March Madness scores, highlights from Thursday's NCAA Tournament games

Nick Birdsong

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March Madness scores, highlights from Thursday's NCAA Tournament games image

MARCH MADNESS LIVE: Updates, highlights from Friday's games

The (March) Madness has begun. 

The 2018 NCAA Tournament first round tipped off Thursday. Sporting News provided live updates, scores and highlights from every first-round game. Catch up on all the March Madness scores and bracket-busting action below.  

MARCH MADNESS: 2018 NCAA Tournament bracket

March Madness scores, highlights from NCAA Tournament

No. 9 Alabama 86, No. 8 Virginia Tech 83

11:48 p.m. — The ninth-seeded Crimson Tide hold off the No. 8 Hokies behind Collin Sexton's 25 points (22 in the second half) and six assists. 'Bama's John Petty connected on six of eight 3-point attempts and finished with 20 points off the bench. Alabama will take on No. 1 Villanova on Saturday.

10:14 p.m — Alabama standout freshman Collin Sexton sat for most of the first half after picking up his second foul less than eight minutes into the game. The Hokies used red-hot shooting to take a 43-41 halftime lead. 

Virginia Tech shot 68 percent from the field and connected on seven of nine first-half 3-point attempts. Its backcourt duo of Justin Robinson (seven points) and Justin Bibbs (11 points) combined to shoot a perfect 77 from the field.

No. 13 Buffalo 89, No. 4 Arizona 68

11:49 p.m. — The 13th-seeded Bulls outscored Arizona 49-30 in the second half en route to a convincing 21-point victory over the Pac-12 champions. Arizona hit just two of its 18 3-point attempts and freshman standout DeAndre Ayton finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Buffalo's Wes Clark finished with 25 points and Jeremy Harris added 23 points. Bulls guard CJ Massinburg connected on five of eight 3-point attempts and finished with 19 points.

11:23 p.m. — Upset alert? Buffalo leads Arizona 70-57 with less than 10 minutes to play.

10:36 p.m. — No. 13 Buffalo heads to halftime with a 40-38 lead over No. 4 Arizona. The Bulls backcourt duo of Wes Clark (13 points) and Jeremy Harris (14 points) combined for 27 of Buffalo's 40. Standout Arizona freshman DeAndre Ayton finished the half with seven points and four rebounds. 

9:52 p.m. — The Bulls and Wildcats tip off in Boise.

No. 3 Michigan 61, No. 14 Montana 47

12:38 a.m. — Behind solid defense and Charles Matthews' 20 points and 11 rebounds, the Wolverines win the final game of Thursday's full slate. Michigan holds Montana to 32.1 percent shooting from the field and 20 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Michigan will take on No. 6 Houston Saturday.

11:16 p.m. — After trailing by as many as 10 points, Michigan leads Montana 31-28 at halftime. Junior guard Charles Matthews has led the way for the Wolverines with 12 points and seven rebounds. 

10:28 p.m. — The final game of the tournament's first day has tipped off in Wichita.

No. 6 Florida 77, No. 11 St. Bonaventure 62

12:28 a.m. — The Gators' defense holds St. Bonaventure to 35.4 percent shooting from the field and 15.8 percent 3-point shooting in UF's 15-point victory. Egor Koulechov finishes with 20 points for Florida, and senior guard Chris Chiozza adds eight points, 11 assists and three steals.

Florida will face Texas Tech on Saturday. 

11:12 p.m. — After Florida builds an early double-digit lead, the Bonnies cut the deficit to five at the half. Florida leads 27-22 behind eight points and five rebounds from senior guard Egor Koulechov. St. Bonaventure's Matt Mobley leads all scorers with 10 points.

10:17 p.m — The No. 6 Gators and No. 11 Bonnies are underway in Dallas.

No. 1 Villanova 87, No. 16 Radford 61

8:53 p.m. — Villanova uses a balanced attack to defeat Radford. Six different Wildcats score in double figures, led by Jalen Brunson with 16 points. Villanova awaits the winner of the late matchup between No. 8 Virginia Tech and No. 9 Alabama.

7:40 p.m. — The Wildcats take a 44-23 lead into the half. Villanova shoots 68.2 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.

7:10 p.m. — Villanova leads 22-8 at the second media timeout of the game behind seven points from Jalen Brunson. 

