Braden Smith, Nebraska, and A-10 among 1st Round winners of NCAA Tournament

The Round of 64 has been completed, with the biggest winner overall being the top seeds in the NCAA Tournament, all surviving to the next round. But who else had the best 48 hours to open the best postseason event? 

Here are some other winners from the first round.

Siena HC Gerry McNamara 

Yes, he wasn’t able to pull off what would’ve been the second-ever 16-seed over a 1 victory in the Round of 64. But McNamara was close, leading Duke by 11 points at halftime and was competitive for all 40 minutes before coming up short. What makes him the winner is the turn of events that makes him the potential favorite to land the Syracuse job to replace Red Autry. 

At one point, that looked unlikely, but after leading Siena to the Big Dance and being so close to beating Duke, the Orange may have no choice but to give McNamara the shot after this weekend.

Tarris Reed Jr.’s historic game 

Even with two key rotation players out, UConn was able to win 82-71 over the 15-seed, Furman. They were led by Reed, going for a whopping 31 points and 27 rebounds, the most in nearly 60 years in an NCAA Tournament game. The senior center was unstoppable throughout, and without him, the Huskies would’ve been on upset alert. In the last game of the Round of 64, we saw the best individual performance of them all.

Nebraska ending the drought

One of the more fascinating streaks in college basketball is that in 130 years, Nebraska Men’s Basketball has yet to win a single NCAA Tournament game. That changed on Thursday, when they beat Troy 76-47 to reach their first-ever Round of 32. The Cornhuskers have one of the best teams in program history and have a chance to keep advancing if they beat Vanderbilt on Saturday.

High Point Panthers

The lowest-seeded team to advance out of the first round was High Point, which won a thrilling 83-82 battle against Wisconsin. Point guard Rob Martin led the team with 23 points and 10 assists, outplaying both Nick Boyd and John Blackwell of the Badgers.

The Panthers have emerged as a premier mid-major program, dominating the Big South for the last couple of years. But this was the breakthrough moment for them on the national radar to beat a quality Big Ten team. They look to make even more noise, taking on 4-seed Arkansas for a shot at the Sweet 16.

Atlantic 10

On Selection Sunday, it was confirmed that VCU would have been left out of the Big Dance had it not won the A-10 Tournament. They nearly were left out of the Round of 32, down by as many as 19 points in the second half against UNC. But led by Terrence Hill Jr.’s 34 points, the Rams pulled off the comeback, winning 82-78 over the Tar Heels in OT.

Saint Louis, which got the at-large bid, had no such close dominating, leading 8-seed Georgia by as many as 40 points en route to a 102-77 victory. While other conferences did not have a great group run in the tournament, the A-10 certainly did.

Otega Oweh

The SEC Player of the Year has had some ups and downs through his senior year with the Wildcats. But Oweh did lead them to the Big Dance and had arguably his best game of the season, scoring 35 points, including the game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime. Kentucky went on to win 89-84 in OT over Santa Clara, with Oweh having another game in his college career.

Braden Smith

After going on a run to win the Big Ten Tournament, it became a formality that Smith would break the all-time assists record, held by former Duke guard Bobby Hurley. He managed to do it early against Queens, finishing with eight total to break the D-I career record. Now, he has the chance to add to it, taking on Miami or Missouri in the Round of 32.