The Madness arrived early to the NCAA Tournament, as the opening two games of the First Four matchups unfolded in dramatically contrasting fashion.
While Alabama State notched its first-ever win in the Big Dance with a last-second victory over Saint Francis on Tuesday, North Carolina steamrolled San Diego State University en route to a 95-68 win in the night game.
The Tarheels, who nabbed the final spot in the 68-team field, entered the contest facing questions about the validity of their tournament bid, but there were no signs that they were affected by the buzz surrounding their controversial selection.
RJ Davis dazzled from deep, burying all six of his 3-point shots and contributing a game-high 26 points.
UNC now advances to face No. 6 seed Ole Miss on Friday in Milwaukee, Wis.
RJ DAVIS LOGO RANGE 😳#MarchMadness @UNC_Basketball pic.twitter.com/cctoE5a6Xx
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2025
Before the Tar Heels made their statement, Alabama State pulled off a Hail Mary play with a second left to clinch a 70-68 win over Saint Francis.
On the winning play, Micah Simpson launched a full-court in-bounds pass with 3.4 seconds left. The ball bounced off multiple sets of hands before landing in the grasp of Alabama State’s Amarr Knox, who laid it in for the decisive points.
ALABAMA STATE TAKES A LEAD IN THE FINAL SECOND 😱#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/TktQHBcwo9
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2025
Knox led Alabama State with 16 points, while Saint Francis was paced by an 18-point, eight-rebound performance from Juan Cranford Jr.
It was the first NCAA Tournament win in five appearances by the Hornets. Their reward is a matchup with Auburn, the No. 1 seed in the South Region, on Thursday in Lexington, Ky.
Tar Heels look tournament ready
Carolina delivered a message to the haters. The blowout victory won’t quell any frustration over the Tar Heels sneaking into the field — especially in Morgantown — but they certainly looked like a Tournament team. UNC completely locked up SDSU defensively, particularly in the first half, limiting the Aztecs to 27 percent from the field and allowing Carolina to get out in transition. It also helped that the Tar Heels shot fireballs all night, hitting 14 of 24 from deep. San Diego State couldn’t keep up.
Regardless of the outside outrage, Tuesday provided some vindication for North Carolina, and helped soothe the pain of that lane-violating loss to Duke in the ACC tournament. Plus, UNC has been playing better down the stretch. It lost four games since the start of February: once to Clemson and three times against Duke. A First Four team has made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament each of the past four seasons, and the Tar Heels look like a viable candidate to make it five in a row. If they can carry this momentum into Thursday, they will be a handful for Ole Miss. — Justin Williams
High-quality play from two low-rated teams
The first game of the Tournament delivered. These were the two lowest-rated teams in the field in both the NET and KenPom, but it didn’t play that way on the court — even with that wild, last-second, tip-drill game-winner.
Both teams shot better than 40 percent from the floor, with SFU converting 50 percent overall and 10-for-22 from 3-point range. The Red Flash even had a 14-4 advantage at the charity stripe over Alabama State, which didn’t even attempt a free throw until the final five minutes of the game.
Turnovers were the difference. The Hornets, one of the best teams in the country at taking care of the ball this season, gave it away just six times and scored 26 points off of 15 giveaways by SFU. That disparity, and a 6-0 run late in the second half, was enough for Alabama State to overcome a hot-shooting Saint Francis and notch the Hornets’ first-ever NCAA Tournament win.
I wouldn’t expect Alabama State — located in Montgomery, about an hour west of Auburn — to give the top-seeded Tigers much trouble on Thursday, but whenever Tony Madlock’s squad bows out, they’re heading home with a March Madness victory and a memorable finish. — Williams
Required reading
(Photo: Dylan Buell / Getty Images)
