REGIONAL ROUNDUP

EAST REGION

Cornell ousts No. 5 Temple

GAME RECAP: At Jacksonville, Fla., 12th-seeded Cornell showed why it's the best team to come out of the Ivy League in more than a decade.

Seniors Ryan Wittman, Louis Dale and Jeff Foote led the Big Red to their first win in five NCAA appearances, a 78-65 upset of No. 5 seed Temple.

Dale scored 21 points, Wittman 20 and Foote 16 as Cornell (28-4) took the lead early and never looked back.

Temple (29-6) lost in the first round for the third straight year under coach Fran Dunphy, whose former assistant, Steve Donahue, has led Cornell to three straight Ivy League titles and the school's winningest season.

Dunphy, who has been at Temple since 2006, fell to 1-12 in the NCAA Tournament and has lost 11 straight.

QUOTE OF THE GAME: "Everyone was saying we were Cinderella or it's an upset. Not us." -- Cornell guard Chris Wroblewski

NEXT FOR CORNELL: Fourth-seeded Wisconsin (24-8),
2:50 p.m. Sunday

Missouri muzzles Clemson

GAME RECAP: At Buffalo, N.Y., Kim English and Keith Ramsey each scored 20 points and 10th-seeded Missouri's swarming defense lived up to its reputation in an 86-78 victory over No. 7 Clemson.

Missouri (23-10), which has won five straight NCAA first-round games, forced 20 turnovers, got 15 steals and stifled Clemson senior Trevor Booker most of the way. He had 11 points, eight in a late spurt, and 11 rebounds.

Missouri outscored Clemson 22-2 on the fast break, 20-5 off turnovers and 42-28 in the paint.

Demontez Stitt had 21 points and Andre Young 19 for Clemson (21-11). Coach Oliver Purnell is winless in the NCAA Tournament, making six trips with Old Dominion (one), Dayton (two) and Clemson.

QUOTE OF THE GAME: "When you play at that pace ... we scored 86 points but only had nine turnovers. That's efficient basketball." -- Missouri coach Mike Anderson

NEXT FOR MISSOURI: Second-seeded West Virginia (28-6), approximately 2:40 p.m. Sunday

No. 2 West Virginia perks up

GAME RECAP: At Buffalo, N.Y., Kevin Jones scored 13 of his 17 points during the first half to spark second-seeded West Virginia over No. 15 seed Morgan State, 77-50.

The Mountaineers (28-6) came to life after missing their first 11 shots and trailing 10-0 less than five minutes in. Jones, a sophomore forward, shot 4-for-4 and scored nine points during a 21-4 run. Devin Ebanks scored 16 and added 13 rebounds for West Virginia.

Reggie Holmes scored 12 points for Morgan State (27-10), the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champ, which has made the NCAA Tournament two straight seasons.

QUOTE OF THE GAME: "We always let teams get off to those huge leads and let them get confidence, and that's where it hurts us. I'm glad we could come out and stomp on them and not let them back into the game." -- Jones

NEXT FOR WEST VIRGINIA: 10th-seeded Missouri (23-10), approximately 2:40 p.m. Sunday

SOUTH REGION

Purdue foils Siena, Obama

GAME RECAP: At Spokane, Wash., Keaton Grant scored 11 points during a 20-3 spurt by Purdue to open the second half and JuJuan Johnson supplied 23 points and 15 rebounds as the fourth-seeded Boilermakers beat No. 13 Siena, 72-64.

Having lost star Robbie Hummel to a knee injury three weeks ago, Purdue (28-5) took notice when President Barack Obama joined a national chorus predicting Siena (27-7) would pull a first-round upset.

The Saints battled from 15 points down to within 66-63 on a layup by Ryan Rossiter with 1:02 remaining, but Purdue clinched the victory with free throws.

Edwin Ubiles led Siena with 18 points.

QUOTE OF THE GAME: "The biggest thing was for me when President Obama said he kind of felt sorry for us. ... Guys don't want people to feel sorry for us. We want to prove that we still have a lot of talent and can make a big run in the tournament." -- Purdue guard Lewis Jackson

NEXT FOR PURDUE: Fifth-seeded Texas A&M (24-9), approximately 6 p.m. Sunday

Middleton lifts No. 5 A&M

GAME RECAP: At Spokane, Wash., freshman forward Khris Middleton scored a career-high 19 points and fifth-seeded Texas A&M beat No. 12 Utah State, 69-53.

David Loubeau added 12 points and B.J. Holmes had 11 for Texas A&M (24-9), which advanced to the second round for the fifth consecutive year.

Utah State (27-8) lost its fifth consecutive first-round game, last winning in 2001 over Ohio State, and shot 38 percent, well below its season average of 49 percent.

Middleton did not become a starter until after A&M had to reconfigure its lineup in late December after the horrific broken leg suffered by guard Derrick Roland.

QUOTE OF THE GAME: "We haven't played anybody as good as Texas A&M. They physically dominated us." -- Utah State coach Stew Morrill

NEXT FOR TEXAS A&M: Fourth-seeded Purdue (28-5), approximately 6 p.m. Sunday

Duke doesn't fall for Bluff

GAME RECAP: At Jacksonville, Fla., Kyle Singler had 22 points and 10 rebounds and top-seeded Duke never trailed in a 73-44 victory over No. 16 Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

The victory lifted the Blue Devils to 30-5, giving coach Mike Krzyzewski his 11th 30-win season in three decades at Duke, which has made 10 trips to the Final Four under him, though none since 2006.

The Blue Devils pressed their overmatched opponents to start the game, built a 39-20 halftime lead and never gave the Golden Lions (18-16) a sense they could win.

Pine Bluff was in the NCAAs for the first time, having beaten Winthrop 61-44 in the tournament play-in game.

QUOTE OF THE GAME: "This was a springboard for us. We were limiting them to one shot and rebounding well. If we continue doing that, we'll beat anybody in the tournament." -- Duke forward Lance Thomas

NEXT FOR DUKE: Eighth-seeded California (24-10), approximately 5:20 p.m. Sunday