NCAA Tournament 2015: Biggest Surprises from Day 3

Only in March, folks. Only in March.

It was another classic opening Thursday in the NCAA tournament, as Cinderellas emerged, top seeds stuttered, superstars shone, shoes were thrown, and coaches fell off rolling stools. 

On second thought, it was a pretty strange day, too.

Two games went to overtime, two No. 14 seeds sent tremors through the tournament, and approximately two billion people had their brackets busted. 

But March Madness wouldn't live up to its name without a bit (or a lot) of shock and awe, now would it?

Here are the biggest surprises from Day 3.

Inspired UAB Squad Kicks Off the Madness by Ousting Iowa State

Associated Press

It didn't take long for the madness to take over. In fact, it only took a few hours, because by the end of the second game we had our first significant upset as No. 14 UAB knocked off No. 3 Iowa State, 60-59.

William Lee was clutch for UAB, scoring the last four points for the Blazers and finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Robert Brown was the game's high scorer with 21 points.

Iowa State just never could muster the magic that carried it through the year; star Georges Niang was particularly flat, only going 4-of-15 for 11 points.

There are a lot of great reasons to root for the Blazers—if you recall, the school lost its football program last fall, and it's also wearing different-colored shoes to promote cancer awareness. 

"For us, it was just huge," Brown said, as reported by the Associated Press (via ESPN). "We come here, not just to play games, but to actually make some noise and to win some games. To be able to do that and win for Birmingham, win for Coach [Jerod] Haase, it's a great feeling."

ACC Tournament Finalists Notre Dame and North Carolina Get a Scare

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It was far from a straightforward day for No. 3 seed Notre Dame and No. 4 seed North Carolina, who both survived late rallies from Northeastern and Harvard, respectively.

Less than a week after both teams made surprise runs to the final of the ACC tournament (where Notre Dame won), the ACC squads looked shaky on Thursday.

The Fighting Irish improved to 30-5 on the season thanks to sloppy mistakes in the final minute by the Huskies and some very clutch free-throwing by Zach Auguste. This win kept them from losing in the second round for the fifth time in the team's last six trips to the NCAA tournament.

The Tar Heels, meanwhile, saw a 16-point lead evaporate late in the second half and looked on the verge of failing at the end of yet another close game. Harvard was close to having another Cinderella moment before Justin Jackson's clutch late-game shooting saved the day.

"It's the luckiest I've ever felt after a basketball game in my entire life," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said, as reported by the Associated Press (via ESPN). "In saying that, I'm thrilled that we're still here and we're still playing."

Both the Tar Heels and the Fighting Irish will need to play better in the third round.

R.J. Hunter and Georgia State Stun Baylor in Final Seconds

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

With just over two minutes to go, it looked like No. 14 Georgia State's trip to the NCAA tournament would be a short one. After all, it was down by 12 to third-seeded Baylor, a heavily favored team from one of those power conferences.

Then, March Madness took over. Or, in this particular case, R.J. Hunter.

Hunter scored 12 points in the last two minutes and 39 seconds of the game, including the game-winning three-pointer he nailed that made his father—Ron Hunter, the coach of the team—fall off his rolling stool in celebration. (Ron was on the stool because he tore his Achilles celebrating Georgia State's win in the Sun Belt championship game on Sunday.) As I wrote Thursday, it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment for the father and son. 

Oh, yeah, and do you remember Kevin Ware, who gruesomely broke his leg playing in an Elite Eight game for Louisville two years ago? He's a Georgia State Panther, too. These Cinderella teams are just so likable, aren't they?

While the Hunters and Ware are great stories, though, this upset wouldn't have happened without a major choke from Baylor. The Bears had 14 turnovers in the second half and didn't score from the field in the final 5:47 of the game.

With the Help of a Controversial Goaltending Call, UCLA Tops SMU

David Stephenson/Associated Press

Many didn't think the No. 11 UCLA Bruins deserved a spot in the field of 68, but they made quite a statement by upsetting No. 6 SMU 60-59 to make their way into the final 32.

This upset came with a side of controversy, though. With UCLA down by two and 13 seconds remaining in the game, Bryce Alford shot a three-pointer that SMU's Yanick Moreira tipped away at the last second. It didn't look like the ball was going in, but it was very close, and the officials called goaltending, awarding UCLA the three points and, ultimately, the win.

Everyone seems to see this call differently. ESPN compiled tweets of NBA players who couldn't even agree whether this was goaltending or not. And while I don't think it was the right call, Des Bieler of The Washington Post thought it was:

"

My two cents (not that anyone asked)? Goaltend. The ball would have hit the rim, and while it almost certainly would have bounced away, that “almost” is enough to apply the letter of the law in this case.

Some what lost in the controversy over the call was the poor decision of Moreira to contest the shot so close to the rim. In the wake of the bitter loss, however, the 6-11 senior was disconsolate.

"

It's never good when a game comes down to a call, and it's particularly heartbreaking that this one marked the end of Moreira's college career.

But the Bruins—led by a 27-point performance from Alford—live to play another day and will face UAB for a spot in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.

The Big 12 Goes 0-3

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

The entire season, all of the talk was about how great and deep the Big 12 was. In fact, many thought it was the best conference in the game, even better than the top-heavy ACC.

Well, Thursday was not a good day for that theory.

No Big 12 team won on Thursday. The 11th-seeded Texas Longhorns lost to sixth-seeded Butler, and as we've already mentioned, UAB upset Iowa State, and Baylor fell to Georgia State.

All of the Big 12 teams were particularly poor late in games, with Baylor failing to score from the field in the last five minutes, Iowa State failing to find any sense of urgency and Texas losing by six despite being within one with under three minutes to play.

Kansas, West Virginia and Oklahoma better be on their best behavior on Friday.

D'Angelo Russell's 28 Points Lead Ohio State over VCU

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

They needed overtime and some D'Angelo Russell magic (of course), but the No. 10 Ohio State Buckeyes got the upset over No. 7 VCU, 75-72.

Russell scored 28 points and literally spilled blood for the team after taking an elbow to the face toward the end of the second half. He also had six rebounds, two steals and two blocks. There really wasn't anything he couldn't do on this day. 

"I watched this (tournament) my whole life. Just knowing that a lot of great teams go down, a lot of underdogs achieve, just with the mentality that anything can happen," Russell said, as reported by the Associated Press (via ESPN). 

All season, the VCU Rams were a disruptive force, but they never could impose their will on the Buckeyes. It's the second straight second-round NCAA tournament loss for the Rams, and the fourth consecutive year they haven't made it out of the first weekend.

A Record 5 Games Were Decided by Only 1 Point

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

All second-round days of the Big Dance are crazy, but it's not hyperbolic to say this was one of the craziest ever.

As CBS Sports reported, the tournament field made history on Thursday as five games were decided by one point in one day for the first time ever:

• No. 14 UAB defeated No. 3 Iowa State 60-59
• No. 14 Georgia State defeated No. 3 Baylor 57-56
• No. 11 UCLA defeated No. 6 SMU 60-59
• No. 8 Cincinnati defeated No. 9 Purdue 66-65 (OT)
• No. 8 NC State defeated No. 9 LSU 66-65

All five of these games were just as dramatic (if not more) as the scorelines suggest. Besides the three big upsets that we've already covered, Cincinnati pushed Purdue to overtime with a layup by Troy Caupain as the time ran out, and NC State overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to down LSU in the final seconds.

And besides those five nail-biters, three other games were decided by three points or fewer. Indeed, it was a historic day of NCAA basketball. 

Do you want to know the best part? We get to do it all again on Friday.