NCAA Tournament 2016: Friday's 1st-Round Scores, Updated Bracket and Schedule

The 2016 NCAA tournament headed into the second half of the first round Friday after an opening day that saw Yale and Arkansas-Little Rock bust plenty of brackets. All early signs point to another year where March Madness lives up to its nickname.

Friday's action marked the start of the tournament runs of the West Region's top seed, Oregon, as well as several other title hopefuls from around the bracket. The latter group included all four No. 2 seeds, Michigan State, Villanova, Oklahoma and Xavier.

Let's check out the complete schedule for Friday's tournament play, which will be updated with more results throughout the day. That's followed by a recap of the action.

Friday's Round 1 Results

Region	Team	Team	Result/Time
Midwest	No. 7 Dayton	No. 10 Syracuse	70-51 SYR
South	No. 2 Villanova	No. 15 UNC Asheville	86-56 NOVA
West	No. 7 Oregon State	No. 10 VCU	75-67 VCU
South	No. 4 Cal	No. 13 Hawaii	77-66 HAW
Midwest	No. 2 Michigan State	No. 15 Middle Tennessee	90-81 MT
South	No. 7 Iowa	No. 10 Temple	72-70 IOWA (OT)
West	No. 2 Oklahoma	No. 15 CSU Bakersfield	82-68 OKLA
South	No. 5 Maryland	No. 12 South Dakota State	79-74 MARY
East	No. 7 Wisconsin	No. 10 Pittsburgh	47-43 WIS
East	No. 3 West Virginia	No. 14 Stephen F. Austin	70-56 SFA
West	No. 3 Texas A&M	No. 14 Green Bay	92-65 A&M
West	No. 1 Oregon	No. 16 Holy Cross	91-52 ORE
East	No. 2 Xavier	No. 15 Weber State	71-53 Xavier
East	No. 6 Notre Dame	No. 11 Michigan	70-63 ND
West	No. 6 Texas	No. 11 Northern Iowa	75-72 UNI
West	No. 8 Saint Joseph's	No. 9 Cincinnati	78-76 SJU

Updated Tournament Bracket

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

Midwest: No. 10 Syracuse 70, No. 7 Dayton 51

Syracuse did its best to show it belongs in the tournament with an impressive 70-51 victory over Dayton to open Friday's tournament play. The Orange were a controversial selection after losing five of their last six games while on the bubble.

Those struggles were nowhere in sight against the Flyers. After heading into halftime with a two-point lead, the Orange pulled away in the second half with a 15-3 run over the first six minutes. It was a level of play they rarely showed during the regular season.

NCAA March Madness highlighted a key three from Michael Gbinije during that hot stretch from the field:

Syracuse retained complete control from that point forward. Dayton could never quite figure out the 'Cuse zone, shooting just 32 percent from the field in the contest.

It was a tough loss for some Flyers fans to handle, as Bleacher Report showed, though becoming the Internet's latest viral sensation could be a cool consolation prize:

Malachi Richardson led the way for the Orange at the offensive end with 21 points. Gbinije chipped in 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Tyler Roberson went to work on the boards en route to an 18-rebound afternoon.

Charles Cooke had 14 points in a losing effort for Dayton. Scoochie Smith also had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists in a game where the Flyers simply couldn't generate enough offense to keep pace with a motivated Orange squad.  

South: No. 2 Villanova 86, No. 15 UNC Asheville 56

Villanova overcame a sluggish start to cruise past a UNC Asheville, 86-56. The Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs 62-34 after a highly competitive first 15 minutes.

The Wildcats haven't made it beyond the first weekend of the NCAA tournament since 2009. That string of early exits started to creep back into everybody's mind as they struggled to pull away from Asheville in the opening half.

They eventually settled in and found a rhythm as the offensive end, though. The key shot came right before halftime as Ryan Arcidiacono hit a buzzer-beating three to give them a 14-point lead and they never looked back:

Daniel Ochefu paced the Wildcats with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Arcidiacono added 14 points, most of which came from four three-pointers. Villanova as a whole shot 58 percent from the field and 46 percent from beyond the arc.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs didn't come anywhere close to matching those numbers. They shot 37 percent and connected on just five of their 17 three-point attempts. Freshman Dylan Smith did have a solid outing with 14 points and five assists in the loss.

