Kaufman-Renn scores 21; Purdue turns back High Point

PROVIDENCE, R.I. >> Trey Kaufman-Renn had 21 points and eight rebounds, and fourth-seeded Purdue held off High Point for a victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

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 championship game last season. The Boilermakers will meet the winner of Clemson and McNeese State in the second round of the Midwest Region on Saturday.

D’Maurian Williams had 12 points for No. 13 seed High Point (29-6), which had won 14 straight. Trae Benham added 11 points.

HOUSTON 78, SIU-EDWARDSVILLE 40>> Milos Uzan scored 16 points, LJ 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.

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 eighth-seeded Gonzaga or No. 9 seed Georgia. Houston (31-4) has won 26 of its last 27 overall.

GONZAGA 89, GEORGIA 68>> Khalif Battle scored 24 points, Nolan Hickman had 18 and eighth-seeded Gonzaga routed Georgia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Braden Huff added 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting as Gonzaga (26-8) advanced to an intriguing second-round matchup with top-seeded Houston. The Cougars rolled to a 78-40 victory over SIU Edwardsville.

The Zags used a sharp, focused performance to move into the second round for the 22nd time since Mark Few took over as coach in 1999. They went 12 for 20 from 3-point range and shot 55% from the field overall.

AUBURN 83, ALABAMA ST. 63>> Mike 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.

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.

Auburn will play No. 9 seed Creighton, an 89-75 winner over eighth-seeded Louisville, in the second round of the South Region on Saturday for a trip to the Sweet 16 in Atlanta.

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.

Coach Greg McDermott’s Bluejays (25-10) won their fifth consecutive March Madness opener and beat a team ranked in the top 10 for the second time this season. Louisville (27-8), despite its unimpressive seeding, entered at No. 10 in the AP Top 25.

Seeking its fourth Sweet 16 appearance in five years, Creighton will play either No. 1 overall seed Auburn or 16th-seeded Alabama State in the second round of the South Region on Saturday.

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

Coach Rick Barnes’ Vols (28-7) will play either No. 7 seed UCLA or 10th-seeded Utah State on Saturday in the Midwest Region as they try to reach a third straight Sweet 16.

Zakai Zeigler had 12 points and 12 assists. He became Tennessee’s career assist leader after setting the single-season record for assists at the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

No. 15 seed Wofford was making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance as the Southern Conference Tournament champion but ended a run of reaching four straight second rounds.

WOMEN

Columbia gets first ever NCAA Tournament win

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. >> Riley Weiss scored 14 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter to help Columbia rally from a 13-point halftime deficit and beat Washington 63-60 on Thursday night for the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.

Cecelia Collins added 12 points for the Lions (24-6), who won the First Four matchup of 11-seeds. They’ll face sixth-seeded West Virginia on Saturday.

Columbia trailed most of the game until the fourth quarter when Weiss got hot. Her two free throws with 18 seconds left gave the Lions a 61-57 lead.

William & Mary 69, High Point 63>> Bella Nascimento scored 24 points and William & Mary edged High Point 69-63 for a victory in the Tribe’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in either women’s or men’s basketball. The victory in the First Four matchup of 16-seeds sends William & Mary (16-18) into a game with No. 1 seed Texas on Saturday.

William & Mary was the last original Division I basketball member from 1938-39 to have never made either NCAA Tournament. The Tribe qualified by winning the Coastal Athletic Association Tournament, having to win four games in four days as the No. 9 seed after losing seven of their last eight regular-season games.

— The Associated Press