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Day 1 of the NCAA men’s tournament is now in the books, and the brackets are already overwhelmingly destroyed.
Thursday marked an exciting and surprise-filled start to the tournament with a trio of No. 11 seeds and Jack Gohlke making sure 99.9% of the perfect brackets were toast before the final games even began. If you are in the 0.1%, congratulations. Go buy a lottery ticket.
For the rest of us, let’s sit back and enjoy what has already been an entertaining NCAA tournament.
Beware of the 11 seeds
While Oakland stole the show with its loss to Kentucky, it was Duquesne and Oregon who got the party started.
No. 11 Duquesne gave the lead in the first few games against No. 6 BYU. The Cougars were on their heels from the start. The Dukes opened the scoring with a three-pointer en route to a 9-0 lead. They went into halftime with a 38-30 lead which they extended to 46-32 three minutes into the second half.
The Cougars fought back to tie the game at 60. But the Dukes were not to be denied as they outscored the Cougars 11-7 down the stretch to secure a 71-67 upset that few saw coming. Duquesne’s victory just two games into the tournament left just 16.3% of the perfect bracket standings.
Oregon continues to surprise
Then came Oregon, which many people, including those in Las Vegas, saw coming. Despite playing as a No. 11 seed against sixth-seeded South Carolina, Oregon entered the game as a 2.5-point favorite.
The Ducks exceeded expectations. Oregon opened a 34-29 halftime lead that was cut to five thanks to Ta’Lon Cooper’s miraculous 3-pointer from beyond half-court at the first-half buzzer. Oregon was unfazed.
Led by former Gamecock Jermaine Couisnard, Oregon opened the second half en route to an 87-73 victory.
Couisnard played three seasons for South Carolina before joining Oregon last season amid a coaching change that saw the Gamecocks fire Frank Martin in favor of Lamont Paris. He he previously told the Oregonian That lack of communication from Paris influenced his decision to enter the transfer portal.
That series of events finally came back to bite the Gamecocks in a big way on Thursday when Couisnard scored 40 points, a career-high and Oregon’s NCAA Tournament record, to send his former team back to Columbia without a victory in the tournament. He was on fire from the field with a 14-of-22 effort and hit 5-of-9 three-point attempts.
The state of North Carolina does the same
NC State kept the trend alive Thursday night.
The Wolfpack, after a dominant run in the ACC tournament last week, kept No. 6 Texas Tech at arm’s length in their opening matchup in Pittsburgh. They earned an 80-67 victory to reach the second round of the tournament for the first time since 2015, which was the same year they upset No. 1 Villanova.
NC State only took a slight lead into halftime before finally breaking out on a 13-2 run in the second half. From there, the Wolfpack simply cruised to a 13-point victory, setting up a showdown with Oakland on Saturday. Ben Middlebrooks led the Wolfpack with 21 points off the bench, and senior DJ Burns Jr. added 16 points and went 11 of 17 from the field.
NC State has won six straight games, including its impressive five-game winning streak in the ACC tournament.
Are 11-6 matchups the new 12-5?
Thursday marks the fourth consecutive tournament in which at least one No. 11 seed has advanced. Three of those tournaments have seen victories by several number 11 seeds, and several have advanced further in the tournament.
Last year, No. 11 Pittsburgh defeated No. 6 Iowa State and then lost to No. 3 Xavier in the second round. In 2022, three No. 11 seeds advanced. Iowa State beat No. 6 LSU and then No. 3 Wisconsin en route to the Sweet 16. Michigan also reached the Sweet 16 with wins over No. 6 Colorado State and No. 3 Tennessee. Notre Dame beat No. 6 Alabama and then lost to No. 3 Texas Tech in the second round.
But 2021 brought us one of the most successful No. 11 seeds of all time. UCLA beat No. 6 BYU, No. 14 Abilene Christian, No. 2 Alabama and No. 1 Michigan on its way to the Final Four. There they lost to Gonzaga in a historic national semifinal thriller.
Now we have Duquesne, Oregon and NC State. New Mexico will be the last No. 11 seed to play its first NCAA tournament game. He is a 2.5-point favorite over Clemson on Friday. Are any of them destined for the Sweet 16 or a deep run like 2021 UCLA?
Jack Gohlke sets Kentucky on fire and breaks most of the brackets
Jack Gohlke is the next big star of the NCAA tournament.
Gohlke led No. 14 Oakland to a big win over No. 3 Kentucky on Thursday night. Gohlke hit 10 3-pointers and scored 32 points in the surprising victory, which marked just Kentucky’s latest struggles in the postseason. That, of course, renewed calls for head coach John Calipari’s job.
Gohlke was just one 3-pointer away from tying the tournament’s all-time single-game record, set by LMU’s Jeff Fryer in 1990. Gohlke made seven of his 10 3-pointers in the first half, and then helped push the score home. Golden Grizzlies to victory in the second half.
While she attracted a lot of attention with her performance, it’s not too surprising. All but eight of the point guard’s field goal attempts during the regular season came from behind the arc.
The Grizzlies will face NC State in the second round on Saturday.
As a result of the surprise, almost all of the remaining perfect brackets were destroyed. More than 95% of Yahoo participants had chosen Kentucky to advance to the second round. So when the surprise hit, only 0.1% of brackets made through Yahoo Sports were still perfect.
Then, at the end of the night, there were only 116 left. If that’s you, good luck on Friday. You’re going to need it.
Marcus Domask leads Illinois with triple-double
Marcus Domask joined an elite group of college basketball players Thursday afternoon.
Domask became just the ninth player in NCAA Tournament history to record a triple-double on Thursday while leading No. 3 Illinois to an 85-69 victory over No. 14 Morehead State. He scored 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and recorded his triple-double with a 3-pointer late in the second half.
Domask is the first player to record a triple-double since Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant did it for Murray State in 2019. Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is the only player to do it twice . Michigan’s Gary Grant was the first to do so in 1987. Shaquille O’Neal, David Cain, Andre Miller, Dwayne Wade and Cole Aldrich round out that list.
Domask and Illinois will advance to the second round to face Duquesne on Saturday.
Kansas beats Samford after controversial foul
Kansas nearly blew a 22-point lead Thursday night.
But thanks to a late explosion and a controversial foul in the final seconds, the Jayhawks are moving on to the second round.
No. 4 Kansas edged No. 13 Samford, 93-89, in their first-round game Thursday night. Even though they nearly blew a 22-point second-half lead, it was a foul called in the final seconds that sealed the deal.
Kansas’ Nicolas Timberlake caught a pass on a fast break and was going for a dunk with just 14 seconds left when Samford’s AJ Staton-McCray came flying in behind and blocked the shot. Timberlake fell to the court and finally got to the free throw line, where he hit both of his shots and gave Kansas a three-point lead.
But a closer look at the play clearly showed that Staton-McCray didn’t touch Timberlake at all. He got all the ball.
But the call stood as it was on the court, ultimately leading to Kansas’ four-point victory.
So Kansas will now advance to the second round and face No. 5 Gonzaga, which beat McNeese without much trouble in its first-round game on Thursday.