6:51 p.m. — Underway in Pittsburgh

No. 5 Kentucky 78, No. 12 Davidson 73

9:21 p.m. — Kentucky holds on to advance to the Round of 32 despite a number of late rally attempts by Davidson. Kentucky failed to connect on a 3-point attempt all game, while Davidson made 11 of its 33 3-point attempts. Kentucky forward Kevin Knox led all scorers with 25 points and guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander filled the stat sheet with 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals.

7:55 p.m. — Kentucky holds Davidson to 30.3 percent shooting from the field and head into the half up 34-24 over the Atlantic 10 champions. Kentucky's PJ Washington leads all scorers with 11 points. 

7:11 p.m. — The battle of Wildcats tips off in Boise.
 

No. 6 Houston 67, No. 11 San Diego State 65

9:53 p.m. — After a clutch Devin Watson 3-pointer tied the game at 65, Houston's Rob Gray hit the game-winning layup with just over a second remaining. Gray scored 23 of his career-high 39 points in the second half.

8:32 p.m. — Houston holds San Diego State without a field goal for the final 6:39 of the first half to take a 39-29 lead into the half. The Cougars' Rob Gray leads all scorers with 16 points.

7:40 p.m. — The Cougars and Aztecs tip off in Wichita.

No. 3 Texas Tech 70, No. 14 Stephen F. Austin 60

8:26 p.m. —  SFA uses a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to take a 30-27 lead at the half. Lumberjacks junior guard Shannon Bogues leads all scorers with 11 points off the bench.

7:56 p.m. — Texas Tech's Zhaire Smith steals the show with this acrobatic alley-oop finish.

7:28 p.m. — The Red Raiders and Lumberjacks are underway in Dallas.

No. 7 Rhode Island 83, No. 10 Oklahoma 78

Rhode Island came through in the clutch to send Oklahoma into the offseason.

2:39 p.m. — It's a wrap. Rhode Island ends Oklahoma's season and likely Trae Young's college career with a five-point victory. 

2:22 p.m. — We're headed for overtime.

1:03 p.m. — The Sooners take a 35-31 lead into the halftime break. Oklahoma freshman Trae Young leads all scorers with 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting to go with three rebounds and two assists. The Sooners have limited the Rams to 37.1 percent shooting from the field, including an abysmal 22.2 from 3-point range. Jared Terrell leads the Rams with seven points. 

12:43 p.m. — Oklahoma freshman Trae Young ,the nation's leading scorer, goes to the bench with 10 points after picking up his second personal foul with 8:35 go in the first half. The Sooners lead 22-21. 

12:16 p.m. — The 2018 NCAA Tournament is underway with tipoff between the Rams and Sooners. 

No. 3 Tennessee 73, No. 14 Wright State 47

1:58 p.m. — Nothing to see here, kids. The Volunteers lead 43-27 with 16:32 to go. 

1:30 p.m. — Tennessee looks comfortable with a 34-23 lead against the Wright State. Admiral Schofield leads all scorers with 10 points to go with six rebounds and two blocks. The Rowdy Raiders are shooting 10 for 31 from the field. 

12:51 p.m. — Tennessee's Kyle Alexander is NOT HAVING IT! 

12:41 p.m. — Things are underway between the third-seeded Volunteers and No. 14 Rowdy Raiders. 

No. 4 Gonzaga 68, No. 13 UNCG 64

3:38 p.m. — Gonzaga survives the upset bid. 

3:35 p.m. — Gonzaga guard Zach Norwell Jr. delivers a dagger of a 3-pointer from the wing to put the Bulldogs up three late. 

3:23 p.m. — Gonzaga and UNCG are tied at 60 with 3:22 remaining. 

3:05 p.m. — UNCG is hanging around, trailing by five at 49-44 with 11:00 to play. 

1:39 p.m. — No need to rip up your bracket yet, but UNCG is leading Gonzaga 8-5 with 15:07 to play in the first half. 

No. 1 Kansas 76, No. 16 Penn 60

3:58 p.m. — The Jayhawks outlast a game Penn squad behind a 29-point effort from unanimous Big 12 Player of the Year Devonte' Graham.

3:30 p.m. — Penn just pulled to within four near the midway point of the second half. 

2:51 p.m. — Kansas closes the first half on a 22-5 run to take a 33-26 lead into halftime. 

2:01 p.m. — The Jayhawks and Quakers are underway. 

