COLUMBUS, Ohio – Gerald Fitch scored 26 points and the top-seeded Wildcats advanced to the second round with a victory in the St. Louis Regional that was much tougher than the final score indicated.

The Wildcats (27-4) didn’t lock up their 13th straight first-round win until midway through the second half against the Rattlers (15-17). For nearly 30 minutes, Florida A&M’s unheralded players went toe-to-toe with Kentucky.

Oklahoma State 75, Eastern Washington 56

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Oklahoma State seemed to forget it was a No. 2 seed. Eastern Washington sure didn’t act like a No. 15.

The Cowboys (28-3) won, but not before Eastern Washington (17-13) tied the score at halftime to stun the partisan Oklahoma State crowd.

In the second round of the East Rutherford Regional on Sunday, the Cowboys will meet No. 7 seed Memphis.

Ivan McFarlin had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma State and Tony Allen had 17 points.

Memphis 59, South Carolina 43

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Memphis’ NCAA tournament drought is over.

Rodney Carney hit six 3-pointers and scored 26 points, both career highs, and added 10 rebounds to lead Memphis past South Carolina.

Anthony Rice added three 3s and 12 points for the Tigers (22-7), seeded seventh in the East Rutherford Regional. Memphis reached the third round in 1995 but was eliminated in the first round in 1996 and 2003.

Tenth-seeded South Carolina (23-11) has not won an NCAA tournament game since 1973.

Pacific 66, Providence 58

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A day after 12th-seeded Manhattan stunned Florida in the East Rutherford Regional, Pacific did the same thing to fifth-seeded Providence in the St. Louis Regional.

Miah Davis scored 19 points and Guillaume Yango added 18 for Pacific, the Big West tournament champion, which won its 16th straight game.

Vanderbilt 71, Western Michigan 58

ORLANDO, Fla. – Mario Moore scored a career-high 26 points and Matt Freije added 13 and eight rebounds, leading the sixth-seeded Commodores past Western Michigan in the first round of the Phoenix Regional.

It was the first NCAA tournament win for Vanderbilt since reaching the round of 16 in 1993.

The Commodores (22-9) advanced to play No. 3 seed North Carolina State on Sunday.

North Carolina State 61, Louisiana-Lafayette 52

ORLANDO, Fla. – North Carolina State overcame a slow start to win an opening round game that sometimes resembled an early-season matchup with its ragged play and poor shooting.

Marcus Melvin scored 20 points and North Carolina State (21-9), seeded third in the Phoenix Regional, survived a subpar performance by ACC player of the year Julius Hodge, who struggled all afternoon and was held to 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting.

Louisiana-Lafayette (20-9) kept it interesting, cutting its biggest deficit – 11 points – to seven on Antoine Landry’s 3-pointer with just under three minutes to go.

Mississippi State 85, Monmouth 52

ORLANDO, Fla. – Mississippi State withstood Monmouth’s early barrage of 3-pointers and won in a blowout.

Lawrence Roberts scored 19 points, and the second-seeded Bulldogs (26-3) outlasted the Hawks in the first round of the Atlanta Regional. The Southeastern Conference player of the year appeared unhindered by an ankle injury that kept him out of practice this week.

Georgia Tech 65, Northern Iowa 60

MILWAUKEE – Georgia Tech got as big a test as any it found in the ACC. From the most unlikely of schools, no less.

Luke Schenscher scored 13, including a pair of free throws with 34 seconds to play, and B.J. Elder had 12 points as Georgia Tech held off pesky Northern Iowa.

Anthony McHenry added 10 points for the third-seeded Yellow Jackets (24-9), who advanced to the second round of the St. Louis Regional, where they’ll play sixth-seeded Boston College on Sunday.

Northern Iowa (21-10), the 14th seed, was making just its second NCAA appearance.