The Madness is underway! Day 2 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament begins Friday. Here’s a look at Friday’s matchups. All times Eastern.(5) Texas Tech 91, (12) Akron 71Jaylen Petty scored 24 points, Christian Anderson added 18 and fifth-seeded Texas Tech beat No. 12 seed Akron 91-71 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Playing without All-America guard JT Toppin, who tore the ACL in his right knee last month, Texas Tech got double-figure scoring from five players. Josiah Moseley had 16 points, Donovan Atwell scored 15 and LeJuan Watts added 14. Amani Lyles led Akron with 26 points and Shammah Scott had 20.(7) Kentucky 89, (10) Santa Clara 84Santa Clara may have lost to Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, but few will forget the way everything unfolded at the end of regulation. The two teams each hit a 3-pointer in the last 2.4 seconds, forcing them to play another five minutes in a game that the seventh-seeded Wildcats won, 89-84. The Broncos hit the first of them to take a 73-70 lead, only for Kentucky’s Otega Oweh to answer at the buzzer from right in front of his own bench to tie the game. It was a crushing loss for Santa Clara, which was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since Steve Nash was playing there 30 years ago.(1) Arizona 92, (16) LIU 58Brayden Burries hit four 3-pointers while scoring 18 points, Koa Peat added 15 and top-seeded Arizona opened its NCAA Tournament run with a 92-58 victory over Long Island. Ivan Kharchenkov had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Big 12 regular-season and tournament champion Wildcats, who quickly showed why they’re the tournament’s second overall seed behind Duke. Arizona went up by double digits in the opening minutes and led the Sharks by 27 in the first half. Mason Porter-Brown scored 15 points and Greg Gordon had 12 for the Sharks, who finished their fourth season under coach Rod Strickland.(3) Virginia 82, (14) Wright State 73Jacari White hit six 3-pointers and scored 26 points, and third-seeded Virginia avoided yet another early NCAA Tournament exit, beating a resolute Wright State 82-73 in the first round. Virginia won its first NCAA Tournament game since it won the 2019 national title. The Cavaliers lost in the first round or the First Four in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Now they’re winners again under first-year coach Ryan Odom. Michael Imariagbe scored 19 points for 14th-seeded Wright State.(2) Iowa State 108, (15) Tennessee St. 74Second-seeded Iowa State blew out No. 15 seed Tennessee State 108-74 on Friday after losing star forward Joshua Jefferson to an ankle injury in the opening minutes of their first-round matchup. His status for the rest of the NCAA Tournament is unclear. Jefferson watched the second half from the end of the bench with his ankle in a boot. Iowa State plays No. 7 seed Kentucky in the second round on Sunday. Killyan Toure had career-highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Cyclones, while Nate Heise scored eight of his season-high 23 points during a 23-0 first-half run that broke open the game. Aaron Nkrumah had 21 points to lead Tennessee State.(4) Alabama 90, (13) Hofstra 70Labaron Philon Jr scored 29 points and No. 4 seed Alabama rallied from an early double-digit deficit to beat 13th-seeded Hofstra 90-70 in a first-round game in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide advanced to a second-round matchup against fifth-seeded Texas Tech, a 20-point winner over 12th-seeded Akron in the earlier first-round Midwest Region game at Benchmark International Arena. Freshman Preston Edmead led Hofstra with 24 points. The NCAA appearance was the first for the Pride in 25 years.(9) Utah State 86, (8) Villanova 76MJ Collins’ steal and emphatic one-handed slam dunk with 1:13 left gave him 20 points and the Utah State Aggies opened their fourth straight NCAA Tournament by beating Villanova 86-76. Mason Falslev, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, scored 22 and helped bring the Aggies back from a 10-point deficit early in the second half. Utah State (29-6), the No. 9 seed in the West Region, will play No. 1 seed Arizona in the second round on Sunday. (6) Tennessee 78, (11) Miami (OH) 56Ja’Kobi Gillespie hit six 3-pointers and scored 29 points as sixth-seeded Tennessee ended a fabulous season for Miami of Ohio with a 78-56 win on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Vols shook off a rough end to the season and advanced to play third-seeded Virginia on Sunday in the Midwest Region. Gillespie hit five 3s in the first half to help the Vols push ahead by 20. J.P. Estrella had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Vols. Peter Suder was the lone Miami player in double digits with 27 points.