March Madness: 5 most shocking moments of the First Round

The first round of March Madness is officially in the books and these were the five craziest moments to come out of the Round of 64.

March Madness always delivers some dramatic moments and the first two days of the 2022 NCAA Tournament delivered in spades. Plenty of giants went down, with Thursday seeing four double-digit seeds secure victories, including a March Madness moment for a small school in Jersey City that thrilled its student body with what will go down as the shocker of the tournament.

Before we dive into the Round of 32 on Saturday, let’s look back at the five most shocking moments of the first round, starting with a star turn from New Mexico State’s Teddy Allen.

5 most shocking moments from the first round of March Madness

5. Teddy Allen torches UConn

Buffalo was a house of horrors for lower seeds on Thursday and UConn fell victim to the Teddy Allen experience. New Mexico State scored its first NCAA Tournament win in 30 years on the strength of Allen, a 6-foot-6 junior guard who had the game of his life against the Huskies.

Allen exploded for 37 points on 10-of-24 shooting against UConn and nailed 13 free throws to help the Aggies move on to the Round of 32. Few players had a bigger impact on their teams in the first round than Allen did for New Mexico State, which became the second 12-seed to upset a 5 on the day.

4. Michigan turns the tables on Colorado State

The first game of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon looked like it would turn into a rout after Colorado State raced out to a 15-point lead over Michigan in the first half. The script completely flipped after the Wolverines made some critical adjustments, hammering the paint to dominate the rest of the way as they rolled to a 12-point win.

Hunter Dickinson was a huge presence for the Wolverines, racking up 21 points, six rebounds and four blocks to take advantage of a lack of size from the Rams. This huge turnaround from Michigan ended up setting the stage for one of the wildest days in March Madness history.

3. Illinois rallies to stun Chattanooga in the final minute

Despite entering the game as 8.5-point favorites and with National Player of the Year candidate Kofi Cockburn on their side, Illinois struggled mightily to deal with 13-seed Chattanooga. The Mocs grabbed the lead from the opening tip and held it for over 59 minutes until the Fighting Illini finally nudged in front for the first time with 30 seconds left to go in regulation.

A pair of free throws gave Illinois a 54-53 lead with 12 seconds left but Chattanooga’s Malachi Smith had an opportunity to drive for the go-ahead bucket in the final seconds. Illinois’ Coleman Hawkins came up with a critical block and Smith’s final heave fell short as the Fighting Illini survived a spirited upset bid to advance to the Round of 32.

2. Richmond takes down Iowa

One of the biggest shockers on Thursday afternoon came when Iowa bowed out of the NCAA Tournament at the hands of 12-seed Richmond. A trendy sleeper pick to make a deep March Madness run after their success at the Big Ten Tournament, the Hawkeyes delivered one of their worst scoring performances of the season and got beaten by A-10 champ Richmond, which needed to win the league’s automatic bid just to get into the dance.

The win was a long time coming for the Spiders, who have a talented core of super seniors led by Jacob Gilyard that has been capable of winning a tournament game for the past three years before COVID got in their way. Richmond is on a real roll now and has an excellent chance to take down Providence on their way to a Sweet 16 appearance that would have been a stunner as recently as two weeks ago.

1. Kentucky gets stunned by Saint Peter’s

This is the second consecutive year that a 15-seed beat a 2 but what the Peacocks did to Kentucky is far more dramatic than how Oral Roberts toppled Ohio State last March. The disparity in basketball budgets is incredibly stark, as the entire basketball program for Saint Peter’s uses a $1.5 million budget, which is a sixth of John Calipari’s individual salary.

The Peacocks were never intimidated by the talent-laden Wildcats, withstanding early foul trouble for their best player (K.C. Ndefo) and going punch-for-punch with a true blue blood. Surviving in overtime is never easy for the lower seed but Saint Peter’s blew up brackets across the nation by ending Kentucky’s season and cementing their place in March Madness history.

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