Thursday’s slate of round of 64 matchups included 16 elimination games, including multiple shocking upsets that will go down in March Madness history. Here’s a recap of every one of them.
(9) Michigan State over (8) Mississippi State, 69-51
After ranking as No. 4 in the AP’s Preseason Poll, the Michigan State Spartans lost three of their first six games and did not rank in the Top-25 from December onwards. However, like many of head coach Tom Izzo’s past Spartans squads, Michigan State overcame a disappointing regular season and won their round of 64 matchup, this year against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Mississippi State made less than 25% of their 3-pointers, and all five of their leading scorers on the season scored less than their yearly averages. 5-foot-10 star freshman guard Josh Hubbard tried single-handedly to keep the Bulldogs in the game with 18 field goal attempts, but he never found his rhythm and finished with only six made shots.
Michigan State’s defense was the story of the game, but their star senior guard Tyson Walker led a formidable offensive performance with 19 points on an efficient 58.3% shooting. The Spartans never trailed in this wire-to-wire victory. On Saturday, they will look to build off this momentum against the No. 1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels.
(11) Duquesne over (6) BYU, 71-67
In the first big upset of 2024 March Madness, the Duquesne Dukes spoiled the BYU Cougars’ first NCAA Tournament appearance in three years, when they also lost in the first round to a No. 11 seed (UCLA).
Duquesne controlled the first half behind an aggressive defensive game plan that forced BYU to drive to the rim. BYU’s starting big men, Aly Khalifa and Noah Waterman, finished the game shooting a combined 1 for 9 from the field, including numerous missed point-blank layups that could have swayed the game in BYU’s favor.
In the second half, the Cougars clawed their way back into the game. With 44 seconds remaining, Duquesne’s lead had been cut down to three points, but the Dukes made their late-game free throws to secure the upset victory. Their leading scorer, Dae Dae Grant, made four foul shots in the game’s final minute, which added to his team-high 19 points on the day.
On Saturday, Duquesne will see if the Cinderella slipper still fits against the No. 3 seed Illinois Fighting Illinis.
(3) Creighton over (14) Akron, 77-60
The Creighton Bluejays are a trendy Final Four pick, and they looked the part in a dominant win against the Akron Zips. Only five players scored for the Bluejays, but each of them had at least ten points, including a 23-point effort from their star 7-footer, Ryan Kalkbrenner. As a team, Creighton made over 58% of their 3-point attempts while holding the Zips offense to an atrocious 21.8% from beyond the arc.
Akron senior Enrique Freeman stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points and 14 rebounds, but only one of his teammates scored in double figures. Ultimately, the Zips did not have enough firepower to compete with Creighton’s more talented squad.
Creighton will face another double-digit seed, the No. 11-seeded Oregon Ducks, on Saturday.
(2) Arizona over (15) Long Beach State, 85-65
Last season, the Arizona Wildcats were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in a shocking upset loss to the No. 15-seeded Princeton Tigers. On Thursday, their halftime lead over the Long Beach State Beach was only six points, prompting thoughts of another potential early exit.
However, the Wildcats looked more energized in the second half, outsourcing the Beach by 14 points en route to a 20-point victory. Arizona’s star senior transfer guard Caleb Love scored 18 points, but sophomore Kylan Boswell led the way with 20 points and four 3-pointers.
The Beach had five double-digit scorers, but Arizona’s talent carried them to an ultimately easy victory. On Saturday, they will face the No. 7 seed Dayton Flyers.
(1) North Carolina over (16) Wagner, 90-62
On Tuesday night, the Wagner Seahawks achieved their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory in the First Four play-in round against the Howard Bisons, 71-68. Just two days later, they faced off against the West Region’s top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels.
Without a true center, the Seahawks struggled to contain North Carolina’s bigs, especially senior Armando Bacot, who finished the game with a 20 and 10 double-double. The Tar Heels’ other star, guard RJ Davis, scored a game-high 22 points and hit four 3-pointers in the process. Ultimately, Wagner was overwhelmed by a bigger, more athletic North Carolina attack.
North Carolina’s next opponent, the No. 9 Michigan State Spartans, will offer more physicality in their matchup on Saturday.
(3) Illinois over (14) Morehead State, 85-69
The Illinois Fighting Illinis built off their momentous Big Ten Conference Championship victory run with a convincing win against the Morehead State Eagles.
At halftime, Illinois led by only one point, but their second half saw a dominant 46-point scoring output that quickly made the contest less competitive. The Fighting Illinis’ offense was dictated by the team’s leading scorer, Terrence Shannon, who recorded 26 points and four assists.
More surprising were the 21 points from junior Dain Dainja. The forward entered the game averaging less than six points and eleven minutes per game, but his perfect 9-9 field goal shooting earned him 23 minutes off the bench in this contest.
The Eagles also had two 20+ point scorers (Riley Minix and Jordan Lathon), but the rest of the team combined for just 19 points, whereas Illinois’ other scorers contributed 37 points.
