By Jim O'Connell
The Associated Press

A look at some of the interesting things that happened Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

ONE BIG UPSET

There won't be an upset in this tournament any bigger than Alabama-Birmingham's 76-75 win over overall No. 1 seed Kentucky. Mo Finley's jumper just inside the 3-point line with 12 seconds left gave the ninth-seeded Blazers the lead and they withstood a possible game-winning 3 by Gerald Fitch and a follow tip by Kelenna Azubuike. The win moved UAB to the round of 16 for the first time since 1982 and it came 23 years to the day since UAB beat Kentucky in the second round of the tournament. In Kentucky's stretch of consecutive NCAA appearances that started in 1992, this is only the second time the Wildcats failed to win at least two games (1994 was the other).

ALABAMA UPSETS

Two No. 1 seeds lost in the second round and both went down to teams from Alabama. Stanford lost 70-67 to Alabama on Saturday, and Alabama-Birmingham beat Kentucky 76-75 on Sunday.

COMMODORE COMEBACK

Vanderbilt capped a brilliant comeback with a Princeton-like backdoor play and beat North Carolina State 75-73 to reach the round of 16 for the first time since 1993. The Commodores trailed 69-59 with 2:44 to play but wiped out the deficit with a 13-2 run. The Wolfpack took the lead one last time before Mario Moore found Corey Smith for a backdoor layup on a three-point play with 21 seconds to go.

THREE MUSKETEERS

Xavier went behind the 3-point line to upset Mississippi State 89-74 and reach the third round for the first time since 1990. The Musketeers were 13-for-19 from beyond the arc - including 5-for-7 by Dedrick Finn and 4-for-4 by Lionel Chalmers - and only had 17 2-point field goals. One of Finn's 3s was from well beyond midcourt at the halftime buzzer and it gave Xavier a one-point lead.

STARS

Lionel Chalmers had a career-high 31 points on 11-for-13 shooting in Xavier's 89-74 win over Mississippi State. ... Matt Frieje had 31 points, the most ever scored by a Vanderbilt player in the NCAA tournament, and the Commodores beat North Carolina State 75-73. ... Deron Williams matched his career high with 31 points on 10-for-13 shooting and had seven assists to lead Illinois to a 92-68 victory over Cincinnati. ... Wayne Simien, who reaggravated a nagging groin injury in the first round, had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Kansas in the 78-63 win over Pacific.

IMPERFECT SEEDS

No seed line made it through to the second weekend of the tournament. The only one that had a chance after Saturday's games was the No. 3 seeds, but North Carolina State was beaten 75-73 by Vanderbilt.

WHAT HOMECOURT?

Pittsburgh took care of what many people said was the most unfair matchup of the early rounds, beating Wisconsin 59-55 in Milwaukee. The Panthers, despite being seeded three places higher than the Badgers, had to play a "road" game about an hour from Wisconsin's campus.

BEARCAT BEATING

Cincinnati's 92-68 loss to Illinois was its worst in NCAA tournament play. The Bearcats lost by 15 points twice, to Louisville in 1975 and to Marquette in 1977.

BALD EAGLES

Georgia Tech did a stellar defensive job on Boston College's frontcourt stars in its 57-54 victory. Craig Smith and Uka Agbai came into the game averaging a combined 28 points a game. Smith finished with two points on 1-of-4 shooting and Agbai had eight points, all in the final 15 minutes.

COWBOY START

Oklahoma State shot 68 percent (17-for-23) and had a 17-6 rebound advantage in taking a 41-19 halftime lead over Memphis. The 70-53 loss was the Tigers' worst of the season.

NEXT ROUND PART 1

The only double-digit seed to reach the round of 16 was No. 10 Nevada, which beat Michigan State and Gonzaga and now faces Georgia Tech.

NEXT ROUND PART 2

The East Rutherford Regional is the only one that went to form with the top four seeds - Saint Joseph's, Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest - advancing to the third round.

NEXT ROUND PART 3

The St. Louis Regional was the one furthest from the seedings. No. 3 Georgia Tech is the highest seed remaining along with No. 4 Kansas, No. 9 UAB and No. 10 Nevada.

NEXT ROUND PART 4

Among the interesting matchups in the regional semifinals will be Xavier against Texas in Atlanta. The last time the Musketeers reached the round of 16 was in 1990, and they lost to Texas. ... Top-seeded Saint Joseph's will play Wake Forest, the alma mater of CBS analyst and Hawk critic Billy Packer, in East Rutherford. Packer played on the Wake Forest teams that beat Saint Joseph's in the 1961 and 1962 NCAA tournaments. ... The other six matchups will all be first-time NCAA meetings for the schools.

CONFERENCE CALLS

The Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 12 and the Big East all have three teams still alive with the Big 12 the most impressive having started with four, while the other two had six each. The Atlantic 10 and Southeastern Conference each have two left, while the Big 10, Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA each have one. ... Last year the Big East had four teams in the round of 16 and the Big 12 had three.

SPEAKING HONESTLY

"I'm still in shock. We should have won that game," Kentucky forward Chuck Hayes after the Wildcats' upset loss to Alabama-Birmingham.

"He did that, and I said it's going to be a long night," Mississippi State guard Timmy Bowers on Dedrick Finn's shot from beyond midcourt at the halftime buzzer that gave Xavier a one-point lead.

"We had to jump on them from the get-go. Tonight was just one of those nights when the rim felt like an ocean," Oklahoma State guard Joey Graham, who had 20 points as the Cowboys took a 41-19 halftime lead over Memphis.