(9) Iowa 67, (8) Clemson 61Bennett Stirtz scored 16 points and No. 9 seed Iowa weathered his erratic shooting to hold off eighth-seeded Clemson 67-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Stirtz made two free throws with 10.9 seconds remaining to help put the game away. But Iowa’s leading scorer had an off night, going 3 for 10 on 3-point attempts and 1 for 7 inside the arc.(5) St. John’s 79, (12) Northern Iowa 53Zuby Ejiofor had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Bryce Hopkins added 13 points and fifth-seeded St. John’s beat Northern Iowa 79-53 for its second NCAA Tournament victory since 2000. Oziyah Sellers scored 11 points for Rick Pitino’s gathering Red Storm (29-6), who have won 20 of 21 since early January in increasingly impressive fashion. St. John’s jumped to a huge early lead at Viejas Arena and never trailed the 12th-seeded Panthers. Trey Campbell scored 14 points and Leon Bond III added 12 for Northern Iowa, which surprisingly snared its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016 by streaking through the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.(7) UCLA 75, (10) UCF 71Eric Dailey Jr. scored 20 points, Xaiver Booker had 15 points and eight rebounds to make up for the absence of leading scorer Tyler Biloudeau and seventh-seeded UCLA withstood every serious challenge and beat 10th-seeded UCF 75-71 Friday night in the NCAA Tournament. Jordan Burks scored 22 points and hit six 3-pointers — including one that made it 72-69 with 10 seconds left — to almost single-handedly carry UCF into the second round. (2) Purdue 104, (15) Queens (NC) 71Braden Smith scored 26 points and became the Division I career leader in assists, guiding No. 2 seed Purdue to a 104-71 win over Queens University in the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers seized control with a pair of 10-0 runs, once in the waning moments of the first half and in the opening minutes of the second half. Trey Kaufman-Renn contributed 25 points and nine rebounds, and Oscar Cluff had nine points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks for Purdue. Jordan Watford and Nasir Mann, the younger brother of Charlotte Hornets guard Tre Mann, led the 15th-seeded Royals with 10 points apiece.(1) Florida 114, (16) Prairie View A&M 55Florida began its national title defense with the second-largest victory margin in NCAA Tournament history, pounding Prairie View A&M 114-55. Boogie Fland scored 16 points to lead seven players in double figures for the top-seeded Gators, whose 59-point margin fell short of only Loyola Chicago’s 111-42 win over Tennessee Tech in 1963. Florida went on runs of 18-0 and 17-0 in the first half to turn a 15-all tie into a 60-21 lead at the break. The Gators shot 75% before halftime and 64.3% for the game.(4) Kansas 68, (13) California Baptist 60Darryn Peterson made four 3-pointers and scored 28 points, and fourth-seeded Kansas squandered most of a 26-point lead before holding off scrappy NCAA Tournament newcomer Cal Baptist 68-60 on Friday night. Kansas advances to face St. John’s in the second round on Sunday in a matchup between Hall of Fame coaches Bill Self of the Jayhawks and Rick Pitino of the Red Storm. The No. 5-seeded Red Storm beat Northern Iowa 79-53 in the East Region bracket. Kansas hasn’t survived the opening weekend since 2022, when it won the national title.(15) Furman vs. (2) UConn – 10 p.m.Tarris Reed Jr. had 31 points and 27 rebounds in a dominant NCAA Tournament performance, leading second-seeded UConn to an 82-71 victory over Furman team on Friday night in the first round. Alex Karaban added 22 points for UConn. The Huskies were 20 1/2-point favorites to thump a school most basketball fans couldn’t even find on a map. The real line that mattered was the final stat line: The Huskies missed 20 of 25 3-pointers with each clang off the rim seemingly sounding the dinner bell for the No. 15-seeded Paladins to come on in and pull off the seismic shocker.(7) Miami (FL) 80, (10) Missouri 66Malik Reneau scored 24 points, Tre Donaldson had 17 and seventh-seeded Miami pulled away late for an 80-66 victory over No. 10 seed Missouri in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers briefly took the lead in the second half, but Miami answered with an 11-0 to regain control. Jayden Stone had 21 points to lead the Tigers while Mark Mitchell finished with 19.
The Madness is underway! Day 2 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament begins Friday.
