The NCAA tournament tipped off on Thursday with the emergence of a pair of Cinderella candidates and a close call for the No. 1 overall seed.
Meanwhile, one of the game’s most exciting and promising players played his first and likely last game in the Big Dance. It added up to a day filled with its share of drama and intrigue to tip off the tournament.
Advertisement
Only 47 games left to go.
Is Duke OK after close call vs. Siena?
A poor first half by Duke raised visions of Fairleigh Dickinson and UMBC for No. 16 seed Siena on Thursday. Alas, there was no first-round collapse by Duke, which rallied from a 47-34 second-half deficit to put Siena away, 71-65.
With the rally, No. 1 overall seed Duke won’t join Virginia and Purdue in ignominious NCAA tournament history as the only No. 1 seeds to fall in the first round to a 16 seed.
But Thursday’s close call doesn’t exactly inspire confidence around a Duke team that entered the NCAA tournament with injury concerns and played shorthanded against Siena. Duke coach Jon Scheyer said after the game he was out-coached by Siena head coach and former Syracuse NCAA tournament star Gerry McNamara.
Advertisement
How to find your NCAA tournament bracket on Yahoo Sports Bracket Mayhem
“G-mac had his guys way more ready to play than I did,” Scheyer said. “He out-coached me. He out-coached us. And that’s one of the hardest moments for me in sport — period. To not have your best stuff.”
Duke’s starting point guard Caleb Foster and starting center Patrick Ngongba are both sidelined with foot injuries. Ngongba could return to the lineup, but his status for Saturday’s second-round game against TCU is murky at best. Foster’s injury is more significant, and he’s only expected to be able to return for the end of a deep Duke run, if at all.
This leaves Duke down two starters, with a short bench and a seven-man rotation. Nikolas Khamenia and Darren Harris combined for all of Duke’s 33 minutes off the bench Thursday as the starting five carried a heavy load to squeak by a Siena team that finished in third place in the regular season in the MAAC.
Advertisement
A first-round scare like this can go one of two ways for a No. 1 seed. It can act as a wake-up call to spark a deep tournament run. Or it can be a sign of things to come. How Duke responds against TCU on Saturday will be telling.
VCU’s historic rally is more disappointment for UNC
For a second straight season, North Carolina’s season has ended in the first round of the NCAA tournament. This time it featured a historic collapse.
The sixth-seeded Tar Heels led by as many as 19 points over No. 11 VCU in Thursday’s opening-round game. But the Rams scored 12 straight points and rallied to force overtime for an 82-78 win.
Advertisement
With the rally, VCU completed the sixth-largest comeback in NCAA tournament history and the largest ever in the first round.
Terrence Hill Jr. gave VCU the lead for good with a 3-pointer with 15.1 seconds remaining in overtime. He finished the game with 34 points while shooting 7 of 10 from 3.
The win adds up to elation for VCU and frustration for UNC, which has made it past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament just once since head coach Hubert Davis guided the Tar Heels to a Final Four win over Duke and a trip to the 2022 championship game.
Since then, North Carolina has missed the NCAA tournament, advanced to the Sweet 16 and suffered consecutive first-round tournament losses. And the heat is on for Davis.
Advertisement
Do mid-majors get a fair shake?
It didn’t take long for Cinderella to enter the building. No. 12 seed High Point rallied from 10 points down on Thursday for an 83-82 thriller over No. 5 seed Wisconsin in the first significant upset of tournament.
It did so behind hot 3-point shooting down the stretch and a go-ahead layup in the final seconds from senior 3-point specialist Chase Johnston for his first made 2-point bucket of the season. That’s right. Johnston was previously 0 for 4 from inside the arc in 32 games.
High point coach Flynn Clayman used the opportunity to rail on power conference teams for not scheduling mid-major opponents during the regular season.
“Nobody would play us,” Clayman said. “Just like they wouldn’t play Miami [Ohio]. But they’ve got to play us in this tournament.”
Advertisement
Mid-majors upsetting power conference teams is not new to the NCAA tournament. But the topic is hot after Miami (Ohio) made the tournament field as an at-large team without any wins over a power conference team. It then backed up its credentials with a win over SMU of the ACC in the First Four.
If power conference teams won’t schedule mid-majors, how are mid-majors supposed to boost their tournament résumés? Clayman wants to know and is calling for change in how power conference teams go about the business of scheduling.
BYU’s AJ Dybantsa dropped 35 points in his first, and probably only, NCAA tournament game. (AP/Amanda Loman)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)AJ Dybantsa 1 and probably done with a bang
AJ Dybantsa did his best. But it wasn’t good enough for a hobbled BYU team against Texas.
Advertisement
The 11th-seeded Longhorns delivered a 79-71 defeat of 6th-seeded and shorthanded Cougars, who were playing without All-Big 12 guard Richie Saunders (ACL).
