West Virginia outduels Bucknell

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Tarik Phillip had 16 points off the bench to lead five double-figure scorers and No. 4 seed West Virginia outlasted No. 13 Bucknell 86-80 in an NCAA Tournament first-round game Thursday at KeyBank Center.

Esa Ahmad and Lamont West each scored 15 points, Nathan Adrian tallied 12 and Jevon Carter had 11 for the Mountaineers (27-8), who advance to play former Big East rival and No. 4 seed Notre Dame on Saturday in the second round of the West region.

Inside the first round of March Madness

Patriot League champion Bucknell (26-9) was making its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance and trying for its first tournament win since 2006.

Kimbal Mackenzie tied a Bucknell record for most points in an NCAA Tournament game with 23. The sophomore guard made a career-high five 3-pointers on seven attempts. Nana Foulland and Stephen Brown each had 18 points and Zach Thomas added 13.

Bucknell never led after the first four minutes of the game but was able to cut West Virginia's lead to three points three times in the second half.

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West Virginia turned up its pressure defense to break open a close game early in the first half. Five different players scored during a 15-2 run that put West Virginia up 25-12.

Kimbal Mackenzie scored seven straight points to get Bucknell within 29-25 but West Virginia extended its lead to 42-33 by halftime.

NOTES: West Virginia is 3-0 in NCAA Tournament games in Buffalo. The Mountaineers won two games here in 2010 on their way to the Final Four. This is the only NCAA Tournament site West Virginia has played at twice without a loss. ... West Virginia's bench outscored Bucknell's 37-5. ... The Bisons had a 17-2 advantage in fast-break points. ... Entering the game, West Virginia was 0-5 when allowing an opponent to score 80 or more points.