Here’s a look at Friday’s matchups. All times Eastern.
(5) Texas Tech 91, (12) Akron 71
Jaylen Petty scored 24 points, Christian Anderson added 18 and fifth-seeded Texas Tech beat No. 12 seed Akron 91-71 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Playing without All-America guard JT Toppin, who tore the ACL in his right knee last month, Texas Tech got double-figure scoring from five players. Josiah Moseley had 16 points, Donovan Atwell scored 15 and LeJuan Watts added 14. Amani Lyles led Akron with 26 points and Shammah Scott had 20.
(7) Kentucky 89, (10) Santa Clara 84
Santa Clara may have lost to Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, but few will forget the way everything unfolded at the end of regulation. The two teams each hit a 3-pointer in the last 2.4 seconds, forcing them to play another five minutes in a game that the seventh-seeded Wildcats won, 89-84. The Broncos hit the first of them to take a 73-70 lead, only for Kentucky’s Otega Oweh to answer at the buzzer from right in front of his own bench to tie the game. It was a crushing loss for Santa Clara, which was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since Steve Nash was playing there 30 years ago.
(1) Arizona 92, (16) LIU 58
Brayden Burries hit four 3-pointers while scoring 18 points, Koa Peat added 15 and top-seeded Arizona opened its NCAA Tournament run with a 92-58 victory over Long Island. Ivan Kharchenkov had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Big 12 regular-season and tournament champion Wildcats, who quickly showed why they’re the tournament’s second overall seed behind Duke. Arizona went up by double digits in the opening minutes and led the Sharks by 27 in the first half. Mason Porter-Brown scored 15 points and Greg Gordon had 12 for the Sharks, who finished their fourth season under coach Rod Strickland.
(3) Virginia 82, (14) Wright State 73
Jacari White hit six 3-pointers and scored 26 points, and third-seeded Virginia avoided yet another early NCAA Tournament exit, beating a resolute Wright State 82-73 in the first round. Virginia won its first NCAA Tournament game since it won the 2019 national title. The Cavaliers lost in the first round or the First Four in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Now they’re winners again under first-year coach Ryan Odom. Michael Imariagbe scored 19 points for 14th-seeded Wright State.
(2) Iowa State 108, (15) Tennessee St. 74
Second-seeded Iowa State blew out No. 15 seed Tennessee State 108-74 on Friday after losing star forward Joshua Jefferson to an ankle injury in the opening minutes of their first-round matchup. His status for the rest of the NCAA Tournament is unclear. Jefferson watched the second half from the end of the bench with his ankle in a boot. Iowa State plays No. 7 seed Kentucky in the second round on Sunday. Killyan Toure had career-highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Cyclones, while Nate Heise scored eight of his season-high 23 points during a 23-0 first-half run that broke open the game. Aaron Nkrumah had 21 points to lead Tennessee State.
(4) Alabama 90, (13) Hofstra 70
Labaron Philon Jr scored 29 points and No. 4 seed Alabama rallied from an early double-digit deficit to beat 13th-seeded Hofstra 90-70 in a first-round game in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide advanced to a second-round matchup against fifth-seeded Texas Tech, a 20-point winner over 12th-seeded Akron in the earlier first-round Midwest Region game at Benchmark International Arena. Freshman Preston Edmead led Hofstra with 24 points. The NCAA appearance was the first for the Pride in 25 years.
(9) Utah State 86, (8) Villanova 76
MJ Collins’ steal and emphatic one-handed slam dunk with 1:13 left gave him 20 points and the Utah State Aggies opened their fourth straight NCAA Tournament by beating Villanova 86-76. Mason Falslev, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, scored 22 and helped bring the Aggies back from a 10-point deficit early in the second half. Utah State (29-6), the No. 9 seed in the West Region, will play No. 1 seed Arizona in the second round on Sunday.
(6) Tennessee 78, (11) Miami (OH) 56
Ja’Kobi Gillespie hit six 3-pointers and scored 29 points as sixth-seeded Tennessee ended a fabulous season for Miami of Ohio with a 78-56 win on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Vols shook off a rough end to the season and advanced to play third-seeded Virginia on Sunday in the Midwest Region. Gillespie hit five 3s in the first half to help the Vols push ahead by 20. J.P. Estrella had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Vols. Peter Suder was the lone Miami player in double digits with 27 points.
