First round

The biggest upset of the first day came in Providence, Rhode Island, where 14th-seeded Ohio defeated third-seeded Georgetown in convincing fashion, 97–83, for their first Tournament win since 1983, when they ousted Illinois State in the first round of that Tournament. Armon Bassett scored 32 points for the Bobcats, who shot 57 percent from the field and made 13 of 23 3-pointers.^[5][6] They advanced to face Tennessee, the sixth seed in the region. The Volunteers held off 11th seed San Diego State, 62–59, on head coach Bruce Pearl's 50th birthday. J. P. Prince and Melvin Goins scored 15 points each for Tennessee.^[7]

In Oklahoma City, Ali Farokhmanesh drilled a three-pointer with 4.9 seconds remaining to lift ninth-seeded Northern Iowa over UNLV. It was the Panthers first Tournament win since 1990.^[8] UNI advanced to face top-seeded Kansas. The top seed withheld an effort by Lehigh, trailing the 16th seed early in the game and leading by just six at halftime before pulling away midway in the second half for a 90–74 win.^[9]

On the second day of play, 10th-seeded Georgia Tech failed to make a single field goal in the final 8:19 of play, but sank 13 free throws to hold off No. 7 Oklahoma State, 64–59, in Milwaukee. Gani Lawal led Georgia Tech with 14 points.^[10] The Yellow Jackets advanced to play Ohio State, who defeated UC Santa Barbara 68–51. Buckeye star Evan Turner struggled from the field, shooting 2–13 and scoring nine points, and the Gauchos put up a fight playing from behind most of the game.^[11]

Rounding out the Midwest bracket were Maryland and Michigan State in Spokane, Washington. The Terrapins beat Houston 89–77 behind a career-high 21 points and 17 rebounds from freshman Jordan Williams,^[12] while the Spartans edged New Mexico State, 70–67. The end of the game included a controversial lane violation call on Aggies player Troy Gillenwater with 18.6 seconds left that allowed MSU to reshoot a missed free throw and extend its lead to 3.^[13]

Second round

Northern Iowa stunned the nation by knocking off top overall seed Kansas, 69–67. Leading by just one in the final minute of play, Ali Farokhmanesh clinched the victory for the second time in as many games with a three-point basket that ESPN's Pat Forde called "the greatest early-round shot in NCAA tournament history."^[14] The win was significant for several reasons: it marked the Panthers' first trip ever to the Sweet Sixteen, and was the first time in six years a No. 1 seed was eliminated in the round of 32. It was also the first time since 1962 that a team from the Missouri Valley Conference had defeated a top seed in the Tournament.^[15] Meanwhile, Michigan State lost guard Kalin Lucas to a leg injury late in the first half of its game with Maryland. Michigan State extended its halftime lead of NINE to 16 in the second half before falling behind by one late after succumbing to Maryland's relentless pressure defense and some spectacular plays by Greivis Vásquez. But Korie Lucious kept MSU from losing the game, hitting a 3-pointer as time ran out to lift his team past the Terrapins, 85–83.^[16] Lucas' injury proved to be a torn Achilles tendon, putting the junior out of action for up to six months.^[17]

For the third time in four years, Tennessee made it to the regional semifinals with their 83–68 win over Ohio. J. P. Prince scored 18 points for the Volunteers, while Scotty Hopson added 17.^[18] In Milwaukee, Ohio State's Evan Turner bounced back from his off-night in the first round, nearly recording a triple-double (24 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists) as the Buckeyes downed Georgia Tech 75–66.^[19]

Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)

Regional final (Elite Eight)

Michigan State's Durrell Summers, after scoring 80 points on 54 field goal attempts, was named the region's Most Outstanding Player.^[20]

First round

For the second time in three years, the Vanderbilt Commodores were victims of the upset, losing to Murray State on a Danero Thomas shot with time expiring, 66–65, in San Jose, California. Like 2008, when they lost to Siena, Vandy was seeded fourth against the Racers.^[21] Murray State advanced to face fifth-seeded Butler, who defeated UTEP, 77–59, after trailing 33–27 at the half. Shelvin Mack led the Bulldogs with 25 points.^[22]

