A classic buzzer-beater moment highlighted Friday’s action in the NCAA tournament. Here’s what you need to know
Santa Clara's Elijah Mahi scores in the second half against Kentucky.
(CNN) — The second full day of the men’s NCAA tournament was pretty chalky and the upsets were limited, in contrast to the chaos that was the opening day of the round of 64.
But the day may have had the most iconic game of the tournament and the first buzzer-beater of March Madness, setting the tone for the rest of the weekend to come.
Here’s everything you need to know to get caught up on Friday’s action.
The first buzzer-beater in the game of the tournament (so far)
Friday’s men’s opener will go down as arguably the game of the weekend, if not the entire tournament.
Santa Clara and Kentucky were locked in a tight game basically the whole way, with neither team grabbing a lead bigger than seven. As it went into the final two minutes, the Wildcats and Broncos were tied before Allen Graves collected an airball and put it back up for a go-ahead bucket and the 17th lead change of the game.
The teams traded defensive stops, with Kentucky missing a 3-pointer, Graves missing a bunny of a layup with 25 seconds remaining and Kentucky grabbing the defensive rebound.
On the ensuing possession, Otega Oweh made a layup to tie the contest at 70 with just 9 seconds to play in regulation, setting off an incredible ending sequence. Santa Clara stormed back down the court and Graves, once again, was the crucial player for the Broncos, nailing the clutch 3-pointer to give Santa Clara the lead with just 2.4 seconds to play.
But Oweh wasn’t done. He got the ball on the inbound, ran three steps past the half-court line and launched a shot as time expired. With the horn blaring, the ball banked in off the backboard and gave us the first buzzer-beater game of this year’s tournament.
In overtime, the lead bounced back and forth as neither team could truly take control. It was once again tied as the extra session neared the final minute. The game’s 20th lead change saw Kentucky take the lead with 1:12 remaining on two free throws by Oweh.
The Wildcats got a crucial stop on the next possession with UK’s Brandon Garrison blocking Sash Gavalyugov’s 3-point attempt and then sprinting down court for a dunk, opening up a four-point lead with 48 seconds to play. On the next Bronco possession, Garrison blocked Gavalyugov’s shot again on another 3-point attempt and the upset attempt seemed to be withering away.
Christian Hammond of the Broncos sank a 3-pointer with 18 seconds to go to cut the lead back down to three, but Santa Clara still needed Kentucky to slip up to have a chance. They didn’t, sealing the 89-84 win in the final seconds.
Purdue cruises as Smith sets career assists record
No. 15 seed Queens University was no match for Big Ten champion Purdue, as the second-seeded Boilermakers cruised to a 104-71 victory.
Purdue’s senior guard Braden Smith etched his name in the history books in the win, setting a new NCAA men’s Division 1 record as he collected his 1,077th career assist.
Smith entered the game one assist behind Duke legend Bobby Hurley, who was part of the Blue Devils’ back-to-back national championship teams in 1991 and 1992. Smith finished with eight assists in the game.
Smith can continue to add to his record assists total as Purdue advances to the second round in St. Louis, Missouri.
UConn hangs on to overcome scare against Furman
The No. 2 seeded UConn Huskies came into Friday night’s game against No. 15 seed Furman as major favorites.
The Paladins had other plans.
Furman kept it close with the Huskies, going into halftime down just four points. They stayed close deep into the second half until UConn pulled away late to secure the 82-71 victory and move on to the second round and face the UCLA Bruins on Sunday in Philadelphia.
Huskies center Tarris Reed Jr. finished with one of the better stat lines anyone will see – 31 points and 27 rebounds.
UCLA survives late UCF comeback attempt as star loses tooth
The No. 7 seeded UCLA Bruins squad limped to the finish line, surviving a second half comeback attempt by the University of Central Florida to win 75-71.
With the Knights threatening late in the second half, Bruins guard Skyy Clark dove for the loose ball and was elbowed in the mouth by a UCF player.
The 22-year-old was given treatment on the bench and eventually returned with one less tooth to ice the game.
The Bruins will face the winner of No. 2 seed UConn and No. 15 seed Furman on Sunday.
‘I’m gonna fire my staff,’ Nova coach jokes at halftime
West Region No. 9 seed Utah State beat No. 8 Villanova 86-76 thanks to a hefty 16-point advantage on points in the paint.
During a halftime interview, Villanova coach Kevin Willard (jokingly) threatened to fire his entire coaching staff.
“I’m going to fire my staff … because we’ve given up eight points on underneath out-of-bounds defense,” Willard told TNT reporter Lauren Shehadi. “So the only thing I’m gonna do is fire them and get a new staff.”
