What happened in the NCAA Men's Tournament second round

A little run here for Dayton after Arizona stretched its lead to 17. The Flyers could make this deficit manageable before halftime. Wildcats lead 40-30 with 55.7 seconds remaining in the half.

SALT LAKE CITY — Dayton has officially entered the Danger Zone. The Flyers have tried everything — man-to-man, zone, pressure — and can't stop Arizona. On the other end, the Wildcats are blowing up Dayton's offense, jumping hand-offs, gaurding beyond the 3-point line and refusing to let the Flyers get comfortable. Dayton is 5-for-19 from the field and currently operating at sub-0.7 points per possession. Arizona? How about 1.4 points per possession.

Pac-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love has 13 points already as Arizona leads Dayton 28-16 with 7:57 to go in the first half. After a 6-for-17 shooting performance in the first-round win over Long Beach State, he's started off much better today, hitting 5-of-6 from the field.

SALT LAKE CITY — Arizona looks every part the No. 2 seed that it is, leading Dayton 20-11 through the opening 10 minutes. The Wildcats are 8-for-13 from the field, with a pair of 3s. The good version of Caleb Love is here, Pelle Larsson already has four assists and the Wildcats' overall size is, as expected, a major issue for the Flyers. If not for five Arizona turnovers, this could already be a rout. Dayton is 1-for-4 on 3s and won't stand much of a chance here if it doesn't find some equalizers from the perimeter.

SALT LAKE CITY — It's going to be awfully difficult for Dayton to defend Arizona with DaRon Holmes II playing with an early foul and attempting not to pick up a second, which could spell total doom for Dayton. Oumar Ballo ranked second in the Pac-12 in fouls drawn per game, while 7-foot-2 Motiejus Krivas isn't much easier to check. Holmes has been trying to front both to prevent entries, but once the ball is the interior, he's pretty limited in how aggressive he can be.

PITTSBURGH — It's big on big, good on good, senior on senior.

It's not like one singular matchup is going to decide the Saturday nightcap between Creighton and Oregon, but the matchup in the post between Creighton 7-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner and 6-11 Oregon star N'Faly Dante is about as good as it gets.

A knee injury limited Dante to one game during the season's first two months. He hasn't just found form lately; he's been consistently dominant and efficient. In seven March games, Dante is shooting an eye-popping 84 percent from the field. He was 12-of-12 vs. Colorado in the Pac-12 tournament title game, and he didn't miss until the second half while going 7-of-9 during Oregon's win over South Carolina here Thursday.

He has made at least seven field goals in all but one of those games, and he's averaging 9.1 rebounds per game during that stretch. Dante's season averages are 16.5 points and 8.7 rebounds.

"(Dante) is terrific, and you look at their team with him versus without him, this is a team that's grossly under-seeded (at No. 11)," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "And they're playing great basketball right now. Dante impacts the game on both ends of the floor. He's very physical at the rim offensively, and then he's a tremendous rim protector on the other end. And his physicality is obviously going to be a problem for us."

Kalkbrenner's primary defensive assignment in Creighton's first-round win over Akron was 6-7 post/wing hybrid Enrique Freeman, and Akron tried to follow the lead of some of Creighton's prior opponents in attempting to run an offense designed to pull Kalkenbrenner away from the basket. That won't happen tonight. Dante and Kalkbrenner are going to clash on the block at both ends. May the best traditional big man win.

"Watching the game (Thursday), Dante shot a lot of free throws," Kalkbrenner said. "They're probably going to try to do that again, get me in foul trouble and whatnot. I feel like, especially in the Big East, we played a lot of bigs who were super physical like that, a lot of bigs that were not necessarily trying to draw fouls, but there's going to be a lot of confrontations at the rim.

"He's a really talented big man, super physical. So I'll have my hands full, for sure, but I'll try my best."

Kalkbrenner is averaging 17.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game this season. He had 23 points and 8 rebounds as Creighton pulled away from Akron, and he has scored at least 19 points in four of Creighton's last five games.

Arizona leads Dayton 11-8 after about five minutes, and both teams have started strong from the field. The Wildcats have made five of their first eight shots, while the Flyers are 3-of-5. Caleb Love has a quick five points for Arizona.

The second round is underway. Savor it.

