We're tracking every upset in the NCAA men's tournament
We're tracking upsets in March Madness
Welcome to March Madness and welcome to the upset tracker!
This is the spot where NCAA.com and hall-of-fame sportswriter Mike Lopresti will catalog every upset that happens during the 2023 DI men's basketball tournament. We're using the official NCAA record book definition of an upset: "Upsets are defined as when the winner of the game was seeded five or more places lower than the team it defeated."
You can scroll down this page to see all of the upsets in 2022 and how each happened. The biggest was when No. 15 Saint Peter's knocked off No. 2 Kentucky and then No. 3 Purdue to become first 15 seed to ever make the Elite Eight.
(7) Michigan State beats (2) Marquette, advances to the Sweet 16
No. 7 Michigan State 69, No. 2 Marquette 60
How it happened:
Not by Michigan State firepower, for sure. The Spartans were 2-for-16 in 3-pointers. Defense, rebounding and power — Michigan State mainstays forever — were the featured weapons as the Spartans jumped to an early 13-point lead, lost it, then grabbed back the game. The power on offense accounted for a 32-16 gap in points in the paint and 23 points from Tyson Walker on a lot of dribble penetration. The rebounding led to a 15-8 advantage in second-chance points. The defense created a nightmare day for Big East player of the year Tyler Kolek, who was 2-for-8 with six turnovers.
What it meant:
Another star on the glowing March resume of Tom Izzo, sending him to the Sweet 16 for the 15th time. The 7-8 finish to the regular season didn’t matter much. The Spartans were the first Big Ten team to get to the Sweet 16 after six members went down. Marquette’s thrilling ride from the ninth-place pick in the Big East to the league title to the round of 32 ended with 38.5 percent shooting. The Golden Eagles were the second-best shooting team in the Big East but had run into Michigan State in March.
What they said:
The 6-1 Tyson Walker about a dunk that highlighted Michigan State’s early surge: “I ain’t never dunked. I went for it today, though.”
Izzo: "That was a war. That was a 2000 game. I am so proud of these guys for withstanding that, because that was — I've been in Elite Eight games; I've been in Final Four — that was as intense and tough a game as I've been in my career.”
Kolek on if a sore thumb was a factor in his turnovers: “It wasn't an issue at all. There's no excuses for those. Just trying to be out there for my team and command the game. And I didn't do that today.”
(15) Princeton quiets (7) Missouri
No. 15 Princeton 78, No. 7 Missouri 63
How it happened:
No surprise the Tigers would cause some trouble by shooting well from the 3-point line, committing only nine turnovers and having 16 assists on 27 field goals. But a 44-30 dominance on the boards and 19-2 advantage in second chance points? A 21-point lead on an SEC team? Ryan Langborg, who had the go-ahead basket against Arizona in the first round, led Princeton with 22 points.
What it meant:
Princeton’s first trip to the Sweet 16 in 56 years. The Tigers also became only the fourth No. 15 seed to advance to the second week, all in the past 10 tournaments. The last Ivy League team to get there was Cornell in 2010.
What they said:
Princeton coach Mitch Henderson: “I've always dreamed of playing deep into the tournament. As a player, got to the second round a couple times. Never got beyond it. I feel like these guys, it's unbelievable.”
Henderson on the floor game of Tosan Evbuomwan: “Tosan's passing, you won't see that again at Princeton for 50 years. I mean, he's really a very unique passer. When he came to us, it was like first week of practice . . . it was like a brilliant, blinding light from heaven.”
Missouri coach Dennis Gates: “We were able to get the lead one time. We held the lead for 30 seconds in the entire game. Every time we got the lead or when they had the lead, we cut it to six, they came back down and did what a good team would do: make a shot or make a play.”
(8) Arkansas upsets (1) Kansas in the second round
No. 8 Arkansas 72, No. 1 Kansas 71
How it happened:
With Kansas ahead by eight points at halftime and 12 early in the second half, the day looked normal. Then it wasn’t. Arkansas came charging back behind Davonte Davis, who scored 21 of his 25 points after halftime, and 10-of-11 free throw shooting from Ricky Council IV. The Razorbacks pulled off the upset with only three 3-pointers. Rebounding was another fatal number for the Jayhawks. Arkansas had a 15-2 gap in second-chance points, four of them coming in the last 50 seconds when the Razorbacks got the lead for good. Kansas had been 26-0 this season when leading at halftime. The Jayhawks led for 34 minutes in the game, the Razorbacks only 1:44, while having three players foul out. Hard to win that way, but they did.
