12:05 a.m.: The Wichita State Shockers, Kentucky Wildcats and Providence College Friars all won their first-round matchups Thursday night, and No. 11 seed Gonzaga leads No. 6 seed Seton Hall 35-25 at the half.
10:22 p.m.: No. 3 seed Utah is moving on to the second round after an 80-69 win over No. 14 seed Fresno State.
9:30 p.m.: No. 1 seed North Carolina only led by one point at the half, but the Tar Heels dominated the second half en route to a 83-67 win over No. 16 seed Florida Gulf Coast. No. 5 Indiana also cruised to a 99-74 victory over No. 12 Chattanooga.
9:05 p.m.: Buffalo gave Miami a scare in the first half, but the Hurricanes advanced to the second round with a 79-72 win over the Bulls. they will face the winner of No. 6 Arizona-No. 11 Wichita State in a South Region second-round matchup Saturday.
8:58 p.m.: We have another fun game at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Buffalo has closed the gap to four points and trails Miami 72-68 with 1:15 remaining in the game.
8:40 p.m.: The top seeds are starting to pull away in the second half of the late games.
No. 5 Miami is up 67-56 on No. 14 Buffalo, No. 1 UNC is leading No. 16 Florida Gulf Coast 54-43 and No. 5 Indiana is blowing out No. 12 Chattanooga 60-43. No. 3 Utah also has an early 16-7 advantage over No. 14 Fresno State.
8:10 p.m.: Are we looking at our first ever No. 16 over a No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history? There’s still plenty of time for North Carolina to take control, but Florida Gulf Coast is giving the Tar Heels all they can handle. The Eagles trail the Tar Heels 41-40 at the half.
No. 5Â seed Indiana, meanwhile, is taking care of No. 12 Chattanooga thanks to a 46-37 halftime lead.
7:50 p.m.: The No. 3 seed Miami Hurricanes overcame a sluggish start to lead No. 14 Buffalo 35-33 at the half. Miami’s Sheldon McClellan leads all scorers with 12 points, and Buffalo’s Nick Perkins has 11.
7:27 p.m.: Josh Hagins. Remember that name because the Arkansas-Little Rock star is shooting his way into March Madness history. He lifted the No. 12 seed Trojans to a 85-83 upset victory over the No. 5 Purdue Boilermakers. Little Rock now will go for back-to-back shocking victories when it faces Iowa State in the second round.
7:10 p.m.: The Trojans’ defense did its job and forced a second overtime. What a game!
Meanwhile in Providence, R.I., the No. 14 seed Buffalo Bulls are out to an early 17-13 lead over the third-seeded Miami Hurricanes.
7:09 p.m.: Little Rock and Purdue are tied 75-75 with 11 seconds remaining in the first overtime. The Boilermakers will have a chance to win it.
6:53 p.m.:Â ONIONS! Josh Hagins forced overtime in the Little Rock-Purdue game with this incredible 3-pointer.
6:45 p.m.: Don’t count out Arkansas-Little Rock quite yet. The Trojans have pulled to within 68-67 with 20.9 seconds left thanks to a friendly bounce.
6:28 p.m.: It will be Kansas vs. UConn in the second round after the Jayhawks beat Austin Peay 105-79.
5:57 p.m.: The second half in the Little Rock-Purdue game is underway, and the Boilermakers have built a 38-30 advantage with 17:03 remaining in the contest. Kansas, meanwhile, is destroying Austin Peay 73-48 with 11:27 left in the second half.
5:35 p.m.:Â Yale has held on for the upset after a nail-biting ending.
Baylor had a chance to tie or take the lead on the final possession, but then this happened, allowing the Bulldogs to hold on for the 79-75 stunner:
5:18 p.m.:Â Baylor is making this a ballgame, as Taurean Prince’s 3-pointer cuts Yale’s lead to four with 1:21 remaining.
Elsewhere, Virginia put the finishing touches on a blowout 81-45 win over Hampton.
5:10 p.m.: While Yale tries to hold on for the upset of Baylor, another No. 5 seed is having trouble, as Purdue leads No. 12 seed Arkansas-Little Rock 21-20 late in the first half.
Kansas is taking care of business against Austin Peay, leading 46-28 just before the break.
5:00 p.m.:Â Baylor isn’t going away just yet.
4:45 p.m:Â We’ve got a legitimate upset alert, folks. Yale has gone on a 7-0 run to take a 55-46 lead over Baylor with 10:53 remaining.
4:30 p.m.:Â How ’bout them Bulldogs?! Yale has picked up where it left off in the first half and leads Baylor 45-40 with 15 minutes to play.
No. 1 seed Kansas has taken the court, as the Jayhawks lead Austin Peay 12-6 in the early going.
4:10 p.m.:Â The Cyclones are on to the second round after dispatching No. 13 Iona 94-81.
Virginia has opened up a 40-21 lead over Hampton, although the Cavaliers suffered a scary moment when head coach Tony Bennett collapsed on the sideline.
4 p.m.:Â No. 13 Iona is hanging in there, as it trails Iowa State by just seven with two minutes remaining.
Yale owns a five-point halftime lead over Baylor thanks to the play of Greenfield, Mass., native Makai Mason, who already has 17 points.
3:48 p.m.: The No. 9 Huskies have held on, surviving a late scare from No. 8 Colorado to secure a 74-67 win.
Elsewhere, Virginia has pulled ahead of Hampton 28-18, while No. 12 Yale holds a 34-28 lead over Baylor.
