The top-seeded Gators, the fourth-seeded Cardinals and the fifth-seeded Billikens survived significant scares in their opening games of the NCAA tournament Thursday. All three avoided becoming huge upset victims in the second round.
Florida, the tournament's overall No. 1 seed, sleepwalked early and looked vulnerable late in a 67-55 win over No. 16 seed Albany.
Louisville and Saint Louis needed some late breaks. The Cardinals trailed 58-55 with about 4 minutes remaining before edging Manhattan 71-64, and the Billikens had to overcome a 16-point deficit in the second half before beating North Carolina State 83-80 in overtime.