It’s officially March Madness time. After the First Four games on Tuesday and Wednesday, the first full day of the NCAA tournament kicks off on Thursday with 16 men’s games spread out over 12 hours. Creighton and Louisville got things started in the first game of the day, while Texas Tech and UNC Wilmington will wrap up the opening day of action late tonight.
Follow along below for live reaction, highlights and more from Yahoo Sports:
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BYU ends first half on a 12-2 run
After a tight start to the game, the Cougars are suddenly in control of this one at halftime. They’ve taken an 11-point lead over VCU into the locker room at Ball Arena while shooting 50% from the field. Egor Demin leads all scorers with 11 points after going 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
Gonzaga gets off to a red-hot start vs. Georgia, pulling ahead to 27-3 lead
No. 8 Gonzaga came out swinging against No. 9 Georgia for a matchup of Bulldogs vs. Bulldogs. Gonzaga quickly pulled ahead, going 13-0 before Georgia even scored a point.
Is this game officially out of reach for Alabama State?
After Alabama State’s run spooked Auburn in the first half, the Tigers have clawed back to comfortable 21-point lead over the Hornets. A win is looking out of reach for Alabama State, with Auburn outscoring the Hornets and beating them on the boards as well.
If Alabama State can launch a comeback, it’s going to be on the heels of Auburn’s turnovers. The Hornets have seven steals on the Tigers, while Auburn only has two. It’s a small measure, but any chance of an upset will come with Alabama State taking advantage of Auburn’s mistakes.
McNeese State extends lead over Clemson after halftime
Things aren’t going any better for Clemson early in the second half. McNeese State’s off to a 9-3 run after halftime and has extended its edge to 40-16. This is a drubbing. Hard to see Clemson mounting a rally here.
BYU-VCU locked up early
The Cougars and the Rams are locked up in a battle early in Colorado. The two schools are tied up 22-22 midway through the first half. BYU is looking for its first NCAA tournament win in more than a decade, while VCU is back in the tournament for the fourth time in the last seven years.
Auburn pulls ahead of Alabama State to start the second half
After letting Alabama State get too close in the first half, Auburn is getting more comfortable in the second. The Tigers kicked off the half by pulling ahead to a 14-point lead over the Hornets. The run was helped by a four-point play from freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford, who sunk a contested three and hit the and-on right after.
Auburn later pulled the lead to 54-36.
McNeese State’s Brandon Murray outscores Clemson in the first half
McNeese State reserve Brandon Murray has 14 points at halftime. Clemson as a team has 13 as the Cowboys lead 31-13 at halftime. Not great, Tigers.
No. 5 Clemson is in trouble
Clemson in trouble here. It’s sitting on 11 points with 3:16 left in the first half as No. 12 seed McNeese State is rolling early. The Cowboys lead, 25-11 and have limited the Tigers to 4-of-19 (21.1%) shooting from the field, including a 1-of-11 (9.1%) effort from 3-point distance.
Bettor has $310K riding on Auburn to win
Picking a No. 1 seed to simply win its Round 1 game is historically one of the safest bets you can make, as only two top seeds have ever lost outright in the first round.
One Florida bettor at Hard Rock is banking on that history, as he placed a massive $310,000 wager before the game on the Auburn Tigers moneyline at -20000 odds to beat No. 16 Alabama State.
The bet would only win $1,550 for the bettor.
Auburn leads 41-31 at halftime after closing the first half on a 9-0 run, but that bettor has to be sweating more than anticipated.
Final: Houston 78, SIU Edwardsville 40
There was no 16-1 upset in Wichita. Not even close.
Houston rolled to a 52-24 halftime lead and didn’t let off the gas after halftime as it cruised to a 78-40 win. Houston limited SIUE to one made field goal over a 17-plus minute span from late in the first half through most of the second as SIUE had little answer for Houston’s smothering defense.
L.J. Cryer had 15 points and four assists for Houston, while Milos Uzan posted 16 points, three rebounds and three assists. Houston limited SIUE to 30.6% shooting from the field and a 2-of-24 (8.3%) effort from 3-point distance.
Houston should get a tougher test in the second round from the winner between No. 8 seed Gonzaga and No. 9 seed Georgia.
Auburn leads Alabama State, 41-31, at halftime
Auburn heads into the locker room with the lead, but the Tigers look shaken by Alabama State’s unexpected fight.