Meanwhile, the Florida Gators rallied from a 13-point deficit in Oklahoma City to send their game with BYU to two overtimes. But Florida player Chandler Parsons missed chances to win the game at the end of regulation and the first overtime, and BYU's Jimmer Fredette sealed the 99–92 win with a pair of threes in the second overtime. Fredette finished with 37 points, the eighth time that year he'd scored over 30.^[23] BYU's advanced to play Kansas State, who had little trouble with the North Texas Mean Green, winning 82–62.^[24]

Five years after Vermont upset Syracuse, the two teams met again in the Big Dance, this time in Buffalo, New York. Unlike the 2005 game, however, Syracuse was able to shut down the Catamounts, winning 79–56. Five players scored in double digits for the Orange.^[25] They advanced to play Gonzaga. The Bulldogs had an 18-point led against Florida State, but the Seminoles cut it to five with 2:21 remaining. The Zags survived FSU's comeback, however, by making 8 of 10 free throws down the stretch to seal a 67–60 win.^[26]

The last two slots in the West went to Pittsburgh and Xavier. It was a close game between Pittsburgh and Oakland in Milwaukee until Grizzlies forward Derick Nelson received an elbow from Gary McGhee of the Panthers, opening a cut over his left eye that began spurting blood. Immediately after Nelson's departure, Pitt went on a 19–2 run. The Panthers held Oakland to 33 percent in their 89–66 victory.^[27] As for Xavier, they beat Minnesota, 65–54. Jordan Crawford, the Xavier player who made national headlines the previous summer when he dunked on LeBron James during a training camp held by the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar,^[28] scored 28 points for the Musketeers, 17 of those came in the second half.^[29]

Second round

Murray State had another chance at an upset against Butler, but a 3-point play by Bulldog Ronald Nored dashed those hopes, along with Gordon Hayward deflecting a Racers pass. Butler won 54–52.^[30] The Bulldogs' next opponent, top-seeded Syracuse, rolled over Gonzaga, 87–65, with Wes Johnson scoring a career best 31 points and pulling 14 rebounds.^[31]

2 seed Kansas State fell behind to BYU early, trailing 10–0 to start the game. But the Wildcats would pull ahead with 4:21 to go in the first half and never relinquished the lead after that, advancing to the next round with an 84–72 win. K-State's Jacob Pullen had a career-high 34 points.^[32] And third-seeded Pitt was eliminated by Xavier, 71–68. Jordan Crawford had 27 points for the Musketeers.^[33]

Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)

Tu Holloway

In what Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com called "one of the best games in the history of the Sweet 16", Kansas State downed Xavier, 101–96, in double overtime in Salt Lake City.^[34] The Musketeers' Terrell Holloway made three free throws with 5 seconds remaining in regulation to pull Xavier even with the Wildcats. Down 3 again with the first overtime winding down, Jordan Crawford nailed a 35-foot shot to extend the game further. Jacob Pullen then hit a pair of threes in the second overtime to push K-State over the top.^[35]

Syracuse became the second number-one seed to fall, as Butler claimed its first-ever trip to the Elite Eight. The 63–59 win brought the Bulldogs within one win of playing the Final Four in their home city. Trailing by four with 5:23 left, Butler held the Orange scoreless for nearly five minutes, while scoring 11 points of their own, including a 3-point shot by Willie Veasley that bounced high off the rim before hitting the backboard and eventually falling through the net. The win marked Butler's 23rd in a row.^[36]

Regional final (Elite Eight)

The West All-Regional team was made of regional MVP Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack of Butler, Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen of Kansas State, and Jordan Crawford of Xavier.^[37]

First round

In New Orleans, Ishmael Smith scored a 17-foot jumper with 1.3 seconds left in overtime as Wake Forest defeated Texas, 81–80. The Longhorns, who had been ranked number one as recently as January, but fell to an 8 seed in the tournament, twice trailed by double digits before rallying, then held an eight-point lead before falling.^[38] Wake Forest advanced to face top-seeded Kentucky, who breezed past East Tennessee State, 100–71.^[39]

A basket by Quincy Pondexter with 1.7 seconds remaining helped the Washington Huskies past Marquette, 80–78, in San Jose. Washington had trailed by 15 with over 13 minutes to go in the second half.^[40] The Huskies advanced to face New Mexico, who beat the Montana Grizzlies, 62–57. Roman Martinez scored 19 points for the Lobos, while Darington Hobson had 11 points, 11 rebounds and six assists despite playing with a sprained left wrist.^[41]

