Category: NCAA Basketball

Richard Pitino looked to his right and didn't hesitate to put his son Jack on the spot. The New Mexico coach wondered aloud ahead of the 10th-seeded Lobos' first-round meeting with seventh-seeded Marquette on Friday who Jack might have picked to win it all in his bracket. The same St. John's, by the way, that happens to be coached by Jack's grandfather, Hall of Famer Rick Pitino.

Egor Demin and Richie Saunders led BYU to an 80-71 victory over VCU in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, giving first-year Cougars coach Kevin Young a better memory of Ball Arena than his last one. The former Suns assistant watched the Denver Nuggets bounce Phoenix from the playoffs at this arena in 2023, leading Young to say this week that he still has nightmares of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. It was Saunders (16 points) and Demin (15) who haunted VCU and propelled the sixth-seeded Cougars (25-9) into a Saturday showdown against third-seeded Wisconsin, which handled Montana 85-66 earlier in the day in the East Region.

McNeese State basketball coach Will Wade, reportedly hired at NC State, soaked in Thursday's upset of No. 5 seed Clemson in March Madness bracket.

Troy Trojans vs. Kentucky Wildcats Game Preview

Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz and former Big 12 player of the year Marcus Morris Sr. react to the Cowboys’ stunning win over the 5-seed Tigers to move on to the second round.

Xavier Musketeers vs. Illinois Fighting Illini Game Preview

Fewer than a million perfect brackets remained on ESPN and just over a million were left on the NCAA's platform midway through the first day of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. ESPN's perfect bracket tracker listed 806,020 remaining out of more than 24 million filled out on its site following the seventh game of the day, No. 6 seed BYU's 80-71 win over No. 11 seed VCU. The NCAA listed about 1,100,000 perfect brackets out of more than 34 million.

McNeese coach Will Wade and his boombox-toting manager are moving on in March Madness after the 12th-seeded Cowboys held off late-charging No. 5 seed Clemson 69-67 on Friday in the first bracket buster of the NCAA Tournament. Brandon Murray scored 14 of his 21 points in a stifling first half, when the Southland Conference school from Lake Charles, Louisiana, held Clemson to 13 points. After falling behind by as many as 24 in the second, the Tigers rallied, erasing most of a 12-point deficit in the final minute before running out of time.

The 12th-seeded McNeese State Cowboys became the first team to slip on Cinderella’s slippers this March, upsetting No. 5 Clemson, 69-67, in stunning fashion on Thursday afternoon.

Lamont Butler’s Final Four background has earned him a nickname as the former San Diego State guard attempts to end Kentucky’s recent pattern of March sadness. Kentucky (22-11) is the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region heading into its first-round game Friday against Sun Belt champion Troy (23-10).

The Blue Jays led by 15 at halftime and cruised in the second half.

Michigan will face UC San Diego in the NCAA Tournament First Round — here's the scoop on how to watch tonight's game.

Pat Kelsey got a technical foul during the Louisville-Creighton game, resulting in a delay after an angry fan through water onto the court.

Iowa State won’t have second-leading scorer Keshon Gilbert for the NCAA Tournament, but the Cyclones may be getting another guard back. Tamin Lipsey expressed cautious optimism that he’d be available Friday when Iowa State, the No. 3 seed in the South Region, faces Lipscomb (25-9) in the first round. Lipsey had missed Iowa State’s Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal loss to BYU with a groin issue.

Jeremy Roach couldn’t help but chuckle when the NCAA Tournament bracket was announced. Roach, who spent four seasons at Duke before transferring to Baylor last April, faces the prospect of an intriguing second-round matchup against his former team on Sunday. The ninth-seeded Bears face Mississippi State on Friday with the winner likely to take on No. 1 ranked Duke, providing the Blue Devils get past 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s.