OMAHA, Neb. — Guard Fred VanVleet tied his career high with 27 points and No. 7 seed Wichita State set up a long-awaited game with an instate rival by holding off No. 10 seed Indiana 81-76 on Friday in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional at Century Link Center Omaha.
Wichita State (29-4) advances to face No. 2 seed Kansas in Sunday’s regional quarterfinals. The programs, separated by 163 miles, haven’t faced each other since 1993.
Junior guard Yogi Ferrell scored 24 points and freshman guard James Blackmon had 14 for Indiana (20-14).
Ferrell was 4-of-6 on 3-pointers and made one with 2:21 remaining to pull Indiana within 72-71. The Hoosiers had trailed by eight points with 7:53 to play. But Wichita State forward Ron Baker was 7-of-8 on free throws in the final 1:58, making three in the final 19 seconds. Wichita State finished 28 of 32 at the line. Baker, only 3 of 13 from the field, had 15 points.
Oklahoma 69, Albany 60
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Oklahoma’s TaShawn Thomas scored 18 points off the bench and junior guard Buddy Hield added 15 to lead No. 3 seed Oklahoma past No. 14 seed Albany in an NCAA East Regional second-round game at Nationwide Arena.
It was the first NCAA Tournament victory for the Sooners (23-10) since 2009.
Albany (24-9) had difficulty matching up with more physical Oklahoma, which outrebounded the Great Danes 40-34 and scored 23 second-chance points. Guard Peter Hooley scored 15 points to lead Albany.
Louisville 57, UC Irvine 55
SEATTLE — With a 7-foot-6 center in sophomore Mamadou Ndiaye, the 13th-seeded UC Irvine Anteaters had the look of a giant killer, but it just wasn’t to be.
Freshman guard Quentin Snider hit two free throws with 8.9 seconds left and teammate Terry Rozier broke up a pass near midcourt in the final seconds as fourth-seeded Louisville avoided the upset with a 57-55 win in the second round of the NCAA East Regional at KeyArena.
Senior Wayne Blackshear led Louisville (25-8) with 19 points, including the tying basket with 42 seconds to go, and Snider added 16.
“The first round is very difficult,” Louisville coach Rick Pitino said after the win. “We knew it would be a fight.”
Will Davis II led UC Irvine (21-13) with 14 points and Ndiaye added 12.
Maryland 65, Valparaiso 62
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Guards Dez Wells, Melo Trimble and Jared Nickens each scored 14 points, helping No. 4 seed Maryland hold off No. 13 seed Valparaiso in an NCAA Midwest Regional second-round game at Nationwide Arena.
Maryland (27-6) advanced to face No. 5 seed West Virginia (24-9) in a third-round game on Sunday.
Forward Alec Peters scored 18 points and guard Tevonn Walker added 14 for Valparaiso (28-6).
W. Virginia 68, Buffalo 62
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Devin Williams scored 17 points and Juwan Staten added 15 in his return from a knee injury as fifth-seeded West Virginia held off 12th-seeded Buffalo in a second-round game at Nationwide Arena.
West Virginia (24-9) led by as many as 13 points before Buffalo (23-10) rallied to tie the score in the closing minutes. Bulls senior forward Xavier Ford scored nine of his team-leading 16 points during a three-minute stretch.
Two free throws by Williams gave the Mountaineers a two-point lead. A 3-pointer moments later by guard Tarik Phillip sealed the win for West Virginia.
Virginia 79, Belmont 67
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Forward Anthony Gill’s five key points down the stretch helped Virginia stay out of danger and fend off Belmont in an East Regional second-round game at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Guard Malcolm Brogdon poured in 22 points for Virginia, which saw a double-digit lead shrink to two points with less than five minutes to play.
After guard London Perrantes hit a shot, Gill’s five points — two free throws followed by a three-point play in a 42-second span — helped the Cavaliers stretch their lead to 69-60. Brogdon followed with two free throws, putting Belmont too far behind with 1:32 remaining.
Guard Craig Bradshaw racked up 25 points for 15th-seeded Belmont (22-11).
Second-seeded Virginia (30-3) advances to meet seventh-seeded Michigan State.
Michigan St. 70, Georgia 63
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Forward Brenden Dawson scored all 14 of his points in the second half to help carry Michigan State over Georgia in the second round of the NCAA East Regional at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Forward Denzel Valentine’s 16 points and guard Travis Trice’s 15 points, with 11 coming in the first half, also helped seventh-seeded Michigan State (24-11). Guard Bryn Forbes added 14 points off the bench.
Guard Charles Mann’s 19 points paced 10th-seeded Georgia (21-12). Guard Kenny Gaines fouled out with 15 points and forward Marcus Thornton had 12.
To hold off Georgia, Valentine scored the last eight Michigan State points in the final 2:05.
Kansas 75, New Mexico St. 56
OMAHA, Neb. — Guard Frank Mason III scored 17 points and No. 2 seed Kansas used balanced scoring and lethal 3-point shooting to top No. 15 seed New Mexico State in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional at Century Link Center.
Kansas (27-8) had no problems with New Mexico State’s zone defense, shooting 9-of-13 on 3-pointers, with five Jayhawks making at least one. Kansas shot 54 percent from the field.
The Jayhawks led by as many as 23 points, with 5:48 remaining, after New Mexico State had pulled within 12 points midway through the second half.
Guard DK Eldridge scored 11 points for New Mexico State (23-11).
Northern Iowa 71, Wyoming 54
SEATTLE — Guard Paul Jesperson scored 15 points and forward Seth Tuttle added 14 points and nine rebounds as fifth-seeded Northern Iowa breezed past No. 12 Wyoming in the second round of the NCAA East Regional.
Wyoming senior forward Larry Nance Jr. scored 15 of his 16 points after halftime as the Cowboys (25-10) tried to rally from a deficit that reached 21 points early in the second half.
Northern Iowa (31-3) posted its first NCAA Tournament win since advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2009-10.
Oregon 79, Oklahoma St. 73
OMAHA, Neb. — Guard Joseph Young scored 27 points and No. 8 seed Oregon outshot No. 9 seed Oklahoma State in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional at Century Link Center.
Young, the Pac 12 Conference player of the year, scored 23 of 27 points during a stretch to end the first half and begin the second as Oregon (26-9) shot 54.7 percent from the field.
Forward Le’Bryant Nash scored 18 points to lead four players in double figures for Oklahoma State (18-14).
Duke 85, Robert Morris 56
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Duke took care of business from the early stages in cruising past Robert Morris 85-56 in an NCAA South Regional second-round game at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Guard Quinn Cook’s 22 points and center Jahlil Okafor’s 21 points led the top-seeded Blue Devils (30-4), who shot 63 percent (34 of 54) from the field.
Guard Rodney Pryor scored 23 points and guard Marcquise Reed had 22 for No. 16 seed Robert Morris (20-15).
Iowa 83, Davidson 52
SEATTLE — Senior forward Aaron White scored 17 of his game-high 26 points in the second half to lead No. 7 seed Iowa over No. 10 seed Davidson in an NCAA South Regional second-round game.
White made 11 of 14 shots from the field and was two points shy of his career high while leading Iowa (22-11) to its first NCAA Tournament victory in 14 years. The Hawkeyes fell behind 8-5 in the first 4 1/2 minutes but never trailed again, leading by nine at the half.
Sophomore Jack Gibbs led Davidson (24-8) with 14 points.