What happened in Thursday and Friday's first round

If Grand Canyon holds on, then the Nos. 11 and 12 seeds would have gone 5-3 against the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds.

INDIANAPOLIS — No. 8 seed Utah State pulled away from No. 9 seed TCU for an 88-72 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The question now: Can the Aggies realistically challenge top-seeded Purdue on Sunday?

If so, it’s going to require a Herculean effort, particularly from 7-foot center Isaac Johnson, who at 227 pounds will be giving up 73 pounds to Purdue center Zach Edey. Johnson was outstanding against TCU, scoring 19 points. He also only averages a little more than three rebounds a game and isn’t necessarily a physical interior presence. Edey is coming off a monster game against Grambling State in which he recorded 30 points and 21 rebounds. Johnson has 22 rebounds over his last eight games.

Utah State does have some weapons. Johnson, Ian Martinez, Great Osobor and Darius Brown II all scored in double figures against TCU. Osobor was the Mountain West player of the year, Brown earned first-team all-conference honors and Josh Uduje was voted co-sixth man of the year. But it will take the best performance of the season from everyone for the Aggies to have a chance.

Saint Mary's finds itself in a big hole against ... Grand Canyon. Not ideal! Bryce Drew's Antelopes are not your typical WAC team, as they are loaded with high-major talent, including star Tyon Grant-Foster, a former four-star recruit who went to Kansas. I still thought Saint Mary's — which was extremely efficient in losing only one since Christmas — would prevail here. But I underestimated A) the impact of the loss of Gaels forward Joshua Jefferson to a knee injury last month; while Saint Mary's survived the WCC without him, his size and athleticism were much needed in this game; and B) the rabid Grand Canyon student section and fan base, which happily trekked in droves to Spokane and made this almost like a home game. Saint Mary's is a tiny school without much anywhere near the traveling supporting power.

And thus Grand Canyon — which beat San Diego State with relative ease earlier this year, mind you — looks well poised to move on to play Alabama.

No. 5 Saint Mary's hasn't scored a field goal in over four minutes, and the Gaels are down 46-34 to No. 12 Grand Canyon. Guard Tyon Grant-Foster has taken over with 18 points and five rebounds for the Antelopes. Saint Mary's is 2-of-10 shooting in the second half.

JMU coach Mark Byington: “I know we were looked at as underdogs, but we never felt that way.”

The story of the night belongs to James Madison, and rightfully so given that the Dukes have now won a nation-leading 14 consecutive games and handled Wisconsin the entire way. But what an unbelievable late-season slide for a Badgers team that entered February 16-4 overall, ranked No. 6 in the AP top 25 and seemingly ready to achieve something meaningful in March.

Wisconsin finished 6-10 the rest of the way. And although that included a spirited run to the Big Ten Tournament title game, the Badgers were always going to be judged by what they did in the NCAA Tournament. Because this team finally had serious offensive firepower, an athletic wing in AJ Storr, a group of returning veterans and a freshman infusion in the rotation.

Point guard Chucky Hepburn told reporters earlier this week that he was “thirsty for blood” and that this team had a killer instinct to make a deep tournament run. Instead, the Badgers were wounded and couldn’t recover, committing a season-high 19 turnovers. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard hasn’t made it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2017, a streak that will continue for another year.

There's been a lot of talk about parity in this college basketball season, but if you studied the adjusted efficiency numbers, it was pretty clear that the top teams were actually a cut above. And that has born out at least so far. No. 1 seeds UConn, Houston, Purdue and North Carolina all destroyed the No. 16 seeds — not notable traditionally, but certainly of late. The No. 2 seeds — Iowa State, Arizona, Tennessee and Marquette — all rolled to double-digit victories as well. And other than Kentucky, which was a questionably high seed given its defensive issues, the No. 3 seeds cruised as well. This could all change as soon as tomorrow, but the chalk looks pretty strong, so far.

