N.C.A.A. Men’s Tournament: What to Watch in Round 2

The primary spherical of the N.C.A.A. males’s basketball event included many upsets.

A No. 2 seed, Kentucky, and two No. 5 seeds, Iowa and Connecticut, fell on Thursday, and on Saturday the groups that pulled off these stunning wins can be again on the court docket.

Eight second-round video games will happen in Buffalo; Indianapolis; Fort Value; and Portland, Ore. The video games start at 12:10 p.m. Japanese, with No. 8-seeded North Carolina taking over Baylor, a No. 1 seed.

Right here’s what to look at for on Saturday:

Can Fifteenth-seeded St. Peter’s pull out one other win?

Just about no person foresaw Daryl Banks III and No. 15-seeded St. Peter’s gorgeous second-seeded Kentucky, 85-79, in extra time on Thursday night time. However it actually occurred.

Banks and the Peacocks will as soon as once more be underdogs once they face seventh-seeded Murray State, which has received 21 straight video games since late December. The Racers, led by juniors Tevin Brown and Okay.J. Williams, can drive turnovers at a excessive fee and instantly convert these errors into factors. They common 79.7 factors per sport and outscored San Francisco 92-87 of their extra time victory on Thursday.

The Peacocks, led by coach Shaheen Holloway, are a hard-nosed defensive crew that enables 63 factors per sport.

Holloway mentioned a lot of his gamers imagine they belong at big-time basketball packages.

“And I give the blokes freedom to play offense,” he mentioned. “So long as they do what they have to do for me on protection, on offense, they’ve their freedom.”

Three No. 1 seeds can be on show.

Whereas underdogs stole a whole lot of consideration on Thursday, many favorites nonetheless took care of enterprise.

No. 1 seeds Gonzaga, Kansas and Baylor received by a mixed 84 factors. The fourth No. 1 seed, Arizona, was matched up towards No. 16 Wright State on Friday night time within the first spherical.

Gonzaga overcame a considerably sluggish begin to roll Georgia State by 21 factors, Kansas routed Texas Southern by 27 and Baylor, the reigning nationwide champion, romped previous Norfolk State by 36.

Issues determine to get extra attention-grabbing for the highest contenders because the event progresses.

Gonzaga, which bought a mixed 51 factors and 30 rebounds from its frontcourt duo of Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren, will face Coach Penny Hardaway and Memphis, a assured crew that has received 13 of its final 15 video games.

Kansas, the Massive 12 Event champion, will get a high-scoring Creighton crew that confirmed guts in forcing extra time with a second-half rally to beat San Diego State. And Baylor might have the stiffest check of the highest seeds when it faces a North Carolina squad with some large wins (at Duke, versus Michigan) and a number of other blowout losses.

“There’s at all times issues you may enhance on,” Coach Scott Drew mentioned after Baylor’s first-round win. “Nobody performs an ideal sport. However the grand scheme of it, we performed nicely, we did what we wanted to do, which is win and advance. And now it’s all about getting ready, preparing and ensuring we’re in the very best form attainable for the following sport.”

No West Coast crew has received the title since Arizona in 1997, however Gonzaga and Arizona are thought of the 2 prime favorites and will meet within the title sport April 4 in New Orleans.

Try the unicorn.

Holmgren, Gonzaga’s 7-foot-1 freshman who’s within the combine to be the No. 1 choose on this summer season’s N.B.A. draft, has typically been known as a “unicorn” by observers as a result of he defies description as a basketball participant.

The N.B.A. celebrity Kevin Durant as soon as used the time period in 2016 to explain Kristaps Porzingis, the 7-foot-3 large man now with the Washington Wizards, and to go with his 3-point taking pictures vary and skill to dam photographs and defend.

Holmgren, a Minnesota native who received 4 state championships at Minnehaha Academy, is drawing comparisons to Porzingis six years later as a result of he combines super measurement and size with the ball-handling abilities and agility of a guard.

Right here’s a viewing technique for Saturday.

A full day of school hoops on a Saturday. What could possibly be higher? Load up the fridge with snacks and discover your favourite comfy chair or spot on the sofa.

Be certain that to take a look at the Baylor-North Carolina sport beginning at 12:10 p.m. Japanese on CBS, and watch one other sport with a No. 1 seed with Kansas-Creighton after that.

St. Mary’s-U.C.L.A. at 7:10 p.m. on TBS provides an opportunity to look at two West Coast groups in an earlier time slot, and the nightcap at 9:40 p.m. on TBS is the event’s prime favourite, Gonzaga, towards Hardaway and red-hot Memphis.