MILWAUKEE -- The record will show that the first upset of the 2017 NCAA Tournament was orchestrated by the 12th seeded Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.

But ask any of the Blue Raiders about their 81-72 victory over the No. 5 seed Minnesota Golden Gophers in a first round South Regional contest and they'll simply tell you it was business as usual for the Conference USA champions.

"We have a lot of respect for Minnesota but our record speaks for itself and kind of what we've done all year long," Middle Tennessee head coach Kermit Davis said. "It was a good team and -- but I know our players don't think it was an upset by any means."

The Blue Raiders (31-4) led by as many as 17 points then held off a furious comeback by the Golden Gophers, who drew within four points late before Reggie Upshaw's 3-pointer from the wing with 6:24 remaining stabilized MTSU.

Upshaw scored 16 of his team-leading 19 in the second half, as the Blue Raiders overcame a mini shooting slump and foul trouble for Giddy Potts to record their second first-round upset -- err, victory -- over a Big Ten squad in as many seasons.

"Last year, everybody had us as a major underdog and this year, everybody had us either winning by two or losing by two," said Upshaw, who hit 6 of 10 shots and grabbed seven boards in the second half. "We just played our game."

Upshaw was relatively quiet for the first 20 minutes, hitting one of three shots and a free throw as the Blue Raiders overcame an early 7-0 deficit to go ahead by as many as nine and take a 37-31 lead into halftime.

He gave the Blue Raiders an 11-point lead with 16:09 to play and JaCorey Williams found Tyrik Dixon for an open 3-pointer with 15:31 left that put Middle Tennessee up 14 before the Gophers finally snapped out of their funk.

A 9-3 run got them back within 11. Two quick fouls gave Potts four and sent him to the bench with 8:40 left and DuPree McBrayer made it a nine-point deficit when he drove the lane for a layup with just over eight minutes left.

Coffey followed with a long hook to get the Gophers within seven, forcing the Blue Raiders to call timeout and regroup.

It didn't help as Eric Curry drew contact on a dunk and made the free throw to complete a three-point play, making it a four-point game with 6:35 to play.

"When we were making that comeback, we were excited trying to get it over the hump, trying to get it up and take the lead," Amir Coffey said. "We just didn't get there."

Upshaw finally stopped the bleeding with his first 3 of the night.

"He made that shot and then we just started strong to call some set things for him," Davis said. "He's made big shots, big plays for us for the last three years."

Jordan Murphy finished with 15 points for Minnesota. McBrayer chipped in 14 for the Gophers, who shot 45 percent from the floor but went 6-for-21 from distance.

"We were getting good looks but just missing shots," junior guard Nate Mason said. "Even in the second half, we got great looks but we just didn't get as many shots as we were used to."

The Blue Raiders advance to face fourth-seeded Butler on Saturday while Minnesota's breakout season under head coach Richard Pitino came to an abrupt end.

"Give credit to Middle Tennessee, they were the better team tonight," Pitino said. "We were not very deep late in the season and obviously, that got to us. We cut it to four, Upshaw made a big play and that really hurt us.

"Give them credit. We just couldn't stop them."

NOTES: Minnesota was back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 while the Blue Raiders were making their third trip in five seasons under head coach Kermit Davis. ... Excluding vacated seasons, the Gophers' No. 5 seed was the program's highest since drawing a No. 2 in the 1982 Tournament. ... Middle Tennessee's .882 winning percentage coming into the game was the third-best in the nation. ... Thursday marked Minnesota's second trip to Milwaukee for NCAA Tournament play. The Gophers fell to No. 6 Xavier here in 2010.