March Madness 2016: Top Social Media Highlights for Thursday's Round 1

Few things in the world of sports unite the country more than the NCAA tournament. Casual and serious fans alike can fill out a bracket and follow along, and you don't need a basketball-powerhouse alma mater to fall in love with the scrappy underdogs.   

In a nod to the times, college basketball fans enjoyed the tournament together through social media. People from both coasts and in between got to hate Duke, root for Yale and hold their breaths during the Purdue overtime contest.

With that in mind, here is a look at the scores from Thursday's first-round action, as well as some social reaction from each game.

Matchup	Result
Duke vs. UNC Wilmington	93-85, Duke
Texas Tech vs. Butler	71-61, Butler
Iowa State vs. Iona	94-81, Iowa State
Colorado vs. Connecticut	74-67, Connecticut
Virginia vs. Hampton	81-45, Virginia
Baylor vs. Yale	79-75, Yale
Kansas vs. Austin Peay	105-79, Kansas
Purdue vs. Arkansas-Little Rock	85-83, Arkansas-Little Rock (Double OT)
Miami vs. Buffalo	79-72, Miami
Indiana vs. Chattanooga	99-74, Indiana
North Carolina vs. Florida Gulf Coast	83-67, North Carolina
Utah vs. Fresno State	80-69, Utah
Arizona vs. Wichita State	65-55, Wichita State
Kentucky vs. Stony Brook	85-57, Kentucky
USC vs. Providence	70-69, Providence
Seton Hall vs. Gonzaga	68-52, Gonzaga

Duke 93, UNC Wilmington 85

Duke was never going to inspire much love from viewers, and it got the initial NCAA tournament spotlight to itself as the first game. The Blue Devils shook off a three-point halftime deficit against UNC Wilmington and notched the 93-85 victory. 

Grayson Allen scored 23 points and drew much of the ire of Duke haters, which inspired this response from Dan Carson of Fox Sports:

The Blue Devils also received 23 points from Marshall Plumlee. Yes, there is still a Plumlee at Duke:

Ramzy Nasrallah of Eleven Warriors started listing them all:

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski's squad will play Yale in the second round. Jeff Borzello of ESPN was ready to study:

Butler 71, Texas Tech 61

Based on seeding alone, the No. 9 Butler Bulldogs beating the No. 8 Texas Tech Red Raiders was an upset. However, the Bulldogs are no strangers to the tournament and looked like the better team for most of the second half on the way to the 71-61 victory.

SB Nation CBB had other Butler-related concerns than the in-game action:

Zach Harper of CBS Sports was just excited about Texas Tech's late basket:

Doug Gottlieb of CBS Sports Radio was already looking ahead to Butler's opportunity against a No. 1 seed:

Iowa State 94, Iona 81

Many thought Iona would challenge Iowa State because of its ability to run up and down the court and score at a high pace, but the Cyclones flexed their Big 12 muscles and advanced, 94-81. 

ESPN Stats & Info highlighted the historic offensive effort from the Cyclones:

Thanks to that offense, Iowa State was dancing into the second round:

Connecticut 74, Colorado 67

Much like No. 9 seed Butler, the No. 9 Connecticut Huskies dispatched a No. 8 seed. The Huskies outlasted the Colorado Buffaloes with a dominant second half, 74-67. 

Connecticut won the second half 47-31 after a slow start. SportsCenter noted it was business as usual for head coach Kevin Ollie: 

SportsNation had footage that may or may not have been the Huskies advancing to the second round:

Connecticut struggled at times during the regular season (sixth place in the American Athletic Conference) but appears to have a switch come tournament time. Jim Weber (formerly Lost Lettermen) commented on the turnaround:

Virginia 81, Hampton 45

A No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1, and Virginia wasn't about to let Hampton make history. The Cavaliers steamrolled the Pirates, 81-45, and kept their national title hopes alive. 

The scariest moment came when head coach Tony Bennett appeared to collapse on the sidelines, but he seemed fine afterward, via NCAA March Madness:

In terms of the on-court action, the outcome was never in doubt. It even had Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal turning the channel:

Yale 79, Baylor 75

There was a reason McNamara and so many others tuned in to watch the Yale and Baylor contest. The Bulldogs played the role of 2016's first real Cinderella and knocked off the Bears, 79-75. It was the second season in a row Baylor lost to a double-digit seed in the round of 64 after Georgia State beat it in 2015. 

James Grega Jr. of Scout.com didn't have much sympathy:

Mina Kimes of ESPN The Magazine said what many were thinking in the second half:

Matt Viser of the Boston Globe put into context just how long Yale was waiting for a Big Dance victory:

Kevin McGuire of College Football Talk had some fun at Philadelphia's expense:

Jon Tayler of Sports Illustrated weighed in on Yale's victory:

Bryan Fischer of Bleacher Report recognized the real reason behind the Bulldogs' win:

Kansas 105, Austin Peay 79

Austin Peay looked the part of sacrificial No. 16 seed Thursday during its 105-79 loss to Kansas.

