By The Associated Press

WORCESTER, Mass. – Defending champion Connecticut withstood a furious charge by Central Florida to keep its hopes of a repeat alive.

Charlie Villanueva scored 22 points for the Huskies, who opened a 19-point lead and held on to beat Central Florida 77-71 in the Syracuse Regional on Friday despite career highs of 29 points and seven 3-pointers by Gary Johnson.

UConn (23-7) will play North Carolina State, a No. 10 seed that advanced to the second round with a 75-63 victory over Charlotte in the earlier game. But that could be it for the second-seeded Huskies if they don’t snap out of the slump that has stymied them for the last three games.

Iowa State 64, Minnesota 53

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Iowa State caught another team in its trap.

The Cyclones relied on the same formula that sparked a dramatic turnaround during the regular season, using a variety of pressure defenses to beat Minnesota 64-53 Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Iowa State held Minnesota to 33 percent shooting, and Curtis Stinson led a balanced attack with 18 points. Rahshon Clark and Jared Homan added 14 each for Iowa State (19-11), which got past the first round for the first time since reaching the round of eight in 2000. The next season, seeded second, the Cyclones lost to 15th-seeded Hampton in their tournament opener.

NC State 75, Charlotte 63

WORCESTER, Mass. – Julius Hodge atoned for the lowest moment of his college career in a big way.

Hodge had 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds Friday to lead North Carolina State to a 75-63 victory over Charlotte in the first round of the Syracuse Regional.

The 10th-seeded Wolfpack (20-13) play again Sunday against the winner of the defending national champion Connecticut-Central Florida game later Friday.

Villanova 55, New Mexico 47

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Villanova has the quick start down. It’s finishing the game off that gave the Wildcats some trouble.

Kyle Lowry made two sets of free throws in the final 1:38, then came up with a clutch steal as Villanova held off New Mexico 55-47 in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday afternoon. Lowry finished with eight points, while Mike Nardi led the Wildcats with 15 points.

North Carolina 96, Oakland 68

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – North Carolina’s romping offense kept Roy Williams unbeaten in the first round of the NCAA tournament and ended the postseason run of perhaps the tournament’s most unlikely participant.

Freshman Marvin Williams scored 20 points and Sean May added 19 in the top-seeded Tar Heels’ 96-68 rout of Oakland in the Syracuse Regional on Friday.

Rashad McCants added 16 points for the Tar Heels (28-4), who shot 73 percent in the first half to take a 28-point lead and never looked back. North Carolina advanced to Sunday’s second round to face ninth-seeded Iowa State, which beat Minnesota 64-53.

Florida 67, Ohio 62

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Florida certainly knows how to make the first round of the NCAA tournament interesting.

After the Gators blew a 20-point lead, Anthony Roberson converted a three-point play with 42.3 seconds left and Florida held off Ohio 67-62 Friday in the opening round of the Syracuse Regional.

Florida came into its seventh straight NCAA tournament hoping to forget about first-round losses of the past. The Gators had lost two of their last three first-round games, including last year to Manhattan when they were a No. 5 seed.

Southern Illinois 65, Saint Mary’s 56

OKLAHOMA CITY – After enduring consecutive heartbreaking losses in the first round of the NCAA tournament, seniors Stetson Hairston and Darren Brooks weren’t going to let it happen again to Southern Illinois.

Hairston broke a late tie with three free throws, then followed with a 3-pointer and Brooks drove for the next two baskets, giving the Salukis the push they needed to get past Saint Mary’s 65-56 Friday in the Chicago Regional.

Southern Illinois (27-7) advanced for the first time since 2002, when Hairston and Brooks were freshmen on a club that made the regional semifinals. The Salukis were knocked out by one point in the opening round the last two years, missing shots at the buzzer both times.

No. 6 Oklahoma St. 63, SE Louisiana 50

OKLAHOMA CITY – Facing an upset, a veteran Oklahoma State team needed a boost of energy from a freshman.

JamesOn Curry’s energetic play was the difference for the second-seeded Cowbo?nd Ivan McFarlin cutting to the basket for a layup, and the Cowboys turned a three-point lead into a comfortable edge down the stretch.

Curry added a free throw, then found McFarlin for another basket inside to make it 49-43 Oklahoma State. Terrence Crawford emphatically jammed home a miss by John Lucas III, and Curry hit a 3-pointer from the left wing then pumped his fist.

Duke 57, Delaware St. 46

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Duke avoided the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history and allowed coach Mike Krzyzewski to move to the top of the record book.

Shelden Williams had 14 points and 11 rebounds and the top-seeded Blue Devils held off 16th-seeded Delaware State 57-46 on Friday night in the Austin Regional, giving Coach K his 65th career victory in the tournament.

Louisville 68, Louisiana-Lafayette 62

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Rick Pitino was right.

Louisiana-Lafayette was every bit as troublesome as Louisville’s coach suspected before his Cardinals found a way to avoid another early exit from the NCAA tournament.

Francisco Garcia went 7-for-7 from the foul line in the last 2 minutes, and finished with 27 points to help fourth-seeded Louisville advance to the second round of the Albuquerque Regional with a 68-62 victory Friday night.

Wisconsin 57, N. Iowa 52

OKLAHOMA CITY – What started as a superb 3-point shooting exhibition for Wisconsin ended with the Badgers just looking for a basket.

Luckily, Kammron Taylor found his range before Northern Iowa did.

Taylor scored 16 points in a reserve role, including a jumper and four free throws in the final minute, to help the Badgers hold off Northern Iowa for a 57-52 win Friday night.

Mississippi State 93, Stanford 70

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Winsome Frazier is back at the top of his game just in time to help Mississippi State make up for last year’s NCAA tournament disaster.

Frazier made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points Friday night to lead the Bulldogs to a 93-70 win over Stanford in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Bucknell 64, Kansas 63

OKLAHOMA CITY – In their 110th season, the Bucknell Bison finally won their first NCAA tournament game. And, wow, what a victory it was.

Chris McNaughton banked in a hook shot over Wayne Simien with 10.5 seconds left, then Simien missed an open 15-foot jumper at the buzzer, giving the 14th-seeded Bison a stunning 64-63 victory over third-seeded Kansas on Friday night to shake up the Syracuse Regional.

No. 15 Michigan St. 89, Old Dominion 81

WORCESTER, Mass. – Larry Izzo leaned back in his chair, his arms spread out, his lips pursed. The usually volatile Michigan State coach didn’t like what he was seeing.

The fifth-seeded Spartans couldn’t pull away until the final minutes, when Shannon Brown made a spinning layin to start a three-point play that helped Michigan State beat Old Dominion 89-81 on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Georgia Tech 80, George Washington 68

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Well, look at this. Georgia Tech finally gets an easy win in the NCAA tournament.

Jarrett Jack, Will Bynum and B.J. Elder combined to score on six straight possessions in the second half, leading the Yellow Jackets to an 80-68 victory over George Washington in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night. Jack had 20 to lead the Yellow Jackets, who never won by more than eight points last year in their march to the championship game.

Bynum had 17 and Elder added 15 for Georgia Tech.