UMBC made history and brackets were busted from several other games as well. USA TODAY Sports recaps the best of Friday’s March Madness.
USA TODAY Sports recaps the key takeaways following Friday’s 16 first-round NCAA tournament games.
1. UMBC is the greatest Cinderella of all-time. The Retrievers became the first-ever No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed in the men’s NCAA tournament history. And they did it in dominant fashion by drubbing the top overall seeded Virginia Cavaliers 74-54.
2. UMBC’s Jairus Lyles wins the day. The senior guard’s 28 points and put-the-team-on-his-back heroics thrust him into the spotlight as the biggest March Madness hero of the first-round.
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3. Virginia’s collapse was just as stunning given how good its season was. The Cavaliers had the nation’s best defense, were 31-2 and had claimed both the ACC regular-season and tournament titles. But Virginia was frankly very un-Virginia like all game. The Cavaliers took bad, contested shots, didn’t share the ball and were stale on offense. They got beat in transition, which rarely happens. They let the opponent drive the lane and get to the basket at a higher rate than any game this season. UMBC will be considered among the greatest of Cinderellas. But Virginia’s flop is a shared story line.
4. No. 11 seed Syracuse, which barely got into the field as a bubble team, is channeling its 2016 run. The Orange knocked off No. 6 TCU on Friday after beating Arizona State in the First Four earlier this week. Jim Boeheim’s team stunningly went all the way to the Final Four in 2016. This team doesn’t have that type of talent — with only three capable scorers. But that doesn’t stop the fact that ‘Cuse’s vaunted 2-3 zone is tough to prepare for in just a day or two, as compared to ACC teams that are used to dealing with that length.
5. Nevada’s resilient bunch has our attention. The Wolfpack were the better seed in an overtime nail-biter against Texas in a 7-10 matchup, but had to storm back from 14 points down. This Nevada team didn’t give up, and Kaleb Martin drilled three big-time three-pointers in OT to keep this dark-horse team alive in the round of 32.
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6. Cinderella Marshall’s star player is must-watch. Jon Elmore’s 27 points off Steph Curry three-pointers and Steve Nash craftiness helped lift the No. 13-seeded Thundering Herd past a tough No. 4 Wichita State team. He’s one of the best players left in the field.
7. Marshall gets perfect neighbor draw of West Virginia. Since the Mountaineers dispatched No. 12 seed Murray State on Friday, that means they face in-state rival Marshall Sunday in a second-round game of the NCAA tournament, resuming a series that had been played annually since 1978 until it stopped in 2015. But that’s a touchy subject for WVU coach Bob Huggins, who was asked Friday why the series stopped and offered cryptic answers. This will arguably be the biggest game in state college basketball history. It’ll come on the other side of the country on a national stage. And it comes with all sorts of hoopla and sensitive politics.
8. College of Charleston almost gave us three No. 13-seed upsets. Auburn barely survived a 62-58 barn-burner against the Cougars, who were right there but couldn’t hit free-throws and didn’t get a crucial foul call on a potential game-tying three-point attempt in the last seven seconds. Since Buffalo and Marshall both won as No. 13 seeds, Charleston would have made history; never before have three No. 13 seeds that won first-round games in the NCAA tournament.
9. Michael Porter Jr. and Missouri are done already. The heavily-hyped freshman who came back after a season-ruining injury wasn’t at 100% and neither were the Tigers, who got bounced in first-round action to a hungrier Florida State team. There was an intrigue factor with Porter back in the mix, but ultimately his college career is over after just two full games that were forgettable losses.
10. Purdue’s title chances take a hit with Isaac Haas out for tourney. The 7-foot-2 big man suffered a broken elbow and will miss the rest of the tournament. It’s a big blow for a Boilermakers squad that was aiming for a Final Four and now will have to go on that pursuit without one of its best weapons — on both ends of the floor.
Contributing: Brent Schrotenboer
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