No. 5 Purdue led from start to finish against No. 4 Washington in a 76-74 victory. However, the Boilermakers had to hold off the Huskies during the closing minutes when they cut a 14-point lead down to two.

Despite speculation that a toe injury would keep No. 1 North Carolina’s Ty Lawson out of today’s game, the senior point guard played and poured in 21 second-half points to lead the Tar Heels to an 84-70 win against No. 8 LSU. Lawson finished with 23 points, including 21 after halftime and seven during a decisive 17-2 run.

No. 1 Connecticut excelled against No. 9 Texas A&M in a 92-66 win. Senior point guard A.J. Price had 27 points, five rebounds and eight assists to pace the Huskies’ offense, which scored at will in shooting 58 percent from the field.

Memphis fired on all cylinders against No. 10 Maryland in an 89-70 blowout that wasn’t in doubt as early as midway through the first half. Memphis shot 59 percent for the game, including 70 percent in the first half. Freshman point guard Tyreke Evans led the Tigers with 19 points, four rebounds and five assists.

No. 3 Villanova started hot and built a double-digit lead that UCLA could never bounce back from in an 89-69 victory for the Wildcats. The win ends UCLA’s bid to reach a fourth consecutive Final Four. The Wildcats used a 19-2 run early in the game to pull ahead of the Bruins.

No. 11 Dayton won an ugly slugfest against No. 6 Virginia 68-60 to pull one of the few upsets in the NCAA Tournament so far. The Flyers held West Virginia to 37 percent shooting and constantly frustrated the Mountaineers’ ball handlers with tight pressure.

Sophomore forward DeJuan Blair was unstoppable for Pittsburgh, which needed his dominating inside presence to cover up for poor ball control in the Panthers’ 72-62 win against No. 16 East Tennessee State. Pittsburgh committed 18 turnovers, which allowed the Buccaneers to hang around for most of the game. Pitt did not stretch the lead to double digits until the final seconds of the game.

No. 6 Arizona State found alternative scoring options with sophomore guard James Harden struggling, and the Sun Devils beat No. 11 Temple 66-57. The Owls’ Dionte Christmas out-dueled his acclaimed counterpart, scoring 29 points to Harden’s nine.

No. 3 Missouri worked its way past No. 14 Cornell 78-59 to move into the second round. The Tigers didn’t use any long run to blow open the game, they simply played consistent pressure defense that held the Big Red to 37 percent shooting. Senior forward Leo Lyons had a strong game for Missouri with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Senior guard Byron Eaton charged through the lane and delivered an off-balance layup — and drew a foul — to give No. 8 Oklahoma State a 77-75 win against No. 9 Tennessee. Neither team led by more than three points in the final eight minutes in one of the most tightly contested games of the NCAA Tournament so far.