PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Makai Mason had a career-high 31 points, including six of Yale’s final nine points, and the No. 12 seed Bulldogs held on to upset fifth seed Baylor 79-75 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

Yale (23-6) earned its first NCAA Tournament victory. It came in its first appearance since 1962.

Baylor forward Taurean Prince reacts as he is charged with a foul in the second half against Yale on Thursday. The fifth-ranked Bears were ousted by No. 12 Yale, 79-75, in Providence, R.I.

Justin Sears added 18 points. Brandon Sherrod finished with 10.

The Bulldogs led by as many as 13 points in the second half before having their lead cut to 1. But a late turnover by the Bears helped Yale secure the victory.

Taurean Prince led Baylor (22-12) with 28 points. Johnathan Motley finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Expelled Yale player Jack Montague, dismissed last month because of a sexual assault allegation, was in the stands for the game. He was present as a fan and sat across from the Yale bench.

Yale will play No. 4 seed Duke on Saturday.

Yale played a chunk of the second half without Sears and Brandon Sherrod after both picked up their fourth fouls. Both returned with just over four minutes to play in the game.

A layup by Sears and two free throws by Mason helped get the lead back to 72-65, before Prince gave the Bears some life with a 3-pointer.

That was followed a steal and layup by Jake Lindsey that cut the lead to a basket with 1:12 remaining.

Mason was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and connected on both of his free throws to get the lead back up to 74-70 with less than a minute left.

Prince was called for an offensive foul on the Bears next possession, but Sears misfired on both of his free throws.

Baylor took the rebound and raced down the floor and got a layup from Lester Medford.

Mason was fouled and hit two more free throws, but Prince got free and nailed another 3-pointer that cut the lead to a point with nine seconds showing on the clock.

Baylor applied full court pressure on the inbounds play, but Yale got a long pass in to Nick Victor, who was fouled with 6.8 seconds left.

Victor connected on the first, but air balled the second attempt. Baylor got the ball into Medford. He slipped on his way to the basket, turning it over.

Mason had the hot hand in the first half with 17 points, as the Bulldogs took a 39-34 lead into the break. Yale was also efficient from the field, connecting on 16 of its 25 field goals.

The Bulldogs made the most of their possessions with only four turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, while handing out seven assists.

Baylor also shot well (15 for 29), but was beaten to loose balls and struggled to deal with Yale’s quickness.

ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK 85, PURDUE 83: Little Rock is moving on in the NCAA Tournament, thanks to an out-of-nowhere comeback that led to an 85-83 double-overtime victory over Purdue in a Midwest Region game on Thursday.

Josh Hagins sent the game into overtime with a shot from the edge of the midcourt logo, and then into double OT with an arcing shot off glass over an outstretched defender.

The 6-foot-1 senior finished with 31 points, including six in the second overtime.

The 12th-seeded Trojans (30-4) trailed 65-52 with 3:33 to go in regulation, but went on a 12-0 run to make it a game. Trailing by three on the final possession, Hagins tried to find space, then finally stepped back and launched from 30 feet to tie it.

In the second overtime, Hagins opened with a pull-up 12-footer that gave the Trojans a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Little Rock, now 17 wins better than last season under first-year coach Chris Beard, will face Iowa State on Saturday in the second round.

Vince Edwards led Purdue (26-9) with 24 points.

BUTLER 71, TEXAS TECH 61: Kelan Martin scored all 11 of his points in the final 81/2 minutes, including consecutive 3-pointers to break a tie game, to help Butler (22-10) beat Texas Tech (19-13) at Raleigh, North Carolina.

Kellen Dunham scored 23 points to lead the Bulldogs, including a critical 3 of his own with 2:26 left as the Midwest Region’s No. 9 seed pulled away in the final minutes. Butler shot 52 percent after halftime, rallying from an early eight-point deficit.

IOWA STATE 94, IONA 81: Monte Morris showed no lingering effects of his right shoulder injury, scoring 20 points and dishing out eight assists for Iowa State (22-11) against Iona (22-11) at Denver.

Georges Niang’s 28 points led the No. 3 seed Cyclones, who saw all five of their starters score in double figures.

