COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 16 (UPI) -- Kwamaine Mitchell scored eight points in a late 14-2 run Friday that sent St. Louis to the third round of the NCAA Tournament with a 61-54 win over Memphis.
Memphis owned a narrow lead for much of the second half before the Billikens put on their surge that created a matchup Sunday against top-seeded Michigan State. The Spartans coasted into the third round by defeating Long Island.
The Tigers took a 42-38 lead with 7:31 to play on a jumper by Adonis Thomas but they managed only two points during the next 6 minutes.
Mitchell brought St. Louis within two with a layup that came with 7:10 remaining and gave the Billikens the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 6:24 left.
Mitchell finished with 22 points while Brian Conklin had 16 for St. Louis (26-7). The Billikens hit 45 percent of their field goal attempts and held Memphis to 38 percent.
St. Louis was the runner-up in the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season race and lost in the tournament's semifinals to Xavier.
Memphis, both the regular-season and tournament champion in Conference USA, was led by Will Barton with 16 points. The Tigers ended their season at 26-9.
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- COL BKB: Norfolk State 86, Missouri 84
- COL BKB: Florida 71, Virginia 45
- COL BKB: Creighton 58, Alabama 57
- COL BKB: North Carolina 77, Vermont 58
- COL BKB: Cincinnati 65, Texas 59
- COL BKB: Georgetown 74, Belmont 59
- COL BKB: N.C. St. 79, S. Diego St. 65
- COL BKB: Florida St 66, St. Bonaventure 63
- COL BKB: Purdue 72, St. Mary's (Calif.) 69
- COL BKB: Lehigh 75, Duke 70
- COL BKB: Ohio 65, Michigan 60
