SAN DIEGO - Jared Harper made a clutch 3-pointer with 1:17 to go - his only basket of the game - and Auburn held off No. 13 seed College of Charleston 62-58 in a thrilling Midwest Region opener to avoid becoming the second No. 4 seed upset at Viejas Arena on Friday.
Auburn overcame a horrible shooting performance to win in its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2003, but it survived in part because Charleston committed 21 turnovers.
Mustapha Heron scored 16 points for Auburn (26-7), which shot only 35.6 percent overall (21-of-59) and just 20.8 percent from 3-point range (5-of-24).
The biggest shot to go down for the Tigers was Harper's deep 3 that gave them a 59-56 lead. He finished 1-of-7, including 1-of-4 from behind the arc.
The Cougars (26-8) pulled to 61-58 when Grant Riller made one of two free throws with 20.4 seconds left.
Auburn's Davion Mitchell missed two free throws with 14 seconds to go, giving Charleston a chance. Riller launched a 3 with four seconds left that fell short. He appeared to get fouled but nothing was called. Harper then made one of two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to seal it.
Desean Murray scored 11 for Auburn, and Bryce Brown had 10.
Jarrell Brantley scored a game-high 24 points for Charleston, and Riller added 16.
-Michigan State 82, Bucknell 78
DETROIT - Miles Bridges outlasted Zach Thomas, scoring 29 points and grabbing nine rebounds to help second-seeded Michigan State hold on against No. 15 seed Bucknell in the Midwest Region.
Thomas fouled out on a technical with 6:06 left and finished with 27 points. He put on a show in the first half, scoring 20 points and making all three of his shots beyond the 3-point arc to keep the Bison close.
Leading by 15 points with two minutes left, Michigan State (30-4) won by a slim margin after Bucknell (25-10) made a late flurry of long-range shots. The Spartans didn't start rusty, like some Big Ten teams after a long layoff, but found out quickly Thomas was as good if not better than they thought.
They made enough free throws in the final seconds to hold off a charge from the Bison, who struck from long range.
-Purdue 74, Cal State Fullerton 48
DETROIT - Carsen Edwards scored 15 points as second-seeded Purdue eventually shook off the rust from a long layoff and routed No. 15 seed Cal State Fullerton in the East Region.
Playing for the first time in nearly two weeks after losing to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament final, the Boilermakers (29-6) struggled to make shots down low and beyond the 3-point line - and simply looked out of sync.
The Titans (20-12) led midway through the first half, but then Edwards took over. He had a go-ahead layup and scored seven more points to help Purdue lead 31-20 at halftime. The Big West tournament champions couldn't put up much resistance in the second half, when Purdue started making 3-pointers and using its size advantage inside.
P.J. Thompson added 11 points for Purdue. For Cal State Fullerton, Kyle Allman scored 21 and Jackson Rowe 10.
-Butler 79, Arkansas 62
DETROIT - Kelan Martin scored 27 points and Kamar Baldwin added 24 to lift 10th-seeded Butler over seventh-seeded Arkansas in the East Region.
The Bulldogs (21-13) raced to a 21-2 lead in the opening minutes, and although Arkansas wiped out that entire deficit before halftime, Butler was up 36-31 at the break and took control again early in the second half.
Jaylen Barford scored 15 points for Arkansas, but the Razorbacks (23-12) struggled in the paint - 6-foot-11 freshman Daniel Gafford managed only two field goals.
-West Virginia 85, Murray State 68
SAN DIEGO - Jevon Carter totaled 21 points, eight assists and six steals, and Teddy Allen added 16 points as No. 5 seed West Virginia overwhelmed 12th-seeded Murray State in the East Region.
The Mountaineers (25-10) pulled away in the second half and advanced to the round of 32 for the third time in four seasons as four players finished in double figures. Sagaba Konate added 14 points and Esa Ahmad 12.
Carter had 13 points in the second half and was the trigger of a second-half surge by the Mountaineers after Murray State had trimmed their 14-point lead to five.
Terrell Miller led Murray State (26-6) with 27 points on 8-of-11 success from the field, but he was the only Racer to shoot well. Murray State, which hit just 41 percent, had won 13 straight games entering the tourney for the second-longest active winning streak in the country.
Murray State star Jonathan Stark, who had scored in double figures in 30 of 31 games entering Friday, shot 1-for-12 and scored nine points.
