DENVER — Richie Saunders scored 16 points, Egor Demin added 15 points, and sixth-seeded BYU beat 11th-seeded VCU 80-71 in the first round of the East Region on Thursday.

Fousseyni Traore scored 13 points and Keba Keita had nine points and nine rebounds for the Cougars (25-9), who will face No. 3 Wisconsin in the second round on Saturday after avoiding a second straight upset as a No. 6 seed.

The Badgers beat Montana 85-66 earlier Thursday.

Zeb Jackson had a season-high 23 points, and Jack Clark, Joe Bamisile, and Max Shulga finished with 12 points each for VCU (28-7). Bamisile and Shulga, who came into the game averaging 15.1 points each, struggled on offense. Bamisile was 4-for-15 from the field and Shulga 4-for-10.

The Cougars surged to an 11-point halftime lead and extended it in the first minutes of the second half.

Saunders hit a 3-pointer and then converted a three-point play. Trevin Knell answered Bamisile’s 3-pointer with one from behind the arc. Mawot Mag and Demin scored layups off two VCU turnovers, and Keita tipped in Demin’s miss to make it 54-34 with 15:59 left.

The Rams cut into the lead when Shulga hit two straight 3-pointers after missing six of his first seven attempts. Demin missed on the other end and Jackson drained one from the top to get VCU within 60-50.

BYU got the lead back up to 15 with 4:57 left, the Rams cut it to nine with 1:02 left but the Cougars held on.

In the first half, Jackson’s jumper tied the game at 24 with 6:44 left but VCU went cold the rest of the period. Mag started a BYU surge with a layup, Traore sank a hook shot and two free throws and Knell drained a 3-pointer in a 12-2 run that made it 39-28 heading into intermission.

Shulga and Bamisile combined to score just six points in the first half.