No. 1 seeds Auburn, Houston advance

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Auburn is sticking around this NCAA Tournament longer than last year, even if the Tigers didn’t play with the energy coach Bruce Pearl wants to see.

Miles Kelly made seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points, All-American Johni Broome added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 1 seed Auburn beat 16th-seeded Alabama State 83-63 on Thursday in the first round of the South Region.

Pearl’s Tigers (29-5) lasted one game in 2024, losing to Yale days after winning the Southeastern Conference Tournament. This time, Auburn came in having lost three of four inside the power-packed SEC with a resume still strong enough to earn the top overall seed among the four No. 1 teams.

“We just weren’t sharp,” Pearl said of his Tigers. “One thing you can control. Our teams always play with great effort and energy too or our system doesn’t really work. I just didn’t think we did today.”

Auburn will play No. 9 seed Creighton, an 89-75 winner over eighth-seeded Louisville, in the second round on Saturday for a trip to the Sweet 16 in Atlanta.

“We won’t beat Creighton if we play like we did tonight,” Pearl said.

Alabama State, whose lone lead was 3-0, didn’t make it easy in the first half.

The Hornets fell behind 28-15 but scored the next nine points and pulled within 32-31 on a layup by Amarr Knox, the guard whose buzzer-beater gave the Hornets their victory over Saint Francis on Tuesday in the First Four. Fans inside Rupp Arena started roaring for Alabama State, hoping to see a big upset and bringing energy to the tired Hornets.

Alabama State coach Tony Madlock said he was proud of what his team did for Montgomery, their university and all historically Black colleges and universities to get to the Big Dance and win their first tournament game. And yes, they did something in this game to be proud of.

“(We) had some moments in this game where, you know, we made coach Pearl call timeout,” Madlock said.

HOUSTON 78, SIU 40

WICHITA, Kan. — Milos Uzan scored 16 points, LJ Cryer added 15 and No. 1 seed Houston was able to rest up for the rest of the NCAA Tournament while romping past No. 16 seed SIU Edwardsville 78-40 on Thursday in the first round of the Midwest Region.

Ja’Vier Francis added 13 points and eight rebounds for Houston (31-4), which now gets a tough second-round matchup with No. 8 seed Gonzaga on Saturday. The Bulldogs blitzed ninth-seeded Georgia, 89-68, in their tournament opener.

“I thought our defense and our rebounding, two of the things we really emphasize, was good today,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “Shot selection was really good to start the game — knocked some shots down, got off to a good start.”

The Cougars finished well, too. The final margin was the biggest of the game.