If Dainja goes without a missed shot on Saturday, Illinois’s opponent, the Duquesne Dukes, will have a hard time defending the Fighting Illinis.
(11) Oregon over (6) South Carolina, 87-73
The Oregon Ducks were the second 11-seed to beat a 6-seed on Thursday, but it was hardly an upset considering that they entered as betting favorites over the South Carolina Gamecocks.
The Ducks would not have gotten to participate in March Madness if not for an unlikely Pac-12 Conference Tournament Championship victory, which was achieved in large part due to Oregon’s starting shooting guard, Jermaine Couisnard. The senior scored 20 points in the Pac-12 semifinals against the conference’s regular season champions, Arizona, and in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, he exploded for 40 points to help the Ducks advance.
Unlike Oregon, South Carolina’s conference tournament performance was lackluster, including a 31-point loss to the Auburn Tigers. They lacked physicality then, and the Gamecocks were out-physical all game long against the Ducks: Oregon grabbed nine more rebounds and scored 12 more points in the paint than South Carolina.
Oregon will look to win their sixth straight game on Saturday against the Creighton Bluejays.
(7) Dayton over (10) Nevada, 63-60
With 7 minutes and 36 seconds remaining in the second half of their matchup against the Dayton Flyers, head coach Steve Alford’s Nevada Wolf Pack squad had a comfortable 56-39 lead.
Coach Alford was in a similar situation on March 17, 2006 during his tenure as head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes. In the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament against the No. 14-seeded Northwestern State Demons, Alford’s Hawkeyes led 54-37 with just over eight minutes left to play. For the rest of the game, Iowa was outscored 27-9, including a last-second 3-pointer that secured a Hawkeyes loss.
On Thursday, Alford was unable to break that pattern, as Nevada was outscored by 20 in just over seven minutes to close the game. In that stretch, the Wolf Pack recorded four turnovers and missed seven shots with just two made buckets.
In that span, Dayton’s two-headed monster, forward DaRon Holmes II and Koby Brea, each made more field goals than Nevada’s entire team with three apiece.
Dayton made eight of their 19 3-point attempts and made ten more free throws than Nevada. Once their shots started falling, Nevada had no answer for their attack, and the Flyers looked like a dominant team.
Will they look as lethal against the No. 2 seed Arizona Wildcats? We’ll find out on Saturday.
(7) Texas over (10) Colorado State, 56-44
After an impressive 29-9 record last season, the Texas Longhorns took a step back in 2024, entering March Madness at 20-12 following a loss to Kansas State in their first game of the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Their deterioration is largely on the defensive side of the ball: they enter the tournament ranked 60th on Kenpom’s defensive efficiency metric compared to 15th last year.
However, they held the Colorado State Rams, a team that scores over 76 points per game this season, to their season low, 44 points. Excluding 3-pointers, Colorado State was held to 26 points, whereas the Longhorns scored 53 points from 2-pointers and free throws. Considering that Colorado State shot only 25% from beyond the arc, their ability to produce offense was limited by Texas’s brute physicality. Without threes, the Rams had no way to score.
Texas’s 56 points weren’t a showcase of offensive prowess either, but sophomore guard Chendall Weaver’s 11 points on just seven shot attempts off the bench was the efficiency boost the Longhorns needed to outscore the Rams’ weak effort.
Texas draws the No. 2 seeded Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday.
(14) Oakland over (3) Kentucky, 80-76
In the best game of Thursday’s action, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies pulled off the biggest upset of the day against the Kentucky Wildcats.
The hero of the tournament so far is Oakland’s Jack Gohlke, a senior guard who started in less than half of the Golden Grizzlies’ games this year and averages just over 12 points per game. He has been lethal from behind the arc this season: he makes approximately 37% of his 9.6 attempts per game.
On February 17, Gohlke made ten of his 15 3-point attempts against the IUPUI Jaguars, but the Jaguars finished the season 6-26 and are a far cry from the talent Gohlke and Oakland faced against Kentucky. Even so, Gohlke repeated his efforts and again made 10 threes, which is tied for the second-most made 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament Game.
Kentucky’s senior star, Antonio Reeves, recorded 27 points and five 3-pointers, but the rest of his teammates crumbled under the pressure of the tournament, shooting a combined 4-of-19 from three. Without production from the supporting cast, Kentucky was unable to outscore Oakland’s unstoppable 3-point barrage.
Now, the South Region is missing a top-3 seed, which makes the path to the Final Four easier for No. 1 seed Houston and No. 2 seed Marquette.
As a No. 14 seed, Oakland seems like they could be this year’s Cinderella, but Jack Gohlke doesn’t see things that way. After the game, he said, “We’re not a Cinderella.”
He and the Golden Grizzlies will have a chance to prove that they are more than a fluke against the No. 11 seed NC State Wolfpack.
(2) Iowa State over (15) South Dakota State, 82-65
The Iowa State Cyclones had a dominant run to win the Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship, including a shocking 69-41 blowout against Houston in the final. Therefore, they have high expectations coming into March Madness. On Thursday, against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, they delivered on their pre-tourney hype with an impressive blowout win.
