The NCAA tournament gets its first buzzer-beater moment as Friday’s madness takes hold. Here’s what you need to know

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN

(CNN) — The first day of March Madness got us accustomed to close games and upsets, setting the bar pretty high for Friday.

It’s already living up to expectations.

The first buzzer-beater in the game of the tournament (so far)

Friday’s men’s opener will go down as arguably the game of the weekend, if not the entire tournament.

Santa Clara and Kentucky were locked in a tight game basically the whole way, with neither team grabbing a lead bigger than seven. As it went into the final two minutes, the Wildcats and Broncos were tied before Allen Graves collected an airball and put it back up for a go-ahead bucket and the 17th lead change of the game.

The teams traded defensive stops, with Kentucky missing a 3-pointer, Graves missing a bunny of a layup with 25 seconds remaining and Kentucky grabbing the defensive rebound.

On the ensuing possession, Otega Oweh made a layup to tie the contest at 70 with just 9 seconds to play in regulation, setting off an incredible ending sequence. Santa Clara stormed back down the court and Graves, once again, was the crucial player for the Broncos, nailing the clutch 3-pointer to give Santa Clara the lead with just 2.4 seconds to play.

But Oweh wasn’t done. He got the ball on the inbound, ran three steps past the half-court line and launched a shot as time expired. With the horn blaring, the ball banked in off the backboard and gave us the first buzzer-beater game of this year’s tournament.

In overtime, the lead bounced back and forth as neither team could truly take control. It was once again tied as the extra session neared the final minute. The game’s 20th lead change saw Kentucky take the lead with 1:12 remaining on two free throws by Oweh.

The Wildcats got a crucial stop on the next possession with UK’s Brandon Garrison blocking Sash Gavalyugov’s 3-point attempt and then sprinting down court for a dunk, opening up a four-point lead with 48 seconds to play. On the next Bronco possession, Garrison blocked Gavalyugov’s shot again on another 3-point attempt and the upset attempt seemed to be withering away.

Christian Hammond of the Broncos sank a 3-pointer with 18 seconds to go to cut the lead back down to three, but Santa Clara still needed Kentucky to slip up to have a chance. They didn’t, sealing the 89-84 win in the final seconds.

ACC looks shaky as Virginia escapes

The ACC is officially on notice in this tournament.

No. 3 Virginia, which finished second in the conference this season to Duke, eventually escaped a stern challenge from Wright State after trailing for much of the game. A technical foul called on UVA’s Sam Lewis with about five-and-a-half minutes to go in regulation seemed to wake up the Hoos as they went on an 8-0 run to take a 78-70 lead into the final 90 seconds, which proved to be too much for the Raiders to overcome.

The Cavaliers’ 15-3 run to close the game slammed the door shut on Wright State’s upset bid to win 82-73.

But it was another close call for a conference that used to be the most dominant force in the college game.

On Thursday, the ACC’s representatives in the tournament – Louisville, Duke and UNC – either barely escaped an upset or, in the case of the Tar Heels, crashed out of the tournament at the first moment. The Cardinals and Blue Devils held off upset charges from South Florida and Siena, respectively.

Men’s games scheduled for Friday

• Kentucky 89, Santa Clara 84
• Texas Tech 91, Akron 71
• Arizona 92, Long Island 58
• Virginia 82, Wright State 73
• No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 15 Tennessee State at 2:50 p.m. ET on Friday in St. Louis (CBS)
• No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 13 Hofstra at 3:15 p.m. ET on Friday in Tampa (truTV)
• No. 8 Villanova vs. No. 9 Utah State at 4:10 p.m. ET on Friday in San Diego (TNT)
• No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 11 Miami (Ohio)at 4:25 p.m. ET Friday in Philadelphia (TBS).
• No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 9 Iowa 6:50 p.m. ET on Friday in Tampa (TNT)
• No. 5 St. John’s vs. No. 12 Northern Iowa 7:10 p.m. ET on Friday in San Diego, California (CBS)
• No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 University of Central Florida 7:25 p.m. ET on Friday in Philadelphia (TBS)
• No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 15 Queens at 7:35 p.m. ET on Friday in St. Louis (truTV)
• No. 1 Florida vs. No. 16 Prairie View A&M at 9:25 p.m. ET Friday in Tampa (TNT).
• No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13 California Baptist University 9:45 p.m. ET on Friday in San Diego (CBS)
• No. 2 UConn vs. No. 15 Furman 10 p.m. ET on Friday in Philadelphia (TBS)
• No. 7 Miami (Florida) vs. No. 10 Missouri 10:10 p.m. ET on Friday in St. Louis (truTV)

Women’s games scheduled for Friday

• Duke 81, Charleston 64
• TCU 86, UC-San Diego 40
• Oregon 70, Virginia Tech 60
• No. 6 Baylor vs. No. 11 Nebraska at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN
• No. 6 Washington vs. No. 11 South Dakota State at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS
• No. 5 Maryland vs. No. 12 Murray State at 3 p.m. ET on ESPNU
• No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 12 Gonzaga at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2
• No. 1 Texas vs. No. 16 Missouri State at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN
• No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 15 Holy Cross at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2
• No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 13 Western Illinois at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS
• No. 2 LSU vs. No. 15 Jacksonville at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN
• No. 4 Minnesota vs. No. 13 Green Bay at 6 p.m. ET on ESPNU
• No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 12 Colorado State at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS
• No. 7 NC State vs. No. 10 Tennessee at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN
• No. 7 Texas Tech vs. No. 10 Villanova at 8:30 p.m. ET ESPNU
• No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 13 Idaho at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN

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