RALEIGH, N.C. -- NBA lottery prospect V.J. Edgecombe had just four points at halftime of Baylor's first-round NCAA Tournament game against Mississippi State.
That didn't concern Bears Coach Scott Drew.
The athletic Edgecombe responded with a big second half and finished with 16 points, including two clutch free throws down the stretch, to help the ninth-seeded Bears hold off the eighth-seeded Bulldogs 75-72 on Friday.
"Because he's so highly rated on the draft boards, people just assume that he's going to score," Drew said. "V.J. doesn't have to score to impact a game. He is an all-around player. He gets comparisons to Dwyane Wade, Russell Westbrook, and the thing that those guys did is their athleticism and their ability to assist, defend. It affects the game. So if he's scoring or not, he's helping us."
Edgecombe also had five rebounds, a block and a steal in his first NCAA Tournament game.
Robert Wright scored 19 points, Langston Love added 15 and former Arkansas State player Norchad Omier had a strong game inside with 12 points and nine rebounds for the Bears (20-14), who led by 11 points in the second half but had to hold off the Bulldogs in the final seconds -- and even tenths of seconds. Baylor advanced to face Duke, the top seed in the East Region, in the second round on Sunday.
Josh Hubbard scored 26 points to lead Mississippi State (21-13), which was seeking its first March Madness victory since 2008.
The Bears led 60-49 with 8:10 remaining after a free throw by Omier.
But the Bulldogs stormed back and cut the lead to one with 29 seconds left when KeShawn Murphy scored in the lane on a baby hook. Edgecombe was fouled with 9.3 seconds left and the Big 12 freshman of the year calmly stepped to the line and made both.
"Playing in the Big 12, you just have a lot of close games, and coming in here, we know that in March a lot of stuff happens," Omier said. "V.J. hit both free throws, and we call it a game."
Well, not quite.
The Bulldogs still had a chance to tie after Baylor elected not to foul, but Claudell Harris Jr airballed a three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left. Omier was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and the game was seemingly over. But more time was put on the clock and Omier missed the front end of a 1-and-1. The Bulldogs grabbed the rebound with 0.2 seconds left and called timeout.
Hubbard's three-point heave at the buzzer was no good, although it may not have counted.
Mississippi State Coach Chris Jans said Harris' three-pointer came off a new play the Bulldogs had put in, and that Hubbard was an option.
"It's the first time we've ever run it exactly for this type of scenario where we had enough time to get one look and then a second look," Jans said. "I thought we're going to get a shot. But unfortunately, it didn't go in."
ALABAMA 90,
ROBERT MORRIS 81
CLEVELAND -- All-America guard Mark Sears scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half and second-seeded Alabama pulled away late to escape 15th-seeded Robert Morris.
The Colonials gave the Crimson Tide (27-8) all they could handle and even took their first lead at 65-64 on a layup by Josh Omojafo to bring the Rocket Arena crowd to its feet.
Alabama responded behind Sears, who had seven points during an 11-2 surge that gave the Crimson Tide some breathing room against the Horizon League champions. Robert Morris (26-9) came in as a 22-1/2 point underdog, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, yet spent most of the afternoon threatening to author the first true bracket-buster of the tournament after a relatively quiet opening day on Thursday.
DUKE 93,
MOUNT ST. MARY'S 49
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Tyrese Proctor had 19 points and freshman star Cooper Flagg returned from an ankle injury as No. 1 seed Duke beat Mount St. Mary's.
Flagg had 14 points and seven boards for the Blue Devils (32-3), the East bracket headliner opening a push for a sixth national title roughly a half-hour's drive from its Durham campus. Duke jumped to a 13-2 lead in a dominant first half marked by clean execution on the way to a big lead.
The Blue Devils cooled after the break, but finished at 50% shooting with 14 three-pointers to cruise toward a second-round date with Baylor. Proctor went 6 for 8 from deep.
SAINT MARY'S (CAL) 59,
VANDERBILT 56
CLEVELAND -- Saint Mary's guard Jordan Ross keyed a second-half rally while star Augustas Marciulionis dealt with foul trouble, and the seventh-seeded Gaels fended off 10th-seeded Vanderbilt.