(9) Iowa 67, (8) Clemson 61
Bennett Stirtz scored 16 points and No. 9 seed Iowa weathered his erratic shooting to hold off eighth-seeded Clemson 67-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Stirtz made two free throws with 10.9 seconds remaining to help put the game away. But Iowa’s leading scorer had an off night, going 3 for 10 on 3-point attempts and 1 for 7 inside the arc.
(5) St. John’s 79, (12) Northern Iowa 53
Zuby Ejiofor had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Bryce Hopkins added 13 points and fifth-seeded St. John’s beat Northern Iowa 79-53 for its second NCAA Tournament victory since 2000. Oziyah Sellers scored 11 points for Rick Pitino’s gathering Red Storm (29-6), who have won 20 of 21 since early January in increasingly impressive fashion. St. John’s jumped to a huge early lead at Viejas Arena and never trailed the 12th-seeded Panthers. Trey Campbell scored 14 points and Leon Bond III added 12 for Northern Iowa, which surprisingly snared its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016 by streaking through the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
(7) UCLA 75, (10) UCF 71
Eric Dailey Jr. scored 20 points, Xaiver Booker had 15 points and eight rebounds to make up for the absence of leading scorer Tyler Biloudeau and seventh-seeded UCLA withstood every serious challenge and beat 10th-seeded UCF 75-71 Friday night in the NCAA Tournament. Jordan Burks scored 22 points and hit six 3-pointers — including one that made it 72-69 with 10 seconds left — to almost single-handedly carry UCF into the second round.
(2) Purdue 104, (15) Queens (NC) 71
Braden Smith scored 26 points and became the Division I career leader in assists, guiding No. 2 seed Purdue to a 104-71 win over Queens University in the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers seized control with a pair of 10-0 runs, once in the waning moments of the first half and in the opening minutes of the second half. Trey Kaufman-Renn contributed 25 points and nine rebounds, and Oscar Cluff had nine points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks for Purdue. Jordan Watford and Nasir Mann, the younger brother of Charlotte Hornets guard Tre Mann, led the 15th-seeded Royals with 10 points apiece.
(1) Florida 114, (16) Prairie View A&M 55
Florida began its national title defense with the second-largest victory margin in NCAA Tournament history, pounding Prairie View A&M 114-55. Boogie Fland scored 16 points to lead seven players in double figures for the top-seeded Gators, whose 59-point margin fell short of only Loyola Chicago’s 111-42 win over Tennessee Tech in 1963. Florida went on runs of 18-0 and 17-0 in the first half to turn a 15-all tie into a 60-21 lead at the break. The Gators shot 75% before halftime and 64.3% for the game.
(4) Kansas 68, (13) California Baptist 60
Darryn Peterson made four 3-pointers and scored 28 points, and fourth-seeded Kansas squandered most of a 26-point lead before holding off scrappy NCAA Tournament newcomer Cal Baptist 68-60 on Friday night. Kansas advances to face St. John’s in the second round on Sunday in a matchup between Hall of Fame coaches Bill Self of the Jayhawks and Rick Pitino of the Red Storm. The No. 5-seeded Red Storm beat Northern Iowa 79-53 in the East Region bracket. Kansas hasn’t survived the opening weekend since 2022, when it won the national title.
(15) Furman vs. (2) UConn – 10 p.m.
Tarris Reed Jr. had 31 points and 27 rebounds in a dominant NCAA Tournament performance, leading second-seeded UConn to an 82-71 victory over Furman team on Friday night in the first round. Alex Karaban added 22 points for UConn. The Huskies were 20 1/2-point favorites to thump a school most basketball fans couldn’t even find on a map. The real line that mattered was the final stat line: The Huskies missed 20 of 25 3-pointers with each clang off the rim seemingly sounding the dinner bell for the No. 15-seeded Paladins to come on in and pull off the seismic shocker.
(7) Miami (FL) 80, (10) Missouri 66
Malik Reneau scored 24 points, Tre Donaldson had 17 and seventh-seeded Miami pulled away late for an 80-66 victory over No. 10 seed Missouri in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers briefly took the lead in the second half, but Miami answered with an 11-0 to regain control. Jayden Stone had 21 points to lead the Tigers while Mark Mitchell finished with 19.
