Roundup

West regional

At Kansas City, Mo.

2 Memphis (32-3) 81

15 Cal State Northridge (17-14) 70

After overcoming heartbreak and tragedy just to get to the NCAA tournament, the Matadors of Cal State Northridge could not get past the greatest game of Roburt Sallie’s life.

Sallie, averaging 4.5 points all year for Memphis, scored 35 and the second-seeded Tigers beat the plucky Matadors, 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 and wound up hitting 10 of 15 3-pointers, a first-round tournament record.

The Matadors, 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.

10 Maryland (21-13) 84

7 California (22-11) 71

Grievis Vasquez had 27 points and Maryland shut down the nation’s best 3-point shooting team.

Tenth-seeded Maryland disrupted Cal with its pressure defense, rarely giving the Bears a good look from the perimeter. Vasquez controlled the offense and Dave Neal chipped in 15 points, helping the Terps advance past the first round in their ninth straight NCAA appearance.

Cal, which shot a nation-best 43 percent from 3-point range during the regular season, was 7 for 24 in this one. Theo Robertson led the Bears with 22 points.

At Philadelphia

9 Texas A&M (24-9) 79

8 BYU (25-8) 66

Bryan Davis scored 21, Donald Sloan had 14 and the ninth-seeded Aggies 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.

1 Connecticut (28-4) 103

16 Chattanooga (18-17) 47

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

The 56-point difference was the third-largest margin of victory in the NCAA tournament.

East regional

At Philadelphia

3 Villanova (27-7) 80

14 American (24-8) 67

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

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

The Eagles sizzled from 3-point range early and pushed Villanova to the brink of a monumental upset. They just didn’t have enough left in their tired legs down the stretch, something the Wildcats exploited in their game-changing spurt.

6 UCLA (26-8) 65

11 VCU (27-7) 64

A long way from home, UCLA barely kept alive its quest for a fourth straight trip to the Final Four.

VCU’s Eric Maynor missed a contested 17-footer at the buzzer and the sixth-seeded Bruins held on for the win over the Rams.

The Rams were a popular pick to pull off a 6-11 upset – even President Barack Obama circled VCU in his bracket.

At Greensboro, N.C.

7 Texas (23-11) 76

10 Minnesota (22-11) 62

A.J. Abrams hit eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points to help the Longhorns beat the Golden Gophers.

Damion James added 18 points and nine rebounds for the seventh-seeded Longhorns, who hit 11 of 20 3s overall to win their tournament opener for the fifth time in six seasons.

Lawrence Westbrook scored 19 points for Minnesota.

2 Duke (19-6) 86

15 Binghamton (23-9) 62

Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils weren’t about to let another one of college basketball’s little guys scare them again.

Scheyer scored 15 points to lead six players in double figures, and the Blue Devils made the Bearcats’ first appearance in the NCAA tournament a quick one. Lance Thomas added 14 points and Gerald Henderson and Nolan Smith added 13 apiece for the Blue Devils.

South regional

At Greensboro, N.C.

8 LSU (27-7) 75

9 Butler (26-6) 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. They shot 49 percent against one of the nation’s toughest defenses. Butler’s Matt Howard scored 22 points before fouling out with 35.7 seconds left.

1 North Carolina (29-4) 101

16 Radford (21-12) 58

Tyler Hansbrough took quick care of his latest record pursuit, then helped North Carolina advance in the NCAA tournament without one of its star playmakers.

Hansbrough set the ACC career scoring mark in the opening minutes and finished with 22 points South Regional’s top seed another easy tournament opener in its home state.

At Kansas City, Mo.

10 Michigan (21-13) 62

7 Clemson (23-9) 59

Shot after shot clanged off the rim, if they hit anything at all. Jumpers, 3-pointers, layups – didn’t matter. Clemson just couldn’t figure out Michigan’s zone defense.

Michigan stymied Clemson with its 1-3-1 defense and survived a late scare in its first NCAA tournament game in 11 years. The Wolverines showed little sign of nerves, handling – for the most part – Clemson’s frenetic press. Manny Harris scored 21 points and Stu Douglass added 12 for the Wolverines.

2 Oklahoma (28-5) 82

15 Morgan State (23-12) 54

A dominant Blake Griffin had 28 points and 13 rebounds and survived an ugly incident that got another player ejected.

Griffin took a hard tumble when Morgan State’s Ameer Ali flipped him over his back and on to the court in the second half after the two became entangled. Ali was ejected.

Griffin stayed in the game and finished 11 of 12 from the field.