By The Associated Press

CLEVELAND – Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s players might not need to bring their IDs again. Now everyone knows who they are.

The Panthers, briefly barred from practicing Wednesday when they couldn’t produce their student passes, pulled off the first upset of the NCAA tournament, stunning Alabama 83-73 on Thursday.

Joah Tucker and Ed McCants scored 21 points apiece as Milwaukee (25-5) won its first NCAA tourney game in its second try. Two years ago, the 12th-seeded Panthers nearly knocked off Notre Dame, losing 70-69.

The underrated Horizon League champions finished the job this time, outplaying one of the SEC’s top programs and continuing a trend of No. 12s beating No. 5s in March. That first-round matchup has produced an upset in 16 of the past 17 tournaments, the only exception being in 2000.

Kennedy Winston had 20 points and Ronald Steele 16 for the Crimson Tide (24-8), who had hoped to have another run like a year ago when they made it to the round of eight. But Alabama got outplayed by a lesser-known opponent from a little-known conference playing in a friendly arena.

If anyone has a home-court advantage it’s the Panthers, who won here three weeks ago and have four straight victories on Cleveland State’s home floor.

Milwaukee, which has won 10 straight and 18 of 19, will play the winner of Thursday’s second game in the Chicago Regional between fourth-seeded Boston College (24-4) and 13th-seeded Pennsylvania (20-8) on Saturday.

Kentucky 72, Eastern Kentucky 64

INDIANAPOLIS – Kentucky didn’t have to rely on its 3-point shooting Thursday. Instead, the Wildcats took advantage of their powerful inside game.

Kelenna Azubuike and Chuck Hayes each scored 16 points and second-seeded Kentucky dominated the middle to hold off state rival Eastern Kentucky 72-64 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Kentucky (26-5) extended its record for NCAA tournament victories to 94 and is now 37-9 in NCAA tournament openers. The Wildcats advanced to Saturday’s second round of the Austin Regional and will face either Cincinnati or Iowa.

The Colonels (22-9) were led by Matt Witt with 21 points and Michael Haney with 12 points, but their first tournament appearance since 1979 ended quickly. Eastern Kentucky’s longest winning streak since 1964-65 ended at seven. The Colonels are now 0-6 in NCAA tournament games and 0-9 against the Wildcats.

Pacific 79, Pittsburgh 71

BOISE, Idaho – A 15-point halftime lead was just enough for Pacific.

The Tigers survived a sloppy second half and advanced in the Albuquerque Regional by holding off Pittsburgh 79-71 Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Christian Maraker came back after slamming his head to the floor in the first half and scored 17 points, including a late 3-pointer that helped clinch it and get the Tigers (27-3) through the first round for the second straight year.

Mike Webb scored a career-high 15 points, going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc to help the Tigers to a 45-30 halftime lead that held up through several Pitt rallies in the second half.

Oklahoma 84, Niagara 64

TUCSON, Ariz. – Oklahoma overcame its own uninspired play and the inspirational support Niagara got from a former star and the coach’s cancer-stricken mother to beat the Purple Eagles in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Drew Lavender led six Sooners in double figures with 17 points in third-seeded Oklahoma’s 84-64 victory Thursday in an Austin Regional game at Arizona’s McKale Center.

The Sooners (25-7), who didn’t make the tourney last year, struggled with 46 percent field-goal shooting, but were helped out by solid defense that harassed the Eagles into 16 turnovers.

Juan Mendez led the 14th-seeded Eagles (20-10) with 22 points and 15 rebounds. But he missed his first 11 shots in the second half and finally made a basket with just over a minute left in his final college game. David Brooks added 16 points.

Utah 60, UTEP 54

TUCSON, Ariz. – With a deafening crowd against it, Utah escaped with a 60-54 first-round victory over UTEP in the NCAA tournament Thursday thanks to a brilliant bit of defense by Tim Drisdom and a critical rebound from an exhausted Andrew Bogut.

With Utah leading 56-54, UTEP’s lightning-fast point guard Filiberto Rivera drove the lane. Drisdom stripped the ball away, then was fouled by Rivera. The Utah junior’s two free throws made it 58-54 with 15.4 seconds to play.

Jason Williams tried to score inside, but Bogut got a piece of the ball, then saved the rebound as he crashed to the floor. Marc Jackson’s two free throws with 5.6 seconds to go sealed a victory that left the Utes 6-0 in NCAA tournament games at McKale Center.

Utah (28-5) has won 23 of its last 25.

Washington 88, Montana 77

BOISE, Idaho – The Washington Huskies were annoyed that no one thought they deserved a No. 1 seed.

