SEATTLE - There was a little more than a minute left when Kirk Snyder finally showed some emotion and nodded knowingly to the wildly cheering Nevada fans.
Snyder hit a 3-pointer that put the Wolf Pack ahead with 2:52 left and 10th-seeded Nevada went on to upset seventh-seeded Michigan State 72-66 Thursday night.
Nevada, which closed with a 16-3 run, had its first win ever in the tournament and its first victory in nine games against Big Ten opponents.
"It's the American way - underdogs win," said Snyder, the WAC player of the year who scored 19. "It was just a matter of time before we got comfortable with the guys we were playing against."
Snyder hit a jumper with 3:32 left to narrow it to 63-62. Then he made his coolly executed 3-pointer that gave Nevada the lead. The Wolf Pack was 7-of-8 from the line in the last 1:07.
Other than Maurice Ager's 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, Michigan State went scoreless for nearly the last seven minutes. Alan Anderson made two free throws with 6:53 left to put the Spartans ahead 63-56.
Michigan State made its school-record seventh straight appearance in the tournament. Paul Davis led the Spartans with 16 points and six rebounds.
STANFORD 71, TEXAS SAN-ANTONIO 45: Josh Childress scored six of his 26 during a key 12-0 burst midway through the second half and reserve Matt Haryasz added 10 for Stanford.
The Cardinal, seeded first in the Phoenix Region, won its first-round NCAA game for the 10th straight year.
Cardinal players said they'll have to play better. They had 20 turnovers and a slim 40-39 rebounding edge against a much smaller team.
"My performance could have been a lot better," Childress said. "There were a lot of times I played without energy."
Stanford's last visit to Seattle was a 75-62 loss to Washington almost two weeks ago. One fan held a sign reading, "Ha-ha. 29-1. Go Dawgs."
But 16th-seeded UTSA shot a season-low 23 percent.
Stanford's imposing frontcourt of Justin Davis and Rob Little blocked shots, clogged the passing lanes and soared for rebounds.
Even with Davis or Little on the bench, reserve big men Joe Kirchofer and Haryasz stepped in.
"If we would have hit some shots, it would have been interesting," said LeRoy Hurd, who led UTSA with 18 points.
Hurd, the Southland Conference player of the year, left in the second half with a turned right ankle but returned near the five-minute mark.
Stanford led 37-23 at the break, but the Roadrunners got within 44-38 with 12:14 left after two baskets by John Millsap during a 9-2 run.
Players on the UTSA bench stood and hopped while the pro-Washington and pro-Gonzaga crowds roared in delight, ready to lend their support. Stanford was sloppy, with seven turnovers in the first six minutes of the second half.
But Childress hit a pair of 3-pointers during a 12-0 run.
ALABAMA 65, S. ILLINOIS 64: Crimson Tide coach Mark Gottfried predicted it would take an upset to beat the No. 9 seed Salukis, even though his team was expected to win all along.
It sure felt like an upset in the end when Antoine Pettway hit a 6-foot runner with five seconds left for eighth-seeded Alabama.
Southern Illinois had a chance to win, but Darren Brooks missed a long jumper.
"When you look at it, the only reason people expected us to win the game is because we play in the SEC and they play in the Missouri Valley," Gottfried said. "They're an excellent team. Darren Brooks could be a great player in our league."
After Pettway's basket, the Salukis' Sylvester Willis was fouled at midcourt with 2.8 seconds left. Brooks then missed a 16-footer.
GONZAGA 76, VALPARAISO 49: Ronny Turiaf scored 14 of his 15 in the second half and Cory Violette added 13 points and 10 rebounds to help second-seeded Gonzaga. Blake Stepp added 13 points and nine assists. The Zags (28-2) won their 21st straight contest. Gonzaga wasn't necessarily overpowering, but the Zags slowly wore down the Crusaders, champions of the Mid-Continent Conference. It was enough to put the Bulldogs into the second round for the fifth time in six years.
