March Madness updates from Friday’s action

A long day chock full of NCAA tournament basketball is in the books as the men wrapped up the round of 64 and the women got their tournament started in earnest.

Here are five things to know from Friday’s action in the NCAA basketball tournaments:

Colorado State, New Mexico are the lone big upsets

In a first round bereft of big upsets, it was up to two Mountain West Conference teams to provide the bracket busters.

Trailing by five points at the break, the Rams came out of the interval much-improved and took the game to Memphis, eventually pulling off the 78-70 win. Led by the impressive backcourt duo of Kyan Evans and Nique Clifford, the Rams upped their tempo – leading to wide-open looks aplenty in the second half.

Evans finished the game with 21 points and six three-pointers as he made the Tigers pay when left open.

New Mexico scored the upset over the Marquette Golden Eagles with a 75-66 victory. Donovan Dent poured in 21 points and Nelly Junior Joseph added 19 for the Lobos, who looked comfortable in the limelight and led for much of the game.

David Joplin scored 28 in a losing effort for Marquette.

Duke forward Cooper Flagg battles for possession against the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers.

Florida and Duke look absolutely dominant in the men’s tournament

The No. 1 seeds that played Friday looked every bit the part.

Duke trounced Mount St. Mary’s in Raleigh and moved on to face Baylor in the round of 32. The Blue Devils kept everyone healthy and rolled to an easy win over the Mountaineers, who never really put up a fight. Cooper Flagg led the team with 14 points in his limited minutes, which dramatically decreased in the second half. It’s a statement of intent from Duke, which is thought to be one of the favorites in the tournament.

Florida ran roughshod over Norfolk State on the way to a comfortable first round win to start their national championship pursuit Friday night. The Gators established a huge lead almost immediately, then breezed to a 95-69 win over the Spartans.

Senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. led the Gators attack with 23 points in the game, including four 3-pointers made. Clayton’s backcourt partner Alijah Martin added 17 more points.

South Carolina guard MiLaysia Fulwiley drives the ball around Tennessee Tech guard Reghan Grimes.

Top seeds in the women’s bracket blow away the competition

Woo boy, did South Carolina, Duke, and UCLA handle business.

South Carolina kicked off its 2025 women’s NCAA tournament campaign with a huge win over Tennessee Tech.

Joyce Edwards led the game in scoring with 22 points off the bench for South Carolina. MiLaysia Fulwiley also starred off the bench for the Gamecocks and stuffed the stat sheet in a well-rounded performance. The final score was 108-48.

No. 2 seeded Duke won 86-25 over No. 15 Lehigh at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Blue Devils guard Oluchi Okananwa scored 15 points in the rout.

The Mountain Hawks came awfully close to some not-so-good NCAA history, scoring the second least amount of points in a game in a women’s tournament. The Duke defense did not allow Lehigh to score more than eight points in any quarter.

Kentucky and Michigan avoid upsets in the women’s tournament

The No. 6 seed Wolverines had to battle hard to find a way past No. 11 Iowa State and reach the second round.

Iowa led by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, but some hot Michigan shooting hauled the Wolverines back into the contest.

With just 20 seconds remaining, a clutch Olivia Olson turnaround jumper extended Michigan’s lead to five points to all but seal the victory.

At the same time, Kentucky was struggling to put away Liberty. The Wildcats progressed to the round of 32 after a nail-biting 79-78 win against the Liberty Flames.

Despite a late scare – thanks to a huge 16-2 Liberty run towards the end of the fourth quarter – the Wildcats were able to hold on to seal the win.

One heartwarming moment to end on

Mount St. Mary’s head coach Donny Lind brought his son Silas to the postgame podium after the Mountaineers’ loss to Duke on Friday. The 9-year-old promptly captured our hearts when he reflected on how this week impacted him.

“These have been the best few weeks of my life,” he said with tears. “And I hope we have many, many more of them.”

His dad, who finished his first season in charge, was thankful for this March Madness experience despite the big loss to the Blue Devils. Mount St. Mary’s beat American University, 83-72, in a First Four matchup earlier in the week, with Lind walking away from this season with nothing but gratefulness.

The first game started at 11:30 a.m. Friday. The last game ended after midnight on Saturday.

It’s one of the biggest hoops days of the year, and while there weren’t exactly a ton of upsets, it certainly did not disappoint. Here are all the results from Friday’s games:

Men’s tournament

Women’s tournament

It’s been an exciting day of basketball in both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments.

The late games were headlined by back-to-back defending champions UConn moving on in the men’s while Duke’s defensive stronghold on Lehigh almost put the Mountain Hawks into the history books in the women’s.

