Chicago ? Bob Knight’s first NCAA Tournament appearance with Texas Tech went pretty much like his recent ones at Indiana.

The only difference after this first-round loss is that he’s headed back to Lubbock, Texas, not Bloomington, Ind.

Texas Tech coach Bob Knight reacts to a call during the Red Raiders' game against Southern Illinois. Tech fell, 76-68, Friday night in Chicago.

Jermaine Dearman had 17 points and 11 rebounds Friday night as 11th-seeded Southern Illinois beat Knight’s Texas Tech, 76-68, in an East Regional opener.

“I’d have been disappointed eventually if we’d gotten beat in the championship game,” said Knight, who won three national titles at Indiana before being fired in September 2000 for a “pattern of unacceptable behavior.”

“Yeah, I’m disappointed, but also I can look at how we played and how they played, and they’re just better at some things than we were.”

Though he’s 42-22 in 25 tournament appearances, Knight’s teams have lost in the first round in five of his last seven trips. He hasn’t been to the round of 16 since 1994.

And until now, the first-round losses have been particularly ugly. Indiana lost to Colorado by 18 in 1997, matching the Hoosiers’ worst postseason defeat. That was followed by a 25-point blowout to St. John’s in 1999, and a 20-point loss to Pepperdine in 2000.

But while Texas Tech was the sixth seed, this wasn’t that much of a surprise.

“I really was impressed with Southern Illinois right from the very beginning,” Knight said. “They had a mental toughness that was really extraordinary. They were just tougher than we were all across the floor, and they maintained that the whole ballgame.”

Kent Williams scored 17 for the Salukis, who won their school-record 27th game. Southern Illinois held Tech to just 39 percent shooting and that was with Dearman and Rolan Roberts, their top defenders, starting the game on the bench.

The two missed their first start of the season after being late to practice Tuesday.

Andy Ellis and Kasib Powell had 19 each for Texas Tech, but leading scorer Andre Emmett had just nine points.

“We didn’t come ready to play tonight and if you don’t do that, you’re going to get beat,” Ellis said.

Still, Texas Tech’s turnaround this season was remarkable. The Red Raiders were 9-19 last season, and Knight took six holdovers, four junior college transfers, two freshmen and a walk-on and earned Texas Tech’s first NCAA bid since 1996.

“I grew up watching him when he was back at Indiana,” said Dearman, an Indianapolis native. “I don’t know if I ever really wanted to play for him because I know the kind of coach that he is. I know he’s a good coach, but I know he gets a little frustrated at players at times.

“So I felt great winning the game today.”

But the game wasn’t even the main event. All eyes were on Knight, who looked out of place in his black sweater and was just four hours north of Indiana, where he spent 29 years.

There were some boos when he took the floor for the game, and one Southern Illinois fan held up a sign reading, “‘Hey Knight, What’s Up?’ Salukis.”

Knight was fired after he grabbed the arm of a student who said, “What’s up, Knight?”

But raucous cheers drowned out any boos when Knight was introduced.

Georgia 85, Murray State 68

Chicago Jarvis Hayes scored 20 of his career-high 31 points in the second half as Georgia overcame an early 14-point deficit to beat Murray State. Third-seeded Georgia (22-9) scored the final 12 points and moves on to face No. 11 seed Southern Illinois (27-7) on Sunday. Hayes had a pair of three-pointers and another jumper to spark a 16-5 run that allowed the Bulldogs to open a nine-point lead in the second half.

Connecticut 78, Hampton 67

Washington Connecticut didn’t have to watch Hampton celebrate, unlike the last No. 2-seeded team that played the Pirates. The Huskies did get a scare, though. Caron Butler scored 21 points to lead Connecticut to a victory over Hampton in the opening round of the East Regional. The Huskies scored the game’s final seven points to make it look like an easy win.

Wisconsin 80, St. John’s 70

Washington Kirk Penney scored 19 points to lead five Wisconsin players in double figures and the Badgers prevailed in a game of runs, beating St. John’s in the first round of the East Regional. Freddie Owens added 18 points for the Badgers (18-12), while Devin Harris had 14 and Charlie Wills and Mike Wilkinson each had 10.

N.C. State 69, Michigan State 58

Washington North Carolina State didn’t make so much as a single jump shot in the first half. Then, at halftime, coach Herb Sendek solved Michigan State’s defense. Their perimeter-backdoor game held to a season-low 18 points in the first half, the Wolfpack took the ball straight to the basket in the second and beat the Spartans.

The loss ended Michigan State’s streak of three straight Final Four appearances, including the 2000 national championship.

Freshman Ilian Evtimov, sent out to start the second half by Sendek, scored 10 of his 12 points after the break for the seventh-seeded Wolfpack (23-10), who overcame a 12-point halftime deficit in their first NCAA Tournament game in 11 years.

Maryland 85, Siena 70

Washington Juan Dixon scored 29 points as the fourth-ranked Terrapins cruised past Siena. Dixon, who scored 20 in the first half, fell two points short of matching the school record shared for points in an NCAA Tournament game, held jointly by Len Bias and Joe Smith. The Terrapins (27-4) on Sunday will face eighth-seeded Wisconsin, which advanced by defeating St. John’s 80-70 earlier Friday night.

Playing against the only team in the 65-team field with a losing record, Maryland made itself right at home at the MCI Center, which is only 20 minutes from the College Park campus.