No. 12 seed McNeese State holds off late Clemson charge

Quadir Copeland (11) and Christian Shumate (24) of McNeese State celebrate after defeating Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Amica Mutual Pavillion on Thursday in Providence, R.I. EMILEE CHINN — GETTY IMAGES

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. >> McNeese coach Will Wade and his boombox-toting manager gave March Madness its first bracket buster.

The 12th-seeded Cowboys used a stifling first half to open a 24-point lead, and then held off late-charging No. 5 seed Clemson for the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory, a 69-67 win in the opening round of the East Region on Thursday.

McNeese earned a matchup on Saturday with fourth-seeded Purdue.

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

Chris Shumate added 13 points and 11 rebounds for McNeese, which has been best-known this March for its viral, rapping manager and a renegade coach who has reportedly already lined up his next job — at NC State.

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.

Alabama 83, Alabama State 63 >> Miles Kelly made seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points, All-American Johni Broome added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 1 seed Auburn beat 16th-seeded Alabama State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Houston 78, SIU Edwardsville 40 >> Milos Uzan scored 16 points, L.J. Cryer added 15 and No. 1 seed Houston was able to rest up for the rest of the NCAA Tournament while romping past No. 16 seed SIU Edwardsville in the first round of the Midwest Region.

Creighton 89, Louisville 75 >> Jamiya Neal scored a career-high 29 points and had 12 rebounds, Steven Ashworth connected from well beyond the arc on the way to 22 points, and ninth-seeded Creighton beat No. 8 seed Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Purdue 75, High Point 63 >> Trey Kaufman-Renn had 21 points and eight rebounds, and fourth-seeded Purdue held off High Point in the first round.

Wisconsin 85, Montana 66 >> Wisconsin grinded its way back into the March Madness win column, getting 19 points from John Blackwell and double-digit scoring from four others on the way to a victory over Montana.

Byu 80, VCU 71 >> Igor Demin and Richie Saunders led BYU to a victory over VCU, giving first-year Cougars coach Kevin Young a better memory of Ball Arena than his last one.

Tennessee 77, Wofford 62 >> Chaz Lanier scored 29 points on 11-of-22 shooting and No. 2 seed Tennessee never trailed in a victory over Wofford that sent the Volunteers to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season.

Arkansas 79, Kansas 72 >> Jonas Aidoo scored 22 points to help 10th-seeded Arkansas to a victory over No. 7 seed Kansas in the latest meeting between two of college basketball’s winningest coaches.

Texas A&M 80, Yale 71 >> Texas A&M snuffed out hope of another Ivy League upset, sending Yale back to class behind a career-high 25 points along with 10 rebounds from big man Pharrel Payne.

Drake 67, Missouri 57 >> Bennett Stirtz scored 21 points and No. 11 seed Drake, a team relying heavily on Division II transfers, held on after blowing most of a 15-point lead to beat sixth-seeded Missouri in the first round.