Check out some of the best photos we’ve seen today:

Arizona Wildcats guard KJ Lewis is fouled by Akron Zips forward James Okonkwo during the second half of their NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament game in Seattle, Washington, on Friday.

Ohio State forward Cotie McMahon reacts after scoring a basket against the Montana State Bobcats.

Oklahoma forward Mohamed Wague, left, vies for a loose ball with UConn forward Alex Karaban.

Members of the New Mexico Lobos pep band cheer during halftime of the Lobos' game against the Marquette Golden Eagles in Cleveland, Ohio.

CLEVELAND, OHIO - MARCH 21: Michigan State forward Coen Carr powers down a dunk between Earl Timberlake, left, and Keyshawn Mitchell, right, of the Bryant University Bulldogs in Cleveland, Ohio.

Colleen McQuillen of the Lehigh Mountain Hawks drives to the basket while guarded by Oluchi Okananwa of the Duke Blue Devils.

Kylan Boswell of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrates after making a shot in the second half against the Xavier Musketeers.

No. 5 Oregon Ducks stormed out of the gates in Friday night’s contest, jumping out to an 18-2 lead, and never looked back, defeating No. 12 Liberty 81-52 in a wire-to-wire victory

Jackson Shelstad and Nate Bittle combined to score 31 points to guide the Ducks offense to a win and a second round date with No. 4 Arizona on Sunday.

After falling in the second round of last year’s tournament, the Ducks return to this year’s edition taking on their former Pac-12 foe Wildcats.

Final Score: Oregon 81, Liberty 52

Tre Holloman of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates during the second half against the Bryant University Bulldogs.

It’s done in Cleveland and Tom Izzo’s team is moving on to face New Mexico in the round of 32.

Michigan State uses a big second half run to blow away Bryant, 87-62. Coen Carr’s 18 points lead the Spartans as they just overpowered and outlasted the Bulldogs down the stretch.

Final score: Michigan State 87, Bryant 62

Illinois guard Kylan Boswell celebrates after against Xavier.

Forward Will Riley’s deep three-pointer as the shot clock expired was the icing on the cake on an impressive showing for Illinois.

The Fighting Illini handled a hungry Xavier squad, beating them 86-73 to keep on dancing in the NCAA tournament.

The freshman Riley scored 18 second-half points to lead the team with 22 points.

He said he knew the team needed him.

“I was playing hesitant at the start,” Riley told the CBS Sports broadcast. “And then I found my rhythm. It was great.”

As with any game in March, it’ll be a doozy as they will head straight on and face No. 3 seed Kentucky in the round of 32 on Sunday in Milwaukee.

Riley added they are “super excited” to face the Wildcats.

“We’re just going to compete and we’re just going to try to win,” Riley added.

Center Tomislav Ivišić had 20 points.

UCLA guard Kiki Rice looks to make a pass as Southern center Tionna Lidge, left, and guard Aniya Gourdine, right, defend.

No. 1 overall seed UCLA faced stiffer competition than they probably envisioned, but the Bruins’ dominant second half quickly extinguished No. 16 Southern’s chance at an upset with an 84-46 in Spokane, Kansas on Friday.

After entering the halftime break holding a vulnerable 38-26 lead, the Bruins opened the second half on a 14-2 run to pull away from their lower-seeded counterparts. Southern were outscored 46-20 in the second half.

Lauren Betts finished with a game-high 14 points, while six different Bruins players finished with double-digit points.

With the victory, UCLA advanced to the second round, where they will play against No. 8 Richmond on Sunday.

Final: UCLA 84, Southern 46

It’s all green-and-white in Cleveland now!

Michigan State just detonated with a dunk from Jaden Akins, pushing the lead to 24 points with 3:10 to go. The Spartans are rolling now and the nerves that bubbled up earlier in the game have turned into roars of joy.

Bryant called timeout to try and break the momentum, but it appears that the Bulldogs have finally run out of steam against this Spartan team.

Score: Michigan State 81, Bryant 57

Update out of Climate Pledge Arena as the No. 3-seeded Ducks continue to lay the boom on No. 12 Liberty.

Keeshawn Barthelemy’s latest three pointer has Oregon up by 31 as we cross the midway point in Seattle.

Liberty meanwhile are struggling mighty still on offense, failing to score a field goal for nearly six minutes, until Zander Yates’s layup with 8:43 left in the game.

Score: Oregon 62, Liberty 31

Michigan State is just starting to wear down the Bulldogs.

The Spartans have pulled down 44 rebounds to Bryant’s 25 and are getting to the foul line consistently, having shot 21 times from the charity stripe. They’ve also scored 26 points in the paint while building their lead to 19.

