The last time a 15 toppled a 2 was 2001, when Hampton beat Iowa State. That was followed by 42 straight victories in the opening round by No. 2 seeds.

There were other surprises on Friday as No. 13 Ohio of the Mid-American Conference clipped No. 4 Michigan 65-60. Another upset, if you put any stock in the seeds, was No. 11 North Carolina State over No. 6 San Diego State, 79-65.

In addition there were several close games. Creighton’s victory over Alabama wasn’t settled until the final shot. Xavier’s win over Notre Dame was settled by another — yes another — lane violation call by an overzealous referee.

It was a day when the trendy upset that everyone picked, No. 14 Belmont over No. 3 Georgetown, never came close to materializing, but plenty more that no one picked did.

Who could have imagined this from Norfolk State, a team making its first tournament appearance, which lost to Division II Elizabeth City and committed 34 turnovers in the process? Who could have imagined this from Lehigh when it lost at American on Feb. 9?

We had our doubts about this NCAA tournament on Thursday. But Friday was a reminder why it is one of the most highly-anticipated sports events of the year.   

Missouri overpowered. Norfolk State’s victory came against a team that hit 52.7 percent of its shots, was 13 of 29 from beyond the arc (44.8 percent), and committed just eight turnovers. So how did the Spartans win? They shot even better – 54.2 overall and 10 of 19 from the arc (52.6 percent). But most importantly they out-rebounded Missouri 37-25 as 6-10 Kyle O’Quinn (26 points, 14 rebounds) ruled inside. This was a finesse year in the Big 12 and Missouri thrived with its four-guard lineup. But on Friday O’Quinn took advantage of the Tigers’ lack of inside presence.

Duke dunked. Conventional wisdom on Duke heading into the tournament was that the Blue Devils were vulnerable to teams with length, physicality, and athletic ability. All of its losses this season came to such teams – Florida State (twice), UNC, Miami, Ohio State, Temple. But that was hardly their undoing against Lehigh, which beat Duke at its own game. C.J. McCollum (30 points, six assists) was the best player on the floor and Lehigh won on a mediocre shooting night (42.3 percent). Mason Plumlee hit 9 of 9 shots and had 12 rebounds, but the Blue Devils struggled from the arc (6 of 23, 23.1 percent), and for once, the calls didn’t go their way in the closing minutes.

Playing Dead. The worst performance of Friday was turned in by Virginia, a 71-45 loser to Florida on a day when the three-point dependent Gators hit 4 of 23 shots from beyond the arc. The Gators pounded the boards to a 39-23 advantage and harassed Virginia guards Sammy Zeglinski and Joe Harris into a combined 2 of 15 shooting performance from beyond the arc.

Big East Rises. Teams from the Big Ten (5-1) have the best record in the tournament so far. Its only loser was Michigan. Here are the records for the other major conferences: Big East (7-3), ACC (3-2), SEC (3-1), Big 12 (4-2). The league with the worst record? The Mountain West (1-3).

Best Matchups. Saturday’s games are ranked from most compelling to least: 1. Murray State-Marquette, 2. VCU-Indiana, 3. Syracuse-Kansas State, 4. Wisconsin-Vanderbilt, 5. New Mexico-Louisville, 6. Ohio State-Gonzaga, 7. Kentucky-Iowa State, 8. Colorado-Baylor.

Here are Sunday’s games: 1. Kansas-Purdue, 2. North Carolina-Creighton, 3. Florida-Norfolk State, 4. Cincinnati-Florida State, 5. N.C. State-Georgetown, 6. Lehigh-Xavier, 7. Michigan State-Saint Louis, 8. Ohio-South Florida.   

Stars of the Day

Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum (30 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists)

Norfolk State’s Kyle O’Quinn (26 points, 14 rebounds)

Xavier’s Tu Holloway (25 points, 10 of 15 shooting)

MSU’s Draymond Green (24 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) 

Saint Louis’s Kwamain Mitchell (22 points, 9 of 14 shooting)

N.C. State’s Richard Howell (22 points, 10 of 12 shooting)

Purdue’s Terone Johnson (21 points, 5 assists, 9 of 13 shooting)

Ohio’s D.J. Cooper (21 points, 5 assists, 7 of 11 shooting)

Georgetown’s Jason Clark (21 points, 9 of 12 shooting)

Norfolk State’s Pendarvis Williams (20 points, 4 of 4 from the arc)

FSU’s Bernard James (19 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 8-11 shooting)

Notre Dame’s Jack Cooley (18 points, 7 rebounds, 8 of 8 shooting)

North Carolina Kyle Zeller (17 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks)

Creighton’s Doug McDermott (16 points, 10 rebounds)

Cincinnati’s Yancey Gates (15 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks)

Florida’s Casey Prather (14 points, 6 of 7 shooting off bench)

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