Kentucky's Otega Oweh celebrates his game-tying hoop during Friday's NCAA tourney win over Santa Clara in St. Louis. (AP photo)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Otega Oweh rescued Kentucky with a buzzer-beater from just inside half court to force overtime, then hit the tiebreaking free throws in the extra period as the seventh-seeded Wildcats beat No. 10 seed Santa Clara 89-84 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

In an electrifying finish to regulation that defines the words “March Madness,” Santa Clara’s Allen Graves drained a 3 from the right wing with 2.4 seconds left to put the Broncos ahead 73-70. Oweh received the inbound pass, pushed the ball up the court and pulled up to the left of the midcourt logo to launch his desperation heave. The ball was midair when the buzzer sounded, and it banked in for the tie.

“As he raised up, he said, ‘That’s a bucket,’ and then threw it off the glass,” second-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope said.

Oweh said he was just trying to get the ball out of his hands in time.

“It’s March,” he said. “I feel like that’s just what happens. You know, it’s crazy.”

“I was just praying for it to go in. I was about to cry if he missed that shot,” added teammate Mouhamed Dioubate. “I was just hoping the shot went in. I didn’t want the season to end already.”

After Santa Clara and Kentucky trade 3s in thrilling finish, ‘a tough one to swallow’ for Broncos

Oweh scored a career-high 35 points and had eight rebounds and seven assists for the Wildcats (22-13), who will face No. 2 seed Iowa State, a 108-74 winner over 15th-seeded Tennessee State, in the second round in the Midwest Region.

Oweh’s two free throws with 1:12 remaining in overtime put Kentucky in the lead to stay in its 63rd NCAA Tournament appearance, the most in the country.

Brandon Garrison twice blocked 3-point attempts by Sash Gavalyugov in the final minute of overtime, following the first with a breakaway, two-handed dunk that stretched Kentucky’s lead to 83-79. His second block led to more free throws for the Wildcats.

Teammates credited the 6-foot-10 Garrison for suggesting in a huddle that they switch on screens, declaring that he’d be able to handle the matchup with the 6-3 guard Gavalyugov.

Christian Hammond led Santa Clara (26-9) with 20 points and Graves scored 17.

“It was a really euphoric high, followed by a tough one to swallow,” said Broncos coach Herb Sendek, a 600-game winner making his return to the tournament for the first time since 2014 with Arizona State.

Graves put Santa Clara ahead 70-68 when he caught Elijah Mahi’s airballed 3-pointer and made the putback with 1:33 to play, just before the shot clock expired. After a miss by Oweh, Graves had another point-blank attempt that missed, and Oweh was able to scramble for the ball on the floor as Kentucky called timeout.

Oweh tied it with a layup with 9.9 seconds left to set up the wild finish. Adding to the fast-moving drama, neither team was granted a timeout in the closing seconds.

“I unequivocally called timeout. But they didn’t grant it,” said Sendek, asserting that officials should have recognized that a coach might want to set up his defense after Graves’ 3-pointer. “I mean, I think the video evidence is clear. And anybody is able to pull it up.”

Santa Clara was seeking its first tournament win since 1996, when future NBA MVP Steve Nash was a senior.

FLORIDA 114, PRAIRIE VIEW 55

Florida began its national title defense with the second-largest victory margin in NCAA Tournament history, pounding Prairie View A&M.

Boogie Fland scored 16 points to lead seven players in double figures for the top-seeded Gators (27-7), whose 59-point margin fell short of only Loyola Chicago’s 111-42 win over Tennessee Tech in 1963. Florida advanced to face the South Region’s No. 9 seed, Iowa, in the second round on Sunday.

Florida went on runs of 18-0 and 17-0 in the first half to turn a 15-all tie into a 60-21 lead at the break. The Gators shot 75% before halftime and 64.3% for the game against the 16th-seeded Panthers (19-18).