What it meant:
Half the No. 1 seeds in the tournament were gone by the first Saturday. No repeat national championship for Kansas, so Florida 2007 will remain the last team to go back-to-back. A March that began so promising for the Jayhawks turned wrong in multiple ways with a stunning loss and Bill Self unable to coach because of needing stents for artery blockage. Arkansas has now beaten a No. 1 seed in consecutive tournaments, taking out Gonzaga in 2022, and advanced to three consecutive Sweet 16s.
What they said:
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman: “I've been coaching a long time, that's as great of a win as I've ever been a part of . . . because of the history of Kansas, because of some of their veteran players that were part of a championship team last year. A lot of people didn't think we were going to win our first-round game.”
Musselman on the Razorbacks’ recent NCAA tournament success: “You can't win at any level, CYO, grade school, high school, college, pro, G-League, national team, unless you have really good players. And we have really good players. We have guys that have insane buy-in, incredible buy-in.”
Kansas assistant Norm Roberts: “It was tough not having Coach here, but, you know, we don't make any excuses. We have to line up and get it done, and we came up a little bit short today.”
🚨 HISTORY: (16) FDU stuns (1) Purdue — AND the world
No. 16 FDU 63, No. 1 Purdue 58
How it happened:
There were 14 lead changes before the Fairleigh Dickinson defense exerted its will in the final eight minutes, harassing Zach Edey and stopping the rest of the lineup. The Boilermakers had 16 turnovers and shot only 35.8 percent, including 5-for-26 from beyond the arc. Never mind they had nine more rebounds and made seven more free throws. When the Knights edged into the lead Purdue had no way to come back. Edey scored 21 points but the Boilermakers’ freshman backcourt of Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer had six field goals and 10 turnovers.
What it meant:
For Fairleigh Dickinson, history. The Knights joined UMBC of 2019 as the only No. 16 seeds to ever upset a No. 1. With Florida Atlantic’s win over Memphis, it set up the second round game few could have expected --- Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Florida Atlantic. One of them is going to the Sweet 16. For Purdue, it continued an amazingly painful trend of NCAA tournament exits to low seeds. The Boilermakers went down to No. 13 North Texas, No. 15 Saint Peter’s and No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson in consecutive years.
What they said:
Fairleigh Dickinson’s Demetre Roberts: “Our job was to just come into the game and throw a punch. We know they would throw multiple punches. Just throw a punch back. We knew what type of game this was. We showed why we belong here.”
Fairleigh Dickinson coach Tobin Anderson: “We’ll be prepared for Sunday. I have belief but I’m not sure I have that much belief. I have to do some laundry."
Purdue coach Matt Painter: “They earned it. They played better than we did, they coached better than we did. And we have to sit in it. We’ve got to face it. We’ve got to deal with it. And we’ve got to come back stronger. But that will take some time.”
(11) Pitt dominates (6) Iowa State
No. 11 Pittsburgh 59, No. 6 Iowa State 41
How it happened:
The trouble started for Iowa State before the game when the Cyclones asked the rim on their end to be checked after warmups. A slight adjustment was made. It apparently didn’t help much. Iowa State missed its first 11 shots and was down 22-2 in under 10 minutes. The Cyclones finished with a 23.3 field goal percentage, including 2-for-21 in 3-pointers.
What it meant:
Beware the power of the First Four. This is the 11th time in 12 years that a First Four survivor promptly upset a higher seed in the first round. Pitt has not been in the second round in nine years. It continued quite a ride for a Panthers team picked to finish 14th in the ACC.
What they said:
Pittsburgh’s Nelly Cummings: “We've had something to prove since the preseason ranked us 14th our conference. We've had a chip on our shoulder the first time we seen that. We're definitely looking forward to proving more.”
