The opening day of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is always a thrill, and Thursday’s action was no exception.
[Check out John Fanta’s takeaways, analysis and exclusive interviews from Day 1]
Day 2 is filled with a host of great matchups.
But first, make sure you check out a few key items: our NCAA Tournament bracket, NCAA Tournament schedule, 50 reasons to be excited for March Madness and top plays of the first round.
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Stay tuned for exclusive interviews, running analysis and more from Day 2.
No. 6 Creighton 72, No. 11 NC State 63
Exclusive interview: Creighton coach Greg McDermott
The Bluejays coach dropped by to discuss his team’s first-round victory over NC State, which they pulled off despite shooting 3-for-20 from 3-point range.
“We’ve talked all year about needing to find ways to win when we don’t shoot it well,” McDermott said. “Defensively and on the backboards, we only had two turnovers in the second half against a very aggressive North Carolina State defense and we handled their full-court pressure well. That’s a recipe to give yourself a chance.”
Check out my full interview with McDermott here:
Creighton shows toughness in second half to pull away from NC State
Early in the second half on Friday, it looked like 11-seed NC State had taken control of Creighton with a 37-30 lead.
Was this Bluejays team, which many felt could be Final-Four worthy in the preseason, going to bow out to the Wolfpack?
Nope. Not in the slightest.
Ryan Kalkbrenner guided Creighton on a game-changing 15-5 run, catapulting the Jays to a lead that they would not relinquish, and advancing to a Sunday second-round contest with Baylor.
Despite Terquavion Smith going off for 32 points, Creighton countered with four players in double figures and Kalkbrenner, a junior All-Big First Team selection, scoring a career-best 31 points on 11-of-14 from the floor.
The 7-footer dominated the matchup against D.J. Burns, getting him into foul trouble with four and holding him to two points in 18 minutes.
A big takeaway: we often talk about how large transfer pickups are in the offseason. Creighton made the splash with Baylor Scheierman last spring, reeling him in from South Dakota State. With just over two minutes left and NC State within three, Scheierman drilled a clutch one from downtown that served as the dagger.
While Creighton only shot 3-for-20 from 3, it says a lot that their defense and Kalkbrenner carried them, while Scheierman put it away with two of those three triples.
The Jays draw a Baylor team that possesses an extremely dangerous backcourt on Sunday, but if Kalkbrenner keeps rolling like this, the Bears are in for a handful in the matchup.
I think that’s a total toss-up game in Denver this weekend, and believe Creighton can win it with its defense.
No. 4 UConn 87, No. 13 Iona 63
UConn dominated Iona behind the performance of big man Adama Sanogo, who had 28 points and 13 rebounds. The Huskies absolutely dominated after trailing in the first half.
If Sanogo can keep playing like that inside and Jordan Hawkins can keep knocking down shots from distance, the Huskies can move into the second weekend of the big dance.
Here is my rapid reaction to the game:
No. 2 Marquette 78, No. 15 Vermont 61
Exclusive interview: Marquette’s Kam Jones
After scoring 18 straight points to spark a key run for the Golden Eagles, Jones stopped by to talk about the game.
Jones said that he feels like the rim gets wider when he’s feeling it, explaining that “I feel like I can make any shot in the gym. When I made that one I felt like I kinda knew I was going to get things rolling just a little bit.”
Check out the full interview here:
Here is my breakdown of the game:
It’s not easy to break a drought in the NCAA Tournament. With less than 16 minutes left in Columbus on Friday, Vermont began to believe, cutting Marquette’s lead to 45-40.
But just when it looked like a game would break out, the Big East regular season and tournament champions imposed their will behind their bucket-getter, Kam Jones.
The sophomore was held to just a point in the first 24 minutes of the game. What ensued was pure absurdity, as Jones scored the Golden Eagles’ next 18 points. MU went on a 13-4 run, pulling away from the Catamounts for the victory.
The win marked the first for Marquette in the NCAA Tournament since Buzz Williams was on the sidelines in 2013, as Shaka Smart notched the latest case of history in his short two years with the program. While Vermont fought, the Golden Eagles showed in their response why they can reach Houston come April.
Marquette’s offense, which ranks fifth in KenPom adjusted efficiency, had five players in double figures and Tyler Kolek was not one of them. The Big East Player of the Year actually had an off-day with eight points on 3-for-11 from the floor, and yet his team won handily because Jones was joined by Oso Ighodaro (14), David Joplin (12), O-Max Prosper (11) and Stevie Mitchell (10) in double-digits.
