Vanderbilt 79, Harvard 70: John Jenkins set the pace with 27 points as the Commodores advanced past the round of 64 for the first time since 2007. The Crimson, making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1946, struggled defensively.

Brad Tinsley added 16 points and Festus Ezeli controlled the interior with eight points, 11 rebounds and four blocks for No. 5 seed Vanderbilt (25-10), which had lost in the round of 64 as a higher seed in each of its last three trips to the NCAA tournament.

The Commodores shot 54 percent from the floor and buried 8 of 18 attempts from 3-point range. They will face No. 4 seed Wisconsin on Saturday.

No. 12 seed Harvard (26-5) shot 37 percent in the first half and fell behind by as much as 18 points in the second half. Vanderbilt looked as though it had put to game away up 67-51 with 5:02 on the clock. But the Crimson rallied back, scoring on six of the next seven possessions and forcing three turnovers to chop the deficit all the way down to 70-65 with 1:51 to play.

Jeffery Taylor split a pair of free throws to stop the bleeding and the Commodores got a stop on the other end before Jenkins sealed it with six more from the line.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Laurent Rivard hit six 3-pointers and led Harvard with 20 points while Kyle Casey added 13 before fouling out … Vanderbilt outrebounded the Crimson, 35-22 … Besides Rivard, Harvard struggled to 3 for 17 from 3-point range.