NCAA Tournament 2015: Friday's 2nd-Round Scores, Updated Bracket and Schedule
Friday marked the second and final day of the 2015 NCAA tournament's round of 64. Given the gaudy standard Thursday set, with so many thrilling, tight finishes, there was a lot for this set of 16 games to live up to.
Kansas tipped off against 15th seed New Mexico State to start Friday's slate. The Jayhawks were vying to redeem what's been a tough March Madness for the Big 12 thus far. They responded with a strong 75-56 victory.
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While coach Bill Self's squad was widely expected to get through as it was, there were plenty of other showdowns on tap that promised to be more competitive.
Check out how the last of the Big Dance's second round unfolds below, in addition to an updated bracket and schedule:
| Friday, March 20 | 12:15 p.m. | New Mexico St. | Kansas | 75-56, Kansas |
| Friday, March 20 | 12:40 p.m. | Georgia | Michigan State | 70-63, Michigan State |
| Friday, March 20 | 1:40 p.m. | Wyoming | Northern Iowa | 71-54, Northern Iowa |
| Friday, March 20 | 2:10 p.m. | Buffalo | West Virginia | 68-62, West Virginia |
| Friday, March 20 | 2:45 p.m. | Indiana | Wichita State | 81-76, Wichita State |
| Friday, March 20 | 3:10 p.m. | Belmont | Virginia | 79-67, Virginia |
| Friday, March 20 | 4:10 p.m. | UC Irvine | Louisville | 57-55, Louisville |
| Friday, March 20 | 4:40 p.m. | Valparaiso | Maryland | 65-62, Maryland |
| Friday, March 20 | 6:50 p.m. | Oklahoma St. | Oregon | 79-73, Oregon |
| Friday, March 20 | 7:10 p.m. | Robert Morris | Duke | 85-56, Duke |
| Friday, March 20 | 7:20 p.m. | Davidson | Iowa | 83-52, Iowa |
| Friday, March 20 | 7:27 p.m. | Albany | Oklahoma | 69-60, Oklahoma |
| Friday, March 20 | 9:20 p.m. | Coastal Carolina | Wisconsin | 86-72, Wisconsin |
| Friday, March 20 | 9:40 p.m. | St. John's | San Diego State | 76-64, San Diego State |
| Friday, March 20 | 9:50 p.m. | North Dakota St. | Gonzaga | 86-76, Gonzaga |
| Friday, March 20 | 9:57 p.m. | Dayton | Providence | 66-53, Dayton |
Updated Bracket
Friday Recap
No. 2 Kansas 75, No. 15 New Mexico State 56 (Midwest)
Offensive execution was the name of this game, and the Jayhawks proved to be far superior in that regard.
ESPN Stats & Info illustrates how great Kansas was scoring the ball, which helped it overcome 14 turnovers:
What boosted the Jayhawks' effective field-goal percentage was their prowess from beyond the arc, where they drained nine of 13 attempts. Eight Kansas players scored at least six points, but star guard Frank Mason III led the way with 17 points.
Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports was hoping Wichita State would make it through to face the Jayhawks in an intrastate battle:
Self weighed in on the possibility of such a clash in Omaha on Mike & Mike before the tourney began:
The ongoing absence of talented freshman forward Cliff Alexander will hurt Kansas against higher-quality opponents; however, at least against New Mexico State, the Jayhawks showed that they have multiple contributors who can step up on the Big Dance stage.
If the Shockers are Kansas' opponent in the round of 32, Self's squad has its work cut out to advance to the Sweet 16, as Wichita State has lost just four times all season.
No. 7 Michigan State 70, No. 10 Georgia 63 (East)
Poor free-throw shooting early and frequent fouls late put Michigan State in danger of a collapse in the round of 64. Coach Tom Izzo's squad did enough to hang on, though.
Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel did justice in describing what happened down the stretch:
ESPN analyst Dick Vitale hinted at how Izzo's NCAA tournament pedigree, not to mention strong performances from his strong guard tandem, helped carry Sparty to victory:
Guard Denzel Valentine hit all six of his late free-throw attempts to keep Michigan State out in front and led the Spartans with 16 points.
