And now, finally, an answer to one of the biggest questions as the men’s NCAA tournament kicked off on Thursday: What the heck is a paladin?
It turns out to be a heartbreaker. It is a heartbreaker for the Virginia Cavaliers in particular.
In all seriousness, a paladin is a knight, often known for his honor and heroism.
Maybe they should also get credit for a good defense.
The 13th seeded Paladins of Furman stole the show on Day 1, outscoring No. 4 Virginia 68-67 in a wild finish that gave us our first big surprise of the day. A few hours later, Princeton, number 15, joined the party, beating Arizona, number 2, seed.
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Here’s what we want on the first day of Madness: shackles breaking across the country and double-digit seeds that shock everyone (except themselves, at least if you’re Princeton).
MEN’S TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:Complete the 2023 NCAA Men’s Tournament schedule, results and times
But other top seeds looked dominant – and that’s how they should look, especially in their first round. It all comes together to offer an intriguing second round. But first we have a whole day of matches in the first round, which could cause even more chaos.
For now, here are the winners and losers from Day 1.
winners
Cinderella
Nothing beats an upset – or two!
First, in the Virginia-Furman game, the Paladins’ stifling, pinching defense sent Virginia senior Kihei Clark into a panic, and he delivered a dangerous cross-court pass as the game’s final seconds drew to a close. That pass was intercepted by Furman’s Garrett Hien, who kicked it to JP Pegues, who had missed his three previous attempts from long range. Pegues calmly buried the 3 to go up 68-67. After a timeout, Virginia’s game-winning effort had failed.
Then at Arizona-Princeton, the Wildcats went ice cold in the Finals 4:43 (0-for-7) as Princeton pulled off an improbable 59-55 upset. Arizona missed numerous shots in the last few minutes that could have won it, and Princeton iced the win with free throws. It is the third consecutive year that a 15 beats a 2.
Maryland
Trailing as much as 13 in the first half and half asleep in the first game of the day, the Terrapins came back with 17 points and nine rebounds from second-year forward Julian Reese to beat West Virginia 67-65. The win advanced Maryland to the second round, where the Terps faced No. 1 seed Alabama. In a back-and-forth slugfest — the game featured nine ties and 11 lead changes — points in the paint (34-24 Maryland) were the difference.
The Terps will have to start and play much better to compete with the Tide on Saturday, but getting a win and coming from behind should give them confidence. This is especially important considering how bad Maryland has been away from home this season (5-11 comes Thursday).
UCLA
A glimpse of the No. 2-ranked Bruins’ dominance Thursday: At one point late in the first half, UCLA had more shots made (16) than UNC Asheville had attempts (15). That turned out not to be the case in the end, but it was still an impressive 86-53 blitz. The Bruins scored 30 points on Asheville’s turnover to dominate the boards 40-25. All five starters scored 10 points or more, except Tyger Campbell – he had seven points but dished out 10 assists.
Duke
On a tough day for the ACC (see Virginia), the Blue Devils were never challenged in their 74-51 victory over Oral Roberts. One of the best teams in the country the final weeks of the regular season, the Blue Devils shot 48.4% from the field and dominated the rebounding battle (46-32). Led by Jeremy Roach’s 23 points (on just 17 shots), Duke advanced to No. 4 seed Tennessee on Saturday.
losers
Brandon Miller
The top freshman in the country, and arguably the best player in the country, had a tough first NCAA tournament. The six-foot-tall forward, a likely NBA lottery pick despite the controversy swirling around him, went 0-for-5 from the field in 19 minutes of play, finishing with five rebounds, three assists and three turnovers. The overall No. 1 seed still cruised to a win without him, but Miller’s play will be critical going forward.
Attack lovers
Man lives, there was an ugly shooting on Thursday. As many as 19 of the 32 teams in action shot 43% or less from the field, with 11 teams shooting below 40% – and some of those teams winning! None were worse than Northern Kentucky, which shot 27.5% from the field.
Teams missed easy shots, took bad shots, and missed badly on all kinds of shots. Defense is great, but so is watching the ball go through the net. I hope Friday’s matches are better all around.
Houston
Sure, the No. 1 seeded Cougars won 63-52. But the decision to play All-American guard Marcus Sasser just days after he suffered a serious groin injury will be second to none, and rightly so.
Sasser, who was originally injured in the semifinals of the AAC Tournament last week, is key to the Cougars’ title hopes. After re-injuring himself in the first half vs. Northern Kentucky, he didn’t play in the second half. Did the Cougars cost themselves?
Virginia
Trivia Time: What Happened to Virginia Basketball on March 16? If you said “they made history”, you would be right. It was not a good history – and this year history repeated itself. This is going to be a cursed date for UVA.
On March 16, 2018, Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16-seed in the men’s NCAA Tournament. Five years later in the day, UVA blew another game where it was a clear favorite. What’s worse is how it happened. Tony Bennett’s teams tend to be disciplined and smart, so losing to an extremely stupid pass is tough.
Virginia has not won an NCAA Tournament game since its 2019 title run and has since lost twice in the first round.