Pittsburgh’s Greg Elliott: “We knew the last of the season we had a chance to do something big, but we didn't because of our defense. Everybody wanted to say it, but we knew. Our defense wasn't up to par. We knew if we wanted to win games in March . . . you have to play defense and rebound. That's what we've been doing."
Iowa State’s Gabe Kalscheur: “It just wasn’t going in. Sometimes that happens and you have to eat the punches.”
(15) Princeton shocks (2) Arizona in the first round 😳
No. 15 Princeton 59, No 2 Arizona 55
How it happened:
The Tigers didn’t lead much of the game, just the right part. Behind 12 points with 11:46 left, Princeton steadily crept back and took its first lead on a driving layup by Ryan Langborg with just over two minutes left. The Tigers were in front to stay as Arizona’s offense crashed. The Wildcats missed their last seven shots, were outscored 9-0 in the final 4:21 and from the eight-minute mark had only two field goals but four turnovers. The two teams shot only 12 free throws.
What it meant:
Princeton’s giant-killer label was starting to get a little worn. It’s been 27 years since the famous backdoor sacking of defending champion UCLA and the Tigers had not won an NCAA tournament game this century. Now Princeton is back in the shocker business – at the expense of the Pac-12 again. Mitch Henderson was one of the players who led the 1996 upset of UCLA and was on the bench Thursday as the Tigers’ head coach. A No. 15 seed shocking a No. 2 was once rare but has become as annual in March as St. Patrick’s Day. This was the third consecutive year.
What they said:
Henderson on the inevitable comparisons to 1995: “I want to be really clear that this group did this. That was a really long time ago. This group did something special for its university, for the fans, for the former players and for one another . . . I’ve been the beneficiary of that game, along with my teammates, for a long time.”
Tosan Evbuomwan, whose 15 points made him the only Princeton player in double figures: “When we are playing our best, we think we can take down everybody. A great program, a selfless one, that plays our brand of basketball.”
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd: “I told our guys, if you want to be a great player, you want to be a great coach, we all got to learn from this. We got to go back and figure out what happened and understand the value of being up 10 to 12 points with 10 minutes to go, putting the hammer on people, not letting people get back in the game.
(13) Furman edges (4) Virginia to kick off the 2023 upset tracker
No. 13 Furman 68, No. 4 Virginia 67
How it happened:
JP Pegues’ 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left — after a truly shocking Virginia turnover — gave the tournament its first dropped jaws. The Paladins were down 12 points midway through the second half before rallying, switching to a zone defense they had used maybe 15 possessions all season. Ahead 67-65 and with a chance to run out the clock, Virginia senior Kihei Clark was trapped in the corner. Rather than call a timeout, he tried a desperation heave down the floor but the pass was easily intercepted by Garrett Hien who quickly got the ball to Pegues. It was the only 3-pointer he made all day.
What it meant:
Furman’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 43 years turned into their first victory since 1974. The Paladins had to figure they had this coming, after losing the Southern Conference title game last year on a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Cavaliers have not won a tournament game since the 2019 national championship and their past three NCAA defeats have come at the hands of two No. 13 seeds and a No. 16. It’d be more conspicuous without a national championship in the middle of it. It was Clark’s heady assist that saved the day against Purdue in the Elite Eight back in 2019.
What they said:
Pegues: “As soon I saw it go into Garrett Hien’s hands, I was like, I want the ball. I feel like those moments I’ve created my whole life, and I feel like I’m built for it.”
Furman coach Bob Richey on the turnover: “I was calling for a foul but the Good Lord knew they couldn’t hear me and they threw it to us.”
Richey on the idea of a zone: “A wild thought a couple of days ago.”
Virginia coach Tony Bennett, on the turnover that Clark committed after making so many big plays for the Cavaliers through the years: “He can handle it. We can handle this. Sometimes things happen, and I’ve said this, you get to choose how to respond. That it happened and played out like that -- for someone who’s been so good for this program – that’s the madness of the tournament. We’ve lived both sides of it and that’s a hard way to go. In time you’ll appreciate things and it’ll shape him.”
