Sallie's career game helps Memphis avoids huge upset

Roburt Sallie, averaging 4.5 points all year for Memphis, scored 35 and the second-seeded Tigers beat the plucky Cal State-Northridge Matadors 81-70 in the West Regional, dodging what would have been one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.

Sallie kept Cal State-Northridge at bay during a lackluster first half for Memphis (32-3) and wound up hitting 10 of 15 3-pointers, a first-round tournament record.

The Matadors (17-14), who lost one of their top players in a traffic accident during the season and another to a burglary charge, never seemed intimidated despite being 19-point underdogs. Taking advantage of miserable shooting by most of the Tigers, Northridge led much of the second half and went up by six points with 10:08 to play.

Connecticut 103, Chattanooga 47

Connecticut won a game that Huskies coach Jim Calhoun missed because he wasn't feeling well and was hospitalized for tests. Calhoun was kept overnight for observation.

A.J. Price and Hasheem Thabeet scored 20 points apiece to lead top-seeded Connecticut (28-4) to its first postseason win in three years.

Texas A&M 79, BYU 66

Bryan Davis scored 21, Donald Sloan had 14 and the ninth-seeded Aggies (24-0) handed the Cougars their seventh straight opening-round loss in a rematch from last year. Both teams drew the same seeds last March when A&M won 67-62.

Purdue 61, Northern Iowa 56

E'Twaun Moore had 17 points and fifth-seeded Purdue (26-9) held off a late charge to advance.

Maryland 84, California 71

Grievis Vasquez had 27 points and 10th-seeded Maryland (21-13) shut down the nation's best 3-point shooting team.

Cal (22-11), which shot a nation-best 43 percent from 3-point range during the regular season, was 7-for-24.

Washington 71, Mississippi State 58

Quincy Pondexter scored a season-high 23 points and fourth-seeded Washington took advantage of early foul trouble to Mississippi State's menacing Jarvis Varnado.

Jon Brockman had 14 rebounds and 10 points for the Huskies (26-8).

South Regional

LSU 75, Butler 71

Butler has put together quite a few upsets in recent NCAA tournaments. Marcus Thornton scored 30 points to keep LSU off that list.

Tasmin Mitchell had 14 points and Chris Johnson added 12 for the Tigers (27-7), seeded eighth in the South Regional.

Gonzaga 77, Akron 64

Josh Heytvelt scored 22 points -- seven during a decisive late run -- and the Bulldogs rallied to get past determined but ultimately overwhelmed Akron.

Micah Downs added 15 points for fourth-seeded Gonzaga (27-5), which won for the 19th time in 20 games.

East Regional Texas 76, Minnesota 62

A.J. Abrams hit eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points to help Texas win its NCAA opener for the fifth time in six seasons.

Damion James added 18 points and nine rebounds for the seventh-seeded Longhorns (23-11).

Villanova 80, American 67

Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham each scored 25 points, and Villanova rallied back from a 14-point hole.

The third-seeded Wildcats (27-7) lost their home-court advantage and nearly lost the game, needing a late 19-2 run to fend off the Patriot League champions.

-- The Associated Press