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UNDATED (AP) — The spotlight of the NCAA Tournament shifts to Zion Williamson and No. 1 overall seed Duke. Along with the other 31 teams playing in first-round games Friday. But there won't be more attention on anybody than the Blue Devils' star freshman, who gets to open against North Dakota State in his home state of South Carolina.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Duke freshman Zion Williamson is front and center in the NCAA Tournament's East Region, much as he's been all season for the top-seeded Blue Devils. Duke practiced Thursday for its opening tournament game with 16th-seeded North Dakota State with all eyes on Williamson. The affable, smiling, likely one-and-done star is coming off a stunning performance at the ACC Tournament after missing the previous five games. And he's excited to achieve even bigger things in perhaps his only NCAA appearance.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Virginia has watched the motivational pick-me-up videos. The players have relived the loss when they are too tired to do one more drill at practice. And the Cavaliers have finally answered the last question about being the first No. 1 seed to lose in a NCAA Tournament game before getting a chance to redeem themselves. On Friday, 370 days after the stunning 20-point loss to UMBC, Virginia gets to take the court again as a top seed, this time against Gardner-Webb.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Buffalo coach Nate Oats has mixed feelings about facing his former boss. Oats' sixth-seeded Bulls will face Arizona State and former Buffalo coach Bobby Hurley in an NCAA Tournament West Region matchup. Texas Tech will face Northern Kentucky in the other game.
NEW YORK (AP) — It's going to be tough to top last season's NCAA women's tournament after one of the most exciting Final Four in the sports' history. Yet if the regular season is any indication, this could be a wild three weeks. Last year had six upsets by double-digit seeds in the opening round. This could be the season that a 14 or 15 seed breaks through and wins for the first time in the NCAAs and there are several teams with legit chances to win it all.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Washington has rewarded coach Mike Hopkins for getting the Huskies back to the NCAA Tournament by giving him a contract extension through the 2025 season. The ninth-seeded Huskies open the NCAAs on Friday against No. 8 seed Utah State. It's Washington's first appearance in the tournament since 2011. Hopkins is 47-21 in his two seasons at Washington and has twice been named the Pac-12 coach of the year.
UNDATED (AP) — The Oregon Ducks are the No. 2 seed in the Portland Region for the NCAA Tournament. They'll face No. 15 Portland State on Friday night in Eugene. Seventh-seeded Texas plays No. 10 Indiana in the early game Friday. Oregon is coming off a 64-57 loss to Stanford in the conference championship game.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — When the NCAA women's tournament returns to Coral Gables, the higher seeds won't get easy matchups. Fifth-seeded Arizona State (20-10) will play No. 12 UCF (26-6) in the opening game of the night, followed by fourth-seeded Miami (24-8) playing 13th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast (28-4) in the second matchup. Arizona State got the privilege of flying across the country to face a UCF club that drove down to Coral Gables in three hours, and Miami will meet an FGCU team that has won 19 straight.
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