NCAA tournament 2018: A Bull market on day one

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Twelve hours of basketball -- plus change -- and the close of day one of the 2018 NCAA tournament is upon us.

Jumping from venue to venue on television, walking in on a Kentucky Wildcats pep rally, and meeting fans rooting for Arizona, Gonzaga, and beyond, the day has certainly been filled with joy.

The madness has been fairly limited, but Cinderella finally struck near the end of the day when the Buffalo Bulls defeated the Arizona Wildcats.

And it wasn't even close.

The Bulls held a slim two-point lead at halftime but what fans saw in the second half was an absolute throttling. Buffalo fired on all cylinders, knocking down threes and playing swarming defense and often limited Arizona to only one shot per possession, resulting in a 89-68 Bulls victory.

Wes Clark had 25 points and Jeremy Harris had 23 had the Bulls shot 15-30 from behind the arc.

It's not too often you see a 13-seed take down a 4-seed in such a fashion. In the process, many brackets were busted and the Wildcats were scrambling to the tunnels of Taco Bell Arena with a quick tournament exit and an uncertain future for the program in store.

Buffalo will take on Kentucky on Saturday in Boise. Kentucky was 78-73 winners over the Davidson Wildcats (no relation) earlier in the evening.

Loyola-Chicago also looking for glass slipper

Earlier in the day, the Ramblers from Loyola-Chicago also took to the upset column. Though based on a quick straw poll of the party I was with and the pool(s) I'm in, it wasn't much of a surprise. 

The picking of Loyola over the Miami Hurricanes was a trendy one heading into the tournament and it paid off. While the Bulls dismantled the Wildcats, Loyola-Chicago used a buzzer beater to knock off Miami 64-62.

Capping off a 9-2 run to end the game, senior Donte Ingram hit a three-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining to give the Ramblers the victory.

A meeting in the second round awaits Loyola with the Tennessee Volunteers, who easily took care of the Wright State Raiders, 73-47.

The best of the rest

Upsets may have not dominated the action in day one, but there was certainly plenty of drama to go around.

We were treated to an overtime game right off the bat on Thursday, with no. 7 seed Rhode Island Rams and no.10 seed Oklahoma Sooners setting the tone early.

The game featured monster dunks, deep threes (Rhode Island) and a mostly disappearing act from freshman phenom Trae Young in the second-half. Young heated up down the stretch and Oklahoma -- who many saw as not deserving to even be in the tournament -- nearly pulled it off but in the end Rhode Island prevailed 83-78.

In Boise, the City of Trees saw a close game of their own to start off the day. The fourth-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs found themselves in a battle with UNC-Greensboro. Coming down to the wire, a late missed three from UNCG improbably swirled out, helping to preserve a 68-64 victory.
Texas Tech avoided an upset as well, as the third-seeded Red Raiders -- a dark horse pick to win it all -- trailed most of the game against Stephen F. Austin before turning it up a notch down the stretch. The result was a 70-60 victory.

Winners of nine straight, the San Diego State Aztecs seemed poised to make it ten. But a game from Houston's Rob Gray (39 pts) was the story. Gray hit the game winner on a lay-up that went in with a little extra mustard and San Diego State's Trey Kell missed three as time expired gave the Cougars a 67-65 victory.

The Kansas Jayhawks, meanwhile, were playing as if to prove the crazy predictions of the team losing as a number one seed. The Quakers from Penn gave Kansas all they could handle -- even leading for most of the first-half -- before falling 76-60.

THE Ohio State Buckeyes survived an upset bid by hold off South Dakota State, while the Michigan Wolverines and Florida Gators shook off stale first-halves to win handily.

Villanova and Duke each took care of business with relative ease while Alabama (#9) and Seton Hall (#8) won their respective 8/9 matchups.

A day filled with all the higher seeds winning -- especially on the first two days -- is a sad one for the NCAA tournament. Luckily, we saw two Cinderella teams step to the stage, surrounded by more than a handful of close and exciting games.

Day two might be already less than 12 hours away, but for tonight, the court belongs to the Bulls.

photo credit: pexels.com

 Make sure to follow on Twitter for random basketball thoughts, pop culture musings, and more: @jasonrh_78


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