3:37 p.m.:Â We stand corrected. The Buffs have come storming back to cut UConn’s lead to three with just 59 seconds remaining.
3:28 p.m.:Â What an amazing run by the Huskies. No. 9 UConn has outscored Colorado 38-17 in the second half and is well on its way to advancing.
Iona, meanwhile, is trying to hang with Iowa State and trails by 11 with 15 minutes remaining. Baylor and Yale are going back and forth in their 5-12 matchup, while Hampton still is hanging with Virginia early on.
3:20 p.m.:Â We’ve got an upset alert! No. 16 Hampton is up 8-7 on No. 1 Virginia!
3:13 p.m.: UConn continues to stay hot. The Huskies now lead by six points with under nine minutes to play after a monster 16-4 run.
Baylor and Yale officially are underway, with the Bears and Bulldogs trading buckets in the first minute.
2:57 p.m.: The Huskies have woken up in the second half, as UConn has stormed back to make it 42-40 game with about 15 minutes remaining. Iowa State is keeping Iona at bay, taking a 12-point lead into halftime, while the Ivy League is set to make its cameo when No. 12 seed Yale tips off against No. 5 Baylor at 3:08 p.m.
2:38 p.m.:Â We’ve got our first two results of the day, and one is an upset! Well, kind of.
Duke survived a valiant upset bid from UNC-Wilmington to hold on for a 93-85 win, while No. 9 seed Butler stormed past No. 8 Texas Tech with a late surge to earn a 71-61 victory.
Iowa State leads Iona by 12Â in the first half and Colorado is up by nine over UConn at the half.
2:25 p.m.:Â OK, you can turn off that game now. Duke looks to have this sewn up, leading by eight with 2:29 remaining.
Meanwhile, Butler is taking over down the stretch, as it now leads Texas Tech 62-54 with just five minutes to play.
2:17 p.m.:Â Don’t turn off UNC-Wilmington vs. Duke just yet! The Blue Devils’ lead is down to five with under five minutes to go.
Butler is up 54-48 on Texas Tech with under eight minutes remaining, while Colorado has opened up an eight-point lead on UConn.
2:05 p.m.:Â UNC-Wilmington is running out of time, as it trails Duke 60-52 with under eight minutes to play. If you’re looking for a good game to watch, Butler leads Texas Tech 42-41 early in the second half.
We also have a fourth game underway, as Midwest No. 4 seed Iowa State has jumped to an 11-5 lead over No. 13 Iona.
1:54 p.m.:Â Duke has led for most of the second half, but UNC-Wilmington has kept its deficit under 10 points, as it trails 63-56 with 11 minutes left to play.
Texas Tech and Butler have started the second half and are locked in a tight one, while UConn and Colorado are neck-and-neck early in their contest.
1:40 p.m.:Â The Blue Devils are starting to wake up. Duke has started the second half on a 12-3 run to pull ahead, 52-46.
Colorado and UConn are underway in Des Moines, with the Buffs leading 8-4 early.
1:28 p.m.: We’ve got two tight games on our hands, as Butler leads Texas Tech 30-28 at the half, while UNC-Wilmington leads Duke 43-40 as the second half is about to begin.
Meanwhile, we’re moments away from our third game of the day, as South Region No. 8 seed Colorado tips off against No. 9 seed Connecticut at 1:30 p.m.
1:18 p.m.:Â Here come the Bulldogs! Butler has stormed back to take a 26-25 lead with 2:32 remaining in the first thanks to the strong play of guard Kellen Dunham, who already has 10 points.
1:08 p.m.:Â UNC-Wilmington isn’t going away. The Seahawks are shooting a scintillating 51.5 percent from the floor but lead just 43-30 at the half after Duke’s Brandon Ingram drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
In Midwest Region action, Texas Tech has jumped out to an early 21-14 lead over Butler with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half.
12:55 p.m.:Â We’ve got ourselves a ballgame in Providence.
The UNC-Wilmington Seahawks have opened a 31-28 lead over Duke with four minutes remaining in the first half.
12:40 p.m.:Â Today’s second game has tipped off, with No. 8 seed Texas Tech battling No. 9 seed Butler in Raleigh, N.C.
Back in Providence, UNC-Wilmington is giving Duke a whole lot of trouble. The Seahawks have reeled off a 7-0 run to take a 22-19 lead with less than nine minutes remaining in the first half.
12:28Â p.m.:Â We’re six minutes into the tournament’s opening game, and the 13th-seeded Seahawks are hanging right with the No. 4 seed Blue Devils. A C.J. Bryce jumper makes it 11-10 UNC-Wilmington.
12:16Â p.m.:Â And here… we… go.
Duke and UNC-Wilmington officially are underway in Providence, R.I.
11:40 a.m. ET:Â March Madness is here. Are you feeling lucky?
With an exciting batch of First Four games in the books, the field officially is set 2016 NCAA Tournament, which begins Thursday at 12:15 p.m. ET when the West Region’s No. 4 seed, Duke, takes on No. 13 seed UNC-Wilmington. Thursday’s 16-game slate will continue well into the night, with Midwest No. 6 seed Seton Hall and No. 11 seed Gonzaga finishing things up at 9:57 p.m.
In between, we should see plenty of excitement, highlight plays and shocking upsets. It’s a lot to keep track of, so keep it on NESN.com’s live blog throughout the day to follow along.
Click for NCAA Tournament TV schedule, start times >>
Thumbnail photo via Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports Images
