{"id":618761,"date":"2023-03-17T00:37:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T05:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/17\/ncaa-tournament-winners-losers-uva-in-misery-houston-in-trouble-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2023-03-17T00:37:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T05:37:00","slug":"ncaa-tournament-winners-losers-uva-in-misery-houston-in-trouble-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/17\/ncaa-tournament-winners-losers-uva-in-misery-houston-in-trouble-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Tournament winners, losers: UVA in misery, Houston in trouble – USA TODAY"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

<\/story-emphasis><\/p>\n

\n

This is what we want on the first day of March Madness: Brackets breaking all over the country and double-digit seeds shocking everyone.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n

<\/p>\n

\"play\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/media-video><\/div>\n

And now, finally, an answer to one of the biggest\u00a0questions as the men’s NCAA Tournament started on Thursday:\u00a0What the heck is a Paladin?\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/partner-banner>\n

Turns out, it\u2019s a heartbreaker. Specifically, it\u2019s a heartbreaker to the\u00a0Virginia Cavaliers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In all seriousness, a Paladin is\u00a0a knight, often renowned for honor and heroism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maybe they should also get credit for good defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 13th-seeded Paladins of Furman stole the show on Day 1, topping No. 4 seed Virginia 68-67 in a wild finish that gave us our first major upset of the day. A\u00a0couple of hours later, No. 15 seed Princeton joined the party, knocking off No. 2 seed Arizona.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is what we want on the first day of Madness: Brackets breaking all over the country and double-digit seeds shocking everyone (except themselves, at least if you\u2019re Princeton).\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/partner-banner>\n

MEN’S TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: <\/strong>Complete 2023 NCAA men’s tournament schedule, results and times<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

But other top seeds looked dominant \u2014 which is what they\u2019re supposed to look like, especially in their first-round games.\u00a0All of it is coming together to provide an intriguing second round. But first, we\u2019ve got one more whole day of first-round games, which may\u00a0provide\u00a0even more chaos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For now, here are the winners and losers from Day 1.<\/p>\n

<\/media-image><\/p>\n

Winners<\/h2>\n

Cinderella<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing like an upset \u2014 or two!\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, in the Virginia-Furman game, the Paladins\u2019 suffocating, trapping defense made Virginia\u00a0senior Kihei Clark panic, and\u00a0he heaved a dangerous, cross-court pass as the game\u2019s final seconds wound down. That pass was intercepted by Furman\u2019s Garrett Hien, who kicked it to JP Pegues, who\u2019d missed his three previous attempts from long distance. Pegues calmly buried the 3 to go up 68-67. After a timeout, Virginia\u2019s game-winning attempt was off.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/partner-inline><\/cta-atoms-container-inline><\/p>\n

Then, in Arizona-Princeton, the Wildcats\u00a0went ice cold from the field in the final 4:43 (0-for-7) as Princeton pulled off an improbable 59-55 upset. Arizona missed numerous shots in the final couple of minutes that could have won it, and Princeton iced the win\u00a0with free throws. It\u2019s the third consecutive year a 15 has beaten a 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maryland\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trailing by as much as 13 in the first half and looking half-asleep in the first game of the day, the Terrapins came back behind 17 points and nine\u00a0rebounds from sophomore forward Julian Reese, beating West Virginia\u00a067-65. The win advanced Maryland to the second round, where the Terps will take on overall No. 1 seed Alabama. In a back-and-forth slugfest \u2014 the game featured nine ties and 11 lead changes \u2014 points in the paint (34-24 Maryland) were the difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/partner-banner><\/partner-inline>\n

The Terps will have to start and play much better to compete with the Tide on Saturday, but grinding out a win and coming from behind should give them confidence. This is especially important when you consider how bad Maryland has been away from home (5-11 coming into Thursday) this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UCLA<\/strong><\/p>\n

