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MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Mamadou N'diaye had 16 points, 11 rebounds and a block of Ben Walker's tying 3-point attempt in the final seconds as seventh seed Auburn survived a furious rally for a 72-69 victory over No. 10 Creighton in a Midwest Region first-round game. The Tigers (24-9) became the first team to advance to the second round and on Saturday will play No. 2 Iowa State. Daymeon Fishback had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field for the Tigers, picking up the slack of suspended star teammate Chris Porter. But it was N'diaye who nearly blew the game and then secured the win in the waning moments. A long 3-pointer got Creighton (23-10) within 72-69 with 3.8 seconds left. N'diaye, a 7-footer from Dakar, Senegal, then was open deep down the court but could not grab the long inbounds pass, leaving the Blue Jays with the ball under the attacking basket. Walker took the inbounds pass in the right corner and quickly hoisted the potential tying shot, on which N'diaye got a hand. The ball fell well short and was loose for the final second of the game. Ryan Sears scored 18 points and dished out eight assists for Creighton, which nearly erased a 40-25 halftime deficit but never could forge a tie, getting within 62-61 with 2:14 left. Auburn responded with a 6-0 run, capped by Mack McGadney's free throw with 38 seconds left that made it 68-61. The Tigers shot 50 percent (25-of-50) from the floor, were a scorching 11-of-21 (52 percent) from 3-point range and held a 38-29 rebounding edge. Creighton shot 42 percent (27-of-65) overall and was 12-of-32 (38 percent) from long range but stayed in the game by taking care of the ball. The Blue Jays turned it over just six times and Sears, who was 2-of-2 from inside the 3-point arc and 4-of-10 outside, had no miscues and a pair of steals along with four rebounds. Walker had 13 points, Terrell Taylor 11 and Kyle Korver 10 for Creighton, which went to the foul line a mere seven times, making three. The Tigers were 11-of-16.
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