After Shawn Vanzant missed, Howard went up with his right hand and put the ball in an instant before time expired.

A year ago, Butler's magical run to the NCAA championship game ended with a narrow miss at the buzzer against Duke. In this game, the Bulldogs got the bounce they needed.

Howard and Shelvin Mack each scored 15 points for Butler (24-9), which will face Pittsburgh.

Frank Hassell led Old Dominion (27-7) with 20 points.

Temple 66, Penn State 64

TUCSON, Ariz. - Juan Fernandez sank an off-balance 18-footer with under a second to play to end coach Fran Dunphy's NCAA tournament record 11-game losing streak.

Fernandez, double-teamed as time was running out, got off a shot off his right foot while fading to his left just inside the 3-point line.

Talor Battle's 3-pointer from far behind the arc for Penn State tied it at 64-64 with 12.2 seconds to go. Fernandez and Ramone Moore scored 23 points each for the seventh-seeded Owls (26-7), who next play San Diego State. Battle scored 23 for the 10th-seeded Nittany Lions (19-15).

BYU 74, Wofford 66

DENVER - Jimmer Fredette scored 32 points to lift third-seeded Brigham Young over No. 14 Wofford.

Noah Dahlman led the Terriers (21-13) with 22 points.

Gonzaga 86, St. John's 71

DENVER - Marquise Carter scored a career-high 24 points, lifting 11th-seeded Gonzaga to a victory over sixth-seeded St. John's.

The Bulldogs (25-9) were the third lower seed to spring an upset in the Mile High city, joining No. 12 Richmond and No. 13 Morehead State.

The Red Storm (21-12), who were back in the tournament for the first time since 2002. Dwight Hardy led the St. John's in scoring with 26 points.

West Virginia 84, Clemson 76

TAMPA, Fla - Darryl Bryant scored 19 points and Kevin Jones added 17 to help fifth-seeded West Virginia overcome a slow start and wear down No. 12 Clemson.

The Mountaineers (21-11) took advantage of a fatigued opponent playing its second game in just over 36 hours.

Bryant's four-point play and a long 3-pointer by Jones that tied it 40-40 at the half highlighted a game-changing 28-8 run that enabled West Virginia to turn a 10-point deficit into a 57-47 lead.

San Diego State 68,

Northern Colorado 50

TUCSON, Ariz. - Kawhi Leonard had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and second-seeded San Diego State survived Devon Beitzel's scoring burst to earn its first NCAA tournament win.

The Aztecs (33-2) had their hands full with the Bears of the Big Sky early. San Diego State pulled away behind its defense in the second half, holding Northern Colorado (21-11) scoreless for nearly 7 minutes.

Wisconsin 72, Belmont 58

TUCSON, Ariz. - Jon Leuer scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half and Wisconsin methodically dispatched Belmont in the Badgers' fifth consecutive NCAA tournament-opening victory.

Jordan Taylor added 21 for the fourth-seeded Badgers (24-8).

The 13th-seeded Bruins never hit their stride against the Badgers, who made 12 of 22 3-pointers, led by Taylor's 5 of 9.

Pittsburgh 74,

UNC Asheville 51

WASHINGTON - Ashton Gibbs scored 20 of his 26 points after halftime, and bigger, stronger Pittsburgh kept the No. 1s perfect against the No. 16s in the NCAA tournament.

The Panthers out-rebounded the Bulldogs 50-27 to make up for so-so shooting by nearly everyone but Gibbs. Pitt (28-5) led by only three early in the second half before putting the game away with a 13-5 run.

Connecticut 81, Bucknell 52

WASHINGTON - Kemba Walker had 18 points, a career-high 12 assists and eight rebounds, and No. 3 seed Connecticut earned coach Jim Calhoun his 850th career victory.

Roscoe Smith scored 17 for the Huskies (27-9), who showed no signs of fatigue after winning five games in five days last week to capture the Big East tournament.

Cincinnati 78, Missouri 63

WASHINGTON - Yancy Gates had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Cincinnati made a successful return to the NCAA tournament.

The sixth-seeded Bearcats used their stalwart defense to hold the run-all-the-time Tigers to 29 percent shooting in the first half and 38 percent for the game.

Florida 79,

UC Santa Barbara 51

TAMPA, Fla. - Erving Walker scored 18 points, Chandler Parsons flirted with his first triple-double and Florida coasted to victory over 15th-seeded UC Santa Barbara.

Parsons, the Southeastern Conference's player of the year, finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and a career-high 10 assists. Florida (27-7) made 11 of its first 15 shots, opened up a double-digit lead and kept piling on the rest of the way.

UCLA 78, Michigan State 76

TAMPA, Fla. - Tyler Honeycutt and Malcolm Lee scored 16 points apiece and seventh-seeded UCLA held off a late comeback by No. 10 seed Michigan State.

The Bruins (23-10) won despite missing 17 free throws, nine of them in the final 3:40 while the Spartans were making a barrage of 3-pointers to get back into the game. The Bruins advanced to a third-round matchup against No. 2 seed Florida.