West: No. 10 VCU 75, No. 7 Oregon State 67

JeQuan Lewis and Mo Alie-Cox combined for 41 points as VCU overcame a poor shooting night from downtown to earn a 75-67 victory over Oregon State.

The Rams made just four of the 20 shots from beyond the arc, but the completely controlled the paint to build and then hold onto the lead. They held a 40-28 rebounding edge to create second-chance opportunities and force Oregon State into a lot of one-and-done possessions.

It's an important victory to keep the season alive, but also because what it means for first-year head coach Will Wade the program on a larger scale, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN discussed:

VCU won't be a pushover heading into the second round and possibly beyond, either. It still plays an aggressive brand of basketball that puts a lot of pressure on opponents. If it can start to heat up from downtown, the potential is there to make some serious noise.

Gary Payton II, the son of former NBA star Gary Payton and a possible first-round pick in the 2016 draft, had 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals in the loss. The rest of the starting lineup scored just 24 points combined, however.

South: No. 13 Hawaii 77, No. 4 Cal 66

Hawaii took advantage of an undermanned Cal squad to score one of several upsets during Friday's often chaotic day of tournament action.

The Golden Bears were without leading scorer Tyrone Wallace, who suffered a broken hand in practice Wednesday, as reported by Jeff Faraudo of the San Jose Mercury News. They simply couldn't replace the all-around impact he made throughout the campaign.

ESPN Stats and Info pointed out it's the first tourney triumph for Hawaii:

Quincy Smith, Roderick Bobbitt and Stefan Jankovic combined for 52 of the Warriors' 77 points. While they advanced, the bench, which chipped in just eight points, will likely need to take on a heavier burden moving forward if they want to make a Cinderella run.

Jordan Mathews shine for Cal with 23 points. He also made the team's only trio of three-pointers. Everybody else went a combined 0 for 11 from long range, which is the main reason the team could never find the spark it needed.

Midwest: No. 15 Middle Tennessee 90, No. 2 Michigan State 81

Wow. Middle Tennessee truly shocked the college basketball world with its 90-81 triumph over Michigan State, which was not only a two seed, but also one of the most popular picks to win the title.

The most impressive thing about the Blue Raiders was how they battled the Spartans toe-to-toe for 40 minutes. Yes, they knocked down 11 three-pointers to help spur the victory, but they also outbattled the favorites for several crucial rebounds in the final minutes.

Never did Middle Tennessee back down as the pressure picked up in the second half. Never did it look like it was a team merely trying to hold on to a lucky lead. It was a hard-fought, deserved victory.

Reggie Upshaw delivered an emphatic dunk in the final minute to put a stamp on the shocker:

ESPN Stats and Info noted it ranks among the biggest upsets in tournament history:

And, of course, it also destroyed plenty of brackets, as Bleacher Report joked:

Upshaw led the charge with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists. Giddy Potts added 19 points and five rebounds. The entire Middle Tennessee starting lineup reached double figures as Michigan State simply had no answers on the defensive end.

Denzel Valentine had 13 points, 12 assists and six rebounds in the highly unexpected defeat. Matt Costello tallied 22 points and nine boards. The Spartans actually shot 56 percent from the field, but couldn't get any stops when they needed them most.

Now the question is whether the Blue Raiders will have an magic left when they return to the court Sunday to face off with Syracuse.

South: No. 7 Iowa 72, No. 10 Temple 70 (OT)

Adam Woodbury tipped home an errant shot from Mike Gesell at the buzzer to give Iowa a thrilling 72-70 over Temple in overtime.

Though Middle Tennessee will rightfully get all of the attention tonight, the Hawkeyes and Owls put on quite a show at the same time. They went back and forth for 45 entertaining minutes with neither side ever able to pull away.

They probably could have gone two or three move OTs if Woodbury didn't play the role of hero. Bleacher Report spotlighted the game-winning shot:

Jarrod Uthoff had 23 points to pace the Iowa offense. Peter Jok added 16 points and seven rebounds as the Hawkeyes received a well-rounded effort to survive and advance.

