March Madness: 3 stars who will impress at tournament

USA Currently Sports’ Paul Myerberg tells us which names we need to have to know as the action gets underway in the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament.

SportsPulse, USA Currently

The madness is completely underway.

The initially complete day of the men’s NCAA Tournament started Thursday with some dramatic upsets, with No. 13 seed Furman scoring the day’s initially upset when the Paladins shocked No. four Virginia. Then, No. 15 Princeton busted brackets everywhere by upending No. two Arizona following trailing most of the game – and marking the third straight year a No. 15 seed sophisticated to the second round. 

We are halfway via the initially day of the initially round, with games like No. 1 Houston vs. No. 16 Northern Kentucky and No. two UCLA against No. 15 North Carolina-Asheville highlighting a evening slate that will not cease till about midnight Eastern. 

Believe you have what it requires to beat your buddies? Test your college basketball capabilities (or luck) right here with USA TODAY’s Survivor Pool. Keep up with all the scores and schedules, and bookmark our brackets web page, also! 

A No. 15 seed took out a No. two seed early Thursday with Princeton’s win more than Arizona, but that wasn’t the case for Texas. The Longhorns sophisticated with a decisive, 20-point win more than the Colgate Raiders. 

Texas shot 53.four% from the field and went 13-for-23 from 3. Sir’Jabari Rice completed with 23 points off the bench, followed by Dylan Disu’s and Marcus Carr’s 17 points every.

Keegan Records and Ryan Moffatt had a group higher 13 points for the Raiders, who weren’t in a position to get it accomplished on the defensive finish, either. Colgate was outrebounded by Texas 34-24.

Boise State was in a position to close the Wildcats’ lead to 4 ahead of Northwestern pulled away for a 75-67 win. 

Boo Buie scored a game-higher 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Chase Audige also exploded for the Wildcats, scoring 13 of his 20 points in the second half to finish the Broncos off. 

Boise State’s Marcus Shaver Jr. returned in the second half with a taped ankle and a noticeable limp following leaving the initially half early with a twisted correct ankle. Max Rice led the Broncos with 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, with Chibuzo Agbo adding 12 points and Shaver recording ten. But the Broncos weren’t in a position to create sufficient offense to get previous Northwestern, who led the entirety of the game.   

Houston got a win ahead of the Cougars even tipped off in the 2023 NCAA Tournament: Marcus Sasser is back.

Sasser is the Cougars’ top scorer at 17.1 points, and also chips in three.two assists and two.eight rebounds per game. The AAC player of the year, he got hurt late in the initially half of Houston’s conference tournament semifinal, slipping on the floor and hurting his groin. He did not play in the AAC tournament championship, which Houston lost 75-65 to Memphis. Houston coach Kelvin Sampson stated earlier this week that Sasser would be a game-time choice Thursday. 

In a potent offense — all 5 Cougar starters typical 9 points or extra — Sasser is the crucial. A six-foot-two, 195-pound combo guard, he is UH’s initially initially-group All-American considering the fact that Hakeem Olajuwon and a probably second round choose in the 2023 NBA draft. 

– Lindsay Schnell

Jon Scheyer’s initially NCAA Tournament win as head coach at Duke was a breeze.  

The No. five Blue Devils jumped out to a 15- lead and by no means looked back as they cruised previous Oral Roberts and into the second round. Jeremy Roach led the way with a game-higher 23 points.

Duke dominated the boards, finishing with a 47-32 benefit. Very-touted freshman Dereck Lively II paced the field with 12 rebounds. Oral Roberts shot poorly, just 30.two% from the floor and an even-poorer 25% from three. 

It feels odd to take into account Duke a dark horse, but with a No. five seed and without the need of Mike Krzyzewski on the sideline the Blue Devils definitely weren’t the favorites to win this tournament. But they are playing just about as properly as any group in the nation, now winners of ten straight games, such as a run to the ACC tournament title.

Charles Barkley is certainly satisfied. His alma mater, Auburn, is moving on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament following an 83-75 win more than the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Johni Broome (19 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks) and Allen Flanigan (ten points, ten rebounds, 4 assists) completed with double-doubles, although 4 other Tigers reached double-digit points. 

Payton Sandfort led the Hawkeyes with 21 points off the bench, but it wasn’t sufficient to mount a comeback.

The Longhorns led by as numerous as 17 points in the initially half, but the Raiders reduce it to a single-digit lead going into halftime. Texas jumped to an early lead by way of the three-point line, shooting 53.three% from beyond the arc. Sir’Jabari Rice has 15 points, two assists and 4 rebounds off the bench for Texas. 

