2 – No. 12 Murray State 83, No. 5 Marquette 64
This game was more of a traditional 12-5 upset, and it told quite a story of teams heading in different directions. The more notable story is the rise of Murray State point guard Ja Morant, who made his debut on the national stage in grand style.
Morant absolutely dominated the Golden Eagles, racking up 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 16 assists to put up the first triple-double in the NCAA Tournament since Draymond Green in 2012. The Racers used Morant’s brilliance to absolutely bury Marquette, a team that was on top of the Big East for most of the season.
This loss also marked a dismal ending to the season for Marquette, which lost four in a row to end the regular season and only beat St. John’s in the Big East tournament before falling to Seton Hall in the semifinals. Morant’s star turn meant that Marquette, who was a potential title contender as recently as a month ago, went home on the first day of the tournament.
1 – No. 13 UC Irvine 70, No. 4 Kansas State 64
The biggest upset of the tournament so far came out in San Jose, when UC Irvine toppled the Big 12 regular season champions with dramatic style. Kansas State, which struggled to score even with forward Dean Wade in the lineup, looked completely helpless without him against the Anteaters.
UC Irvine decided to play primarily a zone look against the Wildcats, which stymied an offense that was already relatively low-wattage in the regular season. Add in a combined 38 points from juniors Max Hazzard and Evan Leonard and you get the recipe for another huge upset.
The Anteaters were able to score their first tournament win in program history against K-State and will now face off with 12-seed Oregon for a trip to the Sweet 16 on Sunday night. This is the kind of theater that makes March Madness the best event in sports.