RALEIGH, N.C. — Davidson fans used to have to go back 40 years to the Lefty Driesell era to tell stories of NCAA tournament success. Now they’ve got to look no further than their baby-faced sophomore star.

Stephen Curry, the guard the big schools didn’t want, put Driesell’s powerful Davidson teams of the 1960s in the background with a remarkable performance that made the tiny liberal arts school a postseason player again.

The son of former NBA 3-point specialist Dell Curry hit 8 of 10 3-pointers, scored 30 of his 40 points in the second half and hit the tie-breaking 3 with a minute left to lead the Wildcats to an 82-76 win over bewildered Gonzaga on Friday.

“It was like an opening night, a star performance on Broadway,” Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. “And he was the star, but he had a great cast with him. The audience was sensational. A lot of music, great songs, lots of dancing.”

Displaying his lightning-quick release, Curry ran off multiple screens all day and swished one off-balance jumper after another, making 14 of 22 shots.

His two free throws with 14.5 seconds left iced it for the 10th-seeded Wildcats (27-6), who won their first NCAA game since Driesell took the school of 1,700 students to a regional final in 1969 before leaving for Maryland.

“I take every game the same way. I approach it the same way, so this is nothing different for me,” Curry said. “I warm up the same way, I shoot the ball the same way. I don’t want to get caught up in the atmosphere.”

Curry wanted to play for his father’s alma mater, Virginia Tech, but the big schools shied away because of his size.

Well, Curry has grown four inches to 6-foot-3 since signing with Davidson, and now has put the Wildcats into the second round of the Midwest Regional against No. 2 seed Georgetown on Sunday.

“It puts Davidson on the map again,” Dell Curry said. “Bob McKillop has put him on a stage to be successful, and I don’t think any other school could have done that.”

Jason Richards added 15 points and nine assists for Davidson, which extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 23 games. Andrew Lovedale had 12 points and one of his 13 rebounds came on the offensive glass, which led to Curry’s deciding 3-pointer.

Freshman Steven Gray hit seven 3s and scored 21 points for No. 7 seed Gonzaga (25-8), which blew 11-point leads in both halves to make a first-round exit for the second straight year.

Gray was worn down by the end of the game after trying to chase down Curry. The Zags also tried a triangle-and-2 defense and even played some zone at the end.

“Personally, I don’t know if I’ve ever run off that many screens trying to defend someone,” Gray said. “And he knows how to use them. He’s very knowledgeable in that way.”

Curry, who finished one point shy of his career high, won over the crowd with a day that even included a left-handed bank shot. About the only fan not standing during Davidson’s comeback was his father.

Dell Curry watched quietly from the front row, while his wife and most of the neutral fans cheered as Davidson took its first lead on Stephen Rossiter’s putback with 8:27 left.

It set up a frantic finish, with Davidson taking a 73-72 lead on Max Paulhus Gosselin’s 3-pointer with 4:11 to go. But after Lovedale’s free throw, Gonzaga tied it on Jeremy Pargo’s driving layup 1:45 left.

Lovedale, who had his first career double-double, then tracked down a Davidson miss, setting up Curry’s 3 from the right wing.

Georgetown 66, UMBC 47

RALEIGH, N.C.— Roy Hibbert went over and around undersized UMBC all day, finishing with 13 points and leading the second-seeded Hoyas past the 15th-seeded Retrievers.

Jonathan Wallace added 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting and Austin Freeman finished with 11 for the Hoyas (28-5), who shot 51 percent and held UMBC scoreless for a 7-minute stretch.

Darryl Proctor scored 16 points and Brian Hodges added 11 for America East champion UMBC (24-9), which didn’t have a starter taller than 6-foot-9 to defend the 7-foot-2 Hibbert.

Patrick Ewing Jr. added 10 points for the Hoyas, who let UMBC hang around for only about 10 minutes of this one before taking control with a 22-5 run late in the first half that overwhelmed the suddenly cold-shooting Retrievers.

East Regional

Tennessee 72, American 57

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — JaJuan Smith finished with 19 points, Wayne Chism added 16 and Tennessee woke up just in time to avoid a big upset in the first round.

Ahead 53-51 with 5:45 left, Tennessee (30-4) escaped from a team making its NCAA tournament debut. The Vols held the 15th-seeded Eagles to only one basket the rest of the way.

Garrison Carr, the MVP of the Patriot League tournament, poured in 24 points for American (21-12), even the Vols threw five different defenders at him to no avail.

The Volunteers survived to play seventh-seeded Butler on Sunday.

The Vols felt slighted coming in, believing they deserved more recognition. Smith wrote “No. 1 seed” on his orange-and-white sneakers, but coach Bruce Pearl and Tennessee cost themselves with a sluggish showing in the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Butler 81, South Alabama 61

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Pete Campbell hit eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points, and the Bulldogs won their fourth straight first-round game to set a school record for wins.

