Coach Randy Bennett smartly adds a game to the schedule to give the NCAA Tournament selection committee a chance to watch Patty Mills in action. Eastern Washington gets an opportunity to pull off a major upset days before Selection Sunday.

No. 7 South Dakota State upset No. 2 Oral Roberts 72-69, ending the Golden Eagles’ three-year run as champion. No. 1 North Dakota State posted a gaudy 16-2 conference record during the regular season, but the Bison found No. 8 Centenary was undaunted in a hard-fought 83-77 battle.

Duke sophomore guard Nolan Smith will miss a third consecutive game while recovering from a concussion he suffered against Maryland.

Cornell beat Penn and Princeton lost to Columbia to ensure that the Big Red will win their second consecutive Ivy League title and make another appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

No. 6 Pepperdine and No. 7 San Francisco wrapped up Friday’s action with a 93-85 thriller. No. 5 San Diego got some luck to beat No. 8 Loyola Marymount 62-56.

No. 9 Hartford beat No. 8 Maine 65-56 to win its first game since Jan. 14, when the Hawks beat the Black Bears by five.

No. 8 Georgia State took out No. 9 Delaware 54-41, and No. 5 Hofstra swept away No. 12 UNC-Wilmington 79-66.

No. 8 Loyola, Md., failed to score more than seven points during a total of 16 minutes, allowing No. 9 Canisius to move forward to the quarterfinals. In the second game, Marist won an ugly game in which neither team shot better 36 percent from the field.

All four favorites won in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. However, Northern Iowa needed to overcome a six-point deficit in the final 10 minutes, and Creighton exemplified the thrills of March Madness with a buzzer-beating game-winner to slip past Wichita State 63-62.

No. 4 Morehead State became the first underdog to take down a regular-season champ during Championship Week. Sophomore forward Kenneth Faried is playing like a superhero, posting 17 rebounds for a second consecutive game. The Eagles will face No. 2 Austin Peay, which beat No. 3 Murray State 67-50.