Top Seeds Who Looked Good
Kansas (1) and UCLA (2) had the largest margins of victory in their opening-round matchups, but that was to be expected from the 1- and 2-seed in the West Region. Alabama (1) and Texas (2) also cruised to victories of 20-plus points while 5-Seed Duke played as well as any team on Day 1 by handing pesky Oral Roberts a blowout loss.
Top Seeds Who Looked Bad
Houston (1) struggled to put Northern Kentucky (16) away, and they played Marcus Sasser who re-aggravated a groin injury that could be detrimental moving forward. Tennessee (4) and San Diego State (5) also look shaky at times before narrowly escaping their mid-major opponents.
Sharpshooters From Day 1
Andrew Funk (PSU): 27 pts (8-for-10, 3pt)
Sir’Jabari Rice (TEX): 23 pts, 6 rebs, 3 asts (7-for-10, 3pt)
D’Moi Hodge (MIZZOU): 23 pts (5-for-10, 3pt)
Other Top Performances
Gradey Dick (KU): 19 pts, 11 rebs, 5 asts, 3 stls
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA): 17 pts, 8 rebs, 5 stls
Jeremy Roach (DUKE): 23 pts
Boo Buie (NU): 22 pts, 5 rebs, 5 asts
Johni Broome (AUB): 19 pts, 12 rebs, 5 blks