Guard Travis Trice had 15 and dynamic forward Branden Dawson poured in 14 of his own. Guard Bryn Forbes drained a team-best three triples off of the bench to match Dawson's point total.
Guard play is vital to March Madness success, and Michigan State proved that once again Friday. It gives the Spartans a chance to compete with anyone, as does Izzo's tactical prowess.
A matchup with the East's second seed in Virginia is on the horizon for Michigan State. The Cavaliers have an elite defense, but one of their top scorers, Justin Anderson, hadn't been the same in two games back since suffering a broken finger. Anderson failed to score before notching 15 in Friday's win over Belmont.
One can bet Izzo will dig into his team for its inability to close out Georgia better after building a 35-22 halftime lead. There's a silver lining to that, because the Spartans are capable of putting together a much better 40 minutes—and they'll need to in facing Virginia.
No. 5 Northern Iowa 71, No. 12 Wyoming 54 (East)
Panthers junior Paul Jesperson averaged just 5.4 points on the season prior to Friday, when he erupted with 16 points off the bench to help Northern Iowa hold off Wyoming's second-half charge.
Jesperson was one of three Panthers to score in double digits off the bench, which is a testament to the surprising depth the East's fifth-seed fields.
The following fact from ESPN Stats & Info illustrates the immense advantage Northern Iowa enjoyed when it deployed its explosive second unit:
Among the potential 12-over-5 upsets, few were advocating the Cowboys as a potential spoiler to Northern Iowa. Other than a decent run to put a dent into a Panthers lead that swelled to more than 20, Wyoming was little match.
FiveThirtyEight gave the Panthers a nice bump in its fluid March Madness forecast:
Northern Iowa has to feel extremely confident after excelling in what should have been a rather even matchup based on NCAA tournament history. It should have plenty of momentum to carry into a third-round meeting with Louisville.
The Cardinals barely brushed past UC Irvine on Friday, and they don't have anywhere near the depth Northern Iowa appears to have. It will be up to Louisville's usually strong defense to give it a chance at advancing to the Sweet 16.
No. 5 West Virginia 68, No. 12 Buffalo 62 (Midwest)
The Mountaineers made sure that no pesky 12th seed would pull off an upset in the round of 64 this year, jumping on the Bulls early before staving off a late rally to win.
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins has immense experience, which seemed to shine through on Friday when it looked as though his squad was losing its grip toward the end.
CBS Sports' Seth Davis highlighted the key, unlikely bucket the Mountaineers got after Buffalo needed just one stop to take over on the final possession to go for the tie or win:
Twelve first-half turnovers dug Buffalo into a 36-26 deficit at the break that it couldn't quite overcome. The Bulls shot a solid 45.5 percent, but their numerous blunders led to the deeper Mountaineers capitalizing to advance.
Huggins' bunch moves on to square off with either Maryland or Valparaiso. Given how well West Virginia defends and the fast pace it plays at, it presents an unconventional, difficult matchup for either of its prospective opponents.
Advancing to the Sweet 16 is a realistic possibility for the Mountaineers, but anything beyond that is up in the air. Kentucky would likely stand between them and the regional final. With the way the Wildcats have rolled all season, don't expect West Virginia's run to last much longer.
No. 7 Wichita State 81, No. 10 Indiana 76 (Midwest)
Fred VanVleet had 27 points to lead the Shockers to victory, while his point guard counterpart Yogi Ferrell lit it up for 24 points of his own to keep Indiana close throughout.
Anyone still with a clean sheet in Bleacher Report's bracket challenge was disappointed once this game concluded:
Wichita star Ron Baker struggled from the field but drained nine of 10 free-throw attempts. Many of those came toward the end of the game, ensuring that the Shockers would advance to the third round.
ESPN Stats & Info highlighted the huge advantage Wichita State enjoyed from the charity stripe in Omaha:
Next up for the Shockers is a date with the Kansas Jayhawks. Both schools will be ecstatic for this matchup between a traditional powerhouse and an emerging mid-major giant.
