McNeese State forward Christian Shumate (24) celebrates during the second half against Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Providence, R.I. Associated Press

A roundup of Thursday’s March Madness action:

Tennessee 77, Wofford 62 — Chaz Lanier scored 29 points on 11-of-22 shooting and No. 2 seed Tennessee never trailed to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season.

Coach Rick Barnes' Vols (28-7) will play either No. 7 seed UCLA or 10th-seeded Utah State on Saturday in the Midwest Region as they try to reach a third straight Sweet 16.

Gonzaga 89, Georgia 68 — Khalif Battle Battle scored 24 points, Nolan Hickman had 18 and the eighth-seeded Zags routed Georgia 89-68 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

Braden Huff added 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting as Gonzaga (26-8) advanced to an intriguing second-round matchup with top-seeded Houston.

Houston 78, SIU Edwardsville 40 — Milos Uzan scored 16 points, LJ Cryer added 15 and No. 1 seed Houston was able to rest up for the rest of the NCAA Tournament while romping past No. 16 seed SIU Edwardsville.

BYU 80, VCU 71 — Egor Demin and Richie Saunders led BYU to victory, giving first-year Cougars coach Kevin Young a better memory of Ball Arena than his last one.

The former Suns assistant watched the Denver Nuggets bounce Phoenix from the playoffs at this arena in 2023. The sixth-seeded Cougars (25-9) face third-seeded Wisconsin next.

Wisconsin 85, Montana 66 — Wisconsin grinded its way back into the March Madness win column, getting 19 points from John Blackwell and double-digit scoring from four others on the way to a victory over Montana.

The third-seeded Badgers won in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022.

McNeese 69, Clemson 67 — McNeese coach Will Wade and his boombox-toting manager are moving on in March Madness after the 12th-seeded Cowboys held off late-charging No. 5 seed Clemson in the first bracket buster of the NCAA Tournament.

With its first NCAA Tournament victory, McNeese earned a second-round matchup on Saturday with fourth-seeded Purdue.

Purdue 75, High Point 63 — Trey Kaufman-Renn had 21 points and eight rebounds, and fourth-seeded Purdue held off High Point for a victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Big Ten player of the year Braden Smith added 20 points and six assists for Purdue (23-11).

Auburn 83, Alabama State 63 — Mike Kelly made seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points, All-American Johni Broome added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 1 seed Auburn beat 16th-seeded Alabama State in the first round.

Coach Bruce Pearl’s Tigers (29-5) Auburn will play No. 9 seed Creighton.

Creighton 89, Louisville 75 — Jamiya Neal scored a career-high 29 points and had 12 rebounds, Steven Ashworth connected from well beyond the arc on the way to 22 points, and ninth-seeded Creighton beat No. 8 seed Louisville.

Columbia 63, Washington 60 — Riley Weiss scored 14 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter to help Columbia rally from a 13-point halftime deficit Thursday night for the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.

The Lions (24-6) won the First Four matchup of 11-seeds. They'll face sixth-seeded West Virginia on Saturday.