NCAA Basketball Round-Up
There were a few surprises in the first round of March Madness.
It's been an interesting Thursday in the NCAA Tournament as top seeded teams established their dominance as they marched to the next round, while there are other small teams who made big statements as they overcame the odds to beat the favourites.
First off is in the West Region where fifth seed Baylor were eliminated by 12th seed Yale 79-75 as Makai Mason dominated the game to score 31 points in the night. He also scored the team's last nine points to beat Baylor and move on.
This matchup had drama as the Bulldogs held a double digit lead at one point before Baylor bounced back to cut it to only one. However, a big turnover resulted in the tide returning Yale's favour as they eventually won the game.
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In the other game, defending champions Duke had a great game against UNC Wilmington as they booked their place in the next round after a 93-85 win.
Marshall Plumlee had 23 points for a new career high to help the Blue Devils win the game. Duke stepped up in the second half and put a stranglehold on UNC to get the lead after trailing in the first alf.
Grayson Allen struggled for Duke as he only made 4 of 12 from the field but finished with 23 points after converting 15 attempts in the free throw line.
In the Midwest, Little Rock bounced back to get a thrilling double overtime win over Purdue, 85-83.
After battling back after facing a deficit for most of the game, Little Rock forced the most out of Purdue and Josh Hagins turned to hero twice after nailing a shot from almost halfcourt to force the first overtime. He did it again and used glass to send the game into the second overtime.
He would eventually finish with 31 points as Little Rock now face Iowa State in the next round.
Virginia handled Hampton easily 81-45.
Anthony Gill had 19 points, while London Perrantes finished with 12 to help complete the dominating performance.
In Denver, Iowa State were led by Monte Morris who had 20 points and eight assists in their win over Iona, 94-81.
Despite suffering a shoulder injury, Morris was determined and stayed strong throughout the game to dominate the game to help Iowa State move on to the next round.
Butler handled Texas Tech 71-61 thanks to Kelan Martin scoring 11 points in the last eight minutes of the game to hand them the win.
Texas Tech had a good game and attempted to battle back as they are making their first appearance in the tournament since 2007, however, they stumbled at the end and it resulted in Butler taking control.
Utah dominated Fresno State 80-69 thanks to Jakob Poeltl and his 16 points and 18 rebounds. Utah were third in the Midwest and used their experience to make a big run to take the lead after already being behind at one point in the game.
In the South, Wichita State beat Arizona 65-55 after Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker combined for 29 points as they eliminated Arizona.
Also implying their defensive presence on Arizona, Wichita State held their opponents to only 55 points in the game to show how important defensive discipline is in the team.
Kansas was dominant over Austin Peay in one of the more expected results as the Jayhawks won 105-79.
Svi Mykhailiuk socred 23 points, while Perry Ellis had 21 to easily handle their underdog opponents.
The game was essentially over by halftime as Kansas was ahead by 20 at that point and even extended their lead before the game was over.
Connecticut beat Colorado 72-67 after Rodney Purvis scored 19 points – 15 of which was scored in the second half.
Daniel Hamilton had 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Huskies now move on in the tournament.
Angel Rodriguez scored 24 points and had seven rebounds to help Miami beat Buffalo 79-72. This is a big step for Miami who notched their first tournament victory since 2013 when they were eliminated in the Sweet 16.
Finally, in the East, North Carolina handled Florida Gulf Coast to cruise to an 83-67 win. Brice Johnson had 18 points in the night as North Carolina beat a pesky Florida Gulf Coast team who were looking to hang on in the first half.
Chattanooga fell to Indiana 74-99 after Indiana's Yogi Ferrell scored 20 points in the game and dished out 10 assists.
OG Anunoby had 14 points to help the fifth seed move on to the next round.
It was a dominating display for Kentucky as the Wildcats beat Stony Brook 85-57 tanks to Jamal Murray's 19 points.
Isaiah Briscoe also had a great game as he had 13 points and 11 rebounds to help the Wildcats move on.
It was a big run to start the second half that helped Kentucky build a huge lead over their opponents and it was only time before the result was formalised.
Finally, Providence won a thriller against Southern California 70-69.
It needed a layup by Rondey Bullock with 1.5 seconds remaining for Providence to oust Southern California in one of the most exciting games this Thursday.
Southern California had a chance to ice the game as Kris Dunn took a shot with five seconds left in the game but the miss resulted in the ball going out of bounds for Providence to make the eventual winning play.