SALT LAKE CITY — The natural assumption would be Arizona having a quasi-home court advantage in Utah for today's Mountain Time morning tilt with Dayton, but it's worth remembering that Dayton travels as well as any program in the country. The Flyers are here in force. Many faithful made it out for Thursday's first-round game, but following the win over Nevada, seats on available flights from Cincinnati to SLC have been at a premium and more Flyers have made their way here, along with the legendary Dayton band.

Team in 16 words: With an uncontainable big man in DaRon Holmes and a soaring offense, Dayton possesses disruptive characteristics.

Record: 25-7 (14-4 A-10)

Coach: Anthony Grant (2-3 in NCAA Tournament)

Player to watch: DaRon Holmes II (Atlantic 10 co-Player of the Year)

Strengths: Dayton can score the basketball. Over its final 10 regular-season games, the Flyers ranked in the top five in effective field-goal percentage offense. DaRon Holmes II is a mauler in the post. His Gumby-like length, pivot moves and athleticism explain why he’s racked up dozens of dunks this year. He also nets 38.5 percent from distance. With Holmes flanked by Koby Brea (49.2 percent on 3-pointers), Kobe Elvis (37.5 percent) and Nate Santos (42.7 percent), Dayton is undoubtedly a dynamite offensive team. The Flyers limit opponents’ second-chance opportunities.

Weaknesses: It’s too bad Obi Toppin is no longer wearing the Flyers red. Defensively, Anthony Grant’s group is a liability. Coming unraveled in the category down the regular-season homestretch, the Flyers ranked poorly nationally in effective field-goal percentage defense. Challenging shots along the perimeter wasn’t especially problematic, but competitors gashed them on near-proximity opportunities. The Flyers turned the ball over on 15.8 percent of their possessions this season.

Outlook: Dayton stands at No. 40 in all-time wins; it’s a school with a rich basketball history. However, the Flyers have one Sweet 16 appearance (2014) since the days when parachute pants were fashionable. Due to defensive inadequacies, turnover problems, absent depth and a relatively unchallenging schedule, they’re unlikely to survive the first weekend, no matter how unrestrainable Holmes may be.

—Brad Evans

Team in 16 words: The most balanced team in Tommy Lloyd’s tenure. Can score, has a go-to guy, is improved defensively.

Record: 26-8 (15-5 Pac-12)

Coach: Tommy Lloyd (3-2 in NCAA Tournament)

Player to watch: Caleb Love (Pac-12 Player of the Year)

Strengths: The Wildcats have been a terrific offensive team in all three seasons under Tommy Lloyd. Caleb Love can be erratic, but he transferred in from North Carolina and filled a major need of a guard who can go get a bucket. Arizona has no shortage of experience, and added another transfer in Keshad Johnson who has Final Four experience from a year ago at San Diego State.

Weaknesses: When point guard Kylan Boswell doesn’t play well, it usually results in a loss for the ‘Cats. In their eight losses, Boswell shot 21 percent from the field and averaged 4.8 points per game. And Arizona doesn’t have another true point guard when Boswell is struggling. There’s also the concern of when Love struggles, he can really struggle.

Outlook: Lloyd has a team capable of getting to the Final Four, but it depends on the guard tandem of Love and Boswell. If they play well, Arizona can beat anyone in the country because Pelle Larsson is a terrific role player, Johnson is a terrific defender and Oumar Ballo is one of the better big men in the country. But it’s truly up to the consistency of Love and Boswell.

—Jeff Goodman, Field of 68

SALT LAKE CITY — Less than two weeks ago, Dayton defeated Virginia Commonweath by overcoming a 17-point deficit. The Flyers never panicked. They defended. They got stops. They stayed composed when things seemed bleak. They made shots when it mattered.

In November, Dayton kicked off the Charleston Classic by defeating LSU. The Flyers trailed by 15 points with nine minutes left. But they defended maniacally down the stretch, started making shots offensively and came back to get one of those nonconference wins the NCAA Tournament selection committee always demands.

The seventh-seeded Flyers seemingly shrugged their collective shoulders after Thursday’s 63-60 first-round win over 10th-seeded Nevada to advance to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. The celebration at the final buzzer was wild. The jubilation of surviving and advancing in the Big Dance was palpable. But, while they stunned almost everyone with the ferocity and audacity of a huge rally, they didn’t surprise themselves.

