Duke avoids first-round stunner, nips Belmont

Mighty, mighty Duke let teeny, tiny Belmont play with the big boys. And, for stretches, get the better of them.

No. 2-seeded Duke actually trailed in the final 15 seconds before barely avoiding the monumental upset, using every last one of Gerald Henderson's 21 points to edge No. 15 Belmont 71-70 in the first round of the West Regional on Thursday night.

In a matchup between a school with three NCAA titles, Duke (28-5), and another that never has won a game in the tournament, it was Henderson's driving basket with 11.9 seconds left that erased Belmont's final lead.

Xavier 73, Georgia 61

Derrick Brown's 19 points and 11 rebounds led a balanced-as-usual offense, and No. 3-seeded Xavier avoided a big upset by rallying to overcome fading Georgia (17-7).

Super-sub Josh Duncan scored 20 for the Musketeers (28-6), who trailed by as many as 11 in the second half but conjured up a 22-6 run to come back. Xavier used a significant discrepancy in free throws -- 27-for-33 against 3-for-5 for Georgia -- and tied a school record for wins.

Purdue 90, Baylor 79

Keaton Grant scored 17 points and Purdue built a 19-point halftime lead, then cruised to its 10th straight in the first round since 1993.

E'Twaun Moore added 16 for the sixth-seeded Boilermakers (25-8).

Baylor (21-11) made its first trip to the tournament since 1988 and second since 1950.

Texas A&M 67, BYU 62

Josh Carter scored 26 points, matching his career high, as Texas A&M defeated Brigham Young, handing the Cougars their sixth straight opening-round loss.

Jonathan Tavernari led BYU with 15 points.

UCLA 70, Mississippi Valley St. 29

Freshman Kevin Love scored 20 points as top-seeded UCLA (32-3) cruised to victory against overmatched Mississippi Valley State.

Mississippi Valley State (17-16) scored the fewest points in the tournament since 1946, when Baylor had 29 in a loss to Oklahoma State. The Delta Devils also set a tournament record for fewest points in a first-round game, breaking the mark of 32 by Wisconsin against Missouri State in 1999.

West Virginia 75, Arizona 65

Alex Ruoff scored 21 points, Da'Sean Butler had 19 for West Virginia (25-10).

West Virginia took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Ruoff with 17:43 left

Chase Budinger led Arizona (19-15) with 23 points

EAST REGIONAL Washington State 71, Winthrop 40

Washington State (25-8) broke away from a halftime tie to whip Winthrop (22-12) behind 19 points and eight rebounds from Aron Baynes.

The Cougars, who are 51-16 under Tony Bennett, broke open a 29-29 halftime tie with a 23-4 run to cruise to their second straight opening-round win in the NCAA tournament.

Notre Dame 68, George Mason 50

Luke Harangody had 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead fifth-seeded Notre Dame (25-7) to its first tournament victory in five years.

The 12th-seeded Patriots (23-11) 25 points and seven rebounds fro Will Thomas.

SOUTH REGIONAL Marquette 74, Kentucky 66

Jerel McNeal scored 20 points and Wesley Matthews hit eight free throws in the final 31 seconds to help Marquette beat Kentucky.

The Golden Eagles overcame 35 points by Kentucky senior Joe Crawford, who matched a career high before fouling out. Ramel Bradley added 19 for the Wildcats (18-13).

Sixth-seeded Marquette (25-9) earned its first NCAA tournament victory since 2003.

Stanford 77, Cornell 53

Kenny Brown scored 18 points and third-seeded Stanford earned its first NCAA tournament win since 2004, routing 4th-seeded Cornell (22-6), which had its 16-game winning streak snapped.

The Cardinal (27-7) outscored Cornell 43-11 over both halves for a 58-23 lead.

Pittsburgh 82, Oral Roberts 63

Levance Fields scored 23 points, Sam Young finished with 14 and fourth-seeded Pittsburgh (27-9) won its sixth straight game.

Robert Jarvis had 16 points for the Golden Eagles (24-9).

Michigan State 72, Temple 61

Raymar Morgan led a balanced attack with 15 points and Michigan State (26-8) advanced despite a sudden shooting slump from spark plug Drew Neitzel.

Mark Tyndale scored 16 points for Temple (21-13).

Neitzel, who averages 14.2 points, scored just five points on 2-of-11 shooting.

Midwest Regional Kansas 85, Portland State 61

Brandon Rush scored 18 points as top-seeded Kansas (32-3) began its NCAA tournament with a rout of overmatched Portland.

The Jayhawks led all the way against the Vikings (23-10).

UNLV 71, Kent St. 58

Joe Darger scored 18 points and UNLV (27-7) tied an NCAA tournament record by holding Kent State (28-7) to just 10 points in the first half.

The 10 points were the fewest since Wake Forest scored that many against Butler in 2001.

Kansas State 80, USC 67

Turns out, Michael Beasley and O.J. Mayo weren't the only freshmen on the court.

Redshirt freshman Bill Walker scored 22 points, true freshmen Jacob Pullen and Ron Anderson also reached double figures, and Kansas State's Kiddie Corps moved on in the NCAA tournament, beating Mayo-led USC.

Beasley overcame early trouble to have another big game for the Wildcats (21-11), scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Wisconsin 71, Cal State Fullerton 56

Wisconsin couldn't shake the 14th-seeded Titans until deep into the second half, before winning in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Brian Butch scored 14 points and Joe Krabbenhoft and Jason Bohannon 13 apiece for the Badgers (29-4), who won for the 24th time in 26 games.

-- AP

Frank Robinson added 11 points for the Titans (24-9).