Dybantsa tallied 35 points and 10 rebounds in what was largely a one-man show to keep BYU competitive. Robert Wright III (14 points) was the only other Cougar in double figures. Nobody from BYU’s bench scored a single point.
And that likely spells the beginning and the end of Dybantsa’s NCAA tournament legacy. Dybantsa has teased that he’s not sure if he’s actually leaving BYU for the NBA. But nobody really expects him to stay.
By most accounts, Dybantsa is the No. 2 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. At worst. And nothing he did on Thursday hurt that stock.
Advertisement
If he’s done, thus concludes one of the brightest individual runs we’ve seen in college basketball. Dybantsa will be missed in Provo and in the college ranks.
Nebraska finally wins an NCAA tournament game
Nebraska entered Thursday as the only power conference program to have never won an NCAA tournament game.
Thankfully for the Cornhuskers, they can claim that no more. Nebraska, a No. 4 seed, cruised past No. 13 seed Troy, 76-47, for its first-ever NCAA tournament win. It’s now 1-8 in NCAA tournament play.
This is a program that debuted in 1896 and has been around for the entire existence of the NCAA tournament, which was first played in 1939. Nebraska didn’t make its first NCAA tournament until 1986. It lost in the opening round that year and in ensuing first-round games in 1991, 92, 93, 94, 98, 2014 and 2024.
Advertisement
But now, with the best team in program history under head coach Fred Hoiberg, the Cornhuskers have a strong chance of advancing to the Sweet 16. No. 5 seed Vanderbilt stands in their way in the second round on Saturday.
Live coverage is over168 updatesThu, March 19, 2026 at 3:31 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 9:45 PM PDT
Ryan Young
That’s all for the opening day of the NCAA tournament. We’ll pick it back up tomorrow with No. 7 Kentucky vs. No. 10 Santa Clara at 12:15 p.m. ET.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 9:36 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
It got dicey for a minute there, but the favored Zags hang on and avoid a huge upset in the final game of the night.
Gonzaga will face Texas in the next round.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 9:32 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Gonzaga is leading 69-62 with 1:45 to go but KSU is chipping away by getting to the line.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 9:18 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
We’re under the 5-minute mark and Gonzaga has a 10-point lead, but the Bulldogs have hit a bit of a cold spell. They don’t have a field goal in over 3 minutes of gametime.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 9:14 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Billikens left no doubt in this one and hit the century mark in a 102-77 win. Six different Saint Louis players hit double digits in points in the blowout win.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 9:13 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Kingston Flemings scores 18 to lead the Cougars and is one of five Houston players to score in double digits. Houston will face No. 10 Texas A&M in the next round.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 9:10 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
With just over 8 minutes left in the game, Gonzaga has an 11-point lead.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:58 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
This game has turned into a rock fight. Gonzaga went on a stretch of 10 straight missed shots and the Owls cut the lead to 1 before GU rattled off a couple baskets.
Gonzaga 48, Kennesaw State 42 | 10:37 to play
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:48 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
David Mirkovic was a monster for Illinois, scoring 29 points and grabbing 17 rebounds, but five different Illini players scored in double digits in their 105-70 win.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:47 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Graham Ike is up to 14 points and Gonzaga is starting to take control.
It’s a 42-33 Gonzaga lead over Kennesaw 4 minutes into the 2nd half.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:44 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Idaho hasn’t closed the gap at all in the opening 8 minutes of the second half.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:42 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
We haven’t dropped many updates in lately, because, well, these games are all getting ugly. Saint Louis is up 27, Houston is up 20 and Illinois is up a whopping 37 points.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:28 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Saint Louis is also up 25 in the second half. The Billikens have picked up right where they left off. Dion Brown has 16, but they’re getting contributions from everybody up and down the lineup.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:26 PM PDT
Nick Bromberg
Georgia is in deep, deep trouble.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:23 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Penn hasn’t been able to close the gap early in the second half of the South region 3-14 matchup.
It’s a 25-point game with 9 minutes left.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:16 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
After Kennesaw controlled most of the game, the Zags rattled off a 10-0 run to close the first half. Gonzaga leads 33-27.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:06 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Kingston Flemings leads the Cougars with 14 points. Emanuel Sharp has 12.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:04 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Billikens are having their way in this one. Saint Louis has a whopping 36 paint points in the first half, compared to Georgia’s 12. The Bulldogs are also shooting 3 for 19 from beyond the arc, so they aren’t having much success anywhere.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:04 PM PDT
Nick Bromberg
The Billikens are 21-of-38 overall and 3-of-15 from the 3-point line. SLU is just getting what it wants at the rim.
Georgia is not. That’s why it’s a 17-point game at halftime.
Thu, March 19, 2026 at 8:01 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Houston blitz continues. They’re shooting 63%, including 5 of 7 from 3, and the Cougars lead Idaho 46-22 late in the first half.