The Bulldogs (30-3) were a No. 7 seed and a popular first-round upset on many brackets. But the 10th-seeded Jaguars (26-7) couldn’t live up to its much-criticized at-large bid.

All anyone wanted to talk about before the game was the matchup of starting guards, and A.J. Graves of Butler and South Alabama’s Daon Merritt didn’t disappoint. Graves had 18 points and Merritt, who kept the Jaguars in the game early, scored 14 points.

Butler hit 15 of 28 from beyond the arc, surpassing 50 percent from long range for the fourth time this season. The Bulldogs also got 16 points off 13 Jaguars turnovers.

North Carolina 113, Mount St. Mary’s 74

RALEIGH, N.C. — Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson each had 21 points to help the Tar Heels cruise by Mount St. Mary’s in a game played a short drive from their Chapel Hill campus.

Wayne Ellington added 16 points for the Tar Heels (33-2), who have won 12 straight and continued their near-perfect run in NCAA games played in their home state. North Carolina improved to 22-1 in those games and will face Arkansas in the second round Sunday.

North Carolina shot 61 percent, took a 48-22 rebounding advantage and finished with 26 second-chance points against the undersized Mountaineers (19-15).

Chris Vann scored 16 points to lead Mount St. Mary’s.

Arkansas 86, Indiana 72

RALEIGH, N.C. — Sonny Weems scored a career-high 31 points and Darian Townes added 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Razorbacks to the victory.

Weems hit 12 of 14 shots for Arkansas (23-11), which shot 54 percent and snapped a five-game losing streak in NCAA tournament games dating to a first-round victory against Siena in 1999.

D.J. White had 22 points in his third straight 20-point game for Indiana (25-8).

The Hoosiers lost their tournament opener for the first time since 2001, went one-and-done in both the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments and ended their once-promising season on a free fall.

Ranked No. 7 as recently as two months ago, Indiana finished the year by losing four of seven since coach Kelvin Sampson’s scandal-tainted resignation and former Hoosiers guard Dan Dakich was named interim coach.

Louisville 79, Boise State 61

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Earl Clark scored 15 points and Juan Palacios had 13 as Louisville cruised to easy victory.

The third-seeded Cardinals rushed to a 10-1 lead and Derrick Caracter’s slam made it 42-26 late in the first half.

Leading scorer David Padgett didn’t even take a shot before the break and Louisville still breezed, helped by a dozen 3-pointers.

Matt Nelson scored 17 for Boise State (25-9).

Oklahoma 72, St. Joseph’s 64

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — David Godbold scored a career-high 25 points, including the Sooners’ first 11 of the second half, and they survived a late rally to beat Saint Joseph’s.

Godbold and the Sooners (23-11), who had a 25-year postseason streak end last season, built a 19-point lead and watched it dissipate against a Hawks team eager to prove it belonged.

Ahmad Nivins’ putback for the Hawks made it 65-61 with 3:29 to play, then Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin scored back-to-back baskets inside to double the lead with about 2 minutes left.

The Hawks (21-13) managed just three free throws after that.

Rob Ferguson helped keep Saint Joseph’s in the game with 21 points.

South Regional

Memphis 87, Texas-Arlington 63

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Chris Douglas-Roberts led five Tigers in double figures with 23 points, and he also had seven rebounds and four assists. Derrick Rose and Antonio Anderson added 17 points each, and Robert Dozier had 12 for Memphis).

Anthony Vereen led the Mavericks (21-12) with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Jermaine Griffin had 11 points and Rog’er Guignard added 10.

The Tigers shot almost 52 percent from the floor, had seven steals and outrebounded the smaller Texas-Arlington 39-29. UTA had 14 turnovers and Memphis converted those into 13 points.

Texas 74, Austin Peay 54

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A.J. Abrams scored 26 points, and along with Connor Atchley and Dexter Pittman nearly outscored Austin Peay on their own in a first-round victory.

Abrams was 6-of-10 from 3-point range, Atchley added 12 points and Pittman had 11.

At 29-6, Texas is now one victory away from matching the school record for wins. The 2005-06 squad, which lost to LSU in the regional finals of the tournament, finished 30-7.

Ernest Fields led the Governors with 14 points. Todd Babington added 11.

Miami 78, Saint Mary’s 64

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Jack McClinton scored a career-high 38 points — 32 during a brilliant second half — to send seventh-seeded Miami past the Saints.

The Hurricanes (23-10) trailed 32-27 at intermission, but went on a 25-5 run shortly afterward. McClinton scored 10 straight points early in that stretch. Later, after the Gaels (25-7) pulled within eight, McClinton calmly sank an open 3 from the left corner.

Patty Mills, the Gaels’ freshman point guard and one of four players on the roster from Australia, scored 24 points.