After the game, the straight-faced Willard doubled down on his “joke,” telling reporters, “I’m probably going to have to make some changes to my staff because of how bad we were.”
When asked about his gallows humor, which by that point had gone viral and drawn some criticism, a frustrated Willard said, “I don’t care. Welcome to my life. It’s a joke.”
Iowa State crushes Tennessee State, but loses star to injury
The Midwest No. 2 seed Iowa State Cyclones looked like Final Four contenders as they eclipsed the century mark with a resounding 108-74 win over the Tennessee State Tigers.
But the joy was tempered by an injury to the Cyclones’ second-team All-American Joshua Jefferson. The senior forward landed awkwardly after a layup and rolled his ankle. Jefferson left the court with assistance from athletic trainers, and later returned with a boot on his injured left leg.
The 22-year-old was taken for an x-ray, which came back negative, and was diagnosed with a left ankle sprain, team head coach TJ Otzelberger told reporters after the game.
“We will continue to reevaluate over the next day or two and just see where things are when we get to Sunday and we figure out what time we play,” Otzelberger added.
Iowa State will face the No. 7 seed Kentucky Wildcats in St. Louis, Missouri, in the second round.
ACC looks shaky as Virginia escapes
The ACC is officially on notice in this tournament.
No. 3 Virginia, which finished second in the conference this season to Duke, eventually escaped a stern challenge from Wright State after trailing for much of the game. A technical foul called on UVA’s Sam Lewis with about five-and-a-half minutes to go in regulation seemed to wake up the Hoos as they went on an 8-0 run to take a 78-70 lead into the final 90 seconds, which proved to be too much for the Raiders to overcome.
The Cavaliers’ 15-3 run to close the game slammed the door shut on Wright State’s upset bid to win 82-73.
But it was another close call for a conference that used to be the most dominant force in the college game.
On Thursday, the ACC’s representatives in the tournament – Louisville, Duke and UNC – either barely escaped an upset or, in the case of the Tar Heels, crashed out of the tournament at the first moment. The Cardinals and Blue Devils held off upset charges from South Florida and Siena, respectively.
First banger in the women’s tournament
The first few games of Friday’s action in the NCAA women’s tournament went as expected, but Baylor and Nebraska had something cooking in Cameron Indoor Stadium in the afternoon.
The tight contest between No. 6 Bears and No. 11 Cornhuskers featured eight lead changes, with both teams taking sizable leads in different halves of the game. But when it came down to crunch time, with a minute to go, it was Baylor holding a three-point lead.
But then a potentially critical error occurred when Baylor turned the ball over on the inbounds pass with 57 seconds to go, failing to get the ball in play with a chance to take a bigger lead. Nebraska’s Logan Nissley then turned it over on the ensuing possession, giving Baylor a reprieve.
With 21 seconds left in regulation and the Bears up three, Taliah Scott drove the lane and laid it up to give Baylor a five-point lead and seemed to shut down Nebraska’s upset hopes. Britt Prince, the Cornhuskers’ star guard, got her 27th point of the night to cut the lead back to three and it became a free throw shooting contest.
Baylor made the shots they needed to make, winning 67-62, coming all the way back from being down nine points at one point.
Men’s games scheduled for Friday
- Kentucky 89, Santa Clara 84
- Texas Tech 91, Akron 71
- Arizona 92, Long Island 58
- Virginia 82, Wright State 73
- Iowa State 108, Tennessee State 74
- Alabama 90, Hofstra 70
- Utah State 86, Villanova 76
- Tennessee 78, Miami (Ohio) 56
- Iowa 67, Clemson 61
- St. John’s 79, Northern Iowa 53
- UCLA 75, University of Central Florida 71
- Purdue 104, Queens University 71
- Florida 114, Prairie View 55
- Kansas 68, California Baptist University 60
- Miami 80, Missouri 66
- UConn 82, Furman 71
Women’s games scheduled for Friday
- Duke 81, Charleston 64
- TCU 86, UC-San Diego 40
- Oregon 70, Virginia Tech 60
- Baylor 67, Nebraska 62
- Washington 72, South Dakota State 54
- Maryland 99, Murray State 67
- Ole Miss 81, Gonzaga 66
- Texas 87, Missouri State 45
- Michigan 83, Holy Cross 48
- North Carolina 82, Western Illinois 51
- LSU 116, Jacksonville 58
- Minnesota 75, Green Bay 58
- Michigan State 65, Colorado State 62
- NC State 76, Tennessee 61
- Texas Tech 57, Villanova 52
- Oklahoma 89, Idaho 59
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