(8) North Carolina takes down (2) Duke to advance to national championship game
No. 8 North Carolina 81, No. 2 Duke 77
How it happened: As often happens in true classics, it was not so much that anyone blinked, but one team just made more plays than the other. Duke nursed a 68-67 lead toward the three-minute mark, and from that point there were five lead changes in the next 120 frantic seconds. The last – the 18th lead change of the night – happened with two RJ Davis free throws that put North Carolina ahead 75-74 with 1:01. The Tar Heel dagger came with 25 seconds left on Caleb Love’s fearless pullup 3-pointer that made it 78-74. Love’s 28 points carried North Carolina, as did Armando Bacot’s 21 rebounds, and the team’s 50 percent shooting in the second half. Duke had only four turnovers and outscored North Carolina 48-26 in the paint, but two areas cost the Blue Devils – 5-for-22 shooting from behind the 3-point arc and 12-for-20 at the free throw line. But to the end, these two ancient rivals were so close in so many ways. Duke led for 17:09, North Carolina for 16:22.
What it means: Where to begin? The victory put North Carolina in its 12th national championship game, and made Hubert Davis the first coach to get that far in his first season since Michigan’s Steve Fisher, 33 years ago. The Tar Heels’ No. 8 seed matched the lowest ever for a championship game, joining Kentucky of 2014, Butler of 2011, Villanova of 1985 and UCLA of 1980. Combined with the season-ending win at Duke, the victory gave the North Carolina fan base enormous bragging rights on Tobacco Road. For Duke and Mike Krzyzewski, it simply meant goodbye after 42 years. An era ended with the game’s final second.
What they said:
Davis, on the two big wins against Duke: ”It doesn't help us for Monday. It just doesn't. And so when I talk about the noise and things that aren't beneficial to help us prepare, to help us practice and help us play, I think dwelling on the two wins against Duke doesn't help us against Kansas. So we put that in a box to think about over the summer."
Davis on the crucial Love basket with 25 seconds left: “One of the things I love about all of our guys they're always willing to step up. He wants that shot. He's actually looking for that shot. And very few guys in that situation are looking for that type of shot. Caleb is one of them. He has the confidence to be able to knock it down.”
Krzyzewski on his last Duke team: “For these guys, they've been a joy. When we made our announcement it would be our last year, I told my wife, Mickie, look, we're going for it. And I'm going to put everything into it. And I got a group, they're young, but I think they've got a chance. And I was right about that. We had a few bumps in the road, but they won 32 games. And they turned it around in March where they've been beautiful young men to coach. I could not ask for more.”
(15) Saint Peter's upsets (3) Purdue to become first No. 15 seed in Elite Eight
No. 15 Saint Peter’s 67, No. 3 Purdue 64
How it happened: By now it’s a familiar script. Play defense, play hard, hit crucial late shots, and the other team will eventually blink, no matter what name is on the front of the jersey. The Peacocks forced Purdue into 42.6-percent shooting and made life particularly miserable on the Boilermaker stars. Jaden Ivey and Zach Edey combined for nine field goals and 11 turnovers. A late switch to a zone defense bothered Purdue, and nobody saved the day from the outside. The Boilermakers missed 11 of 12 3-pointers in the second half. In a tense struggle with 10 ties and 15 lead changes — the biggest lead Saint Peter’s had all night was four points — the Peacocks got the lead for good with 2:17 left on a driving layup by Daryl Banks III. Then it was a matter of making free throws to stay in front. Saint Peter’s went 8-for-8 the final 1:43. The most historic win in school history was a true team effort. No one had more than 14 points or three rebounds, but nine Peacocks scored and 10 had at least one rebound.
What it means: History. Plain, simple and incredible. The Peacocks have now gone where no No. 15 seed has gone before (or No. 13 or No. 14 seed for that matter) — to the Elite Eight. Along the way they have taken out royalty in Kentucky, the nation’s best record in Murray State and a former AP No. 1 this season in Purdue. If they aren’t the greatest Cinderella story of all time yet, they’re getting close. Purdue’s hopes for easing its 42-year Final Four drought ended in desolation. And the Big Ten, for all its regular-season might, did not put a single team in the Elite Eight.
What they said:
Saint Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway: “That's what we've been the whole year. That's who we are. We're not a team that's going to blow teams out. That's not our DNA. We try to keep it close and try to make them make mistakes down the stretch. When you're playing against teams like that who's supposed to win, when you keep it tight, certain things can happen. I told my guys, 'Just keep battling, keep battling, let's see what happens.' We kept battling, I knew the ball was going to bounce our way, and it did.”
