NCAA Tournament – Day One Updates

Missed a game score or result? It’s easy to do when there is so much action going on at once. Make sure to refresh this page for the latest scores and reaction. Results are in reverse chronological order (aka most recent updates at the top).

FINAL: West Virginia (3) thumps Morehead State (14) 84-67, behind a 46-point second half. WVU head coach Bob Huggins wins his 900th career game. Miles McBride led the Mountaineers with 30 points, six assists and six rebounds. Three other West Virginia players scored at least 12 points. West Virginia will play Syracuse (11) in the next round.

FINAL: Villanova (5) held on to beat Winthrop (12) 73-63 late in the game. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl led Nova with 22 points. Three other Wildcats scored at least 10 points. The win marks the eighth straight Round of 32 appearance for Villanova. The Wildcats will face North Texas (13).

FINAL: Syracuse (11) blows out San Diego State (6) 78-62. Buddy Boeheim (yes, head coach Jim Boeheim’s son) went off for 30 points which included seven made three pointers. The Orange used an 18-0 run to take a 32-18 lead at halftime. Syracuse moves on to face West Virginia (3).

FINAL: Rutgers (10) beats Clemson (7) 60-56 for their first NCAA Tournament win since 1983. Clemson didn’t score a FG in final 4:12. The Scarlet Knights had four players in double figures, three each scored 13 points — starters: Geo Baker & Jacob Young, and Caleb McConnell off the bench. Rutgers will face Houston (2).

FINAL: North Texas (13) upset Purdue (4) in overtime, 78-69. The Mean Green picked up their first NCAA Tournament win in program history in their victory over the Boilermakers. UNT is also the third double-digit seed to win on Friday, joining Oregon State (12) and Oral Roberts (15). Javion Hamlet finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, which led the Mean Green in all three categories. North Texas will face the winner of Villanova (5).

1st time since 2013 3 teams 12th or lower won on the 1st day of the Tournament.

1st time since 2010 2 teams 13th or lower won on the 1st day of the Tournament.

1st time since 2015 3 OT games on the 1st day of the Tournament.

Afte last year we deserve every bit of it!

— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) March 20, 2021

FINAL: Houston (2) beat Cleveland State (15) handily, 87-56, after only leading by nine at halftime. Six Cougars scored in double figures, led by Quentin Grimes with 18 points. Houston will face Rutgers (10).

FINAL: Wisconsin (9) beat UNC (8), 85-62, and advances to play Baylor (1). Wisconsin did something no team has ever done in the Round of 64, they beat Roy Williams. He was 29-0 as a head coach (15-0 with UNC). North Carolina was 31-1 in their NCAA Tournament history in the Round of 64, their last loss was back in 1999 to Weber State. Brad Davison and Dmitrik Trice were the only Badgers in double figures, but they each had 20-plus. Davison had the game-high 29 points (10-15 shooting) while Trice had 21 (8-15 shooting). Also, this:

It’s a year! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/WcWpIZeQ1K

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 20, 2021

FINAL: Oklahoma State (4) avoids the upset and beats Liberty (13), 69-60. Cade Cunningham scored nine straight (nine of the Cowboys final 11) points. He scored 14 in the second half and 15 points overall. Avery Anderson III led Oklahoma State with 19 points, eight rebounds and four steals. The Cowboys face Oregon State (12) on Sunday.

FINAL: Oregon State (12) 70, Tennessee (5) 56. Oregon State got out to an 18-7 lead, behind swarming interior defense. Though Tennesee made pushes in the second half, the Beavers always had an answer and cruised to the victory. Big man Roman Silva led the way for Oregon State with 16 points. Jerrod Lucas went 4-9 from the 3-point line on the way to 14 points. The Beavers, who were picked to finish last in the Pac-12 before their stunning run through the Pac-12 tournament, advance to face Oklahoma State (4).

FINAL: Loyola Chicago (8) 71, Georgia Tech (9) 60. Loyola Chicago advanced to face top-seed Illinois behind 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists from Lucas Williams.

FINAL: Baylor (1) 79, Hartford (16) 55. Top seed Baylor cruised to an easy victory over Hartford behind 22 points from MaCio Teague.

FINAL: Oral Roberts (15) 75, Ohio State (2) 72. Our first big upset of the tournament! Kevin Obanor paced Oral Roberts with 30 points and had his team leading most of the way before Ohio closed the final 4 minutes of regulation. Oral Roberts was able to force OT with some clutch free throws with under 15 seconds remaining and then cruised in the extra period. They advance to face Florida after their first tournament win since 1974.

FINAL: Texas Tech (6) 65, Utah State (11) 53. The Red Raiders outscored the Aggies 42-27 in the second half on their way to a 12 point win. They advance to face Arkansas (3) in the next round.

FINAL: Illinois (1) 78, Drexel (16) 49. No surprise here. Illinois star Ayo Dosunmu had 17 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Also no surprise.

FINAL: Arkansas 85 (3), Colgate 68 (14). – Colgate hung in with the Razorbacks in the first 10 minutes, and only trailed 36-33 at halftime before Arkansas turned it on in the 2nd half. This pretty much sums it up:

The first round kicked off with a bang, with Florida (7) beating Virginia Tech (10) in overtime. Viriginia Tech led for the majority of the game, but Florida took control late in the second half. It looked like the Gators would cruise to victory until Nahiem Alleyne sent it to OT with this buzzer beater:

Florida kept their composure in OT and eeked out a 75-70 OT win.