Quenton DeCosey registered 26 points and eight boards for Temple. Finding a way to replace the senior guard, who led the team in scoring, will be the biggest task heading into next season for the Owls.

West: No. 2 Oklahoma 82, No. 15 CSU Bakersfield 68

Oklahoma avoided the same fate as fellow No. 2 seed Michigan State with a 82-68 triumph over a gamely CSU Bakersfield group.

Even though the final score was lopsided, the Roadrunners actually have the Sooners a solid opening test. Both halves actually finished with identical scores, 41-34, which really shows that Oklahoma had to battle from start to finish to get the win.

The Franchise Sports passed along comments from Sooners head coach Lon Kruger about surviving the first test:

Dynamic guard Buddy Hield was up to his usual tricks with 27 points and five rebounds as he often willed the Sooners to build their lead. Isaiah Cousins chipped in 16 points, five assists and three rebounds for the title-hopeful squad.

Aly Ahmed and Kevin Mays combined for 30 points and 16 boards as the Roadrunners were able to find pretty regular success on the interior. That's an area the Sooners will need to clean up as they get prepared to face VCU on Sunday.

South: No. 5 Maryland 79, No. 12 South Dakota State 74

Maryland survived some tense moments down the stretch to escape with a 79-74 win over upset-minded South Dakota to close out the early session.

The Terrapins led by 11 with four minutes left before the Jackrabbits started making a late charge. They cut the lead all the way down to two with 14 seconds to go. They had a chance to tie with a three after a Jaylen Brantley free throw for Maryland, but couldn't get a shot off on their final possession.

Bleacher Report highlighted the Rasheed Sulaimon steal and dunk to put the game on ice:

Jake Layman was on fire for the Terrapins all afternoon as he put up 27 points on 7 of 11 shooting, including five makes from three-point range. Melo Trimble had a strong showing of his own with 19 points, including a 9-9 mark from the free-throw line.

South Dakota State got 22 points from Deondre Parks and 16 from Mike Daum. The good news for the Jackrabbits is that they have a pretty young group and should make another trip to March Madness' main event in the near future.

East: No. 7 Wisconsin 47, No. 10 Pittsburgh 43

This game was not meant for those who love offense, but the Badgers survived a defensive slugfest against Pittsburgh in their first round matchup.

Ethan Happ led the Badgers with 15 points as one of three players who scored in double figures. Nigel Hayes also had 12 points for Wisconsin, but he shot 3-of-17 from the floor.

Wisconsin did not take its first lead until 15 minutes, 55 seconds left in the second half after a Happ dunk. The Panthers held the lead for most of the next 13 minutes until Vitto Brown's three-pointer with 2:37 remaining gave Wisconsin the lead for good.

This low-scoring affair turned out to be a historic one, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Wisconsin will play the winner of Xavier and Weber State in the next round.

West: No. 3 Texas A&M 92, No. 14 Green Bay 65

The Aggies are now 24-4 when scoring at least 70 points this year after a 27-point victory over the Phoenix on Friday night.

Texas A&M was paced by Danuel House's team-high 20 points as the Aggies won a tournament game for the first time since 2010. Five players in total scored in double figures for the Aggies.

Khalil Small led Green Bay with 22 points, and was the only player to provide any offensive spark. Green Bay shot 37.5 percent from the floor. Texas A&M's defense turned into efficient offense at the other end, converting on 56 percent of its shots.

CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein thinks they have enough depth to make a run:

The Aggies look like the team that can come out of the West, but will be sure to have a tough matchup in the second round either against Texas or Northern Iowa.

East: No. 14 Stephen F. Austin 70, No. 3 West Virginia 56

Stephen F. Austin isn't your traditional 14 seed. The Lumberjacks got 33 points from Thomas Walkup to put them into the second round for the second time in three years after beating West Virginia.

This was the same West Virginia team that nearly knocked off the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 title game, but didn't look the part on this day. Devin Williams scored 12 points on 3-of-10 shooting for the Mountaineers.