We’ve known about the Golden Eagles’ offense, but what this team has done defensively is what makes them Final Four worthy. After Vermont shot 6-for-12 from downtown in the opening 20 minutes, the Golden Eagles adjusted and held the Catamounts to 2-for-13 from beyond the arc in the second half. Nobody for UVM had more than 11 points, as John Becker’s team bowed out in the opening round after making a second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the America East for the fourth time in the last five years.
Up next for Smart’s team: a date with Joey Hauser and Michigan State on Sunday. Hauser transferred from the Golden Eagles program after a solid freshman year, the first domino on a road that led Steve Wojciechowski to getting fired by Marquette. Hauser led the Spartans with 17 points in their 10-point win over USC on Friday.
No. 11 Pitt 59, No. 6 Iowa State 41
From First Four to second round, Pitt sets up date vs. alum Sean Miller
The Pitt Panthers’ magical season will live on for a third game in the NCAA Tournament. Jeff Capel’s team is the latest to go from the First Four to winning multiple games on the big dance floor, as the Panthers blew out Iowa State in Greensboro on Friday.
The Cyclones, who were a 3-seed in the selection committee’s initial reveal in February, ended their season in disappointing fashion, losing six of their final eight games.
The Panthers were shot out of a cannon, starting the game on a 22-2 run and showing the value of getting your legs under you in the NCAA Tournament while becoming loose on the stage.
Nelly Cummings kept his surge going, scoring 13 points in the win. The fifth-year senior, who transferred in from a winning Colgate program, has helped change the complexion of the Panthers program. He’s combined for 28 in two NCAA Tournament victories. Jamarius Burton, the hero in the win over Mississippi State, added 11 while Marquette transfer Greg Elliott added 10.
Up next for the Panthers: a Sunday matchup with Pitt alum Sean Miller, who was a point guard for the program in the Big East from 1987-92. Fun fact: back in 1998, Miller delivered the pass for the legendary “Send it in Jerome” dunk by Lane, as called by Bill Raftery!
No. 3 Xavier 72, No. 14 Kennesaw State 67
Sean Miller’s program-changing impact shown in Xavier’s comeback win over Kennesaw State
Sean Miller brought it up when he was hired last March. Heading into the 2018-19 season, Xavier basketball was a staple to the NCAA Tournament, having been to 16 of the last 18 big dances.
“My job is to not just get us back there, but to get this program deep into the month,” Miller said upon being introduced in his return to the sidelines.
The Musketeers went through four years of spending March Madness on their couch under Travis Steele.
On Friday afternoon, it looked like the program’s return to the big dance floor was going to end as quickly as it began — and in nightmare fashion. The Musketeers trailed Kennesaw State by 13 with less than 10 minutes on the clock.
The Owls were cooking behind Terrell Burden and Chris Youngblood … and then Colby Jones and the Musketeers locked in defensively.
Xavier won’t be confused as a great defensive team, checking in at No. 72 in KenPom adjusted efficiency on that end of the floor. But when the Owls took a 61-48 lead with 9:57 left, from there, Xavier held them without a field goal until the 2:03 mark of the game, rolling out a 15-0 run in the process. Jones, who’s getting serious looks from NBA scouts and could crack into the first–round projections, was nails defensively in containing Burden.
After he hit a go-ahead free throw with 13 seconds left, the Musketeers clung to a one-point lead in need of a stop. Burden drove right and found separation, and just when it looked like he was heading in for an uncontested layup, 24-year-old big man Jack Nunge leaped into the air and came up with the play of the game, his second block of the contest to put it in the hands of Souley Boum, who ended up hitting four straight free throws to put it away for Xavier.
This win was a direct reflection of the toughness Miller instilled in the Musketeers. They looked tired at times, and it looked like a game reminiscent of the scars garnered from letdown seasons in recent years. But Jones changed the game with his defense. Nunge had a double-double and had the block of the game. Jerome Hunter, an Indiana transfer who was a liability on the floor last year, had his finest hour with 24 points.
And somehow, someway, the Musketeers survived to the second round, where they will meet the winner of Iowa State and Miller’s alma mater, Pitt, on Sunday.
“I’m not sure. I don’t really know,” Miller said on the truTV postgame interview when asked how his team came back. “There are sometimes in this tournament where there’s some good fortune in play. I will say, our team was resilient with our defense. In the last 10 minutes, we were more difficult to score against. We had a couple guys who were tight, but you can’t let this be bigger than it is, or else something unexpected can happen.”