-Texas A&M 73, Providence 69
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Admon Gilder scored 18 points to help seventh-seeded Texas A&M hold off No. 10 seed Providence in the West Region.
Robert Williams and Tyler Davis both had double-doubles for the Aggies (21-12). The teams were tied at 50 with about nine minutes left, but Texas A&M responded with a 12-2 run to finally wrest control away from the Friars (21-14). Gilder hit a straightaway 3 with 2:49 left to cap that flurry for a 62-52 lead.
Davis had 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Williams added 13 points and 14 boards.
Rodney Bullock scored 22 points with three 3-pointers for Providence.
-North Carolina 84, Lipscomb 66
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Kenny Williams scored 18 points as 2017 national champion and West No. 2 seed North Carolina took its time before opening up to beat No. 15 seed Lipscomb.
Theo Pinson had 15 points and flirted with a triple-double for the second-seeded Tar Heels (26-10).
Playing for the first time in the NCAA tourney, the 15th-seeded Bisons (23-10) from Nashville held an early six-point edge. They led 33-31 with less than four minutes left in the first half before North Carolina went on a 12-1 run to take control by the break.
Also scoring in double figures for the Tar Heels were starters Joel Berry II (14), Cameron Johnson (12) and Luke Maye (10).
Kenny Cooper's 14 points and Rob Marberry's 13 led the Tennessee program.
-Kansas State 69, Creighton 59
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Barry Brown scored 18 points as ninth-seeded Kansas State posted a wire-to-wire victory over No. 8 Creighton in the South Region night despite playing without Dean Wade, the Wildcats' leading scorer this season.
Mike McGuirl added 17 points and Kamau Stokes had 11 as the Wildcats won an NCAA tournament round-of-64 game for the first time since 2012.
Wade had been expected to play after incurring a stress fracture in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament, but he never got on the floor. His teammates made up for his absence, and particularly on defense.
Creighton came into the game ranked 10th in scoring in Division I at 84.3 points per game, but the Wildcats (23-11) limited the Bluejays to 59 points, tying their season low. Creighton (21-12) shot just 33.8 percent from the field, including 26 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
Leading scoring Marcus Foster was held scoreless in the first 28 1/2 minutes and finished with five points on 2-of-11 shooting against his former team. Foster was booted off the Kansas State team after the 2015 season for multiple violations of team rules.
-Cincinnati 68, Georgia State 53
NASHVILLE - Jarron Cumberland set career highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds as the second-seeded Bearcats recovered after blowing a 10-point lead in the second half and won their South Region opener against No. 15 seed Georgia State.
After trailing 42-32 early in the second half, the Panthers rallied to take a pair of one-point leads, with their last one coming on a driving bank shot from D'Marcus Simonds with 9:30 left.
Kyle Washington added 13 points and Gary Clark 11 points and 13 rebounds for Cincinnati (31-4), which has won eighth straight games.
Simonds finished with 24 points and Isaiah Williams added 10 for Georgia State (24-11), which upset Baylor as a No. 14 seed in 2015.
-Nevada 87, Texas 83, OT
NASHVILLE - Caleb Martin scored 18 points and made two huge 3-pointers in overtime as seventh-seeded Nevada rallied past No. 10 seed Texas in the South Region for its first NCAA tournament victory since 2007.
Nevada (28-7) erased a 14-point, second-half deficit and tied it at 68 when Jordan Caroline hit one of two free throws with 3.8 seconds left in regulation. The Wolf Pack trailed by four early in an overtime period that had 34 total points.
Kerwin Roach II had a career-high 26 points for Texas (19-15).
-Xavier 102, Texas Southern 83
NASHVILLE - Xavier looked every bit like a No. 1 seed its first time around in that role at an NCAA tournament.
J.P. Macura scored 18 of his career-high 29 points in the first half, and Xavier (29-5) routed West Region No. 16 seed Texas Southern (16-20).
Trevon Bluiett added 26 points, and Kerem Kanter had 24 for the Big East's regular season champs.
With celebrity fan Bill Murray watching , Macura helped Xavier respond when falling behind 20-13 within the first five minutes. Macura scored 15 points to key a 21-2 run that put the Musketeers ahead for good. Macura's fourth 3 capped the run with 7:12 left and Xavier securely ahead 34-22.
Texas Southern came in having won the first NCAA tournament game in program history, a First Four game against North Carolina Central in Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday night. Sophomore guard Damontrae Jefferson scored 20 points to lead the Tigers on Friday.