The Associated Press

Georgetown's Hollis Thompson (1) drives between Ohio's Asown Sayles, left, and Ohio's Armon Bassett, right, during the first half of an NCAA Tournament first-round game in Providence, R.I., Thursday. Ohio upset No. 3 seed Georgetown, 97-83. AP Photo/Elise Amendola.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The MAC champion Ohio Bobcats, who had a losing record in conference play, have found their way in March and now boast an NCAA tournament win for the first time in 27 years.

Armon Bassett scored 32 points to lead the 14th-seeded Bobcats to a convincing 97-83 win over No. 3 seed Georgetown in the Midwest Regional.

Ohio seized the lead early on its 3-point shooting and never had a serious letdown the rest of the way. The heavily favored Hoyas (23-11) made a small run in the second half that cut a 19-point lead down to seven, but they couldn’t overcome the Bobcats.

No. 9 Northern Iowa 69, No. 8 UNLV 66

OKLAHOMA CITY — Ali Farokhmanesh hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 4.9 seconds left to lift ninth-seeded Northern Iowa over UNLV.

WEST REGIONAL

No. 13 Murray St. 66, No. 4 Vanderbilt 65

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Danero Thomas hit a 15-footer as the buzzer sounded and 13th-seeded Murray State stunned No. 4 seed Vanderbilt.

President Barack Obama must have been onto something picking the revved-up Racers (31-4) to get past the first round in the West Regional. It was the school’s first victory in the NCAA tournament in 24 years, and Murray State will play Butler in the second round.

No. 5 Butler 77, No. 12 UTEP 59

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Shelvin Mack hit a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored 18 of his 25 points after halftime to lead the fifth-seeded Bulldogs.

No. 7 BYU 99, No. 10 Florida 92, 2OT

OKLAHOMA CITY — Jimmer Fredette scored 37 points, including two 3-pointers in double overtime, to seal the Cougars’ thrilling win over 10th-seeded Florida.

No. 2 Kansas State 82, No. 15 North Texas 62

OKLAHOMA CITY — Denis Clemente had 17 points and six assists, and the second-seeded Wildcats had a 46-21 advantage inside to avoid becoming an opening-day upset victim.

Kansas State (27-7) gathered itself after a shaky start, riding its defense into the second round for the second time in three years. The Wildcats held the Mean Green (24-9) to 31 percent shooting and stymied Josh White to only three points.

SOUTH REGIONAL

No. 11 Old Dominion 51, No. 6 Notre Dame 50

NEW ORLEANS — Carleton Scott’s 3-pointer rattled out in the closing seconds, and 11th-seeded Old Dominion stunned the Irish and star Luke Harangody.

No. 3 Baylor 68, No. 14 Sam Houston State 59

NEW ORLEANS — Ekpe Udoh had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and LaceDarius Dunn scored 13 to help the third-seeded Bears win an NCAA tournament game for the first time in 60 years.

No. 7 Saint Mary’s 80, No. 10 Richmond 71

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Omar Samhan had 29 points and 12 rebounds despite spending most of the game in foul trouble, and Saint Mary’s pulled away to win an NCAA tournament game for the first time in six tries since 1959.

No. 2 Villanova 73, No. 15 Robert Morris 70, OT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Scottie Reynolds responded to his benching with a clutch performance at the foul line in the final minutes of regulation to help the Wildcats survive.

EAST REGIONAL

No. 1 Kentucky 100, No. 16 ETSU 71

NEW ORLEANS — Eric Bledsoe’s eight 3-pointers set a Kentucky record for an NCAA tournament game, and the top-seeded Wildcats dominated throughout in a victory over East Tennessee State.

Scoring 29 points in all, Bledsoe started 8 of 8 on 3s before finally missing his first from long range late in the second half and finishing 8 of 9. Still, he surpassed Tony Delk’s previous school record of seven 3s in the 1996 championship game against Syracuse.

No. 11 Washington 80, No. 6 Marquette 78

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Quincy Pondexter drove for a tiebreaking bank shot with 1.7 seconds left, and 11th-seeded Washington extended its remarkable late-season run into the NCAA tournament with a victory over Marquette.

Pondexter scored 18 points.

and Isaiah Thomas 19 as the Huskies (25-9) won their eighth straight game in dramatic fashion, rallying from a 15-point deficit with 131/2 minutes left.

Lazar Hayward missed a half-court heave at the buzzer for the sixth-seeded Golden Eagles (23-11), who didn’t make a field goal in the final 4:33.