NCAA Tournament 2014: Harvard, Dayton, North Dakota State earn upsets

As far as opening acts are concerned, I’m not sure it can get much better than what we saw on Thursday. Four overtime games on the same day for the first time in the history of the tournament, three double-digit seeds advancing and a bona fide buzzer-beater.

Actually, I’m not sure it gets much better than what we saw on Thursday, period.

(Source: Newseum.org)

In the second-round game, NMSU cut it down to a three-point difference with 33 seconds left, and when SDSU lost the ball on an inbound pass, the Aggies took full advantage.

Guard Kevin Aronis missed a three-point attempt with just less than 10 seconds left, but an offensive rebound allowed him to get another look atop the arc. That shot dropped, and San Diego State couldn’t take it the length of the floor as regulation ran out.

Manhattan took a 58-55 lead with 4:19 to play, but Smith drilled a three-point shot to tie it with 3:25 left. It was just the second field goal for Louisville in the previous nine minutes.

After the two teams traded baskets to make it a 60-60 tie, Hancock took over.

Manhattan has Louisville on the ropes late into the second half, which would be by far the biggest upset during an entertaining first day of the NCAA Tournament. You could say the Jaspers fans are getting pretty excited.

I tried to tell y’all about Sim Bhullar, the 7’5, 360-pound center for New Mexico State. I TRIED TO TELL YOU.

But alas, you probably didn’t listen until the Aggies were knocking on San Diego State’s door late in the second half against the Aztecs. Which is probably when you googled and/or saw a tweet about Sim Bhullar and were curious, and we brought you this GIF:

Arizona State fought against Texas, and they fought hard. The No. 10 Sun Devils were down 14, but put together a run to tie the game up and briefly take the lead.

But they gave up five points on a pair of offensive rebounds to allow the Longhorns to go up 83-85. Then, after tying it up, they forced Texas to take the shot they wanted: a contested 25-footer by Jonathan Holmes. It bricked horribly... but they gave up another offensive rebound:

It had a lot to do with N.C. State’s 66 percent foul shooting figure for the season.

Saint Louis began hunting fouls and put the Wolfpack on the line 20 times in the final five minutes of regulation. N.C. State only made nine of those attempts as the lead evaporated.

North Dakota State is your Cinderella, and we’re not just saying that because we went to Fargo to film them as they prepared to play Oklahoma. By pulling the 5-12 upset over Oklahoma in a raucous 80-75 OT thriller, they gave us the game of the tournament so far.

Now, grow to love them:

The Huskies advance in the East Regional bracket, where the winner of second-seeded Villanova and 15-seed Milwaukee await.

Saint Louis hacked at North Carolina State to force free throws down the stretch of the second half, and the Wolfpack blew a double-digit lead to fall, 83-80, in overtime. The Billikens face the winner of Louisville and Manhattan in the Midwest Regional.

St. Joe’s coach Phil Martelli has a 4-year-old grandson who likes to come to the games. We found out this adorable development the other day.

However, during Thursday night’s first (second, but who cares) round game against UConn, CBS had the brilliant idea to interview the tiny Martelli, and THE UNIVERSE EXPLODED BECAUSE IT WAS THE CUTEST THING EVER TO HAPPEN TO ANYBODY EVER IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND.

Tournament darling Michigan State coasted in a win over Delaware, beating the Blue Hens 93-78. Tom Izzo’s team was wildly efficient on offense, shooting 52.6 percent both from the field overall and from three-point range.

For Albany, DJ Evans had a game-high 21 points. The Danes competed on both ends of the floor, but just couldn’t get over the hump. A 4-of-13 shooting effort from behind the arc didn’t help, as three-point shooting is typically the catalyst for a huge upset.

The Gators are the first No. 1 seed to advance, with Arizona, Virginia and Wichita State playing Friday. Florida moves on to face Pittsburgh, who whipped Colorado on Thursday.

Albany is hanging tough against Florida in the No. 1 vs. No. 16 game in the South Region, but the Gators are showing their physical advantage in the best way: by dunking as hard and as often as possible. Sometimes this even happens in pairs:

Here are some more Patric Young dunks from this game, as we hear folks like dunks:

Sean Keeley of Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician approved:

The Crimson jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the first nine minutes, and Cincinnati was playing catch-up from there. Harvard took a seven-point lead into halftime, and while the Bearcats’ second-half run made it tight down the stretch, they could never get over the hump.

Cincinnati’s defense has carried the team all season, but it could not compensate for a nearly six-minute stretch without a field goal in the second half and 36.8 percent shooting overall.

Harvard knocked Cincinnati out of the NCAA Tournament with a classic “12 over 5” upset, 61-57. The Bearcats, who won a share of the American Athletic Conference regular-season title, are the first power conference champion to be upset.

Harvard spread the ball around, using weaves and handoffs to get the ball in the paint. Laurent Rivard scored 11 points, shooting 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Rivard was the only Crimson player to get going from deep, as the rest of the team shot 3-of-12.

Sometimes, the best last-second plays don’t look like plays at all, at least not on the surface. Our eyes are trained to follow the ball, and with game on the line, that generally involves someone dribbling, often against one defender, before shooting. When these plays don’t work, we bemoan coaches for seemingly calling timeouts just to tell their team to give it to their best player and clear out.

But while we watch the ball, there’s a lot happening to set up the final showdown. What you don’t see -- or at least what you don’t see unless you actively seek it out -- makes a huge impact on what you do see.

Pittsburgh opened the game on a 13-0 run and did not allow CU to score until nearly six minutes in. Talib Zanna’s dunk with 7:21 remaining in the first half pushed the lead to 30-7. The Buffaloes had a deer-in-the-headlights look, and one can only imagine what went on at halftime as they trailed by 28.

The second half was not quite as brutal, though Jamie Dixon began pulling his horses around the 10-minute mark. With a likely showdown against top-seeded Florida looming on Saturday, there was no reason to risk a turned ankle or jammed finger.

Wisconsin started off slowly against American, but a huge second half propelled the Badgers to a blowout win over the Eagles, 75-35.

The win advances Wisconsin to the third round. They will face the winner of Oregon-BYU on Saturday for a chance to go to the Sweet 16.

Aaron Craft is a fantastic defender, as you’ve probably heard more times than you might have wanted -- quick, dogged, and smart. As with most great defenders, much of what Craft does is subtle and easy to miss. See if you can spot Craft’s work in transition defense, here.

The other thing with Aaron Craft is that his tackling form is excellent.

March Madness Live is back and promises to be as good as ever, with all 68 games streaming live. The games aired on Turner networks (TBS, TNT, TruTV) require a cable or satellite subscription to stream, although viewers get a free four-hour trial period.

Not near a computer? No problem, there are plenty of mobile options to catch the games. Download the March Madness app with these convenient links:

No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 11 Dayton, 12:15 p.m., CBS

The Buckeyes were once a top-five team. Conference play was brutal, but it seems they have regained their footing a bit. Could Aaron Craft lead Ohio State to yet another deep run?

No. 2 Wisconsin vs. No. 15 American, 12:40 p.m., truTV

The Badgers have all the elements of a Final Four team.