(12) W. MILWAUKEE 83, (5) ALABAMA 73

Wisconsin-Milwaukee pulled off the first upset of the NCAA tournament, stunning Alabama 83-73 yesterday.

Joah Tucker and Ed McCants scored 21 points apiece as Milwaukee (25-5) won its first NCAA tourney game in its second try. Two years ago, the 12thseeded Panthers nearly knocked off Notre Dame, losing 70-69.

The underrated Horizon League champions finished the job this time, outplaying one of the SEC’s top programs and continuing a trend of no. 12s beating no. 5s in March. That first round matchup has produced an upset in 16 of the past 17 tournaments, the only exception being in 2000.

Kennedy Winston had 20 points and Ronald Steele 16 for the Crimson Tide (24-8), who had hoped to have another run like a year ago when they made it to the round of eight.

Milwaukee, which has won 10 straight and 18 of 19, will play fourth-seeded Boston College (25-4) tomorrow in the second round of the Chicago Regional.

The Panthers made 10 3-pointers in the first half and used a 23-6 run to build a 13-point halftime lead that Alabama trimmed to five on Steele’s 3-pointer with 13:02 left.

But Milwaukee didn’t get flustered, stayed patient on offense and reeled off six straight points, building its lead back to 13 at 74-63 with 2:22 left.

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(4) BOSTON COLLEGE 85, (13) PENNSYLVANIA 65

Jared Dudley led a balanced attack with 18 points to get 14th-ranked Boston College back on track with a 85-65 victory over Penn. The Eagles opened the season with 20 wins, then closed with a 4-4 fade that included a first-game loss to West Virginia in the Big East tournament. On Saturday, Boston College (25-4) will be going against its former mascot. Milwaukee’s Bruce Pearl failed to make the Eagles’ basketball team as a walk-on and filled in as the mascot for one NCAA tournament game in 1981. Tim Begley finished with 19 points for Penn (20-9).

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ARIZONA 66, UTAH ST. 53

Arizona learned from what happened in its last NCAA tournament appearance. The Wildcats got a big lead on Utah State and this time built on it, winning 66-53 last night. Last spring, the Wildcats blew a 14-point lead and lost in the first round to Seton Hall. Third-seeded Arizona (28-6) overcame a sluggish start and a three-point halftime deficit, but opened the second half with a 16-2 run and dominated the rest of the way. Jaycee Carroll led Utah State (24-8) with 18 points, going 5-for-10 from 3-point range, but didn’t have much help. Nate Harris was the only other Aggie to score in double figures with 12 points.

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(9) NEVADA 61, (8) TEXAS 57

Mo Charlo scored 12 points and Nevada rallied to beat Texas 61-57. Nevada’s top scorer, Nick Fazekas, was held to just 10 points – well below his average of 21.4 points – but the Wolf Pack were able to rally from a 57-53 deficit with 2:24 left.

Texas’s Jason Klotz scored 16 points in the second half when he and Kenny Taylor nearly rallied the eighth-seeded Longhorns by themselves. Brad Buckman had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Taylor finished with 12 points.

It’s the first time in four years the Longhorns (20-11) were eliminated before the regional semifinals.

Charlo completed a three-point play to pull Nevada to 57-56 with 1:28 left and Kevinn Pinkney put in a 5-footer to give the Wolf Pack the lead with 44.3 seconds left.

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(1) IILINOIS 67, (16) FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 55

Fairleigh Dickinson kept its promise and made no. 1 Illinois work for a first round win. The Illini watched the Knights come from seven points down to take a brief lead in the first half, but they started the second half with a 14-2 run on their way to a 67-55 win.

Dee Brown scored 19 points and Luther Head added 13 to lead top-seeded Illinois (33-1). Gordon Klaiber scored 24 points to lead Fairleigh Dickinson (20-13).

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(11) ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM 82, (6) LOUISIANA STATE 68

Marvett McDonald had 21 points, and 11th-seeded UAB (22-10) used its stingy defense to pull off another upset, knocking off LSU, 82-68. Using its deep bench – all 12 players saw action in the first half – the Blazers hounded LSU (20-10) into mistakes and disrupted the flow of its offense. The Tigers had 21 turnovers – 12 in the first half – that led to 20 points.