The Governors never had much of a chance, especially since the Jayhawks have so much experience cracking the century mark in the NCAA tournament, as ESPN College BBall highlighted:

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Kansas reaches 100 points for the 8th time tying UNLV for the 4th-most such games in NCAA tournament history. pic.twitter.com/loZrJ28xL6

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) March 17, 2016"

Kansas' 105 points nearly matched Perry Ellis' age, who has seemingly been in college since before the first NCAA tournament. Brandon Saho of WTVM commented on Ellis' collegiate career:

Russell Steinberg of SB Nation also remarked on Ellis' tenure:

With old-man Ellis running the show, the Jayhawks advanced one step closer to proving President Barack Obama's championship prediction right:

Arkansas-Little Rock 85, Purdue 83 (Double OT)

Somehow, some way, Purdue managed to blow a late double-digit lead against Arkansas-Little Rock on the way to an 85-83 loss in double overtime. As a result, another No. 12 seed advanced Thursday. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports did not mince words for the Boilermakers: 

As Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports noted, the Boilermakers were ahead by 14 with five minutes remaining. However, the Trojans' Josh Hagins drilled a contested three-pointer in the waning seconds to force overtime, which prompted this reaction from Cody Westerlund of CBSChicago.com:

SB Nation CFB had a live look-in at Purdue:

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Purdue, pic.twitter.com/1OdRqpSEFM

— SB✯Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) March 17, 2016"

Ryan Krasnoo of Sports Illustrated was confused by Purdue's strategy:

Arkansas-Little Rock seemed to be handling the overtimes well:

Fortunately for the Trojans, the team held up on the floor and came away with the shocking win as Purdue's full-court heave went wide in the final second.

Miami 79, Buffalo 72

Miami had difficulty shaking Buffalo off for most of the game Thursday, but it earned the all-important 79-72 victory in a day that featured multiple upsets.

Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports commented on a municipal battle that is usually reserved for the Dolphins and Bills:

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Big win for Miami in the AFC East race.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) March 18, 2016"

Robert Mays of Sports Illustrated noticed Buffalo's branding efforts:

Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press had some fun at Florida State's expense, as the Hurricanes' archrivals failed to even make the NCAA tournament:

Indiana 99, Chattanooga 74

Indiana was all offense Thursday and handled Chattanooga with relative ease, 99-74. The Hoosiers proved that not all No. 5 seeds have to lose in the first round. 

Yogi Ferrell led the way with 20 points and 10 assists, but his sisters weren't that impressed, via ESPN College BBall:

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Ah, siblings. (via @KayleeHartung) pic.twitter.com/QnUzQ4Qovk

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) March 18, 2016"

Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer was pleased with the outcome:

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I don't care about upsets. Indiana vs. Kentucky needs to happen. That would be some serious basketball.

— Jonathan Tjarks (@JonathanTjarks) March 18, 2016"

Kent Sterling of CBS Sports 1430 in Indianapolis had Hoosiers fans thinking big after the win:

North Carolina 83, Florida Gulf Coast 67

North Carolina was only ahead of Florida Gulf Coast by a single point at halftime, 41-40, and many were thinking history. However, yet another No. 1 seed won, as the Tar Heels pulled away for the 83-67 victory. 

The first half had Joel Klatt of Fox Sports asking questions:

However, the Tar Heels came to play in the second half on the defensive and offensive side of the ball:

SportsPickle wasn't pleased with North Carolina's dominant second-half showing:

Utah 80, Fresno State 69

Utah withstood a late Fresno State run with a second-half charge of its own and walked away with an 80-69 victory.

Rodger Sherman of SB Nation realized the Bulldogs were attempting to keep a certain mascot-based trend alive on Thursday:

Alas, Fresno State came up short and let canines everywhere down in the process. The rebounding was part of the problem, if Andy Glockner of The Cauldron was to be believed:

It is difficult to pull off upsets when the opponent notches 23 more rebounds (38-15).

Wichita State 65, Arizona 55

Wichita State looked downright dangerous during its 65-55 victory over Arizona that really wasn't as close as the final score indicated. Still, all anyone on social media wanted to talk about was Arizona coach Sean Miller's shirt.

CBS Sports CBB shared Miller in all his sweaty glory:

Matt Barrie of ESPN weighed in:

Zack Rosenblatt of the Arizona Daily Star suggested this was business as usual for the coach:

As for Wichita State, it kept alive an impressive streak, via SportsCenter:

Kentucky 85, Stony Brook 57

Kentucky looked like a potential Final Four candidate Thursday with an 85-57 destruction of Stony Brook, but the Seawolves were also a disappointing 20-of-76 from the field. 

Sam Dekker of the Houston Rockets had some fun with the team name:

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Stony Brick

— Sam Dekker (@dekker) March 18, 2016"

Brian Hamilton of Sports Illustrated was more interested in looking ahead to Kentucky's next opponent:

Providence 70, USC 69

Rodney Bullock played the role of hero Thursday with the game-winning shot against USC in Providence's 70-69 victory. 

NCAA March Madness shared the moment:

While the Friars were elated at the end, the Trojans will likely think back to their missed opportunities and the clanked free throws down the stretch:

It seemed to be all too familiar for USC supporters, as Zac Ellis of Sports Illustrated shared:

Gonzaga 68, Seton Hall 52

It was almost strange seeing March Madness stalwart Gonzaga as a No. 11 seed, but it took care of business against Seton Hall during a 68-52 victory. 

The Bulldogs proved CBS Sports' Sam Vecenie wrong in the process:

ESPN's Jeff Goodman pointed to the big-man matchup in the upcoming Gonzaga and Utah battle in the second half:

Perhaps the best news for college basketball fans is the fact there are 16 more games Friday after a full slate on Thursday. Social media will surely be ready. 

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Check out Bleacher Report's live updating bracket to track your picks along the road to the Final Four.

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