Welcome back to the Review-Journal’s March Madness blog.

There are 16 games Friday as the first round of the NCAA Tournament concludes. Purdue is the lone No. 1 seed taking the court and is a heavy favorite over Fairleigh Dickinson.

We’ll be following the action from all the games. Refresh this blog throughout the day to track bad beats, buzzer beaters, bracket busters, ATS results and more.

UPDATES

12:25 p.m.: Rebels fans probably aren’t rooting for T.J. Otzelberger.

Pittsburgh (+175) vs. Iowa State (-4½, 131, -200), 12:30 p.m.

12:24 p.m.: FINAL. Baylor 74, UC Santa Barbara 56. The third-seeded Bears shot 56 percent from the field and pulled away in the second half to cover as 10½-point favorites. The game stayed under the total of 141.

12:06 p.m.: Second-half line: St. Mary’s -2½, total 66½.

12:01 p.m.: Baylor is starting to assert itself and leads UC Santa Barbara 59-51 with 9:28 left in the second half. The Bears are -1100 on the live line (UCSB +650), spread -9½, total 147½.

11:57 a.m.: FINAL. Xavier 72, Kennesaw State 67. The third-seeded Musketeers rallied from a double-digit deficit to avoid the upset, but didn’t cover as 12-point favorites. Kennesaw State led 61-48 midway through the second half and had a chance for the go-ahead basket in the final seconds but a layup was blocked. The game stayed under the total of 152.

11:51 a.m.: HALFTIME. St. Mary’s 29, VCU 28. The Gaels struggled from the field and were unable to cover as 2-point favorites. The first half went over the total of 56½.

11:47 a.m.: The next game is about to tip off.

Vermont (+450) vs. Marquette (-10½, 141½, -600), 11:51 a.m.

11:32 a.m.: Xavier on a 14-0 run and has regained the lead 62-61. The Musketeers are -300 on the live line (Kennesaw State +240), spread -3½.

11:27 a.m.: Second-half line: Baylor -6½, total 75.

11:21 a.m.: Upset alert as Kennesaw State has pushed its lead to 61-51 with 9:04 left. Kennesaw State is -300 on the live line (Xavier +240), spread -4½, total 151½.

11:18 a.m.: FINAL. Michigan State 72, USC 62. The seventh-seeded Spartans used a 13-2 midway through the second half to take control and covered as 2½-point favorites. The game stayed under the total of 136½ when Michigan State missed a free throw and the Trojans couldn’t convert an open layup with 20 seconds left.

11:16 a.m.: HALFTIME. UC Santa Barbara 36, Baylor 35. The Gauchos shot 61.5 percent from the floor and covered as 6-point underdogs and +280 on the money line. The first half went over the total of 65.

10:58 a.m.: A couple of mid-majors are up next.

Virginia Commonwealth (+170) vs. St. Mary’s (-4½, 124½, -190), 11 a.m.

10:42 a.m.: Second-half line: Xavier -9½, total 83.

10:32 a.m.: HALFTIME. Kennesaw State 43, Xavier 36. The No. 14 seed Owls shot 53.1 percent from the field and closed on a 9-2 spurt to cover as 7-point underdogs and +325 on the money line. The first half went over the total of 71.

10:23 a.m.: Jim Rome’s favorite team is set to take the court. This line hasn’t budged.

UC Santa Barbara (+450) vs. Baylor (-10½, 141, -600), 10:30 a.m.

10:09 a.m.: Second-half line: Michigan State -1½, total 74.

10:06 a.m.: Xavier has cooled off after a hot start and Kennesaw State leads 25-23 with 9:30 to go until halftime. Xavier is -450 on the live line (Kennesaw State +340), spread -8½, total 162½.

10:01 a.m.: HALFTIME. Southern California 34, Michigan State 34. A.J. Hoggard hit a floater for the Spartans just before the buzzer to spoil the first-half money-line cash on the underdog. USC was +120. The first half went over the total of 61½.

9:38 a.m.: It’s all Michigan State so far. The Spartans lead 24-13 at the 8:51 mark of the first half and are -450 on the live line (USC +340), spread -8½, total 137½.

9:36 a.m.: The next game is getting set to tip off.

Kennesaw State (+550) vs. Xavier (-12, 152, -800), 9:40 a.m.

9:25 a.m.: Michigan State cashes the first team to 10 points prop at -125. The Spartans are off to an early 11-6 lead over USC.

9:15 a.m.: Michigan State closed -2½ at the Westgate SuperBook.

9:07 a.m.: Happy St. Patrick’s Day. The first game is about to get underway.

8:40 a.m.: Here is today’s schedule, with point spreads, money lines and totals:

No. 10 Southern California (+120) vs. No. 7 Michigan State (-2, 136, -140), 9:15 a.m.

No. 14 Kennesaw State (+550) vs. No. 3 Xavier (-12½, 152½, -800), 9:40 a.m.

No. 14 UC Santa Barbara (+450) vs. No. 3 Baylor (-10½, 141, -600), 10:30 a.m.

No. 12 Virginia Commonwealth (+165) vs. No. 5 St. Mary’s (-4, 123, -185), 11 a.m.

No. 15 Vermont (+450) vs. No. 2 Marquette (-10½, 142½, -600), 11:45 a.m.

No. 11 Pittsburgh (+175) vs. No. 6 Iowa State (-5, 131½, -200), 12:10 p.m.

No. 11 North Carolina State (+190) vs. No. 6 Creighton (-5, 148½, -220), 1 p.m.

No. 13 Iona (+400) vs. No. 4 Connecticut (-9½, 141½, -500), 1:30 p.m.

No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson (+2000) vs. No. 1 Purdue (-23, 146½, -10,000), 3:50 p.m.

No. 11 Providence (+170) vs. No. 6 Kentucky (-4½, 143½, -190), 4:10 p.m.

No. 12 Drake (+125) vs. No. 5 Miami (-2½, 146, -145), 4:25 p.m.

No. 14 Grand Canyon (+1,100) vs. No. 3 Gonzaga (-15½, 155, -2,500), 4:35 p.m.

No. 9 Florida Atlantic (+110) vs. No. 8 Memphis (-2, 152, -130), 6:20 p.m.

No. 14 Montana State (+310) vs. No. 3 Kansas State (-7½, 140, -370), 6:40 p.m.

No. 13 Kent State (+165) vs. No. 4 Indiana (-4½, 140½, -185), 6:55 p.m.

No. 11 Arizona State (+190) vs. No. 6 Texas Christian (-5, 142, -220), 7:05 p.m.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.