March Madness first round winners and losers: Key wins for Nebraska and Kentucky
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While No. 1 Duke, No. 1 Michigan and No. 2 Connecticut faced unexpected tests in the first round of the Men’s NCAA Tournament, the upsets on Thursday and Friday happened down the bracket, with teams from the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 being upended by double-digit seeds.
In one of the most dramatic moments of the opening round, No. 12 High Point knocked off No. 5 Wisconsin, 83-82, on a last-second layup. In another upset, No. 11 VCU pulled off a furious comeback to beat No. 6 North Carolina, 82-78, in overtime.
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Duke made history as the only No. 1 seed to ever trail a No. 16 seed by double digits at halftime before getting back on track for a 71-65 win against Siena.
Michigan led No. 16 Howard 50-46 at halftime before its potent offense took over, turning a nailbiter into a 100-81 win. Connecticut went cold from deep in the first half against No. 15 Furman but steadied things in the second half to win 82-71.
Overall, teams on the top four lines went 16-0 in the first round with an average margin of victory of 24.5 points. Of this group, 12 won by at least 20 points, led by No. 1 Florida’s 114-55 win against No. 16 Prairie View A&M.
Let’s break down what’s happened and get ready for the weekend by examining the biggest winners and losers from the first round:
WINNERS
Nebraska
The No. 4 Cornhuskers are one of the biggest winners after rolling over No. 13 Troy, 76-47, for the program’s first tournament win. Sharpshooter Pryce Sandfort led the way with 23 points for Nebraska, which next takes on No. 5 Vanderbilt in the South region. This has been a long time coming, period, and required the patience to give coach Fred Hoiberg enough time to establish the depth and playing style that have made this the most successful team in school history.
Saint Louis
Late on Thursday night, No. 9 Saint Louis put on a show against No. 8 Georgia to paint the Billikens as a legitimate threat to derail the Wolverines in the second round of the Midwest region. With a frantic pace and aggressive, rim-attacking approach, SLU scored 66 points in the paint and led the Bulldogs by as much as 40 points in the second half of a 102-77 win. This was particularly meaningful for coach Josh Schertz and star center Robbie Avila, who were part of the 2024 Indiana State team that was infamously snubbed as an at-large contender.
No. 9 seeds
It was a good round to be a No. 9 seed. In addition to Saint Louis, TCU beat Ohio State, 66-64, on a late bucket, Utah State beat Villanova, 86-76, and Iowa beat Clemson, 67-61. The last time No. 9 seeds went 4-0 in the first round was in 2019, when Central Florida, Baylor, Oklahoma and Washington did the honors.
Kentucky
You shudder to think about the reaction nationally and inside its home state had No. 7 Kentucky lost to No. 10 Santa Clara – and the Wildcats seemed well on the way to doing just that until Otega Oweh’s buzzer-beating heave from just inside half court tied the game and forced overtime. From there, UK had just enough to score an 89-84 win that should temporarily quiet the frustration over an up-and-down regular season. There’s a lot of stress on the word temporarily: No. 2 Iowa State will eat the Wildcats’ lunch if they don’t step up their game before meeting on Sunday.
LOSERS
North Carolina
The disaster that was North Carolina’s loss to VCU threatens to change the direction of the program, given the recharged sense of unease about the state of affairs under coach Hubert Davis. While Davis did lead UNC to the national championship game in 2022 and an ACC regular-season crown in 2024, the Tar Heels’ latest first-round exit should leave Davis on a very hot seat heading into next season – or even lead to an immediate coaching change. Ahead by 19 points in the second half, UNC took its foot off the gas and allowed the Rams to chip away and force overtime before guard Terrence Hill Jr. nailed a step-back 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in the extra frame for the win.
ACC
UNC isn’t alone amid the ACC’s disappointing start. Duke had a historic struggle but survived. Clemson lost 67-61 to Iowa. In the play-in round, No. 11 North Carolina State lost 68-66 to Texas and No. 11 SMU lost 89-79 to Miami (Ohio). On the other hand, No. 7 Miami beat No. 10 Missouri, 80-66, No. 3 Virginia beat No. 14 Wright State, 82-73, for its first tournament win since 2019 and No. 6 Louisville beat No. 11 South Florida, 83-79. The 4-4 mark so far is well off the pace of the Big 12, Big Ten and SEC, which were a combined 21-6 in the first round.
West Coast Conference
On a mid-major level, no league flopped more than the West Coast. Regular-season and conference tournament champion No. 3 Gonzaga struggled in a defensive battle against No. 14 Kennesaw State but pulled out a 73-64 win. Santa Clara led Kentucky with two minutes to go, again with 1:30 to play and then made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left before Oweh delivered a miracle. And No. 7 Saint Mary’s was just pushed around and never comfortable in a 63-50 loss to No. 10 Texas A&M.
Brigham Young
This entire season was a bit of a flop given the hype around BYU and freshman star AJ Dybantsa, even if Dybantsa matched all expectations with a banner one-and-done year. The No. 6 Cougars’ year ended with a 79-71 loss to No. 11 Texas that pretty much sum that up: Dybantsa scored 35 points and had 10 rebounds, though he did turn the ball over five times and make just 1 of 7 attempts from deep.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Winners and losers of first round of Men's NCAA Tournament