Detroit • Miles Bridges outlasted Zach Thomas, scoring 29 points and grabbing nine rebounds to help second-seeded Michigan State hold on for an 82-78 win over Bucknell on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Thomas fouled out on a technical with 6:06 left and finished with 27 points. He put on a show in the first half, scoring 20 points and making all three of his shots beyond the 3-point arc to keep the Bison close.
The Spartans (30-4) made the most of playing about 75 miles from campus in a packed arena with green-and-white clad fans in the stands. They roared when Bridges dunked, as he did once on a spectacular slam off an offensive rebound, and jeered when replays showed a foul called against their team.
Michigan State will play the winner of the Syracuse-TCU game on Sunday.
Leading by 15 points with 2 minutes left, Michigan State won by a slim margin after Bucknell (25-10) made a late flurry of long-range shots.
The Spartans didn’t start rusty, like some Big Ten teams after a long layoff, but found out quickly Thomas was as good if not better than they thought.
Thomas, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, made a 3-pointer to put the Patriot League champions ahead 28-27 with 5:24 left in the first half. Joshua Langford, who scored 15 of his 22 points in the first half, gave Michigan State the lead on the ensuing possession and it never lost it.
The Spartans, though, did have to make enough free throws in the final seconds to hold off a charge from the 3-point making Bison.
Michigan State’s Cassius Winston scored 11 points and Nick Ward had eight points, surviving a scare after tumbling onto his head.
Nana Foulland scored 20 points and Kimball Mackenzie had 10 points for the Bison.
Auburn 62, College of Charleston 58 • In San Diego, Jared Harper made a clutch 3-pointer with 1:17 to go — his only basket of the game — and Auburn held off No. 13 seed College of Charlestoin a Midwest Region thriller to avoid becoming the second No. 4 seed upset at Viejas Arena on Friday.
Auburn, playing under the cloud of a federal investigation into corruption in college basketball, overcame a horrible shooting performance to win in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003. But it survived in part because Charleston committed 21 turnovers.
Mustapha Heron scored 16 points for Auburn (26-7), which shot only 35.6 percent overall (21 of 59) and just 20.8 percent from 3-point range (5 of 24).
The biggest shot to go down for the Tigers was Harper’s deep 3 that gave them a 59-56 lead. He finished 1 of 7, including 1 of 4 from behind the arc.
The Cougars (26-8) pulled to 61-58 when Grant Riller made one of two free throws with 20.4 seconds left.
Auburn’s Davion Mitchell missed two free throws with 14 seconds to go, giving Charleston a chance. Riller launched a 3 with four seconds left that fell short. He appeared to get fouled but nothing was called.
Harper then made one of two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to seal it.
Syracuse 57, TCU 52 • In Detroit, Marek Dolezaj scored 17 points before fouling out and 11th-seeded Syracuse shut down sixth-seeded TCU.
The Orange (22-13) won for the second time in the tournament, holding off the Horned Frogs with another impressive defensive effort. Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field.
TCU (21-12) is still without an NCAA Tournament victory since 1987, when coach Jamie Dixon was a player. This was the school’s first appearance since 1998, and it was short-lived.
There was little doubt who won the much-anticipated matchup between TCU’s excellent offense and Syracuse’s zone defense. The Horned Frogs were held 31 points below their season average.
Clemson 79, New Mexico State 68 • In San Diego, Shelton Mitchell scored a season-high 23 points, Gabe DeVoe had 22 and Clemson beat New Mexico State to out a perfect first round for No. 5 seeds.
The 5-12 line is usually one of the top spots for March Madness upsets, but Clemson (24-9) shot 56 percent from the field while advancing out of the first round for the first time since 1997. It was the Tigers’ first win in the NCAA tourney since the First Four in 2011.
Clemson was nearly flawless at the offensive end against the 12th-seeded champions of the WAC. It made 9 of 11 shots during one stretch on its way to a 12-point lead at halftime.
Zach Lofton led New Mexico State (28-6) with 29 points.
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