VCU 82, North Carolina 78
Tar Heels led by 19 in second half, by 14 with 6:32 left to play.
6-3 guard Hill scored 34 points; he didn’t start.
VCU has won seven in a row, 17 of last 18 games.
UNC lost its last three games, went 5-5 in their last ten games.
This is VCU’s first tournament win since 2016.
High Point 83, Wisconsin 82
First 1st round win for a Big South team since Winthrop, in 2007.
High Point has won its last 15 games.
Panthers were 15-40 on the arc, 16-34 inside the arc.
Wisconsin led by 8 with 5:23 left in the game.
High Point-Arkansas is an interesting game Saturday.
Duke 71, Siena 65
Siena led by 13 early in the second half.
Siena’s five starters played whole game, until there was 0:11 left.
Cameron Boozer scored 22 points, had 13 rebounds.
Duke was 18-21 on foul line, Saints were 6-6.
Last 19 years, team that won national title was 15-4 ATS in their Round 1 game.
TCU 66, Ohio State 64
TCU led 39-24 at halftime.
Ohio State led 55-50 with 6:19 left in the game.
TCU scored the winning basket with 0:04 left.
Buckeyes finish 5-11 vs teams ranked in top 50.
Horned Frogs won 10 of their last 12 games.
Louisville 83, South Florida 79
Louisville led by 23 with 12:50 left, USF got a backdoor cover.
Louisville won even though their star Mikel Brown didn’t play.
Cardinals shot 13-25 on the arc, only 14-25 on foul line.
South Florida shot 56.8% inside arc, only 5-33 on arc.
This is Louisville’s first tournament win since 2017.
Gonzaga 73, Kennesaw State 64
Gonzaga had 45-34 edge on the boards.
Freshman Davis Fogle scored 17 points in 25:00 off the bench.
Zags won nine of their last ten games.
Brickfest; teams combined to shoot 6-35 on the arc.
Vanderbilt 78, McNeese State 68
McNeese led 19-8 right off the bat.
This was Commodores’ first NCAA win since 2012.
Vandy shot 63% inside the arc.
Vandy has #32 eFG% in the country.
Vanderbilt-Nebraska is a 2nd round game Saturday.
Michigan 101, Howard 80
Michigan led 50-46 at half; Howard played well.
Michigan shot 83.9% inside arc, scored 1.42 ppp.
Yaxel Lendebor scored only 9 points, had 4 rebounds.
More Johnson scored 21 points, had 10 assists.
Wolverines won 17 of their last 19 games.
Famous birthdays, March 20th:
Hal Linden, 95
Pat Riley, 81
Rick Langford, 74
Steve McCatty, 72
Amy Aquino, 69
Spike Lee, 69
Rickey Jackson, 68
Jamal Crawford, 46
Taj Bradley, 25
— Nebraska 76, Troy 47
Cornhuskers get their first-ever NCAA Tournament win.
Nebraska shot 14-39 on arc, 14-26 inside arc.
Nebraska is 12-0 in non-conference games.
Pryce Sandfort scored 23 points; 12 of his 13 shots were 3’s.
— Michigan State 92, North Dakota State 67
Spartans pretty much jogged; they led 45-25 at the half.
MSU shot 63.9% inside arc, scored 1.26 ppp.
Last five years, Spartans are 4-0-1 ATS in their first round games.
Last five years, Summit teams are 0-5 ATS in this round.
Arkansas 97, Hawaii 78
Arkansas got lot of layups/dunks, led 54-36 at halftime.
Arkansas only played six guys (a 7th guy played one minute)
Razorbacks won their last five games (2 in overtime).
Arkansas plays #12-seed High Point on Saturday.
Texas 79, BYU 71
Matas Vokietaitis scored 23 points, had 16 rebounds (9 offensive)
Texas won play-in game Tuesday, now advances to play #3-seed Gonzaga Saturday
AJ Dybantsa scored 35 points, had 10 rebounds in his last college game.
BYU wound up 7-11 in its last 18 games, after a 16-1 start.
Saint Louis 102, Georgia 77
Hard to describe how badly Georgia played.
Kanon Catchings didn’t score; he had scored 24.7 ppg in previous three games.
Billikens shot 75% inside arc, led 49-32 at the half.
Saint Louis is 12-1 in non-conference games.
Texas A&M 63, Saint Mary’s 50
Aggies led wire-to-wire, had 37-26 lead at halftime.
Third year in a row A&M won their first round game.
Saint Mary’s shot only 33.3% inside the arc.
Gaels finish season 2-5 vs teams ranked in top 50.
Illinois 105, Penn 70
Illini outscored Penn 65-40 in the second half.
Illinois scored a ludicrous 1.54 ppp.
Illinois had a 48-25 edge on the boards.
Illini plays VCU Saturday, a much tougher game.
Houston 78, Idaho 47
Cougars had easy game, leading 48-24 at halftime.
6-11 freshman Cenac had 18 rebounds.
Last ten years, Big Sky teams are 1-8-1 ATS in first round.
Houston-Texas A&M is an interesting game Saturday.