Less than 24 hours after declaring he’d never felt better, Morris proved it. Abdel Nader added 19 points for the Cyclones.

VIRGINIA 81, HAMPTON 45: Anthony Gill scored 19 points and Virginia (28-6) beat Hampton (20-11) at Raleigh, North Carolina.

The top-seeded Cavaliers shot 55 percent, hit 12 3-pointers and put this one well out of reach with a 20-3 run late in the first half before Coach Tony Bennett collapsed and was taken to the locker room a few seconds.

Virginia reported that Bennett was dehydrated, and he was back for the second half.

UTAH 80, FRESNO 69: Sophomore 7-footer Jakob Poeltl scored 16 points and pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds to help Utah (27-8) hold off feisty Fresno State (25-10) at Denver.

Utah, the third seed in the Midwest who will play the Gonzaga-Seton Hall winner, used a blistering 20-2 run down the stretch to regain control after falling behind for the first time all night with 10:32 remaining.

EAST REGION

PROVIDENCE 70, USC 69: Rodney Bullock hit a layup with 1.5 seconds left and Providence (24-10) beat Southern California (21-13) in Rhode Island.

Ben Bentil scored 19 points and Bullock finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds to help the ninth-seeded Friars earn their first win in the tournament since 1997. They will face top-seeded North Carolina on Saturday.

NORTH CAROLINA 83, FLORIDA GULF COAST 67: Brice Johnson scored 18 points and No. 1 seed North Carolina (29-6) needed an overwhelming second-half start to put away 16th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast (21-14) at Raleigh.

Isaiah Hicks added 12 points off the bench for the Tar Heels, who led by just a point after a frustration-filled opening 20 minutes. But UNC dominated the opening 10 minutes of the second half with a 20-3 burst.

KENTUCKY 85, STONY BROOK 57: Jamal Murray led five players in double figures with 19 points, and fourth-seeded Kentucky (27-8) routed Stony Brook (26-7) at Des Moines, Iowa, setting up a showdown with rival Indiana.

INDIANA 99, CHATTANOOGA 74: Yogi Ferrell had 20 points and a season-high 10 assists, O.G. Anunoby pitched in 14 points and No. 5 seed Indiana (26-7) beat Chattanooga (29-6) at Des Moines, Iowa.

Thomas Bryant had 13 points for the Hoosiers, who shot 37 for 57 from the floor for 64.9 percent.

WEST REGION

DUKE 93, UNC-WILMINGTON 85: Marshall Plumlee ditched the mask guarding his broken nose and responded by scoring a career-high 23 points to lead defending champion Duke (24-10) past UNC-Wilmington (25-8) at Providence, Rhode Island.

The Blue Devils stepped up the defensive pressure early in the second half to build a lead after trailing at the break. Duke, seeded fourth, will next play Yale.

SOUTH REGION

WICHITA STATE 65, ARIZONA 55: Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker combined for 29 points and Wichita State’s swarming defense did the rest as the Shockers (26-8) beat Arizona (25-9) at Providence, Rhode Island.

Wichita State will play Miami on Saturday.

KANSAS 105, AUSTIN PEAY 79: Svi Mykhailiuk scored a career-high 23 points, Perry Ellis added 21 and top-seeded Kansas (31-4) throttled Austin Peay (18-18) at Des Moines, Iowa.

Landen Lucas scored 16 points for the Jayhawks, who will face Connecticut on Saturday.

MIAMI 79, BUFFALO 72: Angel Rodriguez had 24 points and seven rebounds as third-seeded Miami (26-7) held off No. 14 seed Buffalo (20-15) at Providence, Rhode Island.

Sheldon McClellan added 20 points and five rebounds. It was Miami’s first tournament win since 2013.

The Bulls closed to within 72-68 with less than two minutes to play. But Miami hit enough free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

CONNECTICUT 74, COLORADO 67: Rodney Purvis, Daniel Hamilton and a stifling defense carried Connecticut back from an 11-point first-half deficit, giving the Huskies (25-10) enough for a victory over Colorado (22-12) at Des Moines, Iowa, that kept Coach Kevin Ollie unbeaten in the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 9 seed Huskies will next play Kansas.

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