McNeese State is moving on in March Madness after the 12th-seeded Cowboys held off late-charging No. 5 seed Clemson 69-67 in a Midwest Region game on Thursday in Providence, R.I. in the first bracket buster of the NCAA Tournament.

Brando Murray scored 14 of his 21 points in a stifling first half, when the Southland Conference school from Lake Charles, Louisiana, held Clemson to 13 points. After falling behind by as many as 24, the Tigers rallied, erasing most of a 12-point deficit in the final minute before running out of time.

With its first NCAA Tournament victory, McNeese earned a second-round matchup on Saturday with Purdue.

Chris Shumate added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Cowboys.

A 7½-point underdog, McNeese (28-6) held the Tigers to one basket over almost eight minutes during a 17-2 first-half run that turned a tie game into a 23-8 lead. After Clemson (27-7) scored the first three points of the second, the Cowboys ran off nine in a row and led by as many as 24 points.

Jaeden Zackery scored 24 points, Chase Hunter had 21 and Viktor Lakhin grabbed 10 rebounds for Clemson.

Houston 78, SIU Edwardsville 40 >> Milos Uzan scored 16 points, LJ Cryer added 15 and No. 1 seed Houston romped past No. 16 seed SIU Edwardsville in Wichita, Kan.

Ja’Vier Francis added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Big 12 champs, who will carry a 14-game winning streak into a second-round matchup with Gonzaga. Houston (31-4) has won 26 of its last 27 overall.

Ray’Sean Taylor had 10 points for SIUE (22-12), which was just 2 of 24 from the 3-point arc in its first NCAA appearance.

Tennessee 77, Wofford 62 >> Chaz Lanier scored 29 points on 11-of-22 shooting and the No. 2-seeded Volunteers never trailed in a victory over the 15th-seed Terriers (19-16) in Nashville, Tenn.

Zakai Zeigler had 12 points and 12 assists for Tennessee (28-7).

Purdue 75, High Point 63 >> Trey Kaufman-Renn had 21 points and eight rebounds, and the fourth-seeded Boilermakers held off the 13th-seeded Panthers.

Big Ten player of the year Braden Smith added 20 points and six assists as Purdue (23-11) avoided a first-round exit after reaching the title game last season.

D’Maurian Williams had 12 points for High Point (29-6), which had won 14 straight.

Gonzaga 89, Georgia 68 >> Khalif Battle scored 24 points and eighth-seeded Gonzaga routed No. 9 seed Georgia in Wichita, Kan.

Nolan Hickman and Braden Huff added 18 points apiece for Gonzaga (26-8).

The Zags went 12 for 20 from 3-point range and shot 55% from the field overall.

Asa Newell scored 20 points for Georgia (20-13.

It was the 25th straight NCAA Tournament appearance for Gonzaga while Georgia made the field for the first time since 2015.

South Region

Auburn 83, Alabama State 63 >> Mike Kelly made seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points, All-American Johni Broome added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and the No. 1 seeded Tigers beat the 16th-seeded Hornets in Nashville.

Coach Bruce Pearl’s Tigers (29-5) lasted one game in 2024, losing to Yale days after winning the Southeastern Conference Tournament. This time, Auburn came in having lost three of four inside the power-packed SEC with a resume still strong enough to earn the top overall seed among the four No. 1 teams.

Texas A&M 80, Yale 71 >> The fourth-seeded Aggies (23-10) beat the No. 13-seeded Bulldogs behind a career-high 25 points along with 10 rebounds from big man Pharrel Payne in Denver.

John Poulakidas led Yale (22-8) with 23 points.

Creighton 89, Louisville 75 >> Jamiya Neal scored a career-high 29 points and had 12 rebounds, Steven Ashworth tallied 22 points, and the ninth-seeded Bluejays defeated the No.8-seeded Cardinals in Lexington, Ky.

Creignton (25-10) won its fifth consecutive March Madness opener and beat a team ranked in the top 10 for the second time this season. Louisville, despite its unimpressive seeding, entered at No. 10 in the AP Top 25.

Chucky Hepburn scored 22 points and Terrence Edwards Jr. had 21 for Louisville (27-8).

West Region

Arkansas 79, Kansas 72 >> Jonas Aidoo scored 22 points to help the 10th-seeded Razorbacks (21-13) to a victory over the No. 7-seeded Jayhawks in Providence, R.I.

Johnell Davis added 18 points, including some crucial late free throws, to help John Calipari to his first tournament victory as Arkansas coach.

Zeke Mayo had 18 points for Kansas (21-13), which has made 35 straight NCAA Tournaments and hadn’t lost in the first round since 2006.

East Region

Wisconsin 85, Montana 66 >> The third-seeded Badgers grinded their way back into the March Madness win column, getting 19 points from John Blackwell in a victory over the 14th-seeded Grizzlies in Denver.

Blackwell also had five rebounds and three assists for the Badgers (27-9).

BYU 80, VCU 71 >> Richie Saunders and Igor Demin led the sixth-seeded Cougars to a win over the 11th-seeded Rams in Denver.

Saunders (16 points) and Demin (15) haunted VCU (28-7) and propelled BYU (25-9) into the second round.