Men's NCAA Tournament 2023: Winners and Losers of First Four
The 2023 men's NCAA tournament is officially underway!
In the first game, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi avenged last year's loss in the First Four game with a 75-71 victory over Southeast Missouri State. They now have the daunting task of facing off against No. 1 seed Alabama on Thursday.
That was followed by a thrilling back-and-forth contest between Pittsburgh and Mississippi State that saw 21 lead changes and ended in a 60-59 victory by the Panthers, despite a great look at the buzzer for the Bulldogs. Pitt advances to face No. 6 Iowa State.
To kick off Wednesday night's action, Fairleigh Dickinson crushed Texas Southern in an 84-61 blowout, advancing on to face No. 1 seed Purdue out of the East Region on Friday.
The final play-in game saw Arizona State set a First Four record with 98 points in a lopsided 25-point victory over Nevada, and they'll look to keep things rolling against No. 6 TCU on Friday.
Before the tournament kicks off in full on Thursday morning, let's run through the winners and losers of the First Four games.
Make your picks: Play the NCAA March Madness Men's Bracket Challenge and Tournament Run.
Loser: One of the Most Lopsided Losses in First Four History
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The final score of 98-75 made Wednesday night's loss by Nevada one of the most lopsided in First Four history.
Since the First Four games were introduced in 2011, there have been just four other instances where a team lost by more than 15 points.
- 2016: (16) Florida Gulf Coast 96, (16) Fairleigh Dickinson 65
- 2016: (11) Wichita State 70, (11) Vanderbilt 50
- 2011: (12) Clemson 70, (12) UAB 52
- 2018: (16) Texas Southern 64, (16) North Carolina Central 46
After an ugly first half, the Wolf Pack looked more like the team that finished the regular season 22-10 and claimed an at-large bid out of the Mountain West Conference, and they actually outscored Arizona State 47-45 after the break.
It was simply too little too late.
Will Baker (17 points), Tre Coleman (14 points) and Darrion Williams (12 points) led the way offensively for Nevada, and all three players could return next season as Baker and Coleman are both juniors and Williams is a freshman.
Winner: An Absolutely Dominant First Half from Arizona State
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By all accounts, the final game of this year's First Four action was over by halftime.
The Arizona State Sun Devils took a 53-26 lead into the break, dominating inside with 24 points in the paint while shooting a blistering 21-of-31 from the floor and forcing eight turnovers on defense.
DJ Horne (11 points), Desmond Cambridge Jr. (nine points) and Devan Cambridge (nine points) led the offensive onslaught, shooting a combined 11-of-19 from the field and 6-of-11 from beyond the arc to help build the early lead.
That early deficit put the Nevada Wolf Pack in a tough spot as they prefer to play at a slow tempo. In fact, they had five games this year where they held the opposition to fewer points for the entire game than Arizona State scored in the first half on Wednesday.
Horne (20 points) and Cambridge Jr. (17 points) were the leading scorers for the Sun Devils, but they also got 33 points off the bench and knocked down 11 three-pointers, making it just the ninth game all season they've hit double-digit threes.
Now they'll advance to face a TCU team led by star point guard Mike Miles Jr. that likes to run as they look to build off a 98-point outburst that stands as the highest-scoring game in First Four history.
Loser: Texas Southern Can't Make it Three Straight First Four Wins
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After a magical run through the SWAC tournament as the No. 8 seed to clinch the automatic bid, the Texas Southern Tigers couldn't continue their recent run of success in First Four games.
The only team in the tournament field with a losing record at 14-20 overall, the Tigers were looking to advance out of the play-in games for the third year in a row.
They picked up a 60-52 victory over Mount St. Mary's in the 2021 First Four games before losing to No. 1 seed Michigan in the first round, and last year they pulled out a 76-67 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before getting blown out by No. 1 Kansas in first-round action.
Despite significant roster turnover, the Tigers made it three straight automatic bids secured with wins over Alcorn State, Alabama A&M and Grambling in the SWAC tournament, but they were unable to come out of Dayton with a win on Wednesday.
Senior forward John Walker III scored a team-high 22 points for the Tigers, while Joirdon Karl Nicholas added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Tip of the cap to a team that started conference play with a five-game losing streak and ended the regular season with three straight losses for even making it into the tournament field.
Winner: Dominance from Fairleigh Dickinson
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The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights had only eight wins by double figures during the regular season, and two of those came against non-Division I teams, so their dominance on Wednesday night was a bit surprising.
The Knights built a 45-29 lead going into halftime and never let off the gas, cruising to a 84-61 victory over Texas Southern to advance to a Friday matchup with No. 1 seed Purdue.
