After No. 13 Mississippi State needed a run to the SEC Tournament title to earn the conference’s automatic bid, No. 4 Washington quickly ended the Bulldogs’ NCAA Tournament run in a 71-58 victory. The Huskies’ defense stymied the Bulldogs all afternoon, holding Mississippi State to 35 percent shooting.

No. 10 Maryland provided the first upset of the tournament — unless you count No. 9 Texas A&M’s win against No. 8 BYU — by beating No. 7 California 84-71. Junior guard Greivis Vasquez had another sensational day for the Terrapins with 27 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Coach Jim Calhoun missed his No. 1 Connecticut Huskies’ 103-47 romp against No. 16 Chattanooga because he had to go to the hospital with an illness. Connecticut held Chattanooga without a field goal for 13 minutes and went on a 46-7 run to blow open the game.

No. 1 North Carolina opened the NCAA Tournament with an impressive 101-58 win against No. 16 Radford, even though junior point guard Ty Lawson missed the game with a toe injury. Senior forward Tyler Hansbrough became the ACC’s all-time scoring leader on a free throw a few minutes into the game, passing Duke’s J.J. Redick for the record.

In a defensive battle befitting both teams’ playing styles, No. 5 Purdue outworked No. 12 Northern Iowa for a 61-56 win. Sophomore guard E’Twaun Moore led Purdue with 17 points.

It wasn’t pretty, but No. 2 Memphis started its attempt to return to the NCAA championship game with an 81-70 win against No. 15 Cal State Northridge. The Matadors played a 1-3-1 zone that dared Memphis to shoot from long range. Sophomore guard Roburt Sallie delivered with 35 points, by far his best game of the season.

For the second consecutive year, Texas A&M beat BYU as a No. 9 seed, with the Aggies winning 79-66 this year. BYU had no defensive answer for junior forward Bryan Davis, who led the Aggies with 21 points.

No. 8 LSU beat No. 9 Butler 75-71 thanks to a strong start and solid defense. Senior guard Marcus Thornton had a great game, with 30 points.