A trio of seniors, guards J.P. Macura and Trevon Bluiett plus forward Kerem Kanter, combined for 79 points to power top-seeded Xavier to an easy 102-83 win over 16th-seeded Texas Southern in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night in Nashville, Tenn.

Macura finished with 29 points with six rebounds and five steals, Bluiett had 26 and Kanter tied a career-high with 24 for Xavier (29-5), which advances to face ninth-seeded Florida State in the second round after the Seminoles beat Missouri late Friday night.

The Musketeers are in the NCAA tourney for the fifth straight season and are looking to follow up last year's Elite Eight berth. Xavier came up short in this year's Big East Conference semifinals in a 75-72 overtime loss to Providence.

Sophomore guard Demontrae Jefferson finished with 20 points, seven assists and four steals while junior guard Derrick Bruce added 18 points for Texas Southern (16-20), which was making its fourth Big Dance appearance since 2014 and eighth overall.

The Tigers turned around an 0-13 start with 15 wins in their next 21 games to win their second consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament championship with an 84-69 triumph over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Texas Southern then defeated North Carolina A&T Wednesday in an NCAA tourney play-in game.

Xavier shot 54.7 percent for the game while holding Texas Southern to 40-percent shooting.

A hot-shooting opening half from 3-point range allowed the Tigers to hang around with the Musketeers, with the teams combining to go 13-for-23 from long distance as Xavier led 49-37 at the break.

Bluiett's 3 with 1:41 to play in the first had the Musketeers up 49-29 before Jefferson went on a personal 8-0 run in the final 1:10 of the half to bring Texas Southern within 12.

It wasn't long before Xavier had its lead back up to 20 as Bluiett's free throw with 14:34 remaining made it 68-48. Texas Southern had its deficit under 20 several times after that but couldn't mount a significant run.

--Field Level Media