The first day of the men’s NCAA tournament More than made up for the 2020 break, with three overtime games, a healthy dose of surprises and several storylines already emerging – especially the dichotomy between the presentation of the Men’s tournament compared to what the women experience.
On the court, both No. 1 seeds dominated while one two-seed – Ohio State – fell Cinderella candidate Oral Roberts. What other top teams should prepare for heartbreak with 16 more games on Saturday?
Follow us for the latest updates and analysis from the USA TODAY Sports reporter, editor and columnist.
The LSU drives past St. Bonaventure
FINAL: No. 8 LSU 76, No. 9 St. Bonaventure 61
In what might be a fun first-round matchup, the Tigers instead filed the Bonnies in early and kept them at a distance throughout the game. St. Bonaventure simply couldn’t negotiate the length of the LSU at either end of the floor.
Tiger Cameron Thomas (11-for-13 FT) poured 27 points. LSU is likely to face # 1 Michigan in the second half, which is currently double-digit at the top of Texas Southern in the first half.
Kansas is holding back eastern Washington
FINAL: No. 3 Kansas 93, No. 14 Eastern Washington 84
If anything, this game gave fans tons of trouble, an angry try, and a new folk hero in the bearded Tanner Groves who had a game high of 36 points in the loss. His brother Jacob scored 23, but the Eagles found little production elsewhere, and Kansas made a comeback in the second half to knock Eastern Washington off the field.
David McCormack, one of the Jayhawks who tested positive for coronavirus last week, got off the bench and scored 22 points on a 9-of-15 shooting with nine ricochets. Marcus Garrett made 4 of 6 3-pointers and had 23.
Vegas angle: Each side of the 1.5 point spread was sweating in the final seconds of the game. A late foul sent Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji to the free-throw line and he pocketed both to bring the Jayhawks to 11. But Jacob Davison of east Washington pulled into the lane and hit a short jumper to bring the final lead back to nine and give the Eagles the front page.
Florida State survives against UNC Greensboro
FINAL: No. 4 Florida State 66, No. 13 North Carolina-Greensboro 56
It wasn’t the Seminoles’ nicest endeavor, but the job was completed against a Greensboro squad that presented a difficult first-round assignment. RaiQuan Gray led the FSU with 17 points.
Isaiah Miller gave it all in the defeat with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and intense defense (two steals)
Tigers bring it to Bonnies
HALF-TIME: LSU 31, St. Bonaventure 22
The Tigers overcame a slow start, outperforming the Bonnies 24-15. St. Bonaventure didn’t make any of his 10 3-point attempts and was 7-for-30 off the field. Trendon Watford and Cameron Thomas each have 10 points for the LSU.
Buffalo blow Hoyas out
FINAL: Colorado 96, Georgetown 73
The buffalo shot 64% (16:25) out of three and the Hoyas couldn’t keep up. Jabari Walker made all five of his three-point attempts and finished with 24 points, while D’Shawn Schwartz drilled five of his own and finished with 18 points. McKinley Wright IV had 12 points, five rebounds and 13 assists.
Groves Brothers Shining to East Washington
HALF-TIME: Eastern Washington 46, Kansas 38
Jacob Groves and Tanner Groves, brothers who are from Spokane, lit it in the first half with 16 points and three triples each. The two come from the selection of the Big Sky Tournament teams as the Eagles try to overcome the 14-3 surprise.
Florida State, Kansas in close
Neither Florida State No. 4 nor Kansas No. 3 have it easy against their respective double-digit opponents.
No. 13 North Carolina Greensboro was three points behind at halftime and linked the game against the Seminoles at the start of the second half. The Eastern Washington Eagles in 14th place, led by nine as halftime approached thanks to the hot starts from the Groves brothers.
Colorado leads big
HALF-TIME: No. 5 Colorado 47, No. 12 Georgetown 23
The Buffalo made 11 3-point attempts in the first half (out of 17) and outperformed the Hoyas in assists 15-4. Jabari Walker has 14 points off the bench for Colorado while Georgetown is 9-1 behind the arch.
In another promotion, Florida State No. 4 appears to be dealing with North Carolina-Greensboro No. 13 (truTV), with fourth-placed Kansas facing 13th seeded Eastern Washington at 1:15 p.m. EST on TBS.
Colorado’s Jabari Walker was hot and whistling flagrantly
The buffaloes attacked the Hoyas early, with the newcomer Jabari Walker playing an important role. He has already made a career high in 3 points (four) and had 14 points.
Half of the remaining seven minutes, Walker was called for an obvious foul after knocking Timothy Ighoefe of Georgetown while both were down.
Dikembe Mutombo cheers Hoyas
Dikembe Mutombo won’t just be involved in March Madness this year through Geico commercials. The former NBA center and Georgetown Great were there on Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse for the Hoyas’ game against Colorado.
Georgetown vs. Colorado begins on day two
Big East tournament winner Georgetown, a 12-seed, competes against Colorado No. 5. The Buffaloes built an early 10-point lead over Patrick Ewings Hoyas thanks to a trio of early triples and an 8-0.
Colorado led 17-7 in the U12 media timeout.
Do not miss
Virginia freed herself to play
No. 4 Virginia was due to be cleared for the first-round matchup against No. 13 Ohio later on Saturday (7:15 p.m. EST, truTV) as ESPN reported the Cavaliers passed COVID-19 tests twice upon arrival in Indianapolis have – once on Friday afternoon and again early on Saturday morning.
Virginia lost before the semifinals of the ACC tournament after a positive test in the program. At least five Cavaliers must be cleared for Virginia to play.
Sister Jean confident
Known for their emails to players and coaches after every game, Sister Jean Schmidt had to improvise after her email appeared to go wrong while she was in Indiana to watch her eight seeded Loyola-Chicago Ramblers.
The 101-year-old went to the old school and wrote her letters to the team by hand.
The Ramblers defeated Georgia Tech # 9 in the first round on Friday, setting a Sunday date against the enemy of the state and number 1 Illinois. Don’t expect Sister Jean to tell the hikers to step back.
“I think we can do it,” she said.
Featuring: Scott Gleeson, Nancy Armor, Chris Bumbaca