Clide Geffrard was the only other Lumberjack to score in double figures with 14 points, but took 13 shots to get there. Nineteen of Walkup's points came from the free throw line and he only missed one attempt.

But what was more impressive on Stephen F. Austin's end was containing the Mountaineers from the three-point line, per CBS Sports with a bit of humor:

The Lumberjacks have never made the Sweet 16 in their history, but will get that chance against the winner of Notre Dame and Michigan.

West: No. 1 Oregon 91, No. 16 Holy Cross 52

It was a one-sided victory for the first-seeded Ducks, defeating Holy Cross by 39 points in their first ever NCAA tournament game as a No. 1 seed.

Chris Boucher led Oregon with 20 points while Dwayne Benjamin also had 12 points, and the Ducks shot 55.7 percent from the floor in their wire-to-wire victory.

Robert Champion led Holy Cross with 22 points in the loss.

East: No. 2 Xavier 71, No. 15 Weber State 53

James Farr provided 18 points off the bench as the second-seeded Musketeers breezed through Weber State by 18 points on Friday.

Xavier shot 48 percent from the floor, including 7-of-14 from three-point range. Farr also grabbed 15 rebounds to cap off his 7-of-15 shooting performance for his second straight double-double. The Musketeers improved to 9-3 all time in first round NCAA tournament games.

Joel Bolomboy led Weber State with 14 points, which shot 38.6 percent from the floor. 

With one more win, the Musketeers could make some notable history, per Big East Coast Bias:

Xavier controlled this game from the opening tip, and Farr's double-double was all it needed to keep Weber State contained.

East: No. 6 Notre Dame 70, No. 11 Michigan 63

The Fighting Irish were in danger of being eliminated by a Michigan team that hasn't been at full strength for over a month, but Notre Dame hung on to defeat the Wolverines in Brooklyn.

V.J. Beachem made all seven of his shot attempts for a game-high 18 points, his third consecutive double-digit performance to lead the Irish into the second round.

Michigan had a 12-point halftime lead. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman had 15 points, but the Wolverines combined to shoot 39.7 percent from the floor.

What turned the tide of the game was a 15-7 run by Notre Dame to close the deal. With 1:38 remaining, Bonzie Colson made a shot to give the Irish a five-point lead and give Notre Dame the lead for good.

Notre Dame's win turned out to be a good day for the ACC, as David Teel of the Daily Press points out:

The Irish's chances at a second straight Elite Eight are very much alive, but the road to get there will not be easy. Notre Dame faces a Stephen F. Austin team that defeated third-seeded West Virginia on Friday.

West: No. 8 Saint Joseph's 78, No. 9 Cincinnati 76

Talk about too close. Isaiah Miles' three-pointer with nine seconds left gave the Hawks a two-point lead, but Octavius Ellis' dunk as time expired did not count as the Hawks barely survived on Friday night.

DeAndre' Bembry led the Hawks with 23 points in what was an exciting back-and-forth affair. Saint Joe's had a 12-point lead at one point in the second half before the Bearcats came back to take a 71-68 lead behind the play of freshman Jacob Evans III.

Evans scored a game-high 26 points and hit three of his five three-pointers during a 13-3 run for the Bearcats.

After a dunk from Evans gave the Bearcats a one-point lead, Miles hit his three from the left wing to give the Hawks an improbable victory.

The road doesn't get any easier for Saint Joe's, who now have to go through No. 1 Oregon with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.

West: No. 11 Northern Iowa 75, No. 6 Texas 72

And to cap off the day, perhaps the greatest shot in the history of the NCAA tournament.

After Texas guard Isaiah Taylor's floater went in with two seconds remaining, NIU guard Paul Jesperson drained a miraculous half-court shot at the buzzer to give Northern Iowa an improbable three-point win over the Longhorns.

Jesperson scored 14 points, but none bigger than that shot to put NIU into the round of 32 for the second year in a row. The Panthers will be looking for their first Sweet 16 berth since 2010. 

That heave from Jesperson was the 43rd three-point attempt combined, with both teams coming together to make 17.

It was a close contest throughout, but the only thing that'll be remembered is that three from Jesperson, which will forever remain in basketball lore.