The 2016 NCAA tournament headed into the second half of the first round Friday after an opening day that saw Yale and Arkansas-Little Rock bust plenty of brackets. All early signs point to another year where March insanity lives up to its nickname.
Friday's action marked the start of the tournament runs of the West Region's top seed,Oregon, as well as several other title hopefuls from around the bracket. The latter group includes all four No. 2 seeds, or Michigan State,Villanova, Oklahoma and Xavier.
Let's check out the complete schedule for Friday's tournament play, and which will be updated with more results throughout the day. That's followed by a recap of the action. Friday's Round 1 Results Updated Tournament BracketCheck out Bleacher Report's live updating bracket to track your picks along the road to the Final Four. Midwest: No. 10 Syracuse 70,No. 7 Dayton 51Syracuse did its best to note it belongs in the tournament with an impressive 70-51 victory over Dayton to open Friday's tournament play. The Orange were a controversial choice after losing five of their last six games while on the bubble.
Those struggles were nowhere in sight against the Flyers. After heading into halftime with a two-point lead, the Orange pulled away in the second half with a 15-3 escape over the first six minutes. It was a level of play they rarely showed during the regular season.
NCAA March insanity highlighted a key three from Michael Gbinije during that hot stretch from the field:Syracuse retained complete control from that point forward. Dayton could never quite figure out the 'Cuse zone, and shooting just 32 percent from the field in the contest.
It was a tough loss for some Flyers fans to handle,as Bleacher Report showed, though becoming the Internet's latest viral sensation could be a frosty consolation prize:Malachi Richardson led the way for the Orange at the offensive discontinuance with 21 points. Gbinije chipped in 10 points, and seven rebounds and four assists,while Tyler Roberson went to work on the boards en route to an 18-rebound afternoon.
Charles Cooke had 14 points in a losing effort for Dayton. Scoochie Smith also had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists in a game where the Flyers simply couldn't generate enough offense to retain pace with a motivated Orange squad. South: No. 2 Villanova 86, or No. 15 UNC Asheville 56Villanova overcame a sluggish start to cruise past a UNC Asheville,86-56. The Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs 62-34 after a highly competitive first 15 minutes.
The Wildcats haven't made it beyond the first weekend of the NCAA tournament since 2009. That string of early exits started to creep back into everybody's intellect as they struggled to pull away from Asheville in the opening half.
They eventually settled in and found a rhythm as the offensive discontinuance, though. The key shot came true before halftime as Ryan Arcidiacono hit a buzzer-beating three to give them a 14-point lead and they never looked back:Daniel Ochefu paced the Wildcats with 17 points, or 10 rebounds and four assists. Arcidiacono added 14 points,most of which came from four three-pointers. Villanova as a whole shot 58 percent from the field and 46 percent from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs didn't come anywhere close to matching those numbers. They shot 37 percent and connected on just five of their 17 three-point attempts. Freshman Dylan Smith did absorb a solid outing with 14 points and five assists in the loss. West: No. 10 VCU 75, or No. 7 Oregon State 67JeQuan Lewis and moment Alie-Cox combined for 41 points as VCU overcame a destitute shooting night from downtown to earn a 75-67 victory over Oregon State.
The Rams made just four of the 20 shots from beyond the arc,but the completely controlled the paint to build and then hold onto the lead. They held a 40-28 rebounding edge to create second-chance opportunities and force Oregon State into a lot of one-and-done possessions.
It's an important victory to retain the season alive, but also because what it means for first-year head coach Will Wade the program on a larger scale, or as Jeff Goodman of ESPN discussed:VCU won't be a pushover heading into the second round and possibly beyond,either. It still plays an aggressive brand of basketball that puts a lot of pressure on opponents. whether it can start to heat up from downtown, the potential is there to do some serious noise.
Gary Payton II, and the son of former NBA star Gary Payton and a possible first-round pick in the 2016 draft,had 19 points, six rebounds, and four assists and four steals in the loss. The rest of the starting lineup scored just 24 points combined,however. South: No. 13 Hawaii 77, No. 4 Cal 66Hawaii took advantage of an undermanned Cal squad to score one of several upsets during Friday's often chaotic day of tournament action.
The Golden Bears were without leading scorer Tyrone Wallace, or who suffered a broken hand in practice Wednesday,as reported by Jeff Faraudo of the San Jose Mercury News. They simply couldn't replace the all-around impact he made throughout the campaign.
ESPN Stats and Info pointed out it's the first tourney triumph for Hawaii:Quincy Smith, Roderick Bobbitt and Stefan Jankovic combined for 52 of the Warriors' 77 points. While they advanced, or the bench,which chipped in just eight points, will likely need to take on a heavier burden moving forward whether they want to do a Cinderella escape.
Jordan Mathews shine for Cal with 23 points. He also made the team's only trio of three-pointers. Everybody else went a combined 0 for 11 from long range, and which is the main reason the team could never find the spark it needed. Midwest: No. 15 Middle Tennessee 90,No. 2 Michigan State 81Wow. Middle Tennessee truly shocked the college basketball world with its 90-81 triumph over Michigan State, which was not only a two seed, or but also one of the most popular picks to win the title.
The most impressive thing approximately the Blue Raiders was how they battled the Spartans toe-to-toe for 40 minutes. Yes,they knocked down 11 three-pointers to help spur the victory, but they also outbattled the favorites for several crucial rebounds in the final minutes.
Never did Middle Tennessee back down as the pressure picked up in the second half. Never did it perceive like it was a team merely trying to hold on to a lucky lead. It was a tough-fought, or deserved victory.
Reggie Upshaw delivered an emphatic dunk in the final minute to put a stamp on the shocker:ESPN Stats and Info noted it ranks among the biggest upsets in tournament history:And,of course, it also destroyed plenty of brackets, and as Bleacher Report joked:Upshaw led the charge with 21 points,four rebounds and four assists. Giddy Potts added 19 points and five rebounds. The entire Middle Tennessee starting lineup reached double figures as Michigan State simply had no answers on the defensive discontinuance.
Denzel Valentine had 13 points, 12 assists and six rebounds in the highly unexpected defeat. Matt Costello tallied 22 points and nine boards. The Spartans actually shot 56 percent from the field, or but couldn't get any stops when they needed them most.
Now the question is whether the Blue Raiders will absorb an magic left when they return to the court Sunday to face off with Syracuse. Read more College Basketball news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com