First Four surprises
March Madness kicked off in Dayton last night: Texas edged NC State on a Tramon Mark jumper, and Howard upset UMBC to advance from the First Four into the round of 64. The full 68‑team bracket and TV schedule roll into the main draw starting Thursday. (usatoday.com)(nytimes.com)
Tramon Mark’s fadeaway with 1.1 seconds remaining came after a late NC State rally and produced a 68-66 final in Dayton. (espn.com) Mark finished with 17 points and the Longhorns entered the NCAA field at 19-14 after losing five of their final six regular-season games. (usnews.com) Both Texas and NC State were slotted as No. 11 seeds in the West Region, with the First Four winner set to meet No. 6 BYU in Portland in the tournament’s first round. (espn.com) NC State closed the season 20-13 under first-year coach Will Wade, a slide that left the Wolfpack on the wrong side of Selection Sunday and into the Dayton play‑in. (247sports.com) Howard’s 86-83 victory featured Bryce Harris with 19 points and 14 rebounds and a turnaround jumper with 13 seconds left, while Ose Okojie scored a career‑high 23 to pace the Bison. (nbcsports.com) The win marked the first NCAA Tournament victory in Howard’s program history and advanced the Bison (24-10) to face No. 1 seed Michigan in Buffalo on Thursday, with the game scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET on CBS. (si.com) UMBC entered Dayton at 24-9 and was making its first tournament trip since its 2018 run, but could not complete a late comeback against Howard in the First Four. (triblive.com)
