Dayton, OH - The Cal Poly Mustangs and Texas Southern Tigers square off in an NCAA Tournament first-round contest at UD Arena to determine which squad will garner the 16th seed in the Midwest Region of the bracket and advance to the round of 64. First-round action continues later tonight with a matchup featuring the Big Ten Conferences Iowa Hawkeyes taking on the SECs Tennessee Volunteers in a Midwest Region battle. You can watch live streaming coverage of both games tonight beginning at 6:40pm et/3:40pm pt, exclusively on TSN GO. Cal Poly will try to extend its Cinderella story by moving past Texas Southern into the field of 64. The Mustangs made it through the Big West Conference Tournament with wins over UC Santa Barbara, top-seeded UC Irvine and a title game victory over Cal State Northridge, 61-59. Texas Southern went in as one of the favorites to take the Southwestern Athletic Conference title after having won its final six regular-season contests. The Tigers then went through Grambling State, Alabama State and Prairie View, 78-73, in the SWAC championship game. This is the first-ever meeting between these teams on the hardwood. Cal Poly, which had never been to the NCAA Tournament prior to this season, trailed Cal State Northridge in the Big West championship game at the half, 29-25. But the Mustangs made a comeback run in the second period, and slowly chipped away at the lead until they were the ones on top. Chris Eversley and Dave Nwaba, who have been the consistent go-to players this season, led the way once again. Eversley scored 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting, and Nwaba tallied 17 points with six rebounds and three blocked shots. Ridge Shipley added 14 points off the bench in the win. Eversley enters the postseason as one of two players for Cal Poly averaging a double-digit point total. Eversley tallies 13.6 ppg, and brings down a team- best 7.1 rpg with 43 steals on the year. Nwaba adds 11.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg and 18 blocked shots for the Mustangs, who average 63.2 ppg and allow 63.4 ppg to opponents through 32 games played. Jamal Johnson has dished out a team-best 90 assists, and Joel Awich has blocked 31 shots on the season. Texas Southern used a comeback effort in the second half of the SWAC championship game to end Prairie Views Cinderella run. The Panthers led at the half, 38-31, before Texas Southern sprang into action. The Tigers outscored Prairie View, 47-35, in the second half en route to the five-point victory. Aaric Murray notched a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds, adding a team-best four blocked shots. Madarious Gibbs netted 15 points with five assists, Jose Rodriguez scored 13 points and DAngelo Scott chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds. Texas Southern shot 64.7 percent in the second half. Murray has proven hes one of the better big men in the SWAC, and certainly one of the top scorers in the league. He enters the NCAA Tournament averaging 21.2 ppg to lead the team, netting 48.5 percent of his shots from the floor. He tops the squad in rebounding as well with 7.7 rpg, also registering a team- best 85 blocked shots. DAris Scarver is second in scoring at 13.3 ppg, and Rodriguez tallies 11.3 ppg for the Tigers. Gibbs comes into the game averaging a team-leading 5.2 apg mark, and Scott (6.1 rpg) and Rodriguez (5.7 rpg) contribute to a strong rebounding team. Texas Southern averages 76.2 ppg and gives up 73.7 ppg to opponents. Iowa had a successful season up until the end. The Hawkeyes spent a chunk of the year ranked in the nations Top 25, but fell from grace after losing six of their last seven games. That includes a 67-62 loss to Northwestern in the conference tournament. Tennessee started to fuel up toward the end of the year, winning five games in a row before being ousted from the SEC Tournament by eventual champion Florida, 56-49. The Volunteers enter this matchup with key wins on the season over teams such as Virginia, Xavier and Ole Miss. Iowa leads the short all-time series against Tennessee, 2-1. All three games were played at neutral locations, with the last meeting taking place back in 2000s Rainbow Classic, which Tennessee won, 80-68. The loss for Iowa against Northwestern in the Big Ten Conference Tournament was almost as embarrassing as it was shocking. The Wildcats struggled all season long, and the defeat for the Hawkeyes really epitomized Iowas play at the end of its regular season. The two teams went into the half knotted at 31 apiece, but a dismal 25.7 shooting percentage in the second frame collapsed Iowa. Roy Devyn Marble scored 25 points to pace the Hawkeyes, adding four assists to his resume. Jarrod Uthoff chipped in 17 points with nine rebounds off the bench. Iowa shot 32.3 percent as a team. Marble had a stellar season for the Hawkeyes, leading the team in scoring at 17.3 ppg and adding a team-best 59 steals on the year. Aaron White checks in at second on the squad in scoring with a 13 ppg mark on 59.2 percent shooting from the floor. White is also the teams leading rebounder with 6.7 rpg, while Gabriel Olaseni leads the Hawkeyes with 43 blocked shots. As a team, Iowa is scoring an impressive 82 ppg, and is holding its opponents to 70.1 ppg through 32 games played. Holding Florida to just 56 points in the SEC Tournament isnt a bad thing, even if the Volunteers were taken down. Tennessee showed it can hang tough with the top team in the nation, and will try to prove it can do the same entering this tournament. Tennessee led the Gators, 35-28, at the end of the first half, but could only hit 25 percent of its shot attempts in the second frame. Jordan McRae netted 15 points to pace the Vols, while Jarnell Stokes added 13 with seven rebounds, and Jeronne Maymon chipped in 10 points with nine boards. The Vols ended up shooting 41.3 percent in the game. Like Iowa, Tennessee has a real weapon atop the team in the scoring department in McRae, who is averaging 18.6 ppg and has hit 148 3-point tries this season. His 83 assists is a team best, and his 22 steals is tied for third on the squad. Stokes comes in at 14.7 ppg, and is averaging a double-double in his 33 games played with 10.3 rpg. Maymon rounds out the double-digit scorers for the Vols at 10.1 ppg with an impressive 8.2 rpg average. Tennessee is scoring 71.3 ppg and giving up just 61.1 ppg. Oakland Athletics Store . Hes the same player he always was, only now his efforts are being rewarded. The rookie manager has made a habit of heaping praise on others when things are going well, and accepting criticism when they arent. 