After 40 minutes of give-no-ground basketball, everything opened up for Byron Eaton.

Oklahoma State's barrel-chested point guard found a clear path to the basket for a three-point play with 7.2 seconds 
left Friday, sending the Cowboys to a scintillating 77 to 75 victory over Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA 
tournament.

Oklahoma State (23-11) will play either East Tennessee State or Pittsburgh, the top seed in the East Regional. 

Fast Facts
  
Playing in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005, Oklahoma State advances to the second round after 
beating Tennessee. 

Byron Eaton, playing in his 135th career game, made his NCAA tournament debut with a team-high 20 points, including a 
three-point play with 7.2 seconds left that gave Oklahoma State the lead. 

The Cowboys had four players score in double figures. Tennessee lost in the first round for the first time in the 
Bruce Pearl era. Tennessee's Tyler Smith led all scorers with 21 points, but missed a three-pointer at the buzzer to 
win it. 

With Mississippi State losing on Thursday, LSU is now the only SEC team to advance to the round of 32. 

Tennessee has reached the NCAA tournament in all four years under coach Bruce Pearl, who's had some of his best 
coaching moments there, starting with his emergency stint as the Boston College mascot for one game in the 1981 
tournament.

This wasn't one of them. He left the floor complaining to the referees that Smith was fouled on the final shot.

No matter how it turned out, this NCAA appearance amounted to a big step forward for Oklahoma State, which advanced 
to the Final Four in 2004, then fell on hard times. The Cowboys were relegated to the NIT the last three years, 
prompting them to hire Travis Ford as coach.