There were 710 days between NCAA men’s tournament games, but March Madness is back. The brackets aren’t busted yet, but the First Four games saw a titanic dunk, a historic win and a near-epic comeback that fell one point short.
The First Four is over, and Texas Southern, Drake, Norfolk State and UCLA survived — but it’s still not too late to fill out a bracket in Tournament Challenge.
Here are some of the best moments from opening day of the NCAA tournament:
The comeback that almost was
Appalachian State trailed Norfolk State by as many as 19 points in the first half. The Mountaineers rallied in the second half to grab a late lead only to lose by one, 54-53. Appalachian State was its own worst enemy. Here are some of the numbers that made the difference, courtesy ESPN Stats & Information research:
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Appalachian State went 0-for-18 from 3 in the first half — its most misses from 3 without a make in any half over the past eight seasons.
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The Mountaineers shot 54.5% in the paint but finished the first half 0-of-20 on all shots taken outside the paint.
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In total, Appalachian State missed 30 3-pointers, tied for the second-most missed 3s in a game in NCAA tournament history.
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Appalachian State finished the game 6-of-42 on shots outside the paint on Thursday.
For Norfolk State, Jalen Hawkins was the hero. He nearly matched the combined scoring total of his teammates. Hawkins scored 24 to the rest of the team’s 30 points.
The comeback that actually did happen
UCLA scored five straight points at the end of regulation to force overtime against Michigan State and won 86-80.
How’d it happen? The Bruins outscored the Spartans 53-36 in the second half and in OT, including a 14-3 run in the final 6 minutes, 10 seconds of the second half and in OT, according to the TBS broadcast. The 14-point comeback is UCLA’s largest of the season.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. had himself a game and joined UCLA royalty, becoming the third player in Bruins history with a 25-point game in his NCAA tournament debut, joining Hall of Famers Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Reggie Miller, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
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Jaime Jaquez Jr. misses a free throw, but he grabs his own rebound and gets rewarded with a pass from Tyger Campbell for an and-1 layup.
A win 50 years in the making
Party like it’s 1971. Drake won its first NCAA tournament game in 50 years with a 53-52 victory over Wichita State.
SURVIVE AND ADVANCE! ?
Drake will square off with USC in the First Round after beating Wichita State in a thriller! #FirstFour #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/1ZIxEtMMCj
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 19, 2021
Drake?!? Draaaaake moving on? ??#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/FzsZdiRaY6
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 19, 2021
The Bulldogs did it thanks to Joseph Yesufu, who scored 40% of his team’s points (21 of 53), the highest percentage of Drake’s points scored by an individual in an NCAA tournament game, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. It was the second-highest percentage of team points scored by an MVC player in an NCAA tournament win over the past 25 NCAA tournaments, trailing only Doug McDermott in a 2013 win over Cincinnati.
Yesufu also created the tournament’s first posterization with this monster dunk:
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Drake’s Joseph Yesufu comes up with the steal on Alterique Gilbert and races down the court to deliver a posterizing dunk in the face of Clarence Jackson.
Protect Coach Ham at all costs
Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton will not let a minor injury like a ruptured Achilles tendon keep him from the NCAA tournament.
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Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton reveals he tore an Achilles recently, but he adds that nothing will change during his day-to-day activities.
This is somewhat reminiscent of former Georgia State coach Ron Hunter, who tore an Achilles celebrating his team’s berth in the 2015 NCAA tournament. Then, while getting hyped as his son hit a game-winning 3-pointer to upset No. 3 seed Baylor, he promptly fell off his stool.
“Ron Hunter has fallen off his stool!” #MemoryLane
RJ Hunter’s game-winner against Baylor in 2015 was legendary. (?️ via @marchmadness) pic.twitter.com/jagd7G4Huo
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 29, 2020
Does this mean Barry Alvarez is Uncle Jesse?
Cut it out, Wisconsin. With a “Full House”-style video, the Badgers have arrived in Indianapolis.
A look inside the Indy Bubble?
You got it, dude ? pic.twitter.com/3pZ7ZgaHGG
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) March 18, 2021