ST. LOUIS — His voice strained after 40 minutes of yelling, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo remained steadfast that his second-seeded Spartans had the makings of a national championship contender.

If only they could have survived Round 1.

“We just got beat,” Izzo managed to croak out after a 90-81 loss to No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee State on Friday ended their pursuit far sooner than expected.

“But I want everybody to know this team had a chance to win a national championship. I don’t feel one bit different.”

In that case, what does the future hold for the Blue Raiders?

Reggie Upshaw had 21 points and Giddy Potts finished with 19 for Middle Tennessee State (25-9), which became the eighth No. 15 seed to knock off a No. 2 since seeding began in 1985. The last time it happened was 2013, when Florida Gulf Coast beat Georgetown on its way to the Sweet 16.

The Blue Raiders will try to do the same against No. 10 seed Syracuse on Sunday.

“I’ll be honest with you, in my wildest dreams I didn’t think they’d hit some of the shots they hit,” Izzo said. “We didn’t guard them good, but man, they made some shots.”

The Spartans (29-6) were a trendy pick to win it all after capturing the Big Ten Tournament title. Part of it had to do with the experience of Valentine and the seniors, and part of it had to do with Izzo’s impressive postseason pedigree.

The got sent home without ever leading in their only game.

“I’m more mad and disappointed because I know what this team could accomplish,” Valentine said. “It kind of fell apart, and it just stinks right now because I know the capability our team had.”

The Spartans’ Matt Costello matched a career-best with 22 points, but it wasn’t enough to offset Valentine’s miserable afternoon.

The senior had 13 points and 12 assists, but he also had six turnovers — one of them coming with the Spartans trailing 79-76 and less than three minutes to go.

Michigan State twice had chances to tie the game after that, but Valentine missed an open 3 from the top of the key, and Bryn Forbes missed another. The Blue Raiders eventually scored on back-to-back runouts to establish some breathing room, then coaxed the final few seconds off the clock.

Darnell Harris and Perrin Buford scored 15 apiece, and Jaqawn Raymond had 11, as the Conference USA champion Blue Raiders won their first NCAA Tournament game since 1989.

Not that they haven’t made a statement before: They beat Kentucky in the first round in 1982.

“We wanted to win this game as bad as anybody wanted us to win,” Potts said.

The Blue Raiders never seemed intimidated by the Spartans, roaring to a 15-2 advantage in the opening minutes and slowly getting the Syracuse and Dayton fans in the building on their side.

Michigan State chipped away at its deficit but never managed to make an extended run. Valentine was saddled with two fouls and rendered ineffective most of the way, and the backcourt of Forbes and Eron Harris combined for four turnovers while managing a single point in the first half.

Valentine’s frustration reached its apex after he committed back-to-back turnovers in the second half. During a stoppage in play and with the Blue Raiders leading 51-43, Valentine stalked back to his team’s huddle and proceeded to slam his hand into the floor.

Michigan State slowly trimmed the lead to 65-64 on a basket by Costello with eight minutes to play, but the Blue Raiders scored on their next six trips down floor to hold their lead.

They held onto it the rest of the way, too. It was the first time the Spartans, heavily favored to reach the Final Four, were bounced from the tournament in the first round since 2011.

“There’s such great college stories this time of year, every year,” Blue Raiders coach Kermit Davis said. “We looked at it and said, ‘Guys, why not Middle Tennessee?’ It’s going to be something after this weekend. Everybody is going to have a great, great moment — a great weekend.”

Stephen F. Austin 70, West Virginia 56

NEW YORK — Thomas Walkup scored 33 points and 14th-seeded Stephen F. Austin faced down West Virginia’s full-court pressure with some of its own in-your-face defense, pulling off a rugged, first-round upset of the third-seeded Mountaineers Friday night in the NCAA Tournament.

The Lumberjacks (28-5) ran the nation’s longest winning streak to 21 games and will face No. 6 seed Notre Dame on Sunday at Barclays Center in the second round of the East Region.

The Mountaineers (26-9) and Lumberjacks played physical, chest-to-chest defense, contesting not just every shot, but every pass. Neither team shot better than 31 percent.

Walkup, the two-time Southland Conference player of the year, took it to the teeth of West Virginia’s defense and went to the line 20 times.

He made 19, including two to make it 60-47 with 5:15 left in the second after West Virginia coach Bob Huggins’ griping to officials drew a technical on the Mountaineers.

When Clide Geffard slammed home an alley-oop to make it 66-54 with 2:40 left, the Lumberjacks’ purple-clad supporters roared, knowing the biggest win in program history was all but complete.

West Virginia came in leading the nation in steals per game at just under 10. Press Virginia, the Mountaineers call it, but they met their match in Stephen F. Austin.

The Lumberjacks lead the nation in turnovers forced at nearly 19 per game. They turned over West Virginia 22 times.

Making its third straight NCAA appearance under coach Brad Underwood, Stephen F. Austin won in the first round for the second time.

The Mountaineers from the Big 12 became the first No. 3 seed to be eliminated from the field of 68 and joined No. 2 seed Michigan State and No. 4 seed California as Friday’s biggest surprise losers.

West Virginia was called for 15 fouls and turned the ball over 12 times in the first half. All the fouls had Huggins and the WVU fans fuming and Stephen F. Austin used 12 free throws — in 19 attempts — to help take a 31-28 halftime lead while shooting 29 percent from the field.

The Lumberjacks scored the first seven points of the second half and had the lead up to 38-28.