No. 2 Ball State had to work overtime to get past No. 7 Central Michigan 64-61. Poor free throw shooting nearly doomed No. 3 Buffalo in a 65-62 win against No. 6 Kent State, as the Bulls missed 12 free throws. No. 1 Bowling Green beat No. 9 Ohio 74-61 to complete a three-game season sweep of the Bobcats. No. 5 Akron hit 12 three-pointers to pace the Zips to a 73-63 win against No. 4 Miami, Ohio.

No. 3 Norfolk State made just enough free throws to get past No. 6 Bethune-Cookman 63-58. No. 5 Coppin State took advantage of No. 4 North Carolina A&T’s struggles at the free throw line to escape with a 66-63 win.

No. 2 Nicholls State trailed by eight at halftime to No. 7 Texas State, but the Colonels used a 17-4 run midway through the second half to pull ahead and slip past the Bobcats for an 80-75 win. No. 6 Texas-San Antonio hit 10 three-pointers and shot 57 percent from the field to win 83-74 against No. 3 Sam Houston State. Junior swingman Kevin Palmer had 35 points for No. 4 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, helping the Islanders to a 79-72 win against No. 5 Texas-Arlington. No. 1 Stephen F. Austin beat back No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana 67-56 by hitting 11 three-pointers to help overcome a 39 percent shooting day.

After failing to win a Mountain West game during the regular season, No. 9 Air Force appeared poised to win its second in two days before faltering in the second half in an 80-69 loss to No. 1 BYU. No. 4 San Diego State led No. 5 UNLV for nearly the entire game in a 71-57 win, the third victory for the Aztecs against UNLV this season. Senior guard Lawrence Borha drained a three-pointer with less than a second remaining to give No. 2 Utah a 61-58 win against No. 7 TCU. No. 3 New Mexico will be sweating on Selection Sunday after the Lobos lost 75-67 to No. 6 Wyoming.

No. 5 Arizona did nothing to improve its NCAA Tournament outlook by losing to No. 4 Arizona State 68-56. No. 1 Washington’s defense pressured No. 9 Stanford into 18 turnovers and nearly 50 missed shots in an 85-73 win. No. 6 USC obliterated No. 3 California on the glass for a 51-25 rebounding advantage that helped the Trojans slip past the Bears 79-75.

As usual, junior guard Jodie Meeks and freshman forward Patrick Patterson carried No. E4 Kentucky, and the Wildcats beat No. W5 Mississippi 71-58. No. W3 Mississippi State ensured that No. E6 Georgia would not pull off another miracle championship run like the team did last season by whipping Georgia 79-60 in the opening round. No. W4 Alabama used a 14-3 run early in the second half to put away No. E5 Vanderbilt in an 82-75 win. No. E3 Florida avoided a disastrous loss to No. W6 Arkansas with a 73-58 victory.

No. 3 Prairie View made seven free throws in the final minutes to produce a 65-60 win against No. 6 Mississippi Valley State. No. 4 Arkansas-Pine Bluff held on for a 62-61 win against No. 5 Southern after the two teams failed to score any points for five minutes down the stretch.

No. 4 Boise State led by as much as nine points in the first half, but No. 5 New Mexico State played better in the second half to win 80-70. No. 1 Utah State started fast, building a 16-3 run that produced an 85-68 win against No. 9 Fresno State.