But the Raiders closed the half on a 14-six run to keep inside striking distance. Ryan Moffatt leads Colgate with six points, one particular steal and one particular help. 

The Wildcats entered halftime with a six-point lead more than the Broncos, obtaining led the complete game and by as numerous as ten points. Guard Boo Buie is the only Wildcat in double figures with 11 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds. Chase Audige added seven points and Ty Berry recorded six. Northwestern only committed 4 turnovers and fouls in the half. 

Broncos guard Marcus Shaver Jr. went down following twisting his correct ankle with two:33 left in the initially half. He was helped back to the locker area and couldn’t apply stress to his ankle. It is not clear if he will return. Chibuzo Agbo leads the Broncos with ten points, one particular help and 3 rebounds.

The Blue Devils got out to a dominant start off in their initially-round matchup, jumping out to a commanding early lead.

Duke had two players finish the half with double-digit points. Jeremy Roach posted 13 and Dariq Whitehead added ten off the bench. Dereck Lively II was a force on the glass, pulling down nine rebounds.

Oral Roberts, meanwhile, struggled to uncover momentum. Max Abmas led the group with eight points in the initially 20 minutes.

All round, the Blue Devils shot an impressive 50% from the field and 40% from three-point variety. The Golden Eagles shot just 26.five% from the field and shot 20% from beyond the arc. Duke won the rebound battle 25-15.

The ninth-seeded Tigers spread the scoring about, finishing the initially half with 4 players tallying at least 5 points. Nine players scored for Auburn general.

Each Johni Broome (eight points, six rebounds) and Allen Flanigan (six points, seven rebounds) are on double-double watch for the Tigers. Iowa’s Filip Rebraca led all scorers with ten points at the break.

Each teams struggled from three-point variety. Auburn connected on just 1 of 9 shots from beyond the arc although Iowa missed all nine of its attempts.

President Joe Biden shared his brackets for the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments on Twitter ahead of Thursday’s tip-off of the men’s action and, properly … his bracket is just as busted as the rest of us. 

The commander in chief picked Arizona to win the complete point. Halfway via the day’s action, the No. two seed Wildcats had been eliminated, shocked by No. 15 Princeton in the initially round. 

Very good luck to just about every group in this year’s NCAA tournament.

I’ve got Arizona in the men’s tournament and Villanova in the women’s – and as you know, in this household, Villanova generally wins. pic.twitter.com/iILzABTCuo

— President Biden (@POTUS) March 16, 2023

To make matters worse, the president had Arizona squaring off with No. four Virginia in the Elite Eight. The Cavaliers had been also upset Thursday, falling to No. 13 Furman in jaw-dropping style. Not terrific to currently have an complete area basically eliminated on Day 1, but we picture Biden has larger points to be concerned about. 

Regardless of Illinois’ torrid comeback try, No. eight Arkansas held on for a initially-round victory more than the ninth-seeded Fighting Illini. 

Ricky Council IV was a force for the Razorbacks, tallying 18 points and ten rebounds. Teammate Davonte Davis added 16 points.

Meanwhile, Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. led all scorers with 20 while teammates Coleman Hawkins and RJ Melendez added ten points apiece.

The Fighting Illini had been hampered by turnovers, providing away 17 possessions compared to Arkansas’ 11 turnovers in the game. Each teams shot much less than 40% from the field, but the Razorbacks won the rebound battle 42-34 and sophisticated to the round of 32.

Largest upset of the tournament? The No. 15-seeded Tigers erased a double-digit deficit in the second half to knock off the second-seeded Wildcats. 

Arizona was out-rebounded 39-37 and fell victim to six blocked shots in the loss. Princeton’s Tosan Evbuomwan paced the group with 15 points, seven rebounds and 4 assists.

The Wildcats received a 22-point work from Azuolas Tubelis and got a double-double from Oumar Ballo (13 points, 12 rebounds) but could not close out the initially-round matchup.

Princeton, which shot just 16% from three-point variety (four-for-25), did just sufficient to pull off an unforgettable upset. The Tigers completed the game on a 9- run.

Furman kicked off the madness by knocking off No. four Virginia thanks to a clutch three-point shot from JP Pegues in the final seconds.

It marked the initially tournament win considering the fact that 1974 for the private college with an enrollment of 2,500.

Study about the college that was thrust into the NCAA Tournament spotlight, like, what is a Paladin? 

— Jordan Mendoza

The Aztecs survived in one particular of the closest games of the day. Matt Bradley led all scorers with 17 points and also added seven rebounds and 4 assists. Jaedon LeDee pulled down ten rebounds and contributed eight points.