“In those moments, that’s when we get the closest,” Dayton guard Koby Brea said. “I think we’ve been in those situations a couple of times this year, so when we do get in those situations we are comfortable. When we look at our captain, our coach, we see that he’s not worried. We see that he believes in us and that he believes in everyone from the last player on the bench. In those moments, we believe in each other and we trust each other.”

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PITTSBURGH — Greg Kampe’s eyebrows furrowed as the strange question was being posed to him Friday afternoon: Had Oakland’s 68-year-old coach considered that, in guiding the 14th-seeded Golden Grizzlies to a massive upset over No. 3 seed Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament the night before, he’d effectively just added a line to his future obituary?

“Well, that is morbid,” he said with a laugh, “but it’s true. ‘He beat Kentucky.’ Wow, I didn’t think about that, but you’re right. You’re 100 percent right. Wow. And that might be the first thing they say when I’m gone. ‘Here lies Greg Kampe, who beat Kentucky.’ Huh. I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

The day before Oakland’s big victory, Kampe made an impassioned plea for mid-major programs to never be squeezed out of the NCAA Tournament, as some fear might soon happen. Because Cinderella is really the star of this show — and because if his team could somehow knock off Kentucky, he said, it would change their lives forever. He was right.

“Jack Gohlke is a folk hero now,” Kampe said after the 24-year-old Division II transfer buried the Wildcats with a barrage of 10 made 3-pointers. By late afternoon the next day, Kampe said, “I have not been to sleep yet. I’ve not stopped talking. I talk a lot, but it’s getting ridiculous. Every 15 minutes, I’ve got a Zoom or something. This is unbelievable for our university, the amount of publicity. The university website crashed last night.”

Perhaps because an untold number of people in Louisville, home of Kentucky’s rival, bought $8,000 worth of T-shirts overnight.

“Think about that,” Kampe said. “Next year at the Kentucky game, all these Louisville fans will be wearing Oakland shirts.”

Less than 24 hours after his team’s historic victory, Gohlke had already appeared on “SportsCenter” with Scott Van Pelt and done the “Pat McAfee Show” and “Rich Eisen Show.” Kampe had done “Good Morning America.” Senior forward Trey Townsend, who had 17 and 12 against Kentucky, was scheduled for an interview with TMZ Sports. And name, image and likeness opportunities began popping up as Gohlke’s Instagram following ballooned from less than 1,000 to almost 20,000 overnight.

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Can you define March Madness? How about two double-digit seeds facing off? Oakland and NC State are matching up in the second round of the men’s NCAA Tournament after upsetting No. 3 and 6 seeds, respectively. The Wolfpack are favored by several points following their sixth-straight win.

The Golden Grizzlies come in hot following a win against heavily-favored Kentucky. Winners of five straight and nine of the last 10 games, Oakland guard Jack Gohlke was the story of the first day of the tournament with a hot-shooting display against the Wildcats.

Gohlke, a Division II transfer from Hillsdale College, is a flamethrower from deep. The senior has 11 games this season with five made 3-pointers, including connecting on 10 treys en route to a season-high 32 points against Kentucky. Gohlke is one of only five players in men’s NCAA Tournament history to record 10 or more made 3-pointers in a game.

Oakland is more than a one-man show though. Forward Trey Townsend, a four-year starter and the son of two former Oakland hoopers, is averaging 16.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. The Michigan native is a double-double threat in the paint, as he has nine such performances on the season, including going for 17 points and 12 rebounds on Thursday.

Meanwhile, NC State has completely flipped its season after losing seven of nine heading into the ACC tournament. The Wolfpack’s leading scorer is guard DJ Horne, who is back in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C. for his senior season. Horne’s importance is of note, but this matchup could be decided by how Oakland handles the size of NC State.

Junior forward Ben Middlebrooks scored a career-high 21 points against Texas Tech. NC State’s two other bigs — forwards Mohamed Diarra (17 points) and DJ Burns Jr. (16 points) — will also factor into this matchup after major contributions to NC State’s 42 points in the paint in the first round. These forwards present an imposing frontline, with all three coming in at 6-foot-9 or taller. Burns, the ACC tournament MVP, is becoming an internet sensation with his skillful game and large stature (6-foot-9, 275 pounds).

No matter who comes out on top, kudos are in order for Oakland coach Greg Kampe and NC State coach Kevin Keatts. Now let the best bracket buster win.

Spread: NC State -6.5

Total: 146.5

(Odds via BetMGM.)