The big edge Wichita State had in the paint versus Indiana may rear its head again. Kansas is without freshman forward Cliff Alexander, denting its depth up front and subtracting a threat to deny VanVleet as a penetrator.
After bowing out in the third round to Kentucky last year, one can bet the Shockers are keen to run to the Elite Eight and face the Wildcats again. Although the Jayhawks have the talent to deny them, Wichita State will be playing with more of a chip on its shoulder after a surprisingly low NCAA tourney seeding.
No. 2 Virginia 79, No. 15 Belmont 67 (East)
Credit Belmont for hanging tough, thanks mostly to junior standout Craig Bradshaw's 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting.
However, the Cavaliers were just a bit too tough, tried and tested to be bounced in their opening game of the tournament. As one would suspect, Virginia guard Malcolm Brogdon was instrumental to the winning cause, logging 22 points and five rebounds to pace his team.
The Big Lead's Jason McIntyre alluded to how the Bruins ought to be excited for their Big Dance prospects for next year:
One great sign for the Cavaliers is the reemergence of star guard Justin Anderson. He hadn't scored in two prior contests since returning from a broken finger, but Anderson had 15 points in this one, which bodes well for his ability to contribute moving forward.
Anderson is the X-factor that could be the difference between Virginia bowing out soon and punching a ticket to Indianapolis for the Final Four.
Brogdon weighed in on what's on the horizon for Virginia, via the Detroit Free Press' Joe Rexrode:
It's never easy to knock out a Tom Izzo-coached Michigan State team in March. That is the unenviable task ahead for the Cavaliers, who will take on a seventh-seeded Spartans squad with little to lose.
No. 4 Louisville 57, No. 13 UC Irvine 55 (East)
Cardinals coach Rick Pitino was quite frank after this close call in stating that his team wasn't that good this season.
The good news for Pitino is that he helms one of the best basketball programs in the country, so Louisville is still into the round of 32. UC Irvine did all it could to pull off the first upset of Friday's games to no avail, partially due to the Cardinals swarming the Anteaters and forcing 14 turnovers.
ESPN Fantasy Sports provided its own bracket update following Louisville's escape:
Senior Wayne Blackshear had 19 points to lead three Cardinals in double figures, as they only got two points from their bench.
UC Irvine can't be too displeased following its maiden NCAA tournament, though its final play, which resulted in a turnover before the Anteaters could even get a shot attempt, will sting for some time.
The following pregame talk from Pitino seemed fitting in light of what happened, via Mark Blankenbaker of TheCrunchZone.com:
This Louisville squad isn't as deep as some of the better teams Pitino has enjoyed in the past. Nevertheless, his defensive savvy and national championship experience counts for a lot in March Madness' win-or-go-home format.
Missouri Valley Conference foe Northern Iowa lies ahead, and it will be a battle of strengths between the Panthers' strong offense and the Cardinals' stout defense. Based on how much Louisville struggled to fight past the Anteaters, Northern Iowa may be considered the favorites despite being the lower fifth seed.
No. 4 Maryland 65, No. 13 Valparaiso 62 (Midwest)
Heading into Friday, the Valparaiso Crusaders were a trendy pick to upset the fourth-seeded Maryland Terrapins. The Terps have won a lot of close games, and that kind of luck tends to run out when the NCAA tournament gets underway.
However, Maryland still has some magic left up its sleeve as it ground out a 65-62 win over Valpo in the second round. Dez Wells scored the last three points that proved to be the difference between the two teams.
According to Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post, the Terrapins have now won 12 of their 13 games decided by six points or fewer:
The Crusaders had a chance to tie the game late, but they had a rather questionable possession to wrap up their defeat. Rather than going for an early two-point bucket or attempting a three with a lot of time left, head coach Bryce Drew opted to wait until the last shot of the game to try and force the tie, and the results were disastrous.
Valpo didn't even manage to get a shot off.