No. 2 Duke 89, No. 15 Iona 67

5:05 p.m. — Marvin Bagley leads the way with 22. Trevon Duval adds 19 and Grayson Allen and Gary Trent both score 16 apiece as the Blue Devils run through the Gaels with ease. 

3:59 p.m. — Duke leads 53-39 at the half. Freshman Marvin Bagley already has 14 points. Fellow freshman Trevon Duval has 13 and senior Grayson Allen added 11 in the first 20 minutes of play. No Gael has reached double figures in scoring yet. 

3:12 p.m. — This game has tipped off. 

No. 11 Loyola (Ill.) 64, No. 6 Miami (Fla.) 62

5:21 p.m. — Donte Ingram nails a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds remaining to lift the Ramblers to a 64-62 upset of the Hurricanes. Welcome to March, ladies and gentlemen. 

5:16 p.m. — Loyola's Clayton Custer ties Miami at 60 with a 3-pointer from the corner. 

4:15 p.m. — Loyola and Miami are tied 28-28 at the half. The Ramblers have outrebounded the Hurricanes 14-12 and have committed one less turnover to remain in contention for the upset. No player on either team has reached double figures in scoring. 

3:40 p.m. — Loyola leads 18-13 with nine minutes to go in the first half. Upset alert? 

No. 5 Ohio State 81, No. 12 South Dakota State 73

6:06 p.m. — Thanks to a team-high 24 points and game-high 12 rebounds from big man Keita Bates-Diop, the Buckeyes hold off a surging Jackrabbits squad that was looking to pull of a 12-5 upset. Kam Williams and C.J. Jackson had 22 and 20 points, respectively, for the Buckeyes. SDSU post player Mike Daum scored a game-high 27 points and teammates Brandon Key and David Jenkins added 16 apiece in the losing effort. 

4:53 p.m. — A 3-pointer by SDSU's Reed Tellinghuisen ties the game 43-43 with 1:15 to play before the half. 

4:38 p.m. — South Dakota post player Mike Daum goes baseline and bangs. His team trails 38-29 with 4:46 to play in the first half. 

4:24 p.m. — Ohio State big man Keita Bates-Diop has scored 10 of his team's first 16 points as the Buckeyes lead by four with 11:59 to play in the first half. 

No. 8 Seton Hall 94, No. 9 N.C. State 83

6:50 p.m. — The Pirates win behind 26 points from senior guard Khadeen Carrington. Seton Hall scores 90 points in an NCAA Tournament game for just the second time in program history, and the first time since 1989. N.C. State graduate transfer Allerik Freeman leads all scorers with 36 points and adds seven rebounds.

6:27 p.m. — Up 79-70 with 4:39 to go, Seton Hall is pulling away from N.C. State. 

5:11 p.m. — Seton Hall leads 42-36 on 6-for-9 shooting from behind the 3-point line. The Pirates ranked seventh in 3-pointers made in the Big East this season. 

4:49 p.m. — Seton Hall's Khadeen Carrington is off to a hot start with eight points as the Pirates lead the Wolfpack 25-16 with 11:30 to play in the first half. 

NCAA Tournament schedule: Next up

Friday, March 16

No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 10 Providence 12:15 p.m. CBS/fuboTV 
No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 15 Cal State Fullerton 12:40 p.m. truTV
No. 4 Wichita State vs. No. 13 Marshall 1:30 p.m. TNT
No. 2 Cincinnati vs. No. 15 Georgia State 2 p.m. TBS
No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 15 Lipscomb 2:45 p.m.* CBS/fuboTV
No. 7 Arkansas vs. No. 10 Butler 3:10 p.m.* truTV
No. 5 West Virginia vs. No. 12 Murray State 4 p.m.* TNT
No. 7 Nevada vs. No. 10 Texas 4:30 p.m.* TBS
No. 8 Creighton vs. No. 9 Kansas State 6:50 p.m. TNT
No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 14 Bucknell 7:10 p.m. CBS/fuboTV
No. 1 Xavier vs. No. 16 Texas Southern 7:20 p.m. TBS
No. 4 Auburn vs. No. 13 Charleston 7:27 p.m. truTV
No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 16 UMBC 9:20 p.m.* TNT
No. 6 TCU vs. No. 11 Syracuse 9:40 p.m.* CBS/fuboTV
No. 8 Missouri vs. No. 9 Florida State 9:50 p.m.* TBS
No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 12 New Mexico State 9:57 p.m.* truTV 

*Approximate tip-off time.

Nick Birdsong