Ivy League champion Cornell joined the parade of double-digit seeds advancing to the second round with a dominating performance over Temple, 78–65, in Jacksonville, Florida. Louis Dale, Ryan Wittman and Jeff Foote, all seniors for the Big Red, scored 21, 20 and 16 points respectively, and Cornell shot 56 percent from the field overall, making 8 of their first 10 shots and shooting 68 percent in the first half. It was the first tournament win in Big Red history.^[42] The Wisconsin Badgers, who Cornell drew next, managed to avoid getting upset itself, beating Wofford in a low-scoring affair, 53–49. A pair of free throws from Jon Leuer with 4.2 seconds on the clock sealed the win for Badgers. Leuer had 20 points on the day.^[43]

One year after reaching the Elite Eight, 10th-seeded Missouri knocked off No. 7 Clemson, 86–78, in Buffalo. The Missouri Tigers' defense forced 20 turnovers and stole the ball 15 times in the win, while Kim English and Keith Ramsey had 20 points each offensively.^[44] Mizzou advanced to play West Virginia, who started its opening round game trailing Morgan State, 12–3. But the 2 seed hit 8 of its next 11 shots to take the lead for good en route to a 77–50 win.^[45]

Second round

Washington looked nothing like the No. 11 seed in the East, dismantling third-seeded New Mexico, 82–64. With 18 points from Quincy Pondexter and 15 from Isaiah Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning each, the Huskies played their uptempo style to a 12-point lead at halftime that grew to 23 midway through the second half. Washington made the Sweet 16 for the third time since 2005.^[46] West Virginia reached the Sweet 16 after beating Missouri, 68–59. Da'Sean Butler had 28 points for the Mountaineers, while the Tigers were plagued by poor shooting from the field and at the line.^[47]

It was another blowout for the Kentucky Wildcats as they beat Wake Forest, 90–60. Four players scored in double figures for UK as they built an early cushion, then padded it to 31 points by the second half.^[48] The Wildcats became the next hurdle in Cornell's Cinderella season, which continued with an 87–69 pasting of No. 4 Wisconsin. Thanks to 26 points from Louis Dale, another 24 from Ryan Wittman, and a 61 percent shooting effort overall—the highest percentage ever allowed by the Badgers in Bo Ryan's nine-year tenure in Madison^[49]—the Big Red became the first team from the Ivy League to reach the round of 16 in more than 30 years.^[50]

Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)

The clock struck midnight for 12 seed Cornell and 11 seed Washington. Kentucky put an end to the Big Red's Cinderella run with a 62–45 win in Syracuse, New York. The game started promising for Cornell, as they took a 10–2 lead to the delight of the partisan-Big Red crowd. But a talented Wildcats squad spoiled the party after that with 16 points from DeMarcus Cousins, 12 rebounds from Patrick Patterson and 8 assists from John Wall.^[51] West Virginia's 69–56 defeat of the Huskies set up the only 1 vs. 2 regional final in the tournament. The Mountaineers' Da'Sean Butler led all scorers with 18 points, as West Virginia recorded its 30th win, the most in school history.^[52]

Regional final (Elite Eight)

First round

Second-seeded Villanova survived a scare in Providence, needing overtime to beat Robert Morris, 73–70. Scottie Reynolds was kept from the starting lineup for undisclosed reasons (Coach Jay Wright said he wanted to make a "teaching point"), and even though he scored 20 points, he only made 2 of 15 shots from the field. Mezie Nwigwe had a chance to send the game to a second overtime for the Colonials, but missed a 3-pointer as time ran out.^[53] Villanova plays Saint Mary's of California in the second round. The Gaels beat Richmond, 80–71, advancing for the first time in over 50 years.^[54]

Contributing to the Big East Conference's woes on day one of the tournament was Notre Dame's 51–50 loss to Old Dominion in New Orleans. The Fighting Irish opened the second half with a 30–22 lead before the Monarchs went on a 9–0 run to take the lead. The game remained close until the end, when Notre Dame's Carleton Scott attempted a 3-point basket that ended up rattling around the rim before falling out. A putback from Luke Harangody at the buzzer was not enough for the Irish.^[55] Old Dominion advanced to face Baylor in the round of 32. In a close game with Sam Houston State, the Bears used an 8–0 run in the final minutes to take the 68–59 victory.^[56]

