The second day of the NCAA Tournament has come and gone, and we’re still lacking in the “Madness” department. This year is just the second time since 2008 that no 13, 14, 15, or 16 seed was unable to notch a win in the Round of 64. The first round delivered two classic five-over-12 upsets, and even better than that, the greatest sporting event on earth is only heating up with a loaded Round of 32 heading our way on Saturday and Sunday.
While we don’t have our Cinderella story yet, we’ve still gotten outstanding performances from some of the Tournament’s biggest stars and a few players who unexpectedly found themselves in the spotlight on Friday. So, without further ado, I give you the Busting Brackets March Madness Round of 64 Day 2 All-Tournament Team.
The early slate got interesting on Friday afternoon when 15-seed Robert Morris had two-seed Alabama on the ropes in the second half. The Colonials even forced Nate Oats to insert injured star Grant Nelson into the game with just over eight minutes left in the second half, but it was Mark Sears, not Nelson, who closed the game out for the Crimson Tide.
The All-American guard salted the game away with an impressive 11/13 performance from the free throw line, hitting 10 of 11 from the line in the final five minutes of the second half. Like a true veteran closer with Final Four experience 14 of his 22 points came after with under six minutes to go. Despite shooting 1-5 from three, Sears was a dominant offensive force, constantly penetrating to finish or rack up plenty of his 10 assists on lobs to his high-flying big men.
G, Kyan Evans, Colorado State, 21 pts, 4 asts, 6/9 3pt, vs Memphis 78-70 W
The 5 vs 12 matchup in the West Region was rightfully billed as a showdown between Memphis’s PJ Haggerty and Colorado State’s Nique Clifford, but sophomore guard Kyan Evans was the best player on the floor in the Rams' upset win.
The 6-foot-2 floor general averaged just over 10 points a game this season and was coming off a three-point performance in the Mountain West Tournament Championship Game victory over Boise State, but he took over on Friday afternoon in Seattle. Evans finished 7-11 from the field for 21 points with six three-pointers. A 43% shooter from deep on the year, Evans saved his career-high for the biggest game of his life in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Oh, and these weren’t just wide-open spot-ups.
6TH 3-POINTER OF THE DAY FOR KC EVANS ☔️#MarchMadness @CSUMBasketball pic.twitter.com/6VDV1LtfS7
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 21, 2025
There aren’t many players in college basketball playing better than Otega Oweh right now. The junior Oklahoma transfer had a memorable SEC Tournament with a game-winning buzzer-beater to cap a 27-point outing against Missouri in the second round. And that momentum has carried into The Big Dance.
Kentucky fans were on edge after last year’s first-round upset loss to Oakland, but Mark Pope’s entirely new roster was entirely unphased by a Round of 64 showdown with the Sun Belt Champs. Oweh started fast, scoring six of Kentucky’s first 11 points with a probing drive, a stepback jumper, and an athletic finish. His three-point range is limited, but his knack for getting to the basket and finding space in the mid-range was on full display in his first career March Madness appearance with a stat-sheet-stuffing performance.
Kentucky is battling injuries to Jaxson Robinson and point guard Lamont Butler who is playing with a shoulder brace, but Oweh is carrying the Cats, and the 6-foot-4 playmaker looks poised to end the program’s five-year Sweet 16 drought.
Amarion Dickerson was playing a personal home game back in Cleveland for the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and the 6-foot-7 junior D2 transfer had a homecoming to remember. Before fouling out late in the second half the Horizon League’s premier shot-blocker wreaked havoc against the highly-seed Crimson Tide.
DENIED by DICKERSON @RMUMBasketball pic.twitter.com/sPr5mkYs2K
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 21, 2025
Typically a 13-point per-game scorer, Dickerson shouldered a massive offensive load for the overmatched Colonials and led the first-time Horizon League champs to a 65-64 lead with 7:10 left in the second half. Dickerson went just 1-8 from deep but impacted the game in a myriad of ways with his intensity, length, and eye-popping athleticism. Robert Morris didn’t have enough down the stretch, but Dickerson’s day in front of his hometown was memorable.
PUTBACK POSTER by Dickerson 🤯🤯@RMUMBasketball pic.twitter.com/bu6m9pwzUO
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 21, 2025
As was the case with Memphis and Colorado State, New Mexico vs Marquette was all about the superstar guards. Donovan Dent vs Kam Jones was at the top of the marquee on Friday night in Cleveland, but just like Kyan Evans, David Joplin stole the show. With Jones struggling to 15 points on 14 shots in Marquette’s upset loss to the Lobos, Joplin stepped up to shoot 6/10 from beyond the arc, tied for the senior forward’s second-most made threes in a game this season.
Four of Joplin’s six threes came in the second half as he did everything he could to keep the Golden Eagles in the game and alive in the NCAA Tournament. His storied career at Marquette may have come to an end on Friday night, but Joplin went out with a bang.