The second round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament concluded Sunday leaving just 16 teams in contention for the National Championship. Some of the biggest surprises from the first weekend included High Point beating Wisconsin, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) defeating North Carolina, and the Iowa Hawkeyes taking down Florida.
In the East region, the 1 seeded Duke Blue Devils ran into an obstacle in game one, Siena University Saints. The 16 seeded Saints came into the tournament with a record of 23-12 and won their conference tournament to secure their spot as the 16 seed. Duke entered the tournament with two losses, an Atlantic Coast Conference title, and the highest ranked team in the tournament. Despite all the achievements, they fell flat early and had to come back to ensure they did not become the third 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed in the first round. The Saints had their five starters play the whole game with Siena guard Justice Shoats ending the game with 21 points. Duke won the game 71-65, ready to face the winner of the TCU, Ohio State game. The TCU Horned Frogs beat Ohio State 66-64, followed by TCU losing 81-58 to Duke. St. John’s defeated the 4 seeded Kansas Jayhawks in the second round to set up a matchup between the 1 seeded Duke and 5 seeded St. John’s.
The other Sweet Sixteen game in the East region is the 3 seeded Michigan State against 2 seeded UConn on Friday. In the Midwest region, the Michigan Wolverines will play Alabama, and Tennessee upset the Virginia Cavaliers in the second round, ruining Virginia’s tournament hopes six years after winning the title in 2019. Tennessee will play Iowa State on Friday. In the West region, High Point, a school out of North Carolina, pulled the biggest upset of the tournament against Wisconsin 83-82. This gave Arkansas an easier path to the Sweet Sixteen to face the 1 seeded Arizona. The 11 seeded Texas Longhorns beat North Carolina State in the First Four, then won two more versus BYU and the 3 seeded Gonzaga. Texas will now play the Purdue Boilermakers.
Possibly the biggest shocks come from the South region. The VCU Rams came into the tournament as the 11 seed in the South and was matched up against North Carolina out of the ACC. The mid-major Rams are by many considered a second tier team and North Carolina considered a Blue Blood, yet the Rams pulled the upset 82-78. At one point, the Tar Heels were in the lead by 19, then blew it with the VCU comeback. On Tuesday night, Hubert Davis, the North Carolina coach who was promoted to head coach in 2021, was fired since the Heels have not won enough for the team’s fanbase. VCU lost to Illinois in the second round 76-55, sending Illinois to face the 2 seeded Houston. In the second round game between Vanderbilt and Nebraska, Vanderbilt had been behind for three fourths of the game, then they had a three to win, hit the rim missing and sealed only the second tournament win for Nebraska in school history 74-72. Nebraska would face either Florida or Iowa. The 1 seeded Florida had just come off a 114-55 win over Prairie View and faced Iowa, losing in a one point game 73-72.
