Wisconsin stuns No. 5 Seminoles

After spending all night doing the dirty work on defense, Trevon Hughes got a more glamorous role: Shooter of the crazy, spinning bank shot with the game on the line.

Otherwise known as the game-winner for Wisconsin.

Hughes’ twisting shot over Florida State’s outstretched arms dropped with two seconds left to lift the Badgers to a 61-59 victory in the first round of the NCAA East Regional on Friday night at Boise, Idaho.

Next up for 12th-seeded Wisconsin (20-12) is a meeting with Xavier on Sunday.

Toney Douglas, the unheralded guard who averages 21 points and led the fifth-seeded Seminoles (25-10) to their first tournament appearance in 11 years, scored 26 points despite Hughes’ impressive defense.

Douglas’ three-point shot with 1:16 left gave the Seminoles a 59-56 lead, but, smothered by the Wisconsin defense, he missed another one that would have put it away with less than 10 seconds to go.

That set the stage for Hughes. He dribbled left, spun right into the lane, then flipped the game-winner over Douglas and Chris Singleton. He drew contact, too, and made the free throw to make it 61-59.

If that wasn’t enough, he capped things by batting away Florida State’s desperation pass at the end and the Badgers mobbed him at midcourt to celebrate the victory.

Jason Bohannon led Wisconsin with 16 points.

No. 1 Pittsburgh 72, No. 16 East Tennessee State 62: DeJuan Blair had 27 points and 16 rebounds as the Panthers, in their first game as a top-seeded team, survived a frightful 40 minutes at Dayton, Ohio.

The Panthers (29-4), who play eighth-seeded Oklahoma State in the second round Sunday, will need to improve if they want to go much further. They made 18 turnovers, struggled with ETSU’s end-to-end press and hardly looked like potential national champions.

Kevin Tiggs scored 21 points for the Buccaneers (23-11), who shot only 31% but still had a chance to become the first No. 16 to down a No. 1, at least until the final two minutes.

It was the 161st win for Pitt Coach Jamie Dixon, tying him with North Carolina State’s Everett Case (1947-52) for the best start in six seasons.

No. 8 Oklahoma St. 77, No. 9 Tennessee 75 -- Byron Eaton found a clear path to the basket for a three-point play with 7.2 seconds left, sending the Cowboys to a victory over the Volunteers at Dayton.

Tyler Smith had a chance to win it for Tennessee (21-13), but his jumper from beyond the arc hit the side of the rim and bounced up to the top of the backboard as the buzzer sounded. Smith led all scorers with 21 points.

No. 4 Xavier 77, No. 13 Portland St. 59 -- C.J. Anderson scored 14 points at Boise, and Xavier shot 54% from the field to reach the second round of the tournament for the third straight year.

The Musketeers (26-7) stifled Portland State’s usual barrage of three-pointers and showed they could shoot from the outside too, making eight of 19 attempts from long range.

Derrick Brown, B.J. Raymond and Dante Jackson had 13 points each as Xavier overwhelmed the Big Sky Conference champions, in the tournament for only the second time. Jamie Jones led the Vikings (23-10) with 16 points.