Saint Peter’s guard Doug Edert: “We're happy, but don't mistake, we're not satisfied. We're not satisfied at all. The job is not finished. We feel like we belong, and the more games we win, the more confidence we build.”
Purdue forward Trevion Williams: “I'm honestly still in shock. It just doesn't feel real. I just wish we could have played a little bit better. Man, you've got to give them their respect. That's a real team. If you don't respect them, you'll be outplayed kind of like we did today.”
Purdue coach Matt Painter: “It eats at you. Like you work hard to do things and to work and represent your school and to put yourself in a position to do well. It's so hard to get in position to do well — like these guys won 29 games and then you feel awful. We put ourselves in a position to win a Big Ten championship and we didn't. You get to this point right here and you don't move forward. We have a good program. Our guys graduate, we're successful, we have the most Big Ten championships of any school in the Big Ten. We just haven't gotten over that hurdle. We just haven't gotten that push to where we haven't been to a Final Four in 42 years. So yeah, I think about it all the time, but it's not going to stop me from driving to get here and get back in this position again and try to get over that hurdle. That's what our players deserve and our fans deserve. It's part of competition. It's a very, very competitive world.”
(5) Houston sends (1) Arizona home, pulls within one win of Final Four
No. 5 Houston 72, No. 1 Arizona 60
How it happened: Arizona’s high-octane offense ran into the Houston defense and went splat, scoring 24 points under its average with 33-percent shooting. The Wildcats might have been the No. 1 seed, but the Cougars took the lead 46 seconds into the game and were never caught. They also outscored Arizona 24-6 in points off turnovers. Houston guard Jamal Shead continued to be one of the developing stars of the tournament with 21 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals. That after 18 points, three assists and three steals against Illinois.
What it means: Down went another No. 1 seed, leaving Kansas the only one standing at the end of Thursday of the Sweet 16. It’s the first time in nine years there would be at most one No. 1 seed in the Elite Eight. Arizona’s demise also left UCLA the last West Coast team alive. Just four years ago, Houston had not won an NCAA tournament game in 33 seasons, but this was the 10th victory for the Cougars and Kelvin Sampson in the past four tournaments. It put them on the brink of a return to the Final Four. It was also the second power-conference regular-season champion they had beaten in a week, with Big Ten co-winner Illinois a victim in the second round.
What they said:
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson: “Good, bad, or indifferent, every team is known for something. All our teams eventually get there. It's not always smooth sailing, we're not going to win a lot of beauty contests, but victories don't come with asterisks. I watched Arizona play. I watched them play UCLA. I watched them play Colorado. I watched the way those teams guarded them, and I knew we weren't going to guard them like those teams did. Those teams just switched them. They let them be comfortable. I knew we were going to make them uncomfortable. That's what we do.”
Houston’s Jamal Shead: “Once we come out of the locker room, we feel like we're supposed to be here at all times. We always feel like the toughest team out there and always try to play like it. We always have each other's back, and I think that's the most important thing there. We can't be scared of anybody if we all are together and just trying to go at it all the time.”
Arizona’s Christian Koloko: “We started the season, and nobody believed in us. We made them believe in us. We won the Pac-12 regular season, we won the Pac-12 tournament, and we get to the Sweet 16. We knew we could have done better. That's why our team is sad right now. We knew how good of a team we (were), but right now we can't do anything.”
(4) Arkansas knocks out (1) Gonzaga to advance to second consecutive Elite Eight
How it happened: Turns out that Arkansas holding New Mexico State to 48 points in the second round was just a warning shot. This defensive performance by the Razorbacks’ defense will go into the tournament archives. A Zags’ attack leading the nation by scoring 87 points a game could not get to 70. The surest shooting team in the land could not hit 38 percent. The fifth best offense in assist-turnover ratio had only nine assists, and 15 turnovers – one more than in Gonzaga’s first two games combined. Chet Holmgren played only 23 foul-plagued minutes before picking up his fifth. Andrew Nembhard, assigned to Razorback defensive ace Au’Diese Toney, was 2-for-11 with five turnovers. While the Hogs were at it, they beat Gonzaga to nearly every 50-50 ball. With all that going on – and JD Notae leading the way with 21 points, even though it took him 29 shots to do it – Arkansas grabbed the lead for good early in the second half and never gave it back.