MEMPHIS — With nine minutes remaining in the second half, Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson took a seat on the bench and, for the first time all game, finally cracked a smile.

It didn’t last long.

“That’s four missed free throws in a row,” he groaned to his assistant coaches after an off-target attempt by redshirt freshman center Cedric Lath. His expression returned to his customary head shake, arms folded across his chest in disgust.

Despite Sampson’s (hilarious) disappointment, there will be no 16-seed dragon slayer this year. Houston waxed Longwood 86-46 on Friday night, easily advancing to the Round of 32.

The Lancers were no match for 1-seed Cougars, who turned in another dominant defensive performance, holding Longwood to 34 percent from the field and 3 for 13 on 3-pointers (23 percent), forcing 18 turnovers in the process. Longwood, the Big South tournament champions under head coach Griff Aldrich, returned to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons after finishing fifth in the conference standings at 6-10 in league play.

L.J. Cryer had 17 points, including 3-7 from 3-point range, tied for leading scorer with Damian Dunn, who chipped in 17 off the bench. All-American point guard Jamal Shead added 11 points and 9 assists. Emmanuel Sharp had 13. Most of the starters got extended rest in the second half, including forward J’Wan Roberts, who finished with 7 points and 5 rebounds. Roberts was hampered by a shin injury in the Big 12 tournament which he appeared to reaggravate in the second half, but his sitting the final 17 minutes of the game seemed more precautionary than concerning with the score well out of hand.

The win, while expected, had to be cathartic for the Cougars following a 28-point loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 championship game with the roster banged up and running on fumes. Roberts’ health will be critical to the team’s ability to make a deep run over the coming weeks, though it did receive a lift from Ramon Walker Jr., who returned from a knee injury for the first time since Feb. 19 and had one point and two boards in 14 minutes. Nine players scored for the Coogs.

The victory sets up a second-round showdown on Sunday with 9-seed Texas A&M, who put up 98 points and banged home 13 triples in a win over Nebraska earlier in the evening. Houston has advanced to at least the Sweet 16 in each of the past three seasons.

The nightcap in Spokane is a close one, to say the least. No. 12 Grand Canyon leads No. 5 Saint Mary's 28-27 at the half as GCU coach Bryce Drew — of Valparaiso buzzer-beater fame — tries to add another upset to his biography.

The first half featured 10 lead changes and was quite even. Center Mitchell Saxen has 10 points and six rebounds to lead the Gaels. Tyon Grant-Foster has nine for the Antelopes.

Nobody is surprised to see James Madison beating Wisconsin, but it is still something to see just how easy this has been for the Dukes, who have been in control throughout and have looked like the more talented team. Remember, the Dukes were likely to go to the NIT if they didn't win the Sun Belt tournament, despite 30 wins and an opening night victory at Michigan State. If there's an argument for NCAA Tournament expansion, it is to make sure deserving teams like this — and Indiana State — get the chance to prove themselves on this stage.

BROOKLYN — JMU fans can taste the upset but Wisconsin isn't out of it yet. The Dukes lead 68-57 after Chucky Hepburn nailed a 3-pointer with 2:33 remaining.

BROOKLYN —The Badgers' Chucky Hepburn and the Dukes' Noah Freidel both have four fouls with 7:29 remaining. JMU leads 55-45.

MEMPHIS — Houston is up 63-28 on Longwood with 11:48 remaining. The game is so out of hand that longtime referee Teddy Valentine stood and chatted with some Nebraska fans during the timeout stoppage.

"This town won't be anything after y'all leave," Valentine told the Husker faithful, who watched their team lose to Texas A&M in the previous game. "It was a sea out there tonight."

BROOKLYN — With 10 minutes remaining, JMU’s upset over Wisconsin is still in play. The No. 12 seed Dukes lead the No. 5 Badgers, 49-40. A big part of the Badgers' woes is their 16 turnovers, which JMU has scored 23 points off of.