NCAA Tournament 2013 Scores: Highlighting Friday's Strongest Team Performances

Khalif Wyatt is making a name for himself.

He went for 31 points in Temple's 76-72 win over the NC State Wolfpack. For the Owls, it's a huge win to start the tournament.

Let's not forget the Wolfpack started the season ranked sixth in the country. This is a team that had a ton of talent.

Temple managed to pick up the victory despite being out-rebounded by 12, letting NC State shoot 55.2 percent and missing 12 free throws. Without Wyatt, the Owls would be going home.

It wasn't a completely convincing win for Temple, but with the way Wyatt performed, you have to give the Owls a chance against the top-seeded Indiana Hoosiers.

Here are three teams who looked a little better during Friday's action.

Minnesota Golden Gophers 83, UCLA Bruins 63

Woe is Ben Howland. He helps lead the UCLA Bruins to a regular season Pac-12 title. Then they lay an egg in the second round of the tournament. Credit Tubby Smith and Minnesota because the Golden Gophers took control of this one early and never let go.

The Bruins had no answer whatsoever for Andre Hollins. He went for 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

UCLA also struggled to get anything going against what was a very stout Minnesota defense. The Bruins are shooting 45.1 percent a game. Friday night they only managed to go 20-of-63 from the field, including a paltry 4-of-22 from behind the arc.

Miami Hurricanes 78, Pacific Tigers 49

Miami is a No. 2 seed but played like a No. 1 on Friday. The Pacific Tigers were simply no match for a motivated Hurricanes squad. For so long, they've been hearing how they didn't have enough offense and didn't warrant a top seed.

After Friday night, the Canes looked like one of the best teams in the tournament. Beating a No. 15 seed isn't a huge accomplishment, but it was the way in which Miami did it that made the team look very strong.

The Hurricanes out-rebounded Pacific, 39-27 and knocked down 12 three-pointers. Jim Larranaga had his team motivated and made sure it didn't take the Tigers lightly.

Ohio State Buckeyes 95, Iona Gaels 70

Ohio State's defense wasn't in question coming into Friday night. The Buckeyes are only giving up 58.3 points a game. The issues stemmed from a team that's only scoring 70.3 points a game on the other end of the court.

Offense certainly wasn't a problem Friday night, as Deshaun Thomas and Sam Thompson both scored 20-plus points. Thompson also recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds to go along with his solid shooting night.

Aaron Craft also looked good despite scoring only four points. He only had two turnovers compared to seven assists. Craft was also a nuisance on the defensive end, picking up six steals.

Ohio State's strong win was in stark contrast to the Gonzaga Bulldogs' struggles in their opening game of the tournament.

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