What it means: Gone, the Drew Timme-Holmgren-Nembhard machine that seemed the team everyone was chasing in November. Gone, the No. 1 ranked name in the Associated Poll. That means for the 19th time in the past 20 tournaments, the top-ranked team will not be the national champion. Only 2012 Kentucky is the exception. This is the earliest Gonzaga has left the tournament since 2018. It was the first time Arkansas had ever beaten a No. 1 seed, after going 0-10. Lost in the SEC glare of Kentucky, Auburn and Tennessee all season, the Razorbacks and the scrappy heat they bring on defense suddenly were some of the loudest noises of the month.
Musselman now has had Arkansas in the Elite Eight in two consecutive years, with a chance to get to the program’s first Final Four since 1995.
What they said:
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman: “Inside we just wanted to be physical, plain and simple. We wanted them to feel bodies. I played in that league. I know what some of the teams are like in that league, and the physicality and the speed that we can play with is just different, and, obviously, they played a really tough schedule early in the season, but it's been a long time in conference play since they faced a team like us. We weren't going to back down, I can tell you that, inside. We took away their 3’s. I thought it was as good as we could play against a really, really great team that's extremely well-coached.”
Arkansas’ Jaylin Williams: “I think we're being disrespected the whole year, so it's just another thing for us. They gave them an 86% chance to win. We saw that and everything they were saying. We felt like they were dancing before the game. That was disrespect to us. We came into the game playing hard and had a chip on our shoulder. Every game we do, and we played hard for 40 minutes, so that's just what we do now.”
Gonzaga coach Mark Few: “I think sometimes the outside people that aren't in our program always label it with, national championship or bust. Obviously, we wanted to take this thing all the way to the end and win it, but we understand just how hard that is and just how hard it is to make the tournament, how hard it is to win a good league as good as the WCC was this year, and advance even to the Sweet 16.
"We started this season No. 1 and ended the regular season No. 1. There wasn't anybody in college basketball that could hold onto it. We were the only ones that could, and they deserve a lot of credit for that. Took everybody's best shot, and we just couldn't get it done against Arkansas' shot tonight.”
(10) Miami trounces (2) Auburn, becoming third ACC team to reach Sweet 16
How it happened: Where, oh where, did Auburn’s future NBAers go? Walker Kessler: Two points, 0-for-6 shooting, two rebounds. Jabari Smith: 10 points, 3-for-16 shooting. Devoid of their usual star power, the Tigers were blown away in the second half 46-29. Miami took on the No. 2 seed in the region and SEC season champion and led for more than 39 minutes, committing only four turnovers. The Hurricanes’ so-called scramble defense of pressuring and trapping and being overall pests gave Auburn a very long night. Also, the considerably less heralded duo of Isaiah Wong and Kameron McGusty had 21 and 20 points, outscoring Auburn’s marquee pair 41-12.
What it means: So much for the ACC having a down year. Miami was the third league to crash through to the Sweet 16. This is in contrast to the rapidly vanishing SEC. Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee – gone in the first four days. Also, so much for the Hurricanes getting picked to finish 12th in the ACC. They’re now in their third Sweet 16 in 10 years, which is pretty good for a program that went to one in the first 74 NCAA tournaments. This also adds more glitter to the considerable coaching resume of Jim Larranaga, who is 72. But since Duke won with Mike Krzyzewski, Larranaga is not the oldest coach still in the tournament.
What they said:
Larranaga: “I was tuned in to the games before us, and I listened to Charles Barkley tell the CBS crew that if Auburn won, he would take off his shirt, and I thought to myself, man, no one wants to see that, Chuck. So we did everything possible to make it possible that he wouldn't have to do that.”
McGusty on the defense: “That's what we've been doing all season as a team. Our rotations are on point. As a group, we're all one. We did a good job of trapping them, rotating, not letting them get comfortable. That's just our identity. That's what we do.”
