Friday at the 2018 NCAA tournament: Plenty of upsets, including the first 16 to beat a 1
The first 16 games of the 2018 NCAA tournament featured some some blowouts, many close calls and two big upsets (plus one 9/8 "upset").
On Friday, the drama increased, topped by one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history — the first victory by a No. 16 seed vs. a 1 seed.
Overall in the first two rounds, counting 9 beating 8 as an upset, there were nine total upsets.
Here are all the results from Friday:
Syracuse is still playing
Jim Boeheim believed his Syracuse Orange should be in the NCAA tournament, even if many others did not.
Boeheim might have been right.
The Orange, who advanced out of the First Four on Wednesday with a victory against Arizona State, defeated No. 6 seed TCU 57-52 in Detroit and will move on to the Round of 32.
For the first time a 16 beats a 1!
No. 16 seeds were 0-135 since the NCAA men's tournament expanded to 64 teams entering the UMBC-Virginia game in Charlotte.
Now they are 1-135.
UMBC, the America East Conference champion, pestered, aggravated and ultimately bested Virginia 74-54, the No. 1 seed overall in the tournament, in the first round in Charlotte.
The Cavaliers were ice cold from the field and had trouble defending, their strong suit. Meanwhile, The Retrievers just kept coming, firing threes, taking charges and stunning the ACC champ.
It had nearly happened to the Cavaliers before. In 2014, Virginia was a No. 1 seed and trailed by five at halftime to Coastal Carolina but wound up winning 70-59.
The closest a 16 seed had ever come to upsetting a No. 1 was in 1989 when East Tennessee State lost 72-71 to top-seeded Oklahoma and 16th-seeded Princeton lost 50-49 to No. 1 Georgetown.
For the record: A 16 seed had defeated a No. 1 before in the NCAA tournament: Harvard defeated No. 1 Stanford in the women's tournament in in 1998.
Butler knocks off another higher seed
Butler coach LaVall Jordan watched his team race out to a huge early lead against Arkansas, 21-2, then give it all away before the first half was even over.
But the Bulldogs, the No. 10 seed in the East, steadied themselves on their way to a 79-62 victory.
Butler, who lost in the championship game two times (2010, 11), is in its first year under Jordan.
Arkansas' loss spoiled the SEC's perfect tournament record, which after the first round stands at 6-2.
Here comes Marshall
The Thundering Herd, and coach Dan D'Antoni, love to play the up-tempo game, and they are more than happy to launch three-pointers.
The style, pleasing to the eye, worked beautifully on Friday.
Marshall (25-10), the No. 13 seed in the East, knocked off No. 4 seed Wichita State (25-8) 81-75 in San Diego, the first NCAA tournament win in program history.
What's next for the Herd? Potentially a clash against West Virginia in the Round of 32 (if the Mountaineers can defeat Murray State).
Texas A&M 73, Providence 69: The Aggies, the No. 7 seed in the West, fought off a game performance from the Friars on the way to victory in Charlotte. One of the big differences was on the boards, where Texas A&M outrebounded Providence 44-26.
Texas A&M's Robert Williams put the finishing touches on the Aggies' win with a highlight-reel dunk. He said afterward that he wanted to go between his legs but thought Billy Kennedy would take him out the game if he tried it ... and so he settled on a windmill.
Purdue 74, Cal State Fullerton 48: The Boilermakers overpowered the Titans with their size and skill. Purdue, the No. 2 seed in the East, got 15 points each from Carsen Edwards and Vincent Edwards.
Bad news for the Boilers, however: Center Isaac Haas broke his right elbow in a fall and will miss the rest of the tournament. Haas is a major key to Purdue's success.
Auburn 63, Charleston 58: The Tigers, the No. 4 seed in the Midwest, narrowly escaped a challenge from Cougars. Mustapha Heron scored 16 points to propel Auburn.
Nevada 87, Texas 83 OT: The Wolfpack, the No. 7 seed in the South, came from 14 down to defeat Texas in overtime. Kendall Stephens led Nevada with 22 points.
West Virginia 85, Murray State 68: The Mountaineers pulled away in the second half from the Racers and will face Marshall in the Round of 32 in San Diego. Jevon Carter had 21 points for West Virginia.
Xavier 102, Texas Southern 83: J.P. Macura scored a career-high 29 points, Trevon Bluiett added 26 and Kerem Kanter had 24 as the Musketeers, the No. 1 seed in the West, cruised in Nashville.
North Carolina 84, Lipscomb 66: The Tar Heels, the No. 2 seed in the West, had way too much firepower for the Bisons, who were making their NCAA debut. Kenny Williams led North Carolina with 18 points.
Michigan State 82, Bucknell 78: The Spartans, the No. 3 seed in the Midwest, got 29 points from Miles Bridges on the way to victory in Detroit.
Cincinnati 68, Georgia State 53: The Bearcats fell behind 8-1 early but eventually overpowered underdog Georgia State in Nashville. Sophomore guard Jarron Cumberland led Cincinnati, the No. 2 seed in the South, with career highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds.
Kansas State 69, Creighton 59: Barry Brown scored 18 points, and Kansas State, the No. 9 seed in the South led wire-to-wire despite playing without leading scorer Dean Wade. Bluejays leading scoring Marcus Foster, who spent two seasons at Kansas State, was held scoreless for the first 281/2 minutes and finished with five points on 2-for-11 shooting.
Clemson 79, New Mexico State 68: The last hope for the seemingly yearly 12-5 upset ended the Tigers beat the Aggies in the Midwest Region. It’s just the second time since 2008 a No. 12 seed won’t advance. Shelton Mitchell scored a season-high 23 points and Gabe Devoe added 22 as the Tigers advanced to the second round for the first time since 1997.
Florida State 67, Missouri 54: The Seminoles, the No. 9 seed in the West, led throughout on their way to victory in Nashville. Mfiondu Kabengele led the Seminoles with 14 points. Next up will be top-seeded Xavier. Meanwhile, heralded Tigers freshman Michael Porter Jr., who was injured for all but a couple of minutes of the regular season, one game in the SEC tournament and one NCAA tournament game, had 16 points and 10 rebounds in what was likely is last college game.
