MILWAUKEE -- Reggie Upshaw scored 19 points, Giddy Potts added 15 and Middle Tennessee took down another Big Ten team in the NCAA Tournament, beating Minnesota 81-72 on Thursday.
Twelfth-seeded Middle Tennessee proved it was no one-year wonder after upsetting Michigan State as a No. 15 seed last March.
The Blue Raiders (31-4) instead played like seasoned NCAA veterans with the way they held off the Gophers' comeback attempt from a 17-point deficit in front of a loud and large contingent of Minnesota fans.
Upshaw responded with seven consecutive points, including a three-pointer and a reverse layup, during a 7-3 run to help give Middle Tennessee a 10-point lead with 3:40 left.
Coach Kermit Davis' club will move on to face No. 4 seed Butler in the second round Saturday.
A season of redemption came to an end for fifth-seeded Minnesota (24-10), which bounced back from an eight-victory season in 2015-16 to return to the NCAAs.
Amir Coffey had 17 points to lead Minnesota, while Dupree McBrayer added 16.
But the Gophers got in trouble after 6-foot-10 center Reggie Lynch, the Big Ten defensive player of the year, went to the bench with foul trouble.
The athletic Blue Raiders attacked the lane with Lynch sidelined, then held on after Minnesota charged back from the double-digit deficit. It was an upset by seeding only since Middle Tennessee has proven it can keep up with any team.
Trailing 37-31 at halftime, Minnesota was still in relatively good shape given that Lynch played just nine minutes because of foul trouble. The Gophers had just two first-half turnovers, but shot 38 percent from the field (10 of 26) in the period.
BUTLER 76, WINTHROP 64
Avery Woodson scored 18 points and tied a career high with six three-pointers in his NCAA Tournament debut to lead Butler to a victory over Winthrop.
Woodson, a graduate transfer from Memphis, hit five threes in the first half to help the fourth-seeded Bulldogs build a 14-point halftime lead.
A 12-2 run in the middle of the second half gave Butler (24-8) a 60-43 lead with less than 8 minutes left and put the game out of reach for the 13th-seeded Eagles.
Xavier Cooks had 23 points to lead Big South champion Winthrop (26-7).
MIDWEST REGION
Purdue victorious
MILWAUKEE -- Vincent Edwards scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and Purdue held off Vermont 80-70 for its first victory in the NCAA Tournament in five years.
Caleb Swanigan added 16 points, 14 rebounds and four assists for the fourth-seeded Boilermakers (26-7), who were upset by Arkansas-Little Rock in double-overtime in the first round of last year's tournament. Dakota Mathias made three of Purdue's nine three-pointers and finished with 13 points.
It was Vermont's first loss this calendar year. The Catamounts (29-6), the regular-season and tournament champions in the America East, had the nation's longest active win streak at 21 games. But they were unable to make up for a huge disadvantage inside against the bigger, stronger Boilermakers.
IOWA STATE 84, NEVADA 73
Monte Morris had 19 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, and Iowa State outlasted Nevada to advance to the second round of the tournament for the second consecutive year.
Deonte Burton added 14 points and eight rebounds as the fifth-seeded Cyclones (24-10) won for the 10th time in their last 11 games. Naz Mitrou-Long and Matt Thomas had 13 points apiece.
Cameron Oliver scored 22 points for Nevada (28-7), which had won nine consecutive by an average of 15 points. Jordan Caroline had 20 points and 8 rebounds, and Marcus Marshall finished with 16 points on 5-for-16 shooting.
Sports on 03/17/2017