Salt Lake City ? Montana had a double-digit seed, little if anything positive to draw upon from its last NCAA Tournament appearance and barely could look eye-to-eye with Nevada’s best player.

None of that mattered. The Grizzlies had 12th-seed magic on their side.

The little team from the Big Sky Conference carried on the winning tradition of No. 12 seeds in the NCAA Tournament by beating fifth-seeded Nevada, 87-79, Thursday in the first round of the Minneapolis Regional.

Since 1985, at least one 12th-seeded team has upset a No. 5 seed in the tournament every year except for 1988 and 2000.

And with the poise the Grizzlies showed throughout against Nevada, they treated Montana’s first victory in the tournament since 1975 like it was just another regular-season game.

“We’re not a team that goes out and celebrates, hoots and hahs. But there was a lot of emotion in the locker room,” said Kevin Criswell, who scored 18 for Montana.

A year after being overwhelmed early in a first-round loss, the Grizzlies (24-6) returned like NCAA Tournament veterans and never trailed against the Wolf Pack (27-6), who moved from the role of underdog to first-round favorite this season.

Next up for Montana is fourth-seeded Boston College.

Boston College 88, Pacific 76, 2OT

Salt Lake City – The Eagles derailed the scrappy Tigers and the Maraker Express.

BC (27-7) trailed by six early in the first overtime and needed two free throws from Craig Smith with four seconds left to send the game into double OT.

With nine seconds left in regulation, Pacific’s star, Christian Maraker, hit an open three-pointer to tie the game at 65. But the Eagles held Maraker scoreless in the two overtimes, and the 13th-seeded Tigers (24-8) failed in their quest to advance to the second round for the third straight year.

Wis.-Milwaukee 82, Oklahoma 74

Jacksonville, Fla. – Pulling off their third major upset in two years, the 11th-seeded Panthers got 24 points apiece from Joah Tucker and Boo Davis to knock off the sixth-seeded Sooners.

Tucker, one of the stars in Milwaukee’s stunning run to the round of 16 last season, scored nine during a 23-7 surge that carried the Panthers (22-8) to a 60-46 lead with just over seven minutes to go.

The closest Oklahoma (20-9) got the rest of the way was six.

Next up for Wisconsin-Milwaukee is third-seeded Florida.

Florida 76, South Alabama 50

Jacksonville, Fla. – Lee Humphrey scored 20 points, including 12 on four three-pointers in the second half, as the Gators advanced.

Joakim Noah and Al Horford combined for 30 points and 21 rebounds for Florida (28-6).

Leandro Buboltz led the 14th-seeded Jaguars (24-7) with 14 points.