DAYTON, Ohio — Pittsburgh intends to make history in this year's NCAA tournament. The Panthers almost did in their first game.

Playing as a No. 1 seed for the first time but hardly looking the part, Pitt overcame a sloppy performance and a frightful 40 minutes from No. 16 seed East Tennessee State to advance with a 72-62 win Friday in the East Regional.

Pitt's massive center DeJuan Blair bullied his way inside for 27 points and 16 rebounds as the Panthers (29-4) managed to extend their season, which with a little more than four minutes left was in jeopardy of ending sooner than they ever imagined.

"We survived," Blair said.

Barely.

ETSU, a small college tucked in the rolling hills of northeast Tennessee, nearly pulled off the shocker of shockers.

A No. 16 has never beaten a No. 1.

"We had them," said senior guard Kevin Tiggs. "We just couldn't get over the hump."

Pittsburgh, trying to shake its reputation as an underachiever this time of year, will play eighth-seeded Oklahoma State, a 75-77 winner over ninth-seeded Tennessee, in Sunday's second round.

The Panthers had better improve if they want go much further. They made 18 turnovers, struggled with ETSU's end-to-end press and hardly looked like a squad picked by many to win its first title.

"Having a tough game like that at the beginning keeps you on your toes," said Panthers senior forward Sam Young. "Every game gets harder and harder."

Tiggs scored 21 for the Buccaneers (23-11), who shot just 31 percent and missed 12 free throws but still had a chance to become the first bottom seed to win a first-round game.

Since the NCAA tournament field expanded to the 64-team format in 1985, No. 16s are a collective 0-for-100 in NCAA opening-round action — a flawless quarter century.

But there have been plenty of close calls: Princeton's 50-49 loss to Georgetown in 1989; ETSU's 72-71 loss to Oklahoma that same year; Murray State's 75-71 loss in overtime to Michigan State in 1990; and Western Carolina's 73-71 loss to Purdue in 1996. Despite this 10-point differential, go ahead and add this one to the list.

Pittsburgh's first excursion lugging around the top-seed target was a very bumpy ride.

When Buccaneers guard Courtney Pigram drained a 3-pointer with 4:27 left, ETSU was within 59-57 and the crowd inside the University of Dayton Arena — comprised of fans from Tennessee, Oklahoma State along with some locals who spent the afternoon cheering updates from the hometown Flyers' game — erupted at the possibility of seeing college hoops history.

Even the Panthers thought it was possible.

"That crossed my mind yesterday, not just today," Blair said. "Every team in this tournament is a good team."

With the pressure on, Pittsburgh responded. Blair made sure of it.

The 6-foot-7, 265-pounder scored on a three-point play to give the Panthers a five-point cushion that felt like 20, and after Tiggs made two free throws to bring ETSU within 62-59, Blair lobbed a pass up the floor to point guard Levance Fields. Pitt's leader, who has been bothered by a groin injury the past few weeks and is not moving as well as usual, was able to outrace two ETSU defenders for a left-handed layup.

The Bucs missed a free throw and Pitt capitalized as Ashton Gibbs hit a long 3-pointer and celebrated the big bucket by pounding his fist against his chest.

Tiggs, who was just 6-of-21 from the floor, made a layup to get it to 67-61 with 1:05 left, but ETSU couldn't get any closer as the Panthers made their free throws and booked a date with the Cowboys.

It was the 161st win for Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, tying him with North Carolina State's Everett Case (1947-52) for the best start in six seasons. Dixon's teams are known for their tough, physical style and something else not as flattering: an inability to get deep in the tournament.

Despite a succession of 20-win seasons and a few Big East titles, the Panthers haven't been able to advance past the round of 16. The can't-win-the-big-one stigma has stung Pitt's program and perhaps unfairly kept it from being grouped with North Carolina, Kansas, Connecticut and others.

The Panthers still have a chance to change their image after beating a team much better than its bracket slot.

MINNEAPOLIS — Dayton is haunted by Bob Huggins no longer.Chris Wright scored a career-high 27 points to lead the 11th-seeded Flyers to a 68-60 win over sixth-seeded West Virginia Friday in the Midwest Regional, their first victory in the NCAA tournament in 19 years.Charles Little added 18 points for once-mighty Dayton (27-7), which had been 1-13 against Huggins' teams dating to his days storming up and down the Cincinnati sideline.These Flyers aren't as easily intimidated by his huffing and puffing.Darryl Bryant had 21 points and Devin Ebanks added 14 points and 12 rebounds for West Virginia (23-12), which had won at least two games in the NCAA tournament in each of its last four appearances.Wright, the highest of the Flyers from Dayton, threw down a one-handed goal-shaker off an inbounds pass and then a soaring tomahawk dunk in transition to give them a 46-37 lead with 14 minutes left in the game. He converted two three-point plays off dunks, with a vocal voice in the Dayton crowd — his mother Ernestine Grigsby, perhaps? — hollering "Put them in the hole Superman!" while the free throws splashed through.But Bryant hit two 3-pointers, Ebanks dunked and Da'Sean Butler kissed a jumper off the glass to pull West Virginia within 48-47 with 11 minutes to play.That's when the Flyers really locked down defensively, holding the Mountaineers to just seven free throws over the next eight minutes to regain control.

MINNEAPOLIS — Raymar Morgan scored 16 points and Goran Suton had 11 points and 17 rebounds as Michigan State bullied 15th-seeded Robert Morris in a 77-62 victory in the first round of the Midwest Regional Friday night.Draymond Green added 16 points for the second-seeded Spartans (27-6), who were spotty during the Big Ten season thanks to Morgan's walking pneumonia and Suton's gimpy knees. They both looked fine on Friday night against the overmatched Colonials.Jeremy Chappell was the only player in double figures with 11 for Robert Morris (24-11), which was making its first NCAA appearance since 1992.