A wild couple of days in the NCAA March Madness world have concluded, and with that came quite a few notable plays, games, and bracket upsets.
The official start to March Madness is known as the First Four, as it involves the first four games of the NCAA Tournament being played. It traditionally takes place on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of the Tournament, in mid-March, and this year was no different.
The first game of the Tournament, taking place on Tuesday, March 15, saw Texas A&M–Corpus Christi take on Texas Southern University. Bryson Etienne of Texas Southern scored 21 points as he and the team went on to beat A&M, 76-67. Early in the game, Texas Southern took a 19-12 lead following a 7-0 run, and never looked back.
“One of the things we talked about was playing extremely hard every second, every play,” Texas Southern coach John Jones said. “It took that against that team to be able to finish down the stretch.”
FIRST #MARCHMADNESS W OF 2022! 😤
(16) Texas Southern picks up a #FirstFour win for the second year in a row after taking down Texas A&M-CC 76-67. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/AXH9sQE2KI
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 16, 2022
The second game of that day saw Indiana University Bloomington face off against Wyoming University. The Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Wyoming Cowboys 66-58, with Trayce Jackson-Davis scoring 29 points and 9 rebounds. Jackson-Davis was arguably the star of the show as “TJD!” chants rang through the building.
“It was honestly surreal,” Jackson-Davis said after the game. ”We didn’t want to be in the play-in game, but sometimes the ball doesn’t roll your way and then some things happen. But playing in front of our fans, almost like a home crowd one more time, I thought it was awesome.”
The Hoosiers advance to face St. Mary’s tonight, in Portland, Oregon. On Wednesday, March 16, the second half of the First Four concluded as the Bryant University Bulldogs took on the Wright State Raiders, and lost by a score of 93-82. Tanner Holden scored 37 points to lead the Raiders to their first NCAA Tournament win in history.
Notre Dame (-1) wins a Double OT thriller. pic.twitter.com/98XNk9FPaN
— Barstool Gambling (@stoolgambling) March 17, 2022
“It’s the first thing I said to the players: It’s not happened in the Division I era,” Wright State coach Scott Nagy said. “This is the first one and will always be the first one. Where we did it, how we did it, all those things, it’s a lifetime moment for these guys.”
Arguably one of the greatest conclusions to a First Four to ever occur, occurred last night. In a double-overtime game, Notre Dame beat Rutgers, 89-87, on a buzzer-beater. Paul Atkinson of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish scored 26 points including the game-winning buzzer-beater, clinching the No. 11 seed for the team.
“There better be some Irish whiskey on that plane,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said following the game.
Well said, Coach Brey. What did you think of this action-packed NCAA First Four? Let us know, by either leaving a reaction below or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