CSNWashington.com's Mark Zuckerman felt that Drew, given his heroics in 1998, would have thought up something better than what the Crusaders did:
Matt Brown of Sports on Earth had the most logical option:
In the end, a win is a win, and Maryland advances to the third round. You have to wonder, though, when the Terps' luck might run out.
No. 8 Oregon 79, No. 9 Oklahoma State 73 (West)
Joseph Young was the story in Oregon's 79-73 win over Oklahoma State on Friday night. The Pac-12 Player of the Year went for 27 points, four rebounds and four assists in the second round. It was as if he made it his personal responsibility to not only help the Ducks advance but to silence every one of the critics who claimed Utah's Delon Wright was the deserving conference POY.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Young entered rarefied air as well. Only he and former Oregon great Luke Jackson have scored 25 points or more in multiple NCAA tournament games:
Young's best basket came with a powerful one-handed jam in the second half.
Of course, it wasn't a one-man show for Oregon. Dillon Brooks and Elgin Cook went for 17 and 18 points apiece.
The Ducks aren't blessed with a ton of depth, though. Only six players scored a point in the win, and the team's shallow bench has been a problem all season for head coach Dana Altman.
Sure, when Young is scoring 27 points, Oregon is hard to beat. However, you have to question whether the Ducks have the strength from top to bottom to handle the truly good teams in this year's tournament.
No. 1 Duke 85, No. 16 Robert Morris 56 (South)
The Duke Blue Devils didn't run into too many problems as they downed the Robert Morris Colonials 85-56 Friday.
As expected, Robert Morris had no answer for Jahlil Okafor, who scored 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting and grabbed three boards. The freshman phenom was getting anything and everything he wanted inside, with the Colonials powerless to stop him.
The only roadblock Okafor encountered was of his own doing. He attempted a reverse dunk, only to be denied by the rim. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski was less than enthused with Okafor's flair.
ESPN.com's Eamonn Brennan attempted to reassure Okafor that it wasn't really that big of a deal:
It's hard to judge Duke off the basis of Friday's performance. The Blue Devils should've easily handled Robert Morris, and that's exactly what they did. Their first real test of the NCAA tournament will come in the next round.
No. 7 Iowa 83, No. 10 Davidson 52 (South)
So much for the Davidson Wildcats being a potential Cinderella in this year's tournament. Some had predicted the team to be this year's Dayton and possibly make a deep run through the Big Dance.
Instead, Bob McKillop's team was soundly beaten, 83-52, by the Iowa Hawkeyes.
It's the first NCAA tourney win for Iowa in 14 years, per the NCAA:
The 31-point difference was also the largest tournament margin of victory in school history, per Matt Benson
Davidson doesn't really have a big team, and that flaw was exposed in a big way as the Hawkeyes constantly pounded the ball inside to much success. It's somewhat telling that Iowa could score 83 points despite making only six three-pointers and seven foul shots. That's a lot of points coming from mid-range and in the paint.
Even Stephen Curry probably wouldn't have changed the outcome if he had suited up for alma mater.
No. 3 Oklahoma 69, No. 14 Albany 60 (East)
The Oklahoma Sooners were far from convincing, but they didn't cede much ground to the Albany Great Danes in a 69-60 victory.
The flow of the game was somewhat weird in that it felt like Oklahoma was only one or two shots from running away with the game but kept coming up short. The Great Danes would close the deficit to seven or eight points and then wind up down nine or 10 shortly thereafter.
"Let's face it: Oklahoma is the better basketball team," said Albany head coach Will Brown after the game, per Patrick Maks of The New York Times. "We only needed to be the better basketball team for one night. We weren’t tonight. So the better team won."
Without TaShawn Thomas, the Sooners could've been in serious danger. The senior big man scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds. Albany had nothing to counter his presence inside, and Thomas was more than happy to use his size to his advantage.