The Commodores led by 12 points when Marciulionis -- the two-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year -- exited with his fourth foul early in the second half.
Ross finished with 15 points. Marciulionis added 14 points and eight rebounds for Saint Mary's, which turned the second half into the kind of grind-it-out rock fight that became the program's signature on the way to its second consecutive WCC regular-season title.
Jason Edwards led Vanderbilt (20-13) with 18 points, but the Commodores missed a chance at the program's first tournament victory in 13 years when they couldn't keep Saint Mary's in check late. Vanderbilt shot 34% in the second half.
ARIZONA 93, AKRON 65
SEATTLE -- Jaden Bradley, Trey Townsend and Caleb Love hit three-pointers within the first two minutes, and No. 4 seed Arizona easily dismissed 13th-seeded Akron.
Bradley finished with 19 points, Townsend had 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting, Carter Bryant scored 12 and Love and KJ Lewis each had 10 for the Wildcats (23-12), who reached the second round of March Madness for the third time in Coach Tommy Lloyd's four seasons.
Arizona shot 12 of 25 from three-point range and threw down nine dunks.
Tavari Johnson and Nate Johnson each scored 13 points for the Zips (28-7).
OREGON 81, LIBERTY 52
SEATTLE — Jackson Shelstad scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half, and fifth-seeded Oregon routed No. 12 seed Liberty in the East Regional.
Oregon (25-9) goes on to face Arizona in the East Region on Sunday.
Nate Bittle had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Oregon, which led by 32 points. The Ducks pulled their remaining starters with about 3:44 left.
Zach Cleveland had 10 points for Liberty.. The Flames made just eight of 37 three-point attempts (22%).
With its distinct size advantage, the Ducks jumped out to an 18-2 lead after TJ Bamba’s fast-break layup. Shelstad had 15 points and the Ducks had a 44-20 lead at the break.
Liberty (28-7) won the the Conference USA Tournament and regular-season title in just its second year in the league. But Kaden Metheny, who averaged 20.3 points across the three games and was voted tournament MVP, had just nine points Friday.
WEST REGION
MARYLAND 81 ,
GRAND CANYON 49
SEATTLE -- Julian Reese had 18 points and nine rebounds, and fourth-seeded Maryland pounded No. 13 seed Grand Canyon.
Ja'Kobi Gillespie added 16 points for the Terrapins (26-8), who will play No. 12 Colorado State on Sunday in the second round of the West Region.
Derik Queen, the Big Ten freshman of the year who was averaging 16.3 points and nine rebounds a game, finished with 12 points and 15 boards, becoming the first Maryland freshman with a double-double in the tournament since Jalen Smith in 2019.
Tyon Grant-Foster led Grand Canyon (26-8) with 23 points.
FLORIDA 95,
NORFOLK STATE 69
RALEIGH, N.C. -- First-team All-American Walter Clayton Jr. scored 23 points and Florida defeated Norfolk State, ensuring all four No. 1 seeds made it out of the first round unscathed.
Alijah Martin added 17 points for the SEC champions, who built a 32-point lead in the first half en route to their seventh consecutive win.
Christian Ings scored 16 points and Jaylani Darden added 15 for 16th-seeded Norfolk State (24-11).
This one was over early as Clayton knocked down a three-pointer and was fouled for a four-point play, giving the Gators (31-4) a double-digit lead five minutes into the game that they would never relinquish. The lead ballooned to 53-21 with four minutes left in the first half, even as Clayton took an occasional breather on the bench.
UCONN 67,
OKLAHOMA 59
RALEIGH, N,C. — UConn’s improbable bid for a third consecutive national title continued when Alex Karaban came through with a critical three-pointer and a floater in the lane during a late run that helped the Huskies hold off Oklahoma in a West Regional game.
Karaban had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies (24-10), who extended their March Madness winning streak to 13 games, tied with Duke from 1991-93 for the second-longest without missing a tournament.
Karaban’s three-pointer on the catch from the right wing at the 3:40 mark gave UConn a four-point lead, and he followed with the floater at the 2:18 mark that pushed UConn ahead 64-58.
Solo Ball scored 14 points to help Coach Dan Hurley’s Huskies advance to face top region seed Florida, a popular pick both to end UConn’s run and win the national title.