The story of the game was the Cyclones’ ball protection. Iowa State had six fewer turnovers than the Jackrabbits, and they scored 17 fast break points compared with South Dakota State’s three.
In the halfcourt offense, the Cyclones had a balanced scoring attack, with five scorers in double figures, two of which came off the bench. Their leading scorer on the season, guard Keshon Gilbert, finished the game with 15 points on nine attempts and five assists.
Iowa State will face off against the No. 7 seed Washington State Cougars.
(5) Gonzaga over (12) McNeese State, 86-65
Even in a down year, the Gonzaga Bulldogs entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed with a 26-6 record. Despite this, the McNeese State Cowboys were a popular upset pick based on their 38.8% shooting from three and an impressive 30-3 record.
The Bulldogs gave the Cowboys their fourth loss, and it was never in doubt. After their first offensive possession, Gonzaga led for the entire contest. The Bulldogs had five double-digit scorers, including 16 points from the team’s leading scorer, junior forward Graham Ike, who shot a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor and added eight rebounds to his box score.
On Saturday, Gonzaga plays the No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks.
(2) Tennessee over (15) Saint Peter’s, 83-49
The Tennessee Volunteers had all but secured a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament before dropping their final two games against Kentucky and Mississippi State, respectively. After their disappointing finish and their fall to the 2-seed line, public consensus on the Volunteers went cold.
Despite this, Tennessee recorded the most dominant win of Thursday’s action in a 34-point blowout against the No. 15 Saint Peter’s Peacocks. The Volunteers were led by the versatile scorer in the country, senior forward Dalton Knecht, who scored 23 points and hit half of his eight 3-point attempts.
Saint Peter’s could not recapture their Cinderella magic from the 2021 tournament, as Tennessee led for the entire game.
On Saturday, Tennessee will match up with the No. 7 seed Texas Longhorns.
(11) NC State over (6) Texas Tech, 80-67
Straight off the heels of winning five games in five days to win the ACC Conference Tournament Championship, the NC State Wolfpack was the third No. 11 seed to win on Thursday, this time against the No. 6 seed Texas Tech Red Raiders.
The Wolfpack led for the entire second half and had control throughout the game in large part due to the play of sixth man Ben Middlebrooks. The junior big man entered the day with a career high of 14 points but surpassed it in a 21-point effort along with two blocks against the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech struggled to make shots throughout the game: they made less than 40% of their field goal attempts and less than 25% of their threes. With uncharacteristically high-scoring performances from NC State’s bench and an inability to convert on open looks, the Red Raiders did not have a clear path to victory.
In the most unlikely matchup of Saturday’s round of 32 slate, the Wolfpack will battle against another double-digit seed, the No. 14 seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies.
(7) Washington State over (10) Drake, 66-61
After winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship, the Drake Bulldogs entered the March Madness field for the second consecutive season. Last year, they fell to the Miami Hurricanes in a tight seven-point contest after only making 29.2% of their threes.
Against the Washington State Cougars this year, Drake shot slightly better from three at 33.3%, but they had a similar late-game collapse that led to a disappointing loss. With six minutes and 34 seconds left, Drake led 54-46. From then on, the Bulldogs scored only seven points to the Cougars’ 20. Washington State’s comeback was led by their leading scorer this year, senior Isaac Jones, who finished the night with a team-high 20 points.
This is the Cougars’ first NCAA Tournament win since 2008, when future NBA talent Kyle Weaver and Aron Baynes led Washington State to the Sweet Sixteen. If they want to advance that far this season, they’ll have to defeat the No. 2 seed Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday.
(4) Kansas over (13) Samford, 93-89
The Kansas Jayhawks have advanced to the round of 32 in every NCAA Tournament since 2006, but it took some late-game heroics this season against the 29-win Samford Bulldogs.
Kansas led 63-41 with just over 16 minutes left in the game, but over the next seven minutes, the Bulldogs clawed their way back into the game, outscoring Kansas by 21 points and cutting the Jayhawk lead to just one point. For the next five minutes, both squads traded buckets, culminating in a Jaden Campbell 3-pointer for Samford, his fifth of the game.
Kansas then led 90-89 with 20 seconds remaining and possession of the basketball. Samford attempted a full-court press without fouling the Jayhawks, but Kansas senior transfer guard Nicolas Timberlake got free, passed every Samford defender, and received the ball with a clear lane to the hoop.
In the most controversial call of the day, A.J. Staton-McCray chased Timberlake down and appeared to block Timberlake at the rim, but he was called for a foul that would give Timberlake two made free throws and Kansas a three-point lead. In the final possession of his senior season, Samford’s Jermaine Marshall missed a 3-pointer, and Kansas narrowly escaped the first round with a four-point victory.
On Saturday, they will see if their luck continues against the No. 5 Gonzaga Bulldogs.