Charleston got up an impressive functionality by Ante Brzovic, who posted 12 points and eight rebounds. Jaylon Scott chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds.

Charleston took a whopping 24 attempts from beyond the arc but produced just 5 of them (20.eight%). The Cougars had been a disappointing 31.five% general from the field. San Diego State, meanwhile, shot 42.9% from the field and out-rebounded Charleston 44-34 to advance to the round of 32.

The Azetcs, who will play No. 13 seed Furman in the second round on Saturday, final won an NCAA tournament game in 2015 more than St. John’s.

Talented freshman Brandon Miller was held scoreless, but the major-seeded Crimson Tide received a lot of scoring in a blowout victory more than the No. 16 seed.

Nick Pringle led all scorers and posted a double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds, although Mark Sears added 15 points and Jahvon Quinerly chipped in with 13.

The Islanders had been led by Isaac Mushila, who went for a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Trey Tennyson had a group-higher 20 points.

Alabama was deadly from three-point variety, connecting on 15 of 33 attempts (45.five%). The Crimson Tide also shot 47.eight% from the field.

Miller, who contributed 5 rebounds and 3 assists, had not been held to fewer than eight points all season.

The Razorbacks had been dominant in the initially half. Ricky Council IV led all scorers with ten points and added six rebounds. Anthony Black chipped in with seven points and 4 rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Fighting Illini had been paced by Terrence Shannon Jr. (eight points) and Luke Goode (six points).

Illinois shot just 27.six% from the field and went just three of 11 from three-point variety. They had been out-rebounded 27-19.

Arizona came alive in the final minutes of the half to take a one particular-pointn lead more than Princeton. The Wildcats had been paced by Azuolas Tubelis, who scored 14 points and added 3 rebounds and an help in the initially 20 minutes.

Tosan Evbuomwan led the Tigers with eight points and 4 assists. Zach Martini placed himself on double-double watch with seven points and 5 rebounds.

Princeton produced just two three-pointers out of 12 attempts. It also did not try a initially-half cost-free throw. The Tigers, even so, out-rebounded the Wildcats 22-17 to hold the game close.

The Aztecs rode a 15-five run to end the half. San Diego State guard Matt Bradley paced all scorers with nine points to go along with 4 rebounds and two assists.

Charleston attempted 11 3-pointers and produced just 3 of them. San Diego State shot 49% from the field. The Aztecs committed 11 turnovers to uncover themselves in an early hole but responded in the final ten minutes of the half.

The Crimson Tide rolled to a massive halftime lead more than the Bison. Mark Sears led all scorers with 13 points to pace Alabama. Teammate Noah Clowney added ten points and 4 rebounds.

Alabama star freshman Brandon Miller was held scoreless in the initially half. Miller played 13 minutes in the half, going of three from the field and of two from three-point variety. He added 5 rebounds and an help. Miller’s typical-season low was eight points against Houston. 

Isaac Mushila led Texas A&ampM-Corpus Christi with nine points and 5 rebounds. The Islanders are attempting to turn into just the second No. 16 seed to upset a major seed in tournament history. University of Maryland Baltimore County posted a 74-54 win more than No. 1 Virginia in the initially round of the 2018 tournament.

Jalen Wilson, a initially-group All-America choice, scored 20 points and added seven rebounds as the Jayhawks began their national title defense. Kansas had tiny difficulty dispatching Howard, which was generating just their third NCAA tournament look. 

Gradey Dick added 19 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals for the Jayhawks, who hit 52 % of their shots and led by as numerous as 24. 

The Jayhawks played the game without the need of head coach Bill Self, who is nevertheless recovering from a wellness situation that brought on him to miss the Significant 12 Conference tournament. The Jayhawks, who had all 5 starters score in double figures, will play the winner of Illinois and Arkansas on Saturday.

Howard freshman forward Shy Odom had 15 points and eight rebounds in the game, which was attended by Vice President Kamala Harris, a Howard University alum. 

Kobe Brown hit 3 3-pointers in the second half, on the way to a individual 12- scoring spurt, to break open a close game and lead the Tigers to a 76-65 victory more than Utah State in the initially round of the South Area. 

Brown completed with 19 points for Missouri, who which will take on the winner of Arizona and Princeton on Saturday. D’Moi Hodge led the way with 22 points, hitting 5 3-pointers of his personal.

Utah State had a 49-47 lead in the second half but could not sustain it due to poor shooting and turnovers. The Aggies had been led by Taylor Funk’s 16 points and seven rebounds. 

The South’s No. eight seed Maryland utilised a late spurt to pull away with a 67-65 victory more than No. 9 West Virginia, in a game that featured nine ties and 11 lead adjustments. The Terrapins now move on to play the winner of Alabama and Texas A&ampM-Corpus Christi on Saturday. Maryland lost to Alabama in the second round in their final NCAA tournament look in 2021.