Freshman Jeremiah Fears had 20 points to lead the ninth-seeded Sooners (20-14).
MIDWEST REGIONAL
ILLINOIS 86, XAVIER 73
MILWAUKEE — Will Riley had 22 points, Kasparas Jakucionis finished one rebound shy of a triple-double and No. 6 seed Illinois was perfect from the foul line in a Midwest Regional victory over Xavier.
Illinois (22-12) advanced to a round of 32 matchup Sunday with No. 3 seed Kentucky (23-11).
Jakucionis had 16 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds. Tomislav Ivisic added 20 points and 10 rebounds. Kylan Boswell scored 15 points.
Illinois led throughout the last 33 ½ minutes and went 18 of 18 from the free throw line and 12 of 30 from three-point range. The Illini also outrebounded Xavier 45-25.
Ivisic, a 7-1 center from Croatia, went 4 of 9 from three-point range. His four three-pointers were the most by a 7-footer in an NCAA Tournament game.
Dailyn Swain had a career-high 27 points to go along with eight rebounds for Xavier (22-12).
KENTUCKY 76, TROY 57
MILWAUKEE -- Otega Oweh scored 20 points, Andrew Carr had 13 and third-seeded Kentucky beat Troy.
Oweh added eight assists and six rebounds, and Amari Williams grabbed 13 boards for Kentucky.
Kentucky (23-11) also was a No. 3 seed last year when it lost 80-76 to 14th-seeded Oakland in the first round. But it doesn't have a single person on its roster who played in that Oakland game, and it had no major issues against Troy this time around.
Myles Rigsby scored 14 points for the Trojans (23-11), champions of the Sun Belt Conference.
SOUTH REGION
IOWA STATE 82,
LIPSCOMB 55
MILWAUKEE -- Milan Momcilovic scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, and third-seeded Iowa State routed Lipscomb.
Curtis Jones had 17 points as Iowa State bounced back nicely after dropping four of seven going into the tourney. Joshua Jefferson finished with 10 points and eight assists.
Next up for the Cyclones (25-9) in the South Region is Mississippi.
MICHIGAN STATE 87,
BRYANT 62
CLEVELAND — Coen Carr had 18 points and nine rebounds, and second-seeded Michigan State rolled to a victory over No. 15 seed Bryant in the South Regional.
Jase Richardson added 15 points for Coach Tom Izzo’s Spartans (28-6), who trailed for most of the first 15 minutes before taking control.
Michigan State, which has one of the deepest squads in the 68-team field, had five players score 10 or more points.
Rafael Pinzon led Bryant (23-12) with 21 points and Earl Timberlake scored 14.
MISSISSIPPI 71,
NORTH CAROLINA 64
MILWAUKEE -- Sean Pedulla made a critical three-pointer with 52.8 seconds left, and Mississippi topped North Carolina after the Rebels squandered most of a 22-point lead in the second half.
The Rebels are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019. They hadn't won an NCAA tourney game since beating BYU 94-90 in the First Four in 2015, and they hadn't advanced beyond the round of 64 since 2013.
Pedulla finished with 20 points. Dre Davis had 15 for Ole Miss, and Jaemyn Brakefield added 12 points.
RJ Davis scored 15 and Ven-Allen Lubin had 14 for North Carolina, which advanced to the round of 64 with a 95-68 victory over San Diego State in the First Four on Tuesday.
NEW MEXICO 75,
MARQUETTE 66
CLEVELAND -- Donovan Dent scored 21 points and No. 10 seed New Mexico took control late in the second half to defeat seventh-seeded Marquette.
Richard Pitino joined his father in the second round after New Mexico (27-7) snapped a four-game NCAA Tournament losing streak and won its first game since 2012. Rick Pitino has No. 2 seed St. John's playing its next game Saturday against Arkansas.
Dent, the Mountain West Player of the Year, had six points in the first half but found his rhythm in the second half. He had four points during a 10-0 Lobos run that broke the game open.
Nelly Junior Joseph added 19 points for New Mexico.
Joseph made a layup with 6:17 remaining that put the Lobos up 59-58. The second half went back-and-forth with three ties and eight lead changes before New Mexico took control.
David Joplin led Marquette (23-11) with 28 points,