Author: Scott Gleeson / Source: USA TODAY
SportsPulse: We have our first real bracket buster of the tournament: UC Irvine. USA TODAY’s Scott Gleeson explains how they did it and if they’re a threat to make a legit cinderella run. USA TODAY
March Madness is in full swing, with Thursday’s first-round action delivering on excitement but leaving our thirst for bracket-busting upsets not relatively quenched. Now we’re back for more, providing wall-to-wall college basketball for the entire day as the remaining teams start the first round.
Follow all of Friday’s NCAA tournament action here with in-game and post-game analysis on all 16 games, as well as the biggest news of the day. All times Eastern.
► No. 4 Virginia Tech vs. No. 13 Saint Louis: The Hokies were crushing Saint Louis 40-18 at halftime but the second half shifted the momentum with the deficit being sliced to 51-41 with 10 minutes to go.
► FINAL — OHIO STATE 62, IOWA STATE 59 The Buckeyes rode the play of their big man Kaleb Wesson, who finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds, to hold off Iowa State in a low-scoring game that made these teams look far closer than their seeds would indicate — making hard to label an upset. The win made the Big Ten 7-1 in the first-round.
► FINAL — UCF 73, VCU 58: The Knights put this one away early and built a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. VCU went 0-for-9 from three-point range in the first half and finished 6-for-26 (23 percent). Meanwhile, UCF went 9-for-14 from three and did most of their damage in the paint.
► FINAL — NORTH CAROLINA 88, IONA 73: The Gaels came out in attack mode to take the heavily-favored Tar Heels off-guard and grab a 38-33 halftime lead.
But whatever coach Roy Williams said to his players at halftime must’ve worked, as UNC had taken a commanding 56-45 lead by the second TV timeout of the second half. The Tar Heels cruised after the momentum had shifted for an 88-73 win to advance to the second round.► FINAL — LIBERTY 80, MISSISSIPPI STATE 76: The Flames became the tournament’s second true Cinderella by knocking off the more athletic Bulldogs. Caleb Homesley’s 30 points and Lovell Cabbil Jr.’s clutch play down the stretch spearheaded the huge upset.
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 North Dakota State
FINAL SCORE — DUKE 85, NORTH DAKOTA STATE 62: After a sluggish first half in which the Blue Devils trailed by four, Zion Williamson and his Duke teammates came out in the second half reminding everyone why they’re this tournament’s top overall seed. Five minutes into the second half, the game was practically over and Williamson (25 points) and his national player of the year teammate R.J. Barrett (26 points, 14 rebounds) put the game out of reach with their above-the-rim playmaking. “We dug ourselves a hole against a really good team,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said at halftime. His young team dug themselves out of it — with determination — in the second half.
- 4:30 remaining: The Blue Devils are up 79-49 and both Zion Williamson (25 points) and R.J. Barrett (26 points) are sitting on the bench.
- 7 minutes remaining: Duke now leads 73-47 and it’s likely coach Mike Krzyzewski will be subbing out his superstar freshmen. Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett have combined for 46 points so far.
- 11:57 remaining: The Blue Devils are pulling away now with teammates Zion Williamson (23 points) and R.J. Barrett (17 points) starring to give Duke a 61-35 lead.
- 16 minutes remaining: Duke was out in front 44-30 at the first TV timeout of the second half behind Williamson’s 18 points.
- 17:56 remaining: Williamson sparked a 9-0 run to give Duke a commanding 40-27 lead just two minutes into the second half.
- Halftime: All eyes were on human highlight reel Zion Williamson as the top overall seeded Blue Devils tried to show off their high-octane offense against this mid-major No. 16 seed from the Summit League. But they ran into a brick wall against the Bison, who trailed just 31-27 at the end of the first half.
- Duke started pretty slow, but Williamson’s monster dunk off an R.J. Barrett pass gave the Blue Devils their first lead of the game 18-16. It was back and forth all half as the North Dakota State showed no signs of going out quietly in this tournament. Williamson has 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting while Barrett also has 10. NDSU’s Vinnie Shahid is leading all scorers with 15 points.
Other evening results
► FINAL — WASHINGTON 78, UTAH STATE 61: The Pac-12 champion Huskies had more punch all game and used a stifling defense to force the Mountain West’s Aggies into 21 turnovers that they capitalized on. Utah State turned the ball over 11 times in the first half and Washington accordingly capitalized. Forward Noah Dickerson paced Washington with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
► FINAL SCORE — HOUSTON 84, GEORGIA STATE 55: The Cougars built a double-digit lead early and kept the game out of reach throughout as Corey Davis Jr’s six consecutive three-pointers (and seven total) kept the Panthers far away from striking distance.
Friday’s first eight games
No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 12 Oregon (TBS)
FINAL — OREGON 72, WISCONSIN 54: The Ducks looked like the better team from the get-go and didn’t let up against the Badgers. They got a big lift from forward Kenny Wooten (9 points, four blocks), who had three monstrous dunks in the second half and a key block of star Ethan Happ that helped shake off any bit of momentum Wisconsin was trying to cook up. Payton Pritchard (19 points, eight assists, five rebounds, two steals) ran this team, which has found its identity at exactly the right time after a turbulent earlier half of the season. The loss was the first for the Big Ten, which had gone 6-0 before Wisconsin’s upset loss.
- 6:33 p.m.: Wisconsin coach Greg Gard called a timeout to try to rally the Badgers as they trail this determined Oregon team 59-47 in crunch time. 4:14 left.
- 6:18 p.m.: The 12th-seeded Ducks have built a 48-42 lead midway through the second half of their first-round matchup with No. 5 Wisconsin. Oregon was a trendy upset pick entering the contest having just won the Pac-12 tournament to earn its entree into the NCAAs. 9 minutes remaining
- Halftime: This one’s a rock fight as neither team can score much in a 25–25 tie a the break. But the Ducks certainly aren’t looking the part of a No. 12 seed. Oregon’s Payton Pritchard has been stellar early on, with 12 first-half points. Meanwhile Wisconsin All-American big man Ethan Happ has struggled to get anything going, finishing with just four points on only three shot attempts in the first half.
No. 6 Buffalo vs. No. 11 Arizona State (TNT)
FINAL — BUFFALO 91, ARIZONA STATE 74: The Bulls are the real deal, and they used their first-round demolition of Arizona State to make that statement to the rest of the country that hadn’t seen them roll through the MAC. Jeremy Harris and Nick Perkins had 21 points apiece and Buffalo controlled the tempo throughout, as ASU managed just 3-for-22 from three-point range (14 percent).
- Halftime: The Bulls are showing why they’re a 31-win team and dark-horse Final Four contender here early on against the Sun Devils, who dispatched St. John’s in the First Four earlier this week. Buffalo leads 44-31 at the break. Coach Bobby Hurley’s team is 0-for-9 from three-point range — a stat that will have to change in the second for an upset to be in reach.
No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Colgate
FINAL — TENNESSEE 77 COLGATE 70: Whew. That was a close one for Rick Barnes’ Final Four-contending team, as the Volunteers narrowly escaped a determined Colgate squad that was firing on all cylinders and was right there with minutes to go. Colgate’s Jordan Burns fueled his mid-major team’s fire with 32 points in the near-upset.
- 4:52 p.m.: The Volunteers have taken a decisive 73-64 lead with less than…
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