Miami vs. Buffalo: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2016

The third-seeded Miami Hurricanes are moving on to the second round of the 2016 NCAA men's basketball tournament after defeating the 14th-seeded Buffalo Bulls, 79-72, on Thursday at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island:

The Big Dance has already seen a few upsets, with two No. 12 seeds, the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans and Yale Bulldogs, advancing at the expense of the No. 5-seeded Purdue Boilermakers and Baylor Bears, respectively. A similar kind of shock wasn't in the cards for Buffalo, which never found a groove on the offensive end. The Bulls shot 39 percent as a team.

Freshman forward Nick Perkins led the team with 20 points off the bench, while sophomore guard Lamonte Bearden chipped in with 19 points as well. The rest of the team combined to shoot 10-of-31 from the field, though.

Defensively, the Bulls struggled to corral Miami's senior backcourt duo of Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan. Rodriguez finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while McClellan posted 20 points and five boards. According to the team's Twitter account, it was the 21st game in a row in which McClellan has scored 10 or more points.

CBS Sports' Seth Davis highlighted how their work at the charity stripe also played a role in Miami's win:

Buffalo jumped out to an early lead in the first half, but two factors were working against the Bulls: They were missing a lot of their shots, and Miami was bullying them inside, earning a 24-6 scoring advantage in the paint. Were it not for the team's three-point shooting, Buffalo would've been down by a lot more than two at halftime, a point to which WGRZ's Jonah Javad alluded:

The Bulls made nine shots in the first half, five of which were from beyond the arc. Miami held its opponent to 30 percent shooting, blocking five shots in the process.

Buffalo's uptempo style gave the Hurricanes problems, though, and it wasn't until head coach Jim Larranaga relied on a smaller lineup that it finally turned things around. A 9-0 run resulted in Miami going ahead 29-25 with three minutes, 44 seconds left until halftime, and the Hurricanes didn't look back from there.

Whatever adjustments Bulls head coach Nate Oats made at halftime failed to work, as his team's offensive struggles continued into the second frame, per SB Nation's Hustle Belt:

Larranaga continued to go small for stretches, which worked to great success for Miami. The Hurricanes were able to space the floor, using constant ball movement to keep Bulls defenders on the run.

Buffalo also had a hard time defending Miami's dribble drives. Rodriguez, McClellan and Davon Reed attacked the basket and kicked out to teammates on the perimeter as the defense collapsed. With better shooting from three-point range, the Hurricanes would've put the game to bed earlier.

Matt Porter of the Palm Beach Post thought it was like football season all over again:

The Bulls nearly capitalized late in the second half after a three-pointer by junior guard Blake Hamilton trimmed the deficit to six points with 3:42 left. The MAC was watching with rapt attention in hopes that Buffalo could complete the comeback:

While Miami was unable to land the knockout blow, it did just enough to keep the Bulls at bay until the final buzzer.

The road doesn't get easier for Miami. The selection committee did the Hurricanes few favors by under-seeding both the Arizona Wildcats and Wichita State Shockers. Arizona ranks 16th on KenPom.com, while Wichita State sits seven spots higher in ninth. The two teams are set to face off in Providence at 9:20 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Larranaga's team will have to be better in the second round to reach the Sweet 16. McClellan and Rodriguez played well, but they alone won't be enough to get the job done against either the Wildcats or Shockers.

If the Hurricanes play up to their potential, they're one of the best teams in the South Region. A repeat of Thursday's performance, on the other hand, will have them packing their bags earlier than expected.

Postgame Reaction

"They fought through a little adversity," said Oats of his players, alluding to the departure of former head coach Bobby Hurley last summer and a few personnel losses ahead of this season, per Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News. "Sometimes that's what it takes in life. It wasn't just adversity on the floor. We had a lot going on with the program. That character of these kids was at an unbelievably high level through the course of this year."

"The underdog can play a little freer; they don't feel the stress of a higher seed," said Larranaga, per Porter. "But I've asked my team not to put pressure on themselves, to enjoy this. You don't get a chance to do this that often."

Sophomore guard Ja'Quan Newton spoke, however, about how the day's earlier upsets played on his mind against Buffalo.

"I don't want that to be us; that's what I was thinking of," he said, per Porter.

Check out Bleacher Report's live updating bracket to track your picks along the road to the Final Four.