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SAN ANTONIO -- After nearly falling on their face in the opening round of the playoffs, the San Antonio Spurs found their footing Tuesday night and ran the Portland Trail Blazers off the court. Tony Parker had 33 points and nine assists and San Antonio never trailed in a resounding 116-92 victory over Portland, bullying the younger Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. "Hes been doing that for a lot of years," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Its nothing different. Hes the guy thats our attack guy. (He) creates for everybody and starts the offence. Hes also played very good defence this year and most people dont really see that." Parker, who had 32 points in Game 7 against Dallas, scored 13 points in the first quarter on a series of drives and capped it with a corner 3 as San Antonio built a 10-point lead 8 minutes into the game. The Spurs never led by less than 20 in the second half. "They did what championship teams do," Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge said. "They came out and set the tone early. Most of the guys on (Portlands) team havent even been in the second round and theyve won championships. Theyve been here. I think they definitely came out and they let us know how its going to be." Kawhi Leonard had 16 points and Tim Duncan added 12 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio. More importantly for the Spurs, their bench contributed mightily after being virtually nonexistent in the series against Dallas. Marco Belinelli had 19 points and the Australian connection of Aron Baynes and Patty Mills had 10 points apiece. "We came out swinging, caught them with a few early punches and they were on their back heel at that point," Baynes said. "It was good for us that we came out like that but now we have to maintain it." The Spurs had their most complete game of the post-season, playing with the flair and fluidity that resulted in the leagues best regular-season record. "I think Game 7 (against Dallas) gave us a lot of confidence for our team," Parker said. "I think team wise we played our best game in Game 7. I think tonight was a little bit of the same thing. Defensively, it was one of our best games because Portland has a lot of shooters, a lot of scorers." Portland, meanwhile, didnt come close to resembling the confident and sharp-shooting group that upset Houston in the opening round. Aldridge had 32 points and 14 rebounds and Damian Lillard had 17 points for Portland, but the All-Star duo combined for just 17 points in the first half as San Antonio built a 26-point lead. "They knew where we were going to do (plays)," Aldridge said. "They tried to deny guys on certain sets. They tried to force guys to their weak hand. They did what good teams do. I think guys are going to learn from it." Lillard was pushed out of the paint by 6-foot-7 Leonard early in the game and was nearly knocked off his feet defensively by a series of blistering picks. It wasnt any easier physically for Aldridge, who opeened the game shooting 1 for 5 against Tiago Splitter and Baynes.dddddddddddd "The first half was not what we were looking for," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. "San Antonio really came out with a lot of energy and aggressiveness. They were the more aggressive team at both ends of the floor for the whole half." Splitter had an early steal on a pass to Aldridge and nearly had a second when he poked a dribble away as the 6-11 forward attempted to push his way into the block. Splitter hit the court in a failed attempt to keep the ball from going out of bounds, but it mattered little as the tone had been set for a long night for Aldridge and the Trail Blazers. Duncan left the game with 4 minutes remaining in the first quarter after picking up two quick fouls, but the Spurs increased their lead in his absence thanks to big contributions from reserves. Baynes had an immediate impact after playing only the final 6 minutes of San Antonios Game 7 victory over Dallas. He scored four points quickly and continued the physical defence against Aldridge that Splitter established. "He was awesome," Duncan said. "He gave us some great minutes. He came in there with his big body, made some plays for us, made some shots, cleaned up the glass. He did everything he was asked to do. It was great." Belinelli finished 3 for 5 from 3-point range, leading the Spurs bench to leap to their feet in loud celebration after the Italian guards struggles in the opening series. After going just 4 for 7 on 3-pointers against Dallas, Belinelli opened the game by hitting his first three attempts from long range. "Ball movement was good," Parker said. "Dallas made a conscious effort to stay on our shooters. Tonight was different. I made a conscious effort to find Marco. I talked to Pop. We wanted Marco to be back in the series, be back in the playoffs. I was trying to call his number and look for him a lot. Tonight I think half my assists were to Marco." The Spurs scored the opening eight points from close range as Portland missed its first six attempts from a variety of spots on the court. NOTES: San Antonio and Portland had not met in the playoffs since the Western Conference finals in 1999, when Sean Elliott made a dramatic 3-pointer with 9 seconds remaining to win Game 2 and spark a series victory. Dubbed the "Memorial Day Miracle," Elliott made the game-winning shot after catching a pass, turning with his heels hovering above the out-of-bounds line and firing a high-arcing shot over a hard-charging Rasheed Wallace. The Spurs would go on to win their first NBA title that season. ... Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen was in attendance as was NBA super fan Jimmy Goldstein, who was dressed in his trademark leather outfit and hat. ... Ginobili was issued a technical foul by Tony Brothers after slamming the ball to the court following a travelling violation with 1:23 remaining in the first quarter. ... Entering the series opener, Duncan had played as many post-season games (218) as the entire Portland roster. ' ' '