Late in the second half, 7-foot-9 freshman Olivier Rioux — the world’s tallest teenager before he turned 20 last month — got in on the action with a putback dunk.

ARIZONA,92, LIU 58

Brayden Burries hit four 3-pointers while scoring 18 points, Koa Peat added 15 points and Arizona opened its NCAA Tournament run on top.

Ivan Kharchenkov had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Big 12 regular-season and tournament champion Wildcats (33-2), who quickly showed why they’re the tournament’s second overall seed behind Duke.

Arizona will return Sunday to face the winner of Villanova’s meeting with Utah State in the West Region bracket.

ST. JOHN’S 79, NORTHERN IOWA 53

Zuby Ejiofor had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Bryce Hopkins added 13 points and fifth-seeded St. John’s beat Northern Iowa for its second NCAA Tournament victory since 2000.

Oziyah Sellers scored 11 points for Rick Pitino’s gathering Red Storm (29-6), who have won 20 of 21 since early January in increasingly impressive fashion. With a fluid, balanced offensive effort against the nation’s stingiest scoring defense, St. John’s jumped to a huge early lead at Viejas Arena and never trailed the 12th-seeded Panthers (23-13).

The New York City program revitalized by Pitino ended its 25-year March Madness victory drought last season. After rolling through the Big East tournament last week, Pitino’s current team is one win away from the Johnnies’ first trip to the Sweet Sixteen in the 21st century.

St. John’s will return Sunday to face the winner of fourth-seeded Kansas’ meeting with Cal Baptist in the East Region bracket.

UCONN 82, FURMAN71

Tarris Reed Jr. had 31 points and 27 rebounds in a dominant NCAA Tournament performance, leading second-seeded UConn to victory over Furman in Philadelphia.

Alex Karaban added 22 points for UConn (30-5), which advanced to play UCLA in the second round of the East Region on Sunday.

For about 36 minutes in Philadelphia, it sure looked like coach Dan Hurley and the Huskies had a chance of heading back home instead.

But Reed wouldn’t let them, the All-Big East center becoming the first player with 30-plus points and 25-plus rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game since Elvin Hayes did it twice in 1968.

VIRGINIA 82, WRIGHT STATE 73

Hacari White hit six 3-pointers and scored 26 points, and third-seeded Virginia avoided yet another early NCAA Tournament exit, beating a resolute Wright State.

The Cavaliers (30-5) will face sixth-seeded Tennessee in the second round in the Midwest Region on Sunday.

Wright State (24-11), a No. 14 seed, was an 18 1/2-point underdog according to BetMGM Sportsbook but never looked out of step as it tried to pull off the shocker.

Michael Imariagbe scored 19 points and kept hope alive for that rare 14 seed win — there have been none in the tournament since 2024 — with a late 3 that pulled the Raiders within 78-73.

Solomon Callaghan, who scored 18 points, hit three 3s early and buried another late in the half for a 39-36 lead. Wright State hit eight 3s in the half and Virginia made seven in a chuck-it-up game where the teams each finished with 13 overall.

TEXAS TECH 91, AKRON 71

Jaylen Petty scored 24 points, Christian Anderson added 18 and the fifth-seeded Red Raiders beat No. 12 seed Akron

Texas Tech (23-10) will face fourth-seeded Alabama in the second round in the Midwest Region on Sunday.

Playing without All-America guard JT Toppin, who tore the ACL in his right knee last month, Texas Tech got double-figure scoring from five players.

Josiah Moseley had 16 points, Donovan Atwell scored 15 and LeJuan Watts added 14.

ALABAMA 90, HOFSTRA 70

Labaron Philon Jr. finished with 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and No. 4 seed Alabama rallied from an early double-digit deficit to beat 13th-seeded Hofstra 90-70,

The Crimson Tide (24-9) advanced to a second-round matchup against fifth-seeded Texas Tech (23-10), a 20-point winner over 12th-seeded Akron in the earlier first-round game at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Fla.