One added note: Boum and Adam Kunkel were seen arguing on the TV broadcast late in Friday’s game. Here’s my take: players are allowed to fight. It beats not caring or being disinterested, which would have led to Kennesaw State winning the game. It was a frustrating day for the Musketeers, but that anger is something that also reflects a changed intensity in the program. At the end of the day, in this crazy event, all that matters for Xavier is that it’s advancing — and has a door open to the second weekend.
No. 7 Michigan State 72, No. 10 USC 62
Michigan State has ingredients for an NCAA Tournament run
They have a Hall of Famer on the sidelines. They have experienced guard play. They possess a stretch forward who can change the game when he gets hot. Their staple is hard-nosed defense.
A familiar brand name in college basketball could be the dark horse in the NCAA Tournament, and its name is Michigan State.
The Spartans were tied with USC at the half in the 7/10 East Region first-round game on Friday but took control with four players in double-figures en route to the win over the Trojans. With the victory, Tom Izzo moved to 19-6 all-time in first-round games.
Senior forward Joey Hauser stayed hot for Michigan State — he entered the NCAA Tournament having scored at least 15 points in seven of his last eight games — with a game-high 17 points on four triples and notching eight rebounds. He was getting set up by Tyson Walker and AJ Hoggard, who combined for nine assists and managed the game well, as MSU totaled just seven turnovers.
But there are two bigger stories for Sparty?
They shut down USC leading scorer Boogie Ellis, who entered Friday’s game with a 28-point performance and 35-point master class in two of his last three games. On Friday? It was the exact opposite. Izzo had his team swarm the senior, holding him to 3-for-12 from the floor and to only six points. That’s the type of backcourt defense Michigan State will need if Sunday’s second-round matchup comes against Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek and Marquette.
The center spot has been an issue for the Spartans, but on Friday, freshman Carson Cooper gave Izzo 13 good minutes off the bench. Cooper impacted the game defensively and as an added bonus, supplied six points. He joined Mady Sissoko, who started and delivered 21 minutes. Just having frontcourt production that is serviceable can’t be overstated for what it means for the Spartans’ ceiling.
No. 3 Baylor 74, No. 14 UC Santa Barbara 56
Baylor breaks out with big second half to beat UCSB
It looked like an upset candidate at halftime. The South Region has already had its fair share of it with 2-seed Arizona and 4-seed Virginia falling on Thursday. UC Santa Barbara utilized its depth and found balanced scoring to take a 36-35 lead on Baylor into the break.
In the final 20 minutes, though, LJ Cryer and Adam Flagler showed why they are one of the nation’s best backcourts with a combined 20 points, while the Bears’ defense held the Gauchos to the same amount as a team in a big victory to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
For Baylor, the question mark area is defense. Holding UCSB to 20 points in the second half was impressive. The Bears advanced to the second round for the fourth straight NCAA Tournament.
They will meet Creighton or NC State on Sunday in the South Region.
No. 5 Saint Mary’s 63, No. 12 VCU 51
Underappreciated Saint Mary’s is advancing
Over the last eight years, Randy Bennett has led Saint Mary’s to a 203-62 record. On Thursday afternoon, we saw the latest example of how consistent the Gaels are and how tough they are to face.
Saint Mary’s wore VCU down behind a combined 34 points and 17 rebounds from Mitchell Saxen and Alex Ducas. While Rams star Ace Baldwin was battling an ankle injury and posted 13 points in 28 minutes, VCU struggled to get anything easy in the second half, shooting 6-for-27 from the floor.
The bigger takeaway for Saint Mary’s? Freshman star Aidan Mahaney was a non-factor in his March Madness debut, as he was held scoreless while committing four fouls in 18 minutes.
The Gaels really didn’t click offensively, and their best player performed poorly, yet they won by double-figures. They will need Mahaney to bounce back Sunday. Don’t expect him to have two bad games in a row.
Saint Mary’s will meet the winner of UConn/Iona in Albany, which is coming up. Grab your popcorn for the coaching matchup between Dan Hurley and Rick Pitino.
COMING UP:
No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. No. 1 Purdue
No. 11 Providence vs. No. 6 Kentucky
No. 14 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 Gonzaga
No. 14 Montana State vs. No. 3 Kansas State
No. 13 Kent State vs. No. 4 Indiana
No. 11 Arizona State vs. No. 6 TCU
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
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