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl: “We were disrupted. We were getting outplayed. We haven't been outplayed like that all year, as I stop and think about our losses. This is the first time that we got it handed to us because we just didn't know how to respond.”
Jabari Smith: “They're just very physical in every catch. They sent somebody any time I tried to attack or make a move. They just kept bodies on me. They switched every ball screen. So just made it kind of tough for me.”
(11) Iowa State overtakes (3) Wisconsin with stellar defense
How it happened: A lot of Iowa State defense. Or bad Wisconsin offense. Either way, the Badgers’ outside shooting collapsed, and never mind how Wisconsin-friendly the Milwaukee crowd was. These were the numbers of an upset: A 29.8 Badgers’ shooting percentage, including a subarctic 2-for-22 in 3-pointers. All-American Johnny Davis struggled all day to 17 points, missing 12 of 16 shots and all seven 3-pointers. Then there were the turnovers. The Badgers committed 17. They came into Sunday No. 1 in the nation in fewest turnovers, averaging 8.4 a game. They also lost point guard Chucky Hepburn to injury in the first half. With so many Wisconsin offensive woes, the Cyclones could get away with shooting 34.5 percent themselves. They scored only four points the final 4:16 of the game – and didn’t lose a point off their lead.
What it means: Numerically, the Iowa State journey is the most astonishing in the nation, and unprecedented – from a 2-22 record to the Sweet 16 in one season. Maybe this is what all the new faces in the program – including coach T.J. Otzelberger -- dreamed about when they signed up, but it seemed a fantasy in November. And still appeared unlikely when the Cyclones struggled to a 7-11 Big 12 season. With losses to Wisconsin and Illinois on the same day, neither Big Ten co-champion survived the first week.
What they said:
Iowa State’s Gabe Kalscheur: “That's what our identity is, our defense. We knew coming into the game that we just had to be who we are, who we've been this whole season and just ramp up our defense and ball pressure and they gave it to us, so that really just led our offense.”
Coach T.J. Otzelberger: “We didn't set out for a certain win total or to do anything based on what transpired in the past. What we did set out to do is restore pride to a program that I love so much, our players do and has a rich history.”
Johnny Davis: “They put a really good pressure defense, they did a really good job of taking away passing lanes. I just think that we just straight up missed shots and didn't share the ball the way we were supposed to.”
(15) Saint Peter's makes history with victory over (7) Murray State
How it happened: The Peacocks didn’t pull a magic trick out of their bag. This was done with the gritty, serious work of defense, shutting down the Murray State offense on 35 percent shooting, outrebounding the Racers and making them pay for their turnovers, things no opponent had done during Murray State’s 21-game winning streak. The Peacocks stunned the Racers by turning a five-point halftime lead into a 13-point margin and then held Murray State at bay with clutch shooting, hitting 23 of 31 free throws and keeping the turnover total to a reasonable 10. Not much room in any of that for a Racers’ rally. The team with the best record in the nation at 31-2 never led a single second.
What it means: Move over, Florida Gulf Coast and Oral Roberts, another No. 15 seed has joined your Sweet 16 club. Nobody did it the first 28 years of the 64-team bracket, but now it’s happened three times in eight tournaments. In many ways –-- low profile, path that had to be taken --- the Peacocks are the most unlikeliest of them all. In three days, Shaheen Holloway became a very hot name on the coaching circuit, very possibly headed for his alma mater, Seton Hall. The minute Kentucky lost, Murray State had to believe its path to the Sweet 16 had eased. A reasonable assumption, but wrong.
What they said:
Holloway on team's performance over the first weekend: “I'm just proud that these guys get to play on a different type of stage. NCAA Tournament is every kid's dream. We play on ESPN+. We don't get a lot of big TV games. So these guys get a chance to show their talent on the big stage. These guys worked so hard for this moment.”
Saint Peter's Hassan Drame: “The job is not finished. We have a lot more to prove.”
Murray State coach Matt McMahon on Saint Peter’s: “They want to force you to take tough, contested shots at the basket. They've done a tremendous job. I can't say enough about them. We always talk, you want to be playing your best basketball in March, and that's what they've done. They were the best team on the floor on Thursday, and they were the best team on the floor tonight.”