No. 3 Missouri appeared destined to rout No. 2 Memphis after leading by 24 points early in the second half. But Memphis pulled as close as six points and seemed on the cusp of pulling off a stunning comeback. However, the Tigers ran out of time, and Missouri advanced with a 102-91 win.

North Carolina Central promoted assistant coach LeVelle Moton to be the Eagles’ next coach, replacing Henry Dickerson. The university did not extend Dickerson a new contract after the Eagles finished the season 4-27.

Senior guard Levance Fields delivered a 60-55 victory to No. 1 Pittsburgh after No. 4 Xavier appeared to have the Panthers on the ropes. Trailing 54-52 with less than a minute to go and the shot clock winding down, Fields stutter-stepped and lifted above the defender to drain a go-ahead three-pointer. At the other end, Fields stole the ball from B.J. Raymond and sprinted in for a layup that gave Pittsburgh a three-point lead.

No. 1 Connecticut’s size and power outmatched No. 5 Purdue, propelling the Huskies to a 72-60 win. Junior center Hasheem Thabeet had 15 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks for the Huskies, and senior guard Craig Austrie led Connecticut with 17 points.

Connecticut could be facing an NCAA investigation after Yahoo releases a report that details numerous violations committed by team officials and representatives in the recruitment of former Husky Nate Miles.

Tennessee lost a heart-breaking 77-75 first-round NCAA Tournament game to Oklahoma State, but don’t blame junior forward Wayne Chism for failing to give his best effort. Chism finished with 11 points and six rebounds despite playing with a broken thumb he suffered in practice.

Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy returned a bonus he earned because the Golden Eagles met attendance goals for this past season. Eustachy said he did not feel that he should receive a bonus during an economic recession when the team finished only 15-17 this season.

North Carolina State juniors Brandon Costner and Trevor Ferguson won’t return to the Wolfpack next season, although they are following different paths away from Raleigh.

Utah sophomore forward Morgan Grim informed coach Jim Boylen that he wanted to play at another school for this final two seasons. Grim averaged 0.8 points and 0.9 rebounds per game in 42 games.

No. 3 Missouri had an answer for every big shot that No. 6 Marquette made, and the Tigers found a way to beat the Golden Eagles 83-79. Tied at 78, Marquette’s Jerel McNeal made only 1-of-2 free throws, setting up an unusual play in which Tiller drove to the basket, drew a foul but couldn’t take the free throws because he was injured on the play. Freshman guard Kim English, a 68 percent free throw shooter, stepped in and calmly drained both free throws, which proved to be the winning points for Missouri.