The Mountaineers had a opportunity to win the game but Kedrian Johnson’s final-second three-point try was brief.

Julian Reese led 4 Terrapins, who had been down by 13 points in the initially half in double figures with 17 points, nine rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks. Hakim Hart added 15 and Donta Scott had 11 points and eight rebounds. 

West Virginia was led by Johnson, who scored 27 points.

Virginia guard Kihei Clark threw away a pass that was intercepted by Furman’s Garrett Hien, top to JP Pegues drilling a three-pointer with two.four seconds left to give No. 13 seed Furman the initially upset of the tournament more than the fourth-seeded Cavaliers. 

The Paladins, who rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit, will play the winner of Charleston and San Diego State on Saturday.

Just after Hien produced two cost-free throws with 12 seconds left to reduce the Virginia lead to two, Furman trapped Clark, who attempted to throw it to a teammate exactly where it was picked off by Hien close to midcourt. Reece Beekman’s 3-point try at the buzzer missed, setting off a wild celebration by Furman. 

Jalen Slawson led the Paladins, who produced their initially trip to the NCAA Tournament in 43 years, with 19 points, ten rebounds and 4 assists and was one particular of 4 Furman players in double figures.

Virginia exits the tournament early when once again, reminiscent of their 2018 upset at the hands of UMBC. The Cavaliers had been paced by Kadin Shedrick who had 15 points and 13 rebounds.

The Cavaliers have led by as substantially as ten more than Furman, but the Paladins are maintaining it close and trail 32-27 at halftime, regardless of shooting only 34 %, including 4-14 from three-point variety. They are also getting outrebounded by eight.

Reece Beekman is pacing the Cavaliers with ten points and 4 rebounds and Jalen Swanson leads Furman with eight. Top scorer Mike Bothwell, who averages 18 points a game, has 5 points, but also has 3 individual fouls. 

The Terrapins discovered themselves down 13 points early against the Mountaineers but closed powerful to take a 32-30 halftime lead. Jahmir Young and Hakim Hart led a balanced Maryland attack with seven points every, although Kedrian Johnson of West Virginia leads all scorers with ten. Maryland is shooting 58 % from the field.

The initially games of March Madness are underway as a pair of South Area games kick off the action.

West Virginia and Maryland are going back in forth in their eight-9 matchup in Birmingham, Alabama as the initially half winds down, although the initially game in Orlando pits No. four seed Virginia and No. 13 seed Furman.

Kansas coach Bill Self will not be on the sideline when the major-ranked Jayhawks take on No. 16 seed Howard on Thursday.

Norm Roberts will continue to serve as acting head coach in location of Self, who is regarded as day to day.

Self returned to practice this week following getting discharged from the University of Kansas Wellness Technique, exactly where he had two stents inserted to treat blocked arteries in his heart.

Kansas requires on Howard at 2 p.m. ET.

It is challenging to spend consideration to just about every group in college basketball all through the lengthy season that began way back in November, when everyone was nevertheless focused on football. And, even when the gridiron action is accomplished, the hardwood teams from massive-name conferences snag most of the marquee Television slots. So a lot of you could not know about these so-named mid majors that are about to swoop in and grab their share of the spotlight, if only for a handful of days, or even the occasional energy conference group that limps in as a double-digit seed but hits its stride at the correct time. We’re right here to assist. Right here are 5 candidates to take into account strongly to pull off a initially-round upset.

— Eddie Timanus

Whether or not it really is at dwelling, at a bar or at function, millions of Americans will be tuning in to watch teams make or break their bracket. 

CBS and Turner Sports have the broadcasting rights to the men’s NCAA Tournament and broadcast games on 4 channels. 3 of them – CBS, TNT and TBS – you may well know from broadcasting dozens of other sporting events every year, but the remaining channel, truTV, is one particular that generally eludes basketball fans every year. 

Here’s exactly where to uncover TruTV, based on your cable provider or streaming service, and what games will be on the network:

TruTV can be discovered on various cable providers, and has the similar channel quantity nationwide on some of the providers. Right here are the channels:

AT&ampT U-Verse: 164/1164

FIOS: 183/683

Cox: Varies by location 

DISH: 242

DirecTV: 246

Spectrum: Varies by place

Xfinity: Varies by place

For streaming, truTV is also readily available on: YouTube Television, iOS App Shop, Google Play, Amazon App Shop, Chromecast, Apple Television, Amazon Fire Television, Roku and Android Television.

Which March Madness games will be on truTV?

