Jarron Cumberland finished with a game-high 27 points and 11 rebounds to help second-seeded Cincinnati pull away late from 15th-seeded Georgia State 68-53 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon in Nashville, Tenn.

Kyle Washington added 13 points and Bearcats leading scorer Gary Clark added 11 points with 13 rebounds for Cincinnati (31-4), which advances to face Nevada in the second round.

The Bearcats are making their eighth straight NCAA tourney appearance after edging Houston 56-55 in the championship game of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.

Panthers leading scorer D'Marcus Simonds scored 24 points and Isaiah Williams had 10 points off the bench -- the team's only other double-digit scorer.

Georgia State (24-11) was making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2015, when the Panthers advanced to the Round of 32. Georgia State won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 74-61 victory against UT Arlington.

Cincinnati won despite shooting just 38.7 percent (24 of 62) from the field and receiving only two bench points, from Tre Scott. Jacob Evans added 10 points and eight boards as four of the five Bearcats starters finished in double figures.

Georgia State shot 39.6 percent (21 of 53) for the game while going 8 for 27 (29.6 percent) from 3-point range and just 3 for 3 from the free-throw line. The Panthers' overall shooting percentage was slightly better than the 37-percent shooting the Bearcats' defense has allowed this season.

Cincinnati led 35-30 at halftime.

Simmonds' jumper with 9 minutes, 31 seconds remaining in the second half put Georgia State up 47-46, but Clark answered with a 3 at the 9:05 mark to put Cincinnati back in control. The Bearcats ran their lead up to double digits with a 14-2 run.

--Field Level Media