Syracuse's Gerry McNamara covers his head in the closing minutes of his team's 66-58 loss to Texas A&M in a first-round NCAA tournament basketball game Thursday.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Big East is off to a dismal start in the NCAA tournament.

After all the hype surrounding the league placing a record eight teams in the field of 65, three are already headed home.

Acie Law scored 23 points, including a dozen in the final 2:25, to help 12th-seeded Texas A&M upset No. 5 seed Syracuse 66-58 in the Atlanta Regional Thursday. Marquette and Seton Hall, fellow members of the newly expanded Big East, also made early exits on the first day of the tournament.

Fourth-seeded LSU beat No. 13 Iona 80-64 in the other Atlanta Regional game played in Jacksonville. No. 3 seed Florida trounced No. 14 South Alabama 76-50 and 11th-seeded Wisconsin-Milwaukee upset No. 6 Oklahoma 82-74 in the Minneapolis Regional.

For Syracuse, the loss was its second in as many years in the first round, and ended an improbable run.

Senior Gerry McNamara carried the Orange through the Big East tournament last weekend and helped the team secure an automatic berth in the NCAA field. Before the conference tournament, the Orange appeared destined to be left out of the NCAAs.

But Texas A&M (22-8) had better fortune in this one — thanks to Law.

The left-hander scored 16 points in the final eight minutes, almost single-handedly delivering the Aggies their first NCAA tournament victory since 1980.

"I don't think a whole lot of people around the country think we're a powerhouse program, so if we win a couple of games, it's going to surprise some people," guard Chris Walker said. "We enjoy that. We enjoy opening people's eyes doing things that they didn't expect us to so. I think that's what it's all about."

McNamara was held to two points — tying his career low. He was 0-for-6 from the field and missed all five shot from behind the 3-point line.

"I feel great about it," McNamara said sarcastically while keeping his head down during postgame interviews. "My last game that we lost, probably because of me."

McNamara appeared injured during the game, rubbing his leg during breaks, but he refused to use it as an excuse.

Texas A&M advanced to a second-round matchup against LSU, which got a strong second-half performance from Glen "Big Baby" Davis to come from behind and eliminate Metro Atlantic tourney champion Iona.

Davis scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half to help the Tigers (24-8) overcome a 37-32 halftime deficit.

Ricky Soliver and Steve Burtt, the highest-scoring guard tandem in Division I, did all they could to keep Iona (23-8) in the game. Burtt had 23 points and Soliver 14 in their final college contests, but were a combined 2-for-14 on 3-point attempts.

Fueled by a highly partisan crowd at Veterans Memorial Arena — about 75 miles from Gainesville — Florida turned a six-point lead into a rout after the break.

The Gators did it with a flurry of dunks and a handful of wide-open 3-pointers created when the Jaguars collapsed on Florida's big men.

Lee Humphrey scored 20 points and Joakim Noah and Al Horford dominated inside for the Gators (28-6).

Noah finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five blocks. Horford had 14 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

Boo Davis scored 26 points and Joah Tucker had 24 for Milwaukee (22-8), which blew a 10-point lead only to rebuild it to double-digits again and hold off the favored Sooners for the Panthers' third upset in the NCAA tournament in the last two years.