Arkansas-Pine Bluff won the play-in game on March 16, 2010, by beating Winthrop, 61–44. But they proved to be no match for the No. 1-seed Duke Blue Devils, who blew the Golden Lions out, 73–44, in Jacksonville. Kyle Singler had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Duke, who led 39–20 at the break.^[57] Duke advanced to face California in the second round. The Golden Bears rode a rollercoaster with Louisville, leading the Cardinals by 18 before having their lead cut to 6, then pulling back out to a 14-point advantage before Louisville brought it back to within 4. But Cal ended the game with a 15–4 run to win, 77–62.^[58]

Finally, in Spokane, the fourth-seeded Purdue Boilermakers had a go of it with upset specialist Siena, trailing the Saints 32–29 at halftime before racing to a 14-point lead to open the second half. Siena would pull within 3 with just over a minute remaining, but Purdue held on for the 72–64 win, spoiling the predictions of some fans and even President Barack Obama that Siena would make the Boilers their latest victim.^[59] They advanced to play Texas A&M, who defeated Utah State, 69–53, behind 19 points from freshman Khris Middleton.^[60]

Second round

After barely beating Robert Morris in the first round, Villanova could not withstand the Gael storm from St. Mary's. Omar Samhan scored 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the No. 10 seed took down Nova, 75–68. Afterwards, Samhan called the game his "best win ever." Wildcat Scottie Reynolds remained in his funk to end the season, netting just 8 points.^[61] Trailing by as many as 14 in the first half and 38–28 at halftime, Old Dominion went on a 9–0 run against Baylor at the start of the second half, then took the lead, 49–47, on free throws from Kent Bazemore. But Baylor would close the door on the upset bid with an 8–1 run to end the game, winning 76–68. The Bears' LaceDarius Dunn led all scorers with 26 points, while 7-foot center Josh Lomers had eight rebounds to go with his career high 14 points.^[62]

Chris Kramer's layup with 4.2 seconds left in overtime gave Purdue a 63–61 win over Texas A&M. Kramer finished with 17 points as the Boilermakers came back from a 7-point deficit at halftime.^[63] They advanced to face Duke in the Sweet 16. The Blue Devils beat California, 68–53, behind 20 points from Nolan Smith, 17 points from Kyle Singler and 14 points and 13 rebounds from Brian Zoubek. This was the 19th time under head coach Mike Krzyzewski Duke reached the round of 16.^[64]

Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)

Regional final (Elite Eight)

Duke defeated Baylor 78–71, in front of a practically home crowd for Baylor in Houston, Texas. Nolan Smith was named game MVP with 29 points, while Lance Thomas also had a career high 8 offensive rebounds.

Opening round game

• Dave Ryan and Dave Odom – at Dayton, Ohio

First and second rounds

• Bob Papa and John Thompson – First and Second Rounds at Providence, Rhode Island
• Kevin Kugler and Will Perdue – First and Second Rounds at New Orleans, Louisiana
• Brad Sham and Reid Gettys – First and Second Rounds at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Ted Robinson and Bill Frieder – First and Second Rounds at San Jose, California
• Mark Champion and Kyle Macy – First and Second Rounds at Buffalo, New York
• Gary Cohen and Kevin Grevey – First and Second Rounds at Jacksonville, Florida
• Wayne Larrivee and Pete Gillen – First and Second Rounds at Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Dave Sims and P. J. Carlesimo – First and Second Rounds at Spokane, Washington

Regionals

• Ian Eagle and P. J. Carlesimo – East Regional at Syracuse, New York
• Kevin Harlan and John Thompson – Midwest Regional at St. Louis, Missouri
• Kevin Kugler and Pete Gillen – South Regional at Houston, Texas
• Ted Robinson and Bill Frieder – West Regional at Salt Lake City, Utah

Final four

• Kevin Kugler, John Thompson and Bill Raftery – at Indianapolis, Indiana

John Tautges again served as host of the broadcasts.

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