UCLA holds off Michigan State

Tyler Honeycutt and Malcolm Lee each scored 16 points and seventh-seeded UCLA held off a late comeback by No. 10 Michigan State to win, 78-76, last night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Tampa, Fla.

The Bruins (23-10) won despite missing 17 free throws, nine of them in the final 3:40 while the Spartans were making a barrage of three-pointers to get back into the game. The Bruins advanced to a third-round matchup against No. 2 Florida today.

UCLA led 42-24 at the half and by as many as 23 in the second half before nearly letting the game slip away. The Bruins were 30 of 47 from the foul line and only made two field goals in the final eight minutes.

Draymond Green led Michigan State (19-15) with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Durrell Summers added 15 and Kalin Lucas finished with 11 after going the first 32 minutes without scoring.

Florida 79, UC Santa Barbara 51: Chandler Parsons flirted with his first triple-double, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds and a career-high 10 assists, and Florida coasted. The Gators (27-7) made 11 of their first 15 shots, opened up a double-digit lead and kept piling on the rest of the way. Erving Walker had 18 points and six assists, and Kenny Boynton added 13 points as Florida got contributions from just about everyone. Orlando Johnson led the Gauchos (18-14) with 21 points.

Wisconsin 72, Belmont 58: Jon Leuer scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half in the Badgers' fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament-opening victory in Tucson, Ariz. Jordan Taylor added 21 for the fourth-seeded Badgers (24-8). There was much talk of Belmont, a No. 13 seed, being a surprise tournament team, but the Bruins never hit their stride against the Badgers, who shot 12-for-22 on three-pointers, led by Taylor's 5-for-9. Mike Hedgepeth scored 17 and Kerron Johnson 13 for the Atlantic Sun champion Bruins (30-5), still searching for their first NCAA Tournament win after four tries.

Kansas St. 73, Utah St. 68: Jacob Pullen scored 22 points and hit some big free throws down the stretch, helping Kansas State hold off Utah State, the Aggies' seventh straight opening loss. Pullen didn't show any ill affects from the flu that kept him out of practice Wednesday, scoring 10 points in the first half as fifth-seeded Kansas State (23-10). -- AP