College Basketball: Big South Tournament Delivers Three Upsets on Opening Day

The Big South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament got underway on Tuesday afternoon and from the opening tip of the first game between Winthrop and Radford, madness ensued. 

That game between Radford, who finished fourth in the North Division, and Winthrop, who finished fifth in the South Division, delivered plenty of thrills throughout their rematch of the January 26 clash that saw Radford win by one point.

The first game between the two teams saw Radford win 58-57. On Tuesday afternoon, Winthrop won by a 60-58 score in overtime. 

The Eagles, who won just six games in Big South play during the regular season, took down Radford on a Joab Jerome layup with two seconds to go in overtime. 

The overtime thriller to kick off the Big South Tournament was just the beginning of a crazy day at HTC Center.

The next game on the four-game schedule saw UNC-Asheville take on Longwood in a game where the third-place finishers from the North Division were highly favored.

The seeding and previous loss to UNC-Asheville on January 19 meant nothing to the Longwood Lancers as they stormed past the Bulldogs 87-72. 

Tristan Carey scored a game-high 21 points in the victory for Longwood, a team that only won four Big South regular season games. 

After the expected victory by Campbell over Presbyterian in the third game of the day, the madness resumed in the game between Liberty and Coastal Carolina. 

Liberty, who entered as the fifth seed out of the North Division took down the host and fourth seed out of the South Division, 78-61. Liberty guard Davon Marshall shot 5-of-7 from beyond the arc on his way to a game-high 28 points. 

With three out of the four Tuesday games seeing the lower seed come out victorious, we can not predict how crazy the Myrtle Beach Madness will get on Wednesday.

Winthrop will open the play on Wednesday against South Division winners Charleston Southern. That game will be followed by Longwood and VMI. The night session of games will see Campbell and Gardner-Webb play before upset-minded Liberty will face North Division winners High Point in the nightcap.

For more insight throughout March Madness, follow me on Twitter, @JTansey90.