OMAHA, Neb. – Kyle O’Quinn’s booming voice echoed through the halls, the jovial center for Norfolk State riding the euphoria of a monumental upset of Missouri as the words spilled out of his mouth faster than he could think.

“We messed up some brackets! We messed up some brackets!” he bellowed. “We even messed up my bracket.”

O’Quinn put together the finest game of his career at the biggest moment in the history of Norfolk State basketball Friday. The senior finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds, helping the No. 15 seed Spartans to an 86-84 victory against the second-seeded Tigers.

All those brackets that had the Big 12 tournament champs advancing to face Florida in the West Regional — perhaps even all the way to the Final Four — can be torn up. It’s the MEAC champions who are moving on.

Pendarvis Williams and Chris McEachin each added 20 points for the Spartans (26-9), who have already made their first trip to the NCAA tournament a memorable one. They became the fifth No. 15 seed to beat a No. 2 and the first since fellow conference member Hampton in 2001.

“You always go into the game with a sense of confidence,” O’Quinn said, “but I never thought it was an upset-alert until that buzzer went off. At the end of the game, that’s when I thought it would happen.”

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SAINT LOUIS 61, MEMPHIS 54: Kwamain Mitchell scored 22 points, including three big 3-pointers, and ninth-seeded Saint Louis (26-7) rode its gritty defense to beat eighth-seeded Memphis (26-9) at Columbus, Ohio.

Mitchell closed the first half by banking in a 3-pointer, then nailed two others to help the Billikens overturn an eight-point second-half deficit.

FLORIDA 71, VIRGINIA 45: Bradley Beal had 14 points and 11 rebounds, reserve Casey Prather scored a career-high 14 and seventh-seeded Florida (24-10) pulled away in the second half to beat 10th-seeded Virginia (22-10) at Omaha, Neb.

The Gators finished the first half on a 17-4 run to shake off a slow start and get out to a 30-22 lead. They shot 70 percent in the second half, pushing their lead to more than 20 points.

EAST

FLORIDA STATE 66, ST. BONAVENTURE 63: Bernard James scored 19 points and third-seeded Florida State (25-9) barely avoided a big upset, rallying to beat 14th-seeded St. Bonaventure (20-12) at Nashville, Tenn.

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The Seminoles shook off a slow start and won their sixth straight game, including their run to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship last week.

CINCINNATI 65, TEXAS 59: Yancy Gates had 15 points and 10 rebounds as sixth-seeded Cincinnati (25-10) withstood a late rally by 11th-seeded Texas (20-14) at Nashville, Tenn.

The Bearcats took a 16-2 lead while Texas opened the game 1 of 14 and hit 16 percent for the entire first half.

MIDWEST

OHIO 65, MICHIGAN 60: Walter Offutt grabbed a loose ball, was fouled by Evan Smotrycz and sank both of his free throws with 6.8 seconds left to preserve an upset for 13th-seeded Ohio (28-7) against fourth-seeded Michigan (24-10) at Nashville, Tenn.

The Bobcats had the Wolverines on their heels throughout the game, but Trey Burke of Michigan hit a 3-pointer with 4:12 left to cut it to 63-60. The Wolverines then missed their final five shots, four by Burke.

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NORTH CAROLINA 77, VERMONT 58: Tyler Zeller had 17 points and 15 rebounds to help top-seeded North Carolina (30-5) beat 16th-seeded Vermont (24-12) at Greensboro, N.C.

CREIGHTON 58, ALABAMA 57: Doug McDermott scored 16 points and the eughth-seeded Bluejays (29-5) overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half to beat ninth-seeded Alabama (21-12) at Greensboro, N.C., for their first tournament victory in 10 years.

Alabama had a chance to win during the frantic final seconds, but Josh Jones blocked Trevor Releford’s 3-point attempt from the top of the key as time expired.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE 79, SAN DIEGO STATE 65: Richard Howell doubled his average with 22 points and 11th-seeded North Carolina State (23-12) used its muscle inside and sticky defense to upset sixth-seeded San Diego State (26-8) at Columbus, Ohio.

GEORGETOWN 74, BELMONT 59: Jason Clark scored 21 points, Otto Porter added 16 and third-seeded Georgetown (24-8) used its ruthless defense to bottl up the shooters for 14th-seeded Belmont (27-8) at Columbus, Ohio, sending the Hoyas into the next round after early exits the past two years.

PURDUE 72, SAINT MARY’S 69: Lewis Jackson made the go-ahead free throws with 22.8 seconds left as 10th-seeded Purdue (22-12) won after seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s (27-6) rallied from 11 points down late to take its first lead of the game at Omaha, Neb.


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