Middle Tennessee upsets Michigan State in second day of NCAA action

The second day of the NCAA tournament on Friday saw its first bracket buster.

No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee State knocked off No. 2 seed Michigan State, which was a trendy pick to win it all. The Blue Raiders became the eighth No. 15 seed to knock off a No. 2 since seeding began in 1985.

No. 5 seed Maryland fought off its own challenge, holding off South Dakota State in the closing seconds.

MIDWEST REGION

No. 15 Mid. Tennessee State 90, No. 2 Michigan State 81

Middle Tennessee State sent the biggest shock yet through the NCAA tournament on Friday, topping Michigan State in the first round.

Reggie Upshaw scored 21 points to lead the balanced Blue Raiders (25-9), who shut down player-of-the-year candidate Denzel Valentine. Middle Tennessee never trailed the Spartans (29-6) in one of the biggest upsets since the tournament began seeding teams in 1985.

It was the eighth time a No. 2 seed beat a No. 15, and first since Florida Gulf Coast beat Georgetown in 2013. The Eagles went on to reach the Sweet 16.

The Blue Raiders will try to do the same against No. 10 seed Syracuse on Sunday.

Matt Costello matched a career-best with 22 points for the Spartans, but it wasn't enough to offset Valentine's miserable afternoon. The senior had 13 points and 12 assists, but he also had six turnovers – one of them coming with the Spartans trailing 79-76 and less than three minutes to go.

No. 10 Syracuse 70, No. 7 Dayton 51

Malachi Richardson scored 21 points, Syracuse stumped Dayton with its trademark zone and the Orange rolled to a victory in their return to the NCAA tournament. Tyler Roberson added 10 points and 18 rebounds for the Orange (19-13), banned from the field last season following an NCAA investigation into academic misconduct and improper benefits. They looked back at home in the first round of the Midwest Regional.

No. 2 Oklahoma 82, No. 15 Cal State Bakersfield 68

Buddy Hield scored 27 points to help Oklahoma defeat Cal State Bakersfield. The senior guard made eight of 14 shots, including three of six three-pointers. Isaiah Cousins scored 16 points and Jordan Woodard added 15 for the Sooners (26-7), who made 11 of 20 three-pointers and shot 50 per cent over all. Oklahoma enjoyed a homecourt advantage at Chesapeake Energy Arena, just a half-hour's drive north of its Norman campus. The Sooners advanced to play No. 10 seed Virginia Commonwealth, which defeated Oregon State 75-67 earlier in the day.

SOUTH REGION

No. 13 Hawaii 77, No. 4 California 66

Hawaii won its first NCAA tournament game in school history, when the Warriors ended California's tumultuous week with an upset victory. The Golden Bears' played without popular assistant coach Yann Hufnagel, dismissed amid allegations of sexual harassment, and the loss of leading scorer Tyrone Wallace, who broke his hand on Wednesday in practice. As if the Bears (23-11) needed more obstacles, guard Jabari Bird had back spasms during warmups and never played. Quincy Smith scored a career-high19 points, Roderick Bobbitt had 17 points and Stefan Jankovic 16 for the champions of the Big West Conference regular season and tournament. Hawaii (28-5) used a strong first half from Jankovic to lead by as many as 11, then withstood Jankovic's foul trouble in the second half thanks largely to Smith.

No. 5 Maryland 79, No. 12 South Dakota State 74

Maryland needed a turnover in the closing seconds to ensure it would avoid a place with all the other top seeds that lost in the first round of this topsy-turvy NCAA tournament, holding off South Dakota State behind a career-high 27 points from Jake Layman. Deondre Parks fumbled a pass from Keaton Moffitt for the 12th-seeded Jackrabbits (26-8) and Rasheed Sulaimon picked up the ball and stuffed it for the final score. South Dakota State was seeking its first victory in the NCAA tournament, but was undone by cold shooting in the first half.

No. 7 Iowa 72, No. 10 Temple 70

Adam Woodberry put back a missed shot at the overtime buzzer to give Iowa a victory over Temple. With the game tied at 70, Mike Gesell worked his way to the baseline and put up about a 10-foot jumper that missed the rim and went right to Woodberry, who put it in as the red lights around the backboard lit up. Iowa (22-10) will play second-seeded Villanova in the second round on Sunday.

No. 2 Villanova 86, UNC Asheville 56

Ryan Arcidiacono scored 14 points, including a buzzer-beating three at the end of the first half, and Daniel Ochefu had 17 points inside as Villanova beat UNC Asheville to roll into the second round. The Wildcats (30-5) are looking to reach the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since their 2009 Final Four run. Dylan Smith led 15th-seeded UNC Asheville (22-12) with 14 points as the Big South champions bowed out quietly.

WEST REGION

No. 10 VCU 75, No. 7 Oregon State 67

JeQuan Lewis had 21 points, eight assists and seven rebounds as Virginia Commonwealth won its first NCAA tournament game since 2013 with a first-round victory over Oregon State. The tournament appearance is the sixth straight for VCU (25-10), and the experience showed as the Rams led by eight points at halftime and held off a charge by the Beavers in the second half. Gary Payton II scored 19 points to lead the Beavers (19-13), who were making their first tournament appearance in 26 years, while Derrick Bruce finished with 15 and Drew Eubanks 13.