Alabama ended the opening half on a 19-7 run to wipe out a 10-point deficit, then built its own lead to 13 before Hofstra (24-11) mounted one last push for a possible upset.

UTAH STATE 86, VILLANOVA 76

MJ Collins’ steal and emphatic one-handed slam dunk with 1:13 left gave him 20 points and Utah State opened its fourth straight NCAA Tournament by beating Villanova 86-76 on Friday.

Mason Falslev, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, scored 22 and helped bring the Aggies back from a 10-point deficit early in the second half.

Utah State (29-6), the No. 9 seed in the West Region, will play No. 1 seed Arizona in the second round on Sunday.

Collins converted a three-point play with 2:53 left to give the Aggies a 78-73 lead. After No. 8 seed Villanova (24-9) committed a five-second inbound violation, Falslev fed Collins for a layup and an 80-73 lead. Collins intercepted a pass by Bryce Lindsay and went in for his slam for an 84-74 lead.

IOWA 67, CLEMSON 61

Bennett Stirtz scored 16 points and No. 9 seed Iowa weathered his erratic shooting to hold off eighth-seeded Clemson.

The Hawkeyes (22-12), making their March Madness debut under coach Ben McCollum, move on to a second-round South Region meeting against either top-seeded and defending national champion Florida or No. 16 seed Prairie View A&M in Tampa.

Stirtz made two free throws with 10.9 seconds remaining help put the game away after Clemson (24-11) rallied to within 61-57 in the closing minutes. But Iowa’s leading scorer had an off night, going 3 for 10 on 3-point attempts and 1 for 7 inside the arc. Kael Combs kept the Hawkeyes stay afloat with 15 points and Alvaro Foigueiras came off the bench to score 14.

RJ Godfrey led Clemson with 15 points.

UCLA 75, UCF 71

Eric Dailey Jr. scored 20 points, Xaiver Booker had 15 points and eight rebounds to make up for the absence of leading scorer Tyler Biloudeau and seventh-seeded UCLA withstood every serious challenge and beat 10th-seeded UCF.

The Bruins (24-11) — with guard Skyy Clarkminus a tooth — play the winner of the game between No. 2 seed UConn and Furman on Sunday.

KANSAS 68, CAL BAPTIST 60

Darryn Peterson made four 3-pointers and scored 28 points, and fourth-seeded Kansas squandered most of a 26-point lead before holding off scrappy NCAA Tournament newcomer Cal Baptist 68-60 on Friday night.

Kansas (24-10) advances to face St. John’s in the second round on Sunday in a matchup between Hall of Fame coaches Bill Self of the Jayhawks and Rick Pitino of the Red Storm. The No. 5-seeded Red Storm beat Northern Iowa 79-53 in the East Region bracket. Kansas hasn’t survived the opening weekend since 2022, when it won the national title.

The Jayhawks led 48-22 just four minutes into the second half but the No. 13-seeded Lancers, backed by a small but loud student section, never gave up as the Jayhawks went cold for most of the last six minutes.

PURDUE 104, QUEENS 71

Braden Smith scored 26 points and became the Division I career leader in assists, guiding No. 2 seed Purdue to a win over Queens University

The Boilermakers seized control with a pair of 10-0 runs, once in the waning moments of the first half and in the opening minutes of the second half. Trey Kaufman-Renn’s basket after an offensive rebound capped the second surge and stretched Purdue’s lead to 58-36 with 16:27 to play.

Purdue (28-8) led by at least 20 the rest of the way.

MIAMI 80, MISSOURI 66

Malik Reneau scored 24 points, Tre Donaldson hit a couple of big baskets down the stretch, and seventh-seeded Miami pulled away late vs. No. 10 seed Missouri in St. Louis.

Donaldson finished with 17 points, and Shelton Henderson had 15 for the Hurricanes (26-8), who trailed midway through the second half before an 11-0 run that gave them control and pushed them into a matchup with Purdue for a spot in the Sweet 16.