Ansley Almonor led the way with 23 points and all five starters scored in double figures for the Knights as they shot 50 percent from the floor and knocked down 11-of-27 attempts from beyond the arc.
Equally impressive was their ability to chase the Tigers off the three-point line, limiting them to an ugly 1-of-17 showing from three-point range.
Joe Munden Jr. (17 points), Demetre Roberts (15 points), Grant Singleton (13 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) and Sean Moore (10 points) round out the Knights' undersized starting lineup, and with no player over 6'7" in that group they'll have their hands full trying to contain Purdue center Zach Edey.
For now, they can celebrate a convincing win to play another day.
Winner: An Underrated Performance from Guillermo Diaz Graham
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With starting center Federiko Federiko watching from the sidelines after suffering a knee injury during the ACC tournament, the Pitt Panthers turned to Guillermo Diaz Graham to fill the void inside.
The lanky 7'0", 205-pound freshman averaged just 10.0 minutes per game during the season, and he only played more than 20 minutes four times all year.
On Tuesday, he was on the court for 37 minutes of action, and he provided one of the biggest plays of the night in that 37th minute.
After Jamarius Burton hit the go-ahead jumper with 9.8 seconds left on the clock for Pitt, Tolu Smith drove the lane looking for a lead-changing bucket of his own. Diaz Graham turned him away with a clean block on a play that easily could have resulted in a foul.
So while his final stat line of three points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks doesn't jump off the page, Diaz Graham turned in one of the most important plays of the night with 2.7 seconds remaining to preserve a 60-59 victory.
Loser: Missed Opportunities for Mississippi State
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The Mississippi State Bulldogs could not have drawn it up any better.
Trailing by one point with 2.7 seconds left on the clock, the Bulldogs found a wide-open Shakeel Moore for a corner three off an inbound play, but he couldn't knock down the potential game-winner.
D.J. Jeffries also had a great look at a potential tip-in off the missed three before time expired, but that didn't fall either, and Mississippi State was sent packing.
It was a chance at redemption for Moore, who had his worst game of the season against Alabama in the Bulldogs' conference tournament loss, scoring just two points on 1-of-11 shooting.
Just a 26.4 percent three-point shooter during the season, he finished 2-of-7 from beyond the arc on Tuesday night, and while he finished with 14 points, he couldn't connect on the go-ahead look.
Winner: A Great Start to March Madness
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The First Four games never seem to disappoint.
The 2021 play-in games saw UCLA top Michigan State in overtime to kick off an unlikely run to the Final Four for the No. 11 seed Bruins, along with a pair of one-point victories by No. 11 Drake and No. 16 Norfolk State.
Last year, No. 11 Notre Dame advanced with a thrilling double-overtime win against Rutgers.
There was no overtime on Tuesday night, but the Pitt vs. Mississippi State game was as back-and-forth a contest as you'll see.
The game featured a staggering 21 lead changes—the most in an NCAA tournament game since 2018—and there was an opportunity for a buzzer beater.
What excitement awaits in Wednesday's games?
Loser: Fouls, Fouls and More Fouls
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Foul trouble has been an issue all season for the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks.
The Ohio Valley Conference tournament champions ranked fourth in the nation with 21.0 personal fouls per game, and twice during the regular season, they committed more than 30 fouls in a game.
That made a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi team that gets to the free-throw line 21.1 times per game (49th in NCAA) a less-than-ideal opponent, and things played out exactly how you might have expected.
The Redhawks committed 31 fouls and had three players foul out of the game, including senior guard Chris Harris, who scored a game-high 23 points before picking up his fifth foul with under a minute to play.
In the end, a 27-9 point differential at the free-throw line was the difference in this game.
Winner: A Career Night from Jalen Jackson
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In the 113th game of his collegiate career, Jalen Jackson scored a career-high 22 points.
The 5'11" guard spent the first two seasons of his college career at North Texas, scoring just 42 points in 44 games in limited action off the bench, but he has carved out a starting role since transferring to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
He averaged a modest 7.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists during the regular season to rank fifth on the team in scoring, but he was the star on Tuesday night, helping the Islanders advance to a Thursday matchup with No. 1 seed Alabama.
The bulk of his offense came from the free-throw line as he knocked down 14-of-18 attempts from the charity stripe, and that was the story of the game.
Isaac Mushila (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Trey Tennyson (12 points) joined him in double-figures as starters, while Ross Williams (13 points) had a strong game off the bench in a 75-71 victory to kick off the 2023 NCAA tournament.
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