A glimpse into the No. 2-seeded Bruins\u2019 dominance Thursday: At one point late in the first half, UCLA had more made shots (16) than UNC Asheville had attempts (15). That didn\u2019t wind up being the case at the end, but it was still an impressive 86-53\u00a0blitz. The Bruins scored 30 points off Asheville turnovers and dominated the boards 40-25. All five starters scored 10 points or more, except for Tyger Campbell — he\u00a0had seven\u00a0points but dished out 10 assists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Duke<\/strong><\/p>\n

On a rough day for the ACC (see\u00a0Virginia), the Blue Devils were never challenged in their 74-51 win over Oral Roberts. One of the best teams in the country the last few weeks of the regular season, the Blue Devils shot 48.4% from the field and dominated the rebounding battle (46-32). Led by Jeremy\u00a0Roach\u2019s 23 points (on just 17 shots), Duke advances to play No. 4-seeded Tennessee on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Losers<\/h2>\n

Brandon Miller<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best freshman in the country, and maybe the best player in the country, had a rough first NCAA Tournament. The 6-foot-9 forward, a likely NBA lottery pick despite controversy swirling around him, went 0-for-5 from the field in 19 minutes of play, finishing with five\u00a0rebounds, three\u00a0assists and three\u00a0turnovers. The overall No. 1 seed still cruised to a win without him, but Miller\u2019s play will be critical going forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/partner-banner>\n

Fans of offense<\/strong><\/p>\n

Man alive, there was some ugly shooting on Thursday. A staggering 19-of-32\u00a0teams who were in action shot 43%\u00a0or less from the field, with 11 teams shooting below 40%\u00a0 \u2014 and some of those teams won! None was worse than Northern Kentucky, which shot a cover-your-eyes 27.5%\u00a0from the field.<\/p>\n<\/partner-inline>\n

Teams missed easy shots, took bad shots and missed badly on all kinds of shots. Defense is great, but so is seeing the ball go through the net. Here\u2019s hoping Friday\u2019s games are prettier all around.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Houston<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sure, the No. 1 seed Cougars won 63-52. But the\u00a0decision to play All-American guard Marcus Sasser just days after he suffered\u00a0a serious groin injury\u00a0will be second-guessed by everyone, and deservedly so.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sasser, who was originally hurt in the AAC tournament semifinals last week, is key to the Cougars\u2019 title hopes. After re-injuring himself in the first half vs. Northern Kentucky,\u00a0he didn\u2019t see the floor in the second half. Did the Cougars\u00a0just cost themselves?\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/partner-banner>\n

Virginia<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trivia time: What happened to Virginia basketball on March 16? If you said, \u201cthey made history,\u201d you\u2019d be right. It\u00a0wasn\u2019t the good kind of history \u2014 and this year, history repeated itself. This is becoming a jinxed date for UVA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On March 16, 2018, Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16-seed in the men\u2019s NCAA Tournament. Five years later to the day, UVA again blew a game in which it was a clear favorite. What\u2019s worse is how it happened. Tony Bennett\u2019s teams are typically disciplined and smart, so to lose because of an extremely dumb pass is rough.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Virginia hasn\u2019t won an NCAA Tournament game since the 2019 title run, having lost twice in the first round since then.<\/p>\n

<\/media-gallery-promo><\/lit-timestamp>\n

\n \n <\/svg>Facebook<\/span><\/a>
\n\n \n <\/svg>Twitter<\/span><\/a>
\n\n \n <\/svg>Email<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Luz Stoval<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is what we want on the first day of March Madness: Brackets breaking all over the country and double-digit seeds shocking everyone. And now, finally, an answer to one of the biggest\u00a0questions as the men’s NCAA Tournament started on Thursday:\u00a0What the heck is a Paladin?\u00a0 Turns out, it\u2019s a heartbreaker. Specifically, it\u2019s a heartbreaker […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":618762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[534,23486,815],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-618761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-financial","8":"category-tournament","9":"category-winners"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}