The victory was historic for OU head coach Lon Kruger. He became the first coach in NCAA history to win a tournament game at five different schools, per Guerin Emig of the Tulsa World:
No. 1 Wisconsin 86, No. 16 Coastal Carolina 72 (West)
The Wisconsin Badgers are one of the top contenders to unseat the Kentucky Wildcats for a reason. They didn't look great Friday, but 27 points from Frank Kaminsky was more than enough to deliver a win over the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.
"They're going to be a tough out for whomever," said Coastal Carolina head coach Cliff Ellis after the game, per The Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "I saw them in the Final Four last year, and it wouldn't surprise me to see them back there. They're very worthy. You could see them and Kentucky. You're liable to see it. They're that good."
The Big Ten champions will be extremely tough to beat when Kaminsky is playing this well. He fought the right combination of inside and perimeter scoring, shooting 10-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-5 from deep. He also added 12 rebounds to register the double-double.
Wisconsin is the kind of team that isn't a ton of fun to watch because of its slower tempo. Unlike the Virginia Cavaliers, though, the Badgers' pace belies a lethally efficient offense. They'll have an interesting matchup with Oregon ahead.
No. 8 San Diego State 76, No. 9 St. John's 64 (South)
It was opposite day for the San Diego State Aztecs as they dropped 76 points on the St. John's Red Storm but struggled at times on the defensive end en route to a second-round victory.
The 76 points are the fourth-highest offensive output from the team this season. During halftime, SDSU head coach Steve Fisher quipped that his team was at near-historic levels when it scored 40 points in the first half, per Jay Posner of U-T San Diego:
Dwayne Polee II shot 5-of-7 from behind the arc in the victory, scoring 15 points. J.J. O'Brien led the way with 18 points.
San Diego State's hallmark is its great defense. The Aztecs are holding their opponents to 53.1 points a game, which is second in the country and sit fourth in adjusted defense according to KenPom.com. That defense is good enough to win a lot of games, but there's no question San Diego State's struggles on the offensive end limit the team's potential in March.
That's what makes Friday's game more interesting. If the Aztecs can strike more of a balance between the two sides of the game, they could be a seriously dangerous team in the third round and beyond.
No. 2 Gonzaga Bulldogs 86, No. 15 North Dakota State 76 (South)
The final score is somewhat deceiving as the Gonzaga Bulldogs were pushed a bit but never in any serious danger against the North Dakota State Bison. As Sporting News' Jesse Spector tweeted, the Bison didn't ever build the kind of sustained run that would've seen them pull off the upset:
Kyle Wiltjer scored 23 points in the win, which is nice for the Bulldogs. Head coach Mark Few hasn't had a player as good as Wiltjer since Adam Morrison, and the Kentucky transfer might be the star who can help the Zags break through their glass ceiling.
While the team long ago shed any sort of underdog label, it has still been unable to truly break into the class of elite teams considering how often it's exited the NCAA tournament early. ESPN Stats & Info noted how Gonzaga has lost in the round of 32 in each of its last five trips:
The Bulldogs' only trip to the Elite Eight came in 1999, the year before Few took over. Nobody will question the job he's done with the program, but it would be nice to see the Zags finally produce a magical run to the Final Four or beyond.
No. 11 Dayton 66, No. 6 Providence 53 (East)
The Dayton Flyers upset the Providence Friars in front of a partisan Columbus, Ohio, crowd on Friday night.
Arguably overshadowing the Flyers' first two wins of the NCAA tournament is the fact that they had their play-in game on their home court and followed that with a game inside Nationwide Arena, which is a little over an hour away from Dayton.
In essence, one of the last teams into the field of 68 will have three home games to start the Big Dance.
After the game, Providence head coach Ed Cooley refused to outright criticize the selection committee's decision to place Dayton in the East region, but he didn't make it hard to read between the lines, per Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated:
Fox Sports' Stewart Mandel countered that it's impossible for the selection committee to always avoid circumstances like this with all of the moving parts involved in creating the bracket:
While the location was an obvious factor in the game, give credit to Dayton for holding Providence to 33.9 percent shooting from the floor. The Flyers ratcheted up on the defensive end, and as a result, they're heading to the third round.
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