What happened in Thursday and Friday's first round

BROOKLYN — This time of year requires both patience and a sense of urgency, as Northwestern guard Brooks Barnhizer knows better than most.

With the clock ticking down and a two-point deficit in the ninth-seeded Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament opening-round game against No. 8 Florida Atlantic, Barnhizer dribbled, dribbled and dribbled some more before passing out to Nick Martinelli who got it right back to Barnhizer with 11 seconds left. He drove to the basket for a game-tying layup that electrified both his teammates and the Barclays Center crowd. A head-scratching final possession by FAU guard Johnell Davis — who didn’t seem to recognize how little time he had before the buzzer sounded — ensured the game would head to overtime.

And overtime belonged to the Cats, who were led by Ryan Langborg’s 12 points in the extra period that helped them pulled away for a 77-65 win in the first game of Friday’s action. Langborg, who played in this tournament a year ago for Princeton, finished with a game-high 27 points. Star guard Boo Buie chipped in another 22 points, as the pair dazzled in overtime in particular.

Northwestern will presumably play No. 1 overall seed Connecticut on Sunday.

Meanwhile, The Dusty May Sweepstakes can officially begin, as the FAU coach will be a hot commodity in this year’s coaching carousel. His name has been linked most to the open Louisville job.

BROOKLYN — A late, likely meaningless tip-in by Vlad Goldin gives him 19 points and nine rebounds on the night. He was probably the one FAU player who can feel good about how he played today, shooting 5 of 6 from the floor and 9 of 11 from the line while blocking four shots. The 7-1 junior center likely profiles more as a two-way than a second-round pick should he elect to enter the NBA Draft, although with his Russian passport he also could have opportunities overseas.

INDIANAPOLIS — For those who miss offense, please find your way to the Marquette-Western Kentucky game. The Hilltoppers are absolutely scorching the nets, nailing 6 of 10 from the arc in rapid fire. Four of their last five shots are treys, and have turned this game on its ear. It looked like Marquette was going to do the 2-seed thing and run away. Instead Western Kentucky is on a 13-3 run and has taken the lead.

Definitely a high risk/high reward offense, but right now the Hilltoppers are reaping the rewards and then some.

SPOKANE, Wash. — San Diego State makes you miserable. Lots of big, strong bodies all over the place, seemingly more than 10 arms on the floor at any one time, a good amount of crashing and colliding and near-mayhem.

Now if only the Aztecs would permit themselves some leeway. It’s no help when you’re the higher seed and you go more than seven minutes between field goals, which was the case against UAB in the first half at Spokane Arena. A 35-29 halftime lead for San Diego State is tenuous at best, even if the Blazers struggled to make a bucket after an early hot streak, too.

Jaedon LeDee is doing Jaedon LeDee things for the Aztecs, with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. The problem is everyone else is 6-for-18. The margin probably should be much larger with Alabama-Birmingham shooting 32 percent from the floor, missing its last eight 3-pointers after a 4-for-5 start and committing 12 turnovers. But missing shots is the best way to let the underdog hang around, and San Diego State missed too many shots.

The second game of the day is the first to go final: No. 3 Baylor cruises to a 92-67 win over No. 14 Colgate. The Bears will play the winner of Clemson/New Mexico on Sunday.

No. 1 seed, East Region

Opponent, time, TV: Stetson, 2:45 p.m., CBS

Team in 16 words: The reigning champs will enter the tournament as the odds-on favorite to repeat.

Record: 31-3 (18-2 Big East)

Coach: Dan Hurley (8-4 in NCAA Tournament, 1 Final Four, 1 national title)

Player to watch: Tristen Newton (first-team All-Big East)

Numbers:

BetMGM title odds: +400

Sweet 16 projected chance: 81 percent

Final Four projected chance: 39.3 percent

Strengths: UConn is the most complete team this season. You want guards? The Huskies have Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer and Stephon Castle. You want bigs? Donovan Clingan is arguably the nation’s best defensive center. UConn goes seven deep on the bench before there are any questions or concerns. The scary part is that the Huskies are just now peaking. Clingan and Castle both battled injuries earlier this year. Since Jan. 17 — when Clingan returned to the lineup — UConn ranks top three in offensive and defensive efficiency.

Weaknesses: There is a path to beating the Huskies. It starts with getting Clingan in foul trouble. Backup center Samson Johnson is good, but he’s not good enough to make up for the fact that UConn’s perimeter defense can be an issue. The Huskies don’t have many playmakers who can create independently when the offense breaks down. Dan Hurley’s system is intricate and elaborate, but if an opponent can run them off of the 3-point line (like Creighton did) or successfully switch everything 1-through-4 (like Kansas and Seton Hall did), they have a chance.