This is the pattern Michigan State has had all year in big games – being locked in a close contest early on before locking down late and pulling away in the final stages.

Spartan fans will be hoping for more of the same in the final six minutes of this one.

Score: Michigan State 70, Bryant 51

Michigan State guard Jase Richardson drives beside Bryant guard Rafael Pinzon.

As much as they’re trying, Michigan State can’t just totally put Bryant away.

The Bulldogs are fighting tooth-and-nail to stay in this one and Earl Timberlake is the one keeping them in it with his 13 points. Coen Carr continues to lead the Spartans but MSU’s shooters are starting to find some space in the Bryant zone both underneath and on the perimeter.

It’s Jase Richardson, the spectacular freshman, who is filling up the bucket with threes in the second half and hit a big shot to put MSU up by seven for the biggest Spartan lead of the night. But as it has been all game, Bryant came right back, and Rafael Pinzon made a jumper to cut the lead down once again.

Two free throws from Jeremy Fears Jr. extends the lead to double digits again, but Bryant gets a steal to again take a bite out of the advantage.

With 11:22 to go in the game, Michigan State has an eight-point lead and is shooting free throws to try and extend it back to 10.

Score: Michigan State 54, Bryant 46

UConn center Tarris Reed Jr. scores in front of Oklahoma forward Mohamed Wague.

The Huskies have become accustomed to closing out games in the NCAA tournament.

For the 13th straight time, the Huskies have found a way to walk away with a March Madness victory, this time a 67-59 win against the Oklahoma Sooners.

“That was a big win for us,” UConn head coach Danny Hurley told CBS after the game.

“Obviously Oklahoma is a really tough team to guard, and our defense has probably cost us a lot of games this year, but our defense won this game for us today.

“Just thrilled to be advancing in the tournament. It feels… It feels normal.”

If the Huskies are to make it to 14 straight wins, UConn is going to have to topple the top-seeded Florida Gators in a showdown on Sunday.

Solo Ball led UConn with 14 points, followed closely by Alex Karaban with 13 points and Tarris Reed Jr. with 12.

Final Score: UConn 67, Oklahoma 59

One more half to go in Seattle, as the No. 5 Oregon Ducks will look to close out the No. 12 Liberty Flames.

Score: Oregon 46, Liberty 24

Have a half, Illinois.

The Fighting Illini have sure been fighting their hearts out on offense, extending their lead to 17 with a little more than six minutes to go in the final half.

Four Illinois starters are in double figures and a round of 32 matchup with No. 3 seed Kentucky is within sight.

Score: Illinois 74, Xavier 57

If you’re near a TV, you might want to tune into the TNT for the final minutes of what has turned into a thriller between the No. 8 seed UConn Huskies and No. 9 seed Oklahoma Sooners.

At stake is a date Sunday with the Florida Gators, the top seed in the West Region.

A clutch 3-pointer from Alex Karaban has given the Huskies a 4-point cushion

Score: UConn 60, Oklahoma 56

Michigan State came out of the gates hot in the second half and Bryant has to call timeout to try and stop the Spartans’ run.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Jaden Akins and Jeremy Fears have built the MSU lead to nine in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the second half.

It’s a big moment for the Bulldogs to see if they can weather the storm.

Score: Michigan State 42, Bryant 33

Following a 95-69 loss to No. 1 seed Florida, Norfolk State head coach Robert Jones shared a blunt message to the world.

“I told you we wasn’t a 30-point underdog,” Jones told reporters.

Ahead of the game, the Spartans were listed as 28.5-point underdogs to the Gators, which angered Jones.

This season, the Spartans were Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions and had a 24-11 record.

After Oklahoma briefly took the lead on yet another bucket from Sooner savior Mohamed Wague, a few quick UConn scores have the Huskies back in front in what has suddenly become the most thrilling game of the Friday night slate.

Score: UConn 52, Oklahoma 50

We’re back at it in Cleveland as Michigan State is trying to hold off a feisty Bryant Bulldogs team in the round of 64.

Score: Michigan State 33, Bryant 28

Jackson Shelstad and Nate Bittle set the pace early for the No. 5-seeded Ducks as they enter the halftime break with a 44-20 lead over No. 12 Liberty.

Shelstad’s poured on a game-high 15 points, shooting an impressive 6-of-8 from the field, while Bittle is flirting with a double-double, with 9 points and eight rebounds.

If Liberty want to mount any sort of comeback, they’ll have to find their shooting touch from behind the three-point line and start keeping Oregon away from the boards.

Score: Oregon 44, Liberty 20