Eight games will be broadcast on truTV in the initially rounds of March Madness. Here are the games that will be on truTV, as properly as tip-off occasions (in ET):

• No. four Virginia vs. No. 13 Furman (Thursday, 12:40 p.m.)
• No. five San Diego State vs. No. 12 College of Charleston (Thursday, three:ten p.m.)
• No. 7 Northwestern vs. No. ten Boise State (Thursday, 7:35 p.m.)
• No. two UCLA vs. No. 15 UNC Asheville (Thursday, ten:05 p.m.)
• No. three Xavier vs. No. 14 Kennesaw State (Friday, 12:40 p.m.)
• No. six Iowa State vs. No. 11 Pittsburgh (Friday, three:ten p.m.)
• No. three Gonzaga vs. No. 14 Grand Canyon (Friday, 7:35 p.m.)
• No. six TCU vs. No. 11 Nevada/No. 11 Arizona State (Friday, ten:05 p.m.)

— Jordan Mendoza

The reality of the NCAA Tournament is that unpredictability and randomness ordinarily trump a fantastic script. And this year in certain, we ought to all devote the subsequent 3 weeks embracing the concept that our picks are useless and our brackets will probably need to have to be thrown in the trash.

On paper, this has the possible to be one particular of the craziest tournaments we’ve ever observed. 

Why? Perhaps mainly because this has not been a dominant year for the massive, classic brands. Alternatively, we’ve observed Houston cruise via the American Athletic Conference although barely finding a worthy test from any individual in addition to Memphis. We’ve observed football schools Alabama and Texas A&ampM dominate the SEC although Kentucky comes into the tournament seeking like an underachiever.

We’ve observed Miami, a group constructed on veterans and transfers, rise to the major of the ACC although Duke went way beneath the radar most of the year and North Carolina missed the tournament totally. And the Significant Ten nearly felt like a random benefits generator at occasions with nine teams finishing inside two games of every other in the standings behind Purdue, which ran off with the conference title.

— Dan Wolken

Houston enters the NCAA Tournament with the No. 1 ranking in the USA Currently Sports coaches poll, regardless of its loss in the American Athletic Conference championship game just prior to the unveiling of the brackets on Sunday.

The Cougars, who had been playing without the need of top scorer Marcus Sasser in the loss to Memphis, retained 21 of 32 No. 1 votes to stave off second-ranked Alabama. The Crimson Tide received eight firsts following winning the SEC title in impressive style on Sunday.

— Eddie Timanus

The South Area is loaded. It starts at the major with the general highest seed, but if Alabama is to make its initially Final 4 in system history, it will have to navigate a bracket filled with lots of achieved applications, such as 4 applications with national championship banners hanging in their dwelling arenas.

Two of the 3 most current NCAA champs are right here, Baylor and Virginia. Arizona, a powerhouse of the ‘90’s, is back in the title hunt. Then there’s Maryland, which reduce down the nets early this century and is hoping to make noise as one particular of the Significant Ten’s various representatives in the field.

— Eddie Timanus

Very good news for the Jayhawks – they wouldn’t have to play Texas once again till the Final 4. Even greater news – Kansas head coach Bill Self is anticipated to rejoin the group. He was discharged Sunday from the hospital, exactly where he checked in final week with chest tightness and balance issues. According to medical doctors, Self had two stents placed in order to treat blocked arteries in his heart.

The No. two seed, UCLA, enters the tournament with injury challenges. If UCLA hadn’t lost defensive whiz Jaylen Clark to injury in the typical-season finale, there’s a very good opportunity the Bruins would have had a No. 1 seed and a path to the Final 4. 

— Josh Peter

Purdue is seeking to advance to the Final 4 for the initially time beneath coach Matt Painter and the initially time as a system considering the fact that 1980. The Boilermakers are constructed about 7-foot-four junior center Zach Edey, the preferred for national player of the year.

The East Area does not lack for star energy: Purdue is joined by No. two Marquette, No. three Kansas State and No. four Tennessee, followed by No. five Duke and No. six Kentucky.

— Paul Myerberg

How can you not like a regional bracket that – if the seedings hold type – will have Texas meeting Texas A&ampM in the second round and wind its way to Houston, and Texas playing for a spot in a Final 4 getting held in Houston?

The most effective initially-round matchup in the Midwest?

The Texas A&ampM-Penn State game pairs teams that had terrific runs last weekend and have tremendous guard play but each played Sunday and have to come back and play Thursday. (It also matches the sartorial splendiferousness of Aggies coach Buzz Williams and his suit vests against the quarter-zip-casual Micah Shrewsberry.)

— Steve Berkowitz