The Hornets went on a 14-4 run late in the first half, getting within one point of Auburn’s lead before the Tigers were able to pull away. Will Alabama State be able to harness that momentum again in the second half?
No. 12 McNeese State up early on No. 5 Clemson
McNeese State is looking to pull of the first big upset of the tournament. The 12th-seeded Cowboys reeled off an early 8-0 run and take an 18-8 lead into a timeout with 8:58 left in the first half. The ACC is at risk of losing its second team in two games played after Louisville fell to Creighton in the first game of the tournament.
Alabama State gets within one point, but Auburn pulls away again
After a series of missed three-pointers, Alabama State quickly got back in it. A layup by Amarr Knox got the Hornets within one point of Auburn. Soon after, Knox had a chance to take the lead with a pair of free throws, but missed both shots.
Auburn’s Johni Broome then pulled away again with a layup. Although he missed the free throw attempt on an and-one, teammate Miles Kelly got the rebound and sunk a three-pointer to give the Tigers a two-score lead again, 37-31.
Vibes check on Auburn: Not so great!
The lingering question about Auburn entering the NCAA tournament was what to make of its poor finish to the season.
Would dropping three out of four light a fire under the Tigers? Or would it sap their previously soaring confidence?
When asked on Saturday his level of concern about how the Tigers were playing, a scowling Bruce Pearl scoffed at the question. “We lost to Alabama, Tennessee, at Texas A&M,” he said before getting sarcastic. “Yeah, we’re panicked.”
Pearl can downplay it all he wants, but so far the vibes aren’t great. The Auburn coach had to call timeout with six minutes left in the first half on Thursday after 16th-seeded Alabama State ripped off nine points in a row to get within four of the Tigers.
A big run gets Alabama State within four points of Auburn
Auburn pulled out to another ten-point lead, but a massive run from Alabama State has the 16-seed within four points of the No. 1 overall team.
The Hornets went on a 9-0 run against the Tigers, capping it off with a steal and a layup after two straight offensive rebounds. Auburn might be in trouble.
Final: Wisconsin 85, Montana 66
Despite some early struggles, Wisconsin got its act together in the second half, easily advancing past Montana 85-66.
It looked like Wisconsin would be in for some tough sledding early, as the No. 3 seed couldn’t seem to pull away from No. 14 Montana. Poor shooting from beyond the arc led to Wisconsin entering the half up by just eight points vs. Montana.
The Badgers finally got things going in the second half. While the team’s three-point shooting didn’t show much improvement — Wisconsin finished 7-23 from beyond the arc — multiple players stepped up. Five Badgers finished the contest with double-digit points, with sophomore John Blackwell leading the way with a 19-point effort.
With the win, Wisconsin will play the winner of VCU vs. BYU in the second round.
Houston still cruising
Houston’s play much like a No. 1 seed should. With 12-plus minutes remaining, the Cougars are doubling SIU Edwardsville up. It’s 61-30 with 12:14 remaining.
Auburn’s Miles Kelly getting off to a hot start
Auburn goes up early on Alabama State, getting a ten-point lead with the help of senior guard Miles Kelly. Halfway through the first half, Kelly already has 12 points after sinking four three-pointers.
Popular bet High Point (+7.5) crushes bettors in loss to Purdue
No. 4 Purdue opened as high as a 10.5-point favorite at sportbooks on Sunday when the bracket was released, but respected bettors backed No. 13 High Point to cover and pushed the spread down to -7.5. High Point was a popular upset pick on the moneyline for bettors, and the most-bet game by total spread wagers for BetMGM patrons on Thursday (82% of bets, 88% of the handle were on High Point to cover).
Unfortunately, the Panthers faded down the stretch and ended up not covering in a 75-63 loss to the Boilermakers. The game stayed under the total of 153.5.
“A great result,” a BetMGM trader told Yahoo Sports. “We took a ton of action on the under in the game, but there was so much money on High Point.”
Wisconsin opens up big lead on Montana
After playing with their food early in the second half, Wisconsin is finally playing like the No. 3 seed people expected to see. With 7:47 to play, the Badgers opened up a 72-57 lead over No. 14 seed Montana.
The Badgers’ offensive explosion started with roughly 12 minutes to go. After a Xavier Amos dunk pushed the team’s lead to 11 points, Wisconsin continued to dominate on offense. The team went on a 12-4 to put the lead to 72-54 with 8:24 left to play.
With Montana now playing catchup, Wisconsin just has to prevent a huge run to secure a victory in the first
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