Outlook: UConn is the best team in college basketball. The Huskies are peaking at the right time. They have an All-America point guard in Newton who is flanked by an athletic, slashing playmaker in Castle and one of the toughest, savviest players in the country in Spencer. Alex Karaban is as good a floor-spacer as you’ll find at the four anywhere, and Cling Kong is going to be a lottery pick for a reason. UConn will be the favorite in every game they play in the Big Dance.

— Rob Dauster

BROOKLYN — It's been all Northwestern in overtime, with some spectacular shot-making from Boo Buie and Ryan Langborg in particular. The pair has combined for 45 of Northwestern's 70 points today, and the Cats can feel the win within their grasp now.

No. 16 seed, East Region

Opponent, time, TV: UConn, 2:45 p.m., CBS

Team in 16 words: If you like guard-heavy teams that run relentlessly and shoot from deep, you’ll love Stetson.

Record: 22-12 (11-5 Atlantic Sun)

Coach: Donnie Jones (First NCAA Tournament)

Player to watch: Jalen Blackmon (first-team All-Atlantic Sun)

Numbers:

BetMGM title odds: +200000

Sweet 16 projected chance: 0.6 percent

Final Four projected chance: 0.02 percent

Outlook: The Stetson Hatters have their first NCAA bid, as does Donnie Jones, after 6-foot-3 junior guard Jalen Blackmon poured in a career-high 43 points in the Atlantic Sun Tournament title game.

This team looked to be in trouble in February when 6-foot-9 senior forward Josh Smith was lost for the season to a knee injury, but Jones went with a four-guard lineup and his perimeter group — led by Blackmon and his 21.5 points a game — got cooking. Stephan Swenson is one of three other players averaging double figures in scoring (13.8), and he creates much of the offense (5.9 assists per game).

The Hatters do have size with Aubin Gateretse (11.8 points, 7.6 rebounds per game) and 7-footer Treyton Thompson. But mostly, this team specializes in getting shots up and hitting at a high rate. Stetson is 37th nationally in 3-point accuracy (36.5 percent). The Hatters are 53rd in effective field-goal percentage (53.4), and they shoot great from the line as well — 76.3 percent.

The defensive numbers are not good — this team is right around 350th in defensive efficiency. But those bigs help some. Stetson’s block percentage of 8.1 percent ranks in the top 90 nationally. The Hatters won 85-82 at UCF and gave Cincinnati a tough game on the road before falling 83-75. They figure to have a tough time getting stops. But any team that shoots it this well has a chance to make things interesting.

MEMPHIS — Jalen Bridges is feeling it for Baylor. The senior forward has 18 of his 23 points in the second half and is shooting 5 for 8 from beyond the arc, and is headed to the line for one more. The No. 3-seed Bears are up 86-64 on No. 14-seed Colgate as we hit the final media timeout of the game.

Why did Johnell Davis stand there and throw up a shot on the last possession of regulation? Remember, in FAU’s last game in the AAC tournament, Davis drove and passed the ball in the final seconds. The pass was fumbled and FAU couldn’t get a shot off, losing to Temple.

Perhaps Davis wanted to make sure he took the final shot this time around, but that ultimately wasn’t a good decision.

INDIANAPOLIS — So the one thing you can’t do if you’re a 15-seed trying to pull off the upset is turn the ball over. Western Kentucky has missed the memo. The Hilltoppers came out of the last timeout, ran the baseline on an inbounds when they couldn’t, prompting a three consecutive ball vomitorium of a mess.

Marquette is too good to give away chances, and the Golden Eagles have been gifted nine of them, turning them into 13 easy points.

Northwestern's Brooks Barnhizer sends the first game of the day to overtime, tied at 58. Florida Atlantic's Johnell Davis had a 3-point attempt blocked in the final seconds of regulation.

BROOKLYN — There are always two sides to a comeback. You could argue that Northwestern has melted down over the past five or so game minutes, missing its last five field-goal attempts and turning the ball over three times. You could also celebrate a spectacular 13-2 run by FAU that's given the Owls a two-point lead with 27.2 seconds to play.

INDIANAPOLIS — If Western Kentucky is breaking this game up in four-minute chunks, gotta think Steve Lutz feels like he’s won the first two. The Hilltoppers are pushing the pace, forcing turnovers and working the glass. Marquette looks a little out of sorts, and as these 2-15 seed games go, the longer Western Kentucky hangs around, the messier this feels for the Golden Eagles.