A harder-than-expected victory over Montana probably isn’t going to help.

Washington charged out to a 20-point lead in the first nine minutes and played well enough the rest of the way to open the NCAA tournament with an 88-77 victory over Montana on Thursday.

Brandon Roy had 17 points, Tre Simmons added 15, and Washington (28-5) shot 55 percent to win an NCAA tournament game for the first time since reaching the round of 16 in 1998. The Huskies move on to face Pacific, a 79-71 winner over Pittsburgh, in the second round Saturday.

Wake Forest 70, Chattanooga 54

CLEVELAND – Chris Paul didn’t do anything he’d regret. He doesn’t want to spend another second watching this March.

Wake Forest’s star guard returned from a one-game suspension and the second-seeded Demon Deacons shook off a horrible first half for a 70-54 win over Chattanooga in the NCAA tournament on Thursday night.

Paul scored 20 points and added six rebounds and five assists to pace Wake Forest (27-5), which didn’t play like one of the pre-tourney favorites until midway through the second half.

The Demon Deacons struggled with the Mocs (20-11), who threatened to become just the fourth No. 15 seed to win a first-round game since the tournament expanded in 1985.

Nevada 61, Texas 57

INDIANAPOLIS – Kevinn Pinkney scored 15 points and Nevada rallied to beat Texas 61-57 on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Ninth-seeded Nevada (25-6) will face either top-seeded Illinois or Fairleigh Dickinson in the second round of the Chicago Regional on Saturday.

Pinkney spent much of the game in foul trouble and the Wolf Pack’s top scorer, Nick Fazekas was held to just 10 points – well below his average of 21.4 points. They combined for more than 41 percent of the Wolf Pack’s scoring entering the game.

Mo Charlo added 12 points for the Wolf Pack, Ramon Sessions had 11, and Fazekas grabbed 13 rebounds.

Arizona 66, Utah St. 53

BOISE, Idaho – Arizona learned from what happened in its last NCAA tournament appearance.

The Wildcats got a big lead on Utah State and this time built on it, winning 66-53 Thursday in the Chicago Regional. Last spring, the Wildcats blew a 14-point lead and lost in the first round to Seton Hall.

Third-seeded Arizona (28-6) overcame a sluggish start and a three-point halftime deficit, but opened the second half with a 16-2 run and dominated the rest of the way.

Channing Frye scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and pulled down 10 rebounds. Salim Stoudamire also scored 17 and Hassan Adams and Chris Rodgers scored 10 apiece for the Wildcats.

Gonzaga 74, Winthrop 64

TUCSON, Ariz. – Gonzaga found out how uncomfortable it can be to be a favorite in the NCAA tournament.

Fourteenth-seeded Winthrop almost did to the Bulldogs what third-seeded Gonzaga has done to several top teams over the years before the Zags grabbed control late and won 74-64 Thursday night in the first round of the Albuquerque Regional.

The loss snapped Winthrop’s 18-game winning streak, longest in the nation. Gonzaga (26-4) won its 13th in a row.

Neither team led by more than eight points until the very end of the second half, and it was tied four times in the final 20 minutes.

Adam Morrison led Gonzaga with 27 points. J.P. Batista added 14 points and Ronny Turiaf had 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Torrell Martin scored 22 points and made six 3-pointers – both career highs – for the Eagles (27-6), who are 0-5 in the NCAA tournament. Phillip Williams tied his career high with 17 points and Craig Bradshaw grabbed 11 rebounds.

Last year, the Zags lost in the second round as a No. 2 seed. They haven’t gotten out of that round since 2001, when they were a No. 12 seed.

Gonzaga outscored the Eagles 14-4 over the final 4:54 to pull away. Bradshaw made Winthrop’s only field goal in that stretch. Martin got a steal and a fast-break layup and Williams made two free throws for a 60-all tie. Then Derek Raivio and Morrison hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Gonzaga the lead for good, 66-60, with 31/2 minutes remaining.

Winthrop brought a loyal gold-shirted following from Rock Hill, S.C., a suburb of Charlotte, N.C. The school’s 6,658 students, who pay $4 to attend home basketball games, are about 70 percent women, a remnant of Winthrop’s former status as an all-women’s teachers college.

Winthrop led by six points three times in the first half, when neither team shot well.

Erroll Knight capped a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer to give Gonzaga a 19-18 lead.

The Eagles outscored the Zags 17-14 to close the half ahead 35-33. They hit four 3-pointers, including three straight, in the spurt.

AP-ES-03-17-05 2154EST