ORLANDO, Fla. — Trevon Bluiett doesn’t spend a lot of time worrying about missed shots because he knows makes eventually will come.

After missing his first seven shots and contributing just three points in the first half, Bluiett found his rhythm Thursday night to lead No. 11 seed Xavier to a 76-65 upset of sixth-seeded Maryland in the first round of the NCAA tournament in the West Regional.

Sean O'Mara, who finished with 18 points for Xavier, dunks against Damonte Dodd of Maryland during the first half of Xavier's 76-65 victory Thursday. O'Mara shot 5 of 6 from the field. Associated Press/Gary McCullough

Brandon Walters of Middle Tennessee wasn't happy with a foul call, but you just know he was happy after the game as his team defeated Minnesota 81-72 in the first round and will play Butler next. Associated Press/Morry Gash

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Bluiett shot 6 of 7 in the second half to finish with 21 points.

“Once I get a couple to go in and get a rhythm going, then everything starts to fall,” said Bluiett, the Musketeers’ leading scorer. “Everything you shoot just feels good.”

Bluiett made four 3s in the second half to help Xavier come back from a six-point deficit.

The Musketeers move on in the West region, marking the third straight year they have advanced to the second round. Maryland, which started three freshmen for much the season, lost in the first round for the first time since 1997.

Maryland came in favored after finishing second in the Big Ten during the regular season, but seemed to be one of the more vulnerable No. 6 seeds in the tournament, primarily because of youth.

Maryland’s young players struggled at times as Xavier shifted from zone to man-to-man. Kevin Huerter finished with 19 points but was just 5 of 13 from the field, and Melo Trimble couldn’t find a rhythm against the Musketeers’ zone, going 1 of 9 from 3-point range to finish with 13 points, three assists and three turnovers.

“I just believe in my players,” said Xavier Coach Chris Mack. “Maryland is really good against man-to-man offensively. We don’t want Quentin Goodin to be chasing Melo Trimble all over the floor so zone is fairly effective at times.”

Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon said his players had difficulty trying to beat Xavier’s defense. The Terps went long stretches without making baskets and shot just 26 percent from 3-point range, worse in the second half as Xavier played mostly zone.

“The changing defenses gave us more problems than anything tonight,” Turgeon said. “I think they got hot and we kind of got rushed a little bit.”

The Terps also had no answer for Xavier big man Sean O’Mara, who finished with 18 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 8 of 9 from the free throw line.

GONZAGA 66, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 46: Jordan Mathews scored 16 points to help Gonzaga (33-1) slowly pull away from South Dakota State (18-17) at Salt Lake City and avoid the first 1 vs. 16 upset in the history of the NCAA tournament.

The Jackrabbits, champions of the Summit League, led for the first 17 minutes and stayed in range for most of the game.

NOTRE DAME 60, PRINCETON 58: Bonzie Colson scored 18 points and Notre Dame (26-9) survived a first-round scare by pulling out a win over Princeton (23-7) at Buffalo, New York.

The Tigers had a chance to pull ahead on their final possession, but Devin Cannady missed an open 3-pointer just before the final horn. Steve Vasturia of Notre Dame pulled down the rebound.

WEST VIRGINIA 86, BUCKNELL 80: Nathan Adrian had 12 points and 10 rebounds, leading West Virginia (27-9) over Bucknell (26-9) at Buffalo, New York.

Tarik Phillip scored 16 points for the Mountaineers, who struggled at times with the outside-shooting Bison. West Virginia avoided a repeat of last year’s first-round meltdown when the third-seeded Mountaineers lost to Stephen F. Austin.

SAINT MARY’S 85, VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH 77: Jock Landale had 18 points and 13 rebounds as Saint Mary’s (29-4) held off Virginia Commonwealth (26-9) at Salt Lake City.

The Gaels led most of the way but had to hold on after the VCU defensive pressure started to become too much in the second half.

FLORIDA STATE 86, FGCU 80: Dwayne Bacon scored 25 points and Jonathan Isaac added 17 points and 10 rebounds to help the Seminoles (26-8) hold off the Eagles (26-8) at Orlando, Florida.

EAST

VIRGINIA 76, UNC WILMINGTON 71: London Perrantes scored 24 points, reserve Marial Shayok added a career-high 23 and Virginia (23-10)rallied from 15 points down to beat UNC Wilmington (29-6) at Orlando, Florida.

Perrantes scored 19 points in the second half as the Cavaliers got their slow-paced offense going. His biggest bucket was a driving bank shot with 1:37 remaining that put the Cavs up 71-66.

FLORIDA 80, EAST TENNESSEE STATE 65: Devin Robinson tied his career high with 24 points, Kasey Hill added 14 and Florida (25-8) used a second-half surge to beat East Tennessee State (27-8) at Orlando, Florida.

Robinson, an NBA prospect who had been relatively quiet late in the season, scored his most points in nearly two months. He made 10 of 17 shots and chipped in seven rebounds.

The speedy Hill reached double figures for the fourth consecutive game. He added six rebounds and five assists for his most complete game in a month.

VILLANOVA 76, MOUNT ST. MARY’S 56: Donte DiVincenzo scored 21 points, and Villanova (32-3) shook off a slow start and stumbled forward with a victory against Mount St. Mary’s (20-16) at Buffalo, New York.

The Wildcats weren’t themselves for much of the first half before opening the second half with a 21-6 run to take the first step toward defending their championship.

Villanova is trying to become the first back-to-back titlist since Florida in 2007.

WISCONSIN 84, VIRGINIA TECH 74: Bronson Koenig made a school-record eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points and Nigel Hayes added 16 as the Badgers (26-9) topped the Hokies (22-11) in Buffalo, New York.

SOUTH

BUTLER 76, WINTHROP 64: Avery Woodson scored 18 points and tied a career high with six 3-pointers to lead Butler (24-8) over Winthrop (26-7) at Milwaukee.

Woodson, a graduate transfer from Memphis, hit five 3s in the first half to help the Bulldogs build a 14-point halftime lead.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE 81, MINNESOTA 72: Reggie Upshaw scored 19 points, Giddy Potts added 15 and Middle Tennessee (31-4) took down another Big Ten team in the NCAA tournament, beating Minnesota (24-10) at Milwaukee.

Middle Tennessee proved it was no one-year wonder after upsetting Michigan State as a No. 15 seed last March.

MIDWEST

PURDUE 80, VERMONT 70: Vincent Edwards scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and Purdue (26-7) held off Vermont (29-6) at Milwaukee for its first victory in the NCAA tournament in five years.

Caleb Swanigan added 16 points, 14 rebounds and four assists for the fourth-seeded Boilermakers, who were upset by Arkansas-Little Rock in double-overtime in the first round of last year’s tournament. Dakota Mathias made three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.

IOWA STATE 84, NEVADA 73: Monte Morris had 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and the Cyclones (24-10) outlasted Nevada (28-7) at Milwaukee.

NOTES

INDIANA: Coach Tom Crean was fired after nine often lackluster seasons with the Hoosiers.

Crean won two Big Ten regular-season championships over the last five seasons but went 18-16 this year and missed the NCAA tournament for the fifth time in nine years – including each of his first three seasons after taking over a gutted team following an NCAA scandal.

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