You didn’t have to wait long for things to get weird. The bracket barely tipped off before it started breaking. High Point clipped Wisconsin at the buzzer. VCU erased a 19-point hole and stunned North Carolina in overtime. Texas bullied BYU like they had a point to prove. And Duke? They spent most of the afternoon flirting with history in the worst way before finally pulling it together late.

That’s how it always starts. A little chaos, a couple upsets, and suddenly the whole thing feels wide open. But inside all of that, there were guys who took over games, swung momentum, and made sure their names were part of the story — whether their team survived or not.

These are the performances that shaped Day 1 of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Terrence Hill Jr., VCU — 34 Points, 7-for-10 From Three

This one deserves its own chapter. Not just because of the comeback, but because of how it actually unfolded.

VCU trailed North Carolina by 19 points with 15 minutes left in regulation. The kind of game where people start checking other scores, maybe even thinking about what’s next. North Carolina, for all their issues this year — playing without star freshman Caleb Wilson, coming off back-to-back losses — looked comfortable. In control. Like they were just going to ride it out.

Then Terrence Hill Jr. flipped it.

He finished with 34 points and shot 7-for-10 from three, but it wasn’t just the scoring — it was when it came and how it felt. Twenty of those 34 came after halftime. Every time VCU needed something to keep the game alive, it somehow ended up in his hands. He got downhill for a tough layup to tie it late in regulation, and then in overtime, when everything tightened up, he created just enough space for a step-back three with 15 seconds left — the shot that finally put VCU in front for good.

On the other end, Henri Veesaar missed both free throws, and that was it. VCU walked out of Greenville with the largest first-round comeback in NCAA Tournament history.

For a guy coming off the bench, Hill doesn’t play rushed, even when everything around him is. That’s what stood out the most. He’s comfortable getting to his spots, whether it’s pulling up off the bounce, stepping into threes, or getting downhill when defenders start pressing. There’s a patience to his game — he doesn’t force it early, but once he finds a rhythm, he leans into it and doesn’t really come off it. And when the defense adjusts, he’s already a step ahead, reading it, countering it, staying in control. For him, it just slows down.

AJ Dybantsa, BYU — 35 Points, 10 Rebounds

This is a different kind of entry, because Dybantsa's team lost — but the performance still jumped off the screen.

The BYU freshman finished with 35 points and 10 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes, and it never felt like empty production. He was dictating possessions. Comfortable getting to his spots, whether that meant rising up over defenders, attacking the basket when he saw a lane, or living at the line when the game slowed down. He went 12-for-12 from the stripe, and that part matters — it shows how often he was forcing the defense into tough decisions instead of just settling.

What stood out more than anything was how controlled it all felt. He wasn’t hunting shots just to get to a number. He let the game come to him early, then gradually took on more as the pressure built. Even late, with everything tightening, he didn’t rush. Same pace, same confidence, same approach.

That’s what separates it. A lot of high-scoring tournament games feel hot. This didn’t. This felt repeatable. Like if you dropped him into the same situation again, you’d get something close to the same result. The efficiency, the control, the ability to carry usage without the game speeding him up — that’s why this performance stood out the way it did, even without the win.

Pryce Sandfort, Nebraska — 23 Points, Seven Three-Pointers

Before Thursday, Nebraska had been to the NCAA Tournament eight times in program history without ever winning a game. A program that had lost its way in the post-Husker football era, never quite finding traction on the basketball floor when it counted most. Pryce Sandfort changed that in 40 minutes in Oklahoma City.

The Iowa transfer, playing in his first March Madness game after two frustrating seasons at Iowa that never resulted in a tournament trip, didn’t ease into it. He set the tone right away. Twenty-three points. Seven three-pointers. And it wasn’t just volume — it was how clean it looked. Quick decisions, no hesitation, and every make felt like it pushed the game a little further out of reach. He went 5-for-8 in the first half alone, spacing the floor, forcing Troy to stretch, and opening everything up for Nebraska early.

Every time Troy even hinted at closing the gap, he had an answer. Catch-and-shoot, quick trigger. A relocation three when the defense lost him for half a second.

Sandfort came into this season averaging 17.8 points and shooting 40 percent from deep, so this wasn’t out of nowhere. But this felt like the cleanest version of it. Confident without pressing. Aggressive without forcing. And why, when he’s playing like that, everything else starts to fall into place around him.

After two years watching his brother Marcus play in the tournament from home, Pryce finally got his own shot at it. And the way he played, it didn’t feel like a moment was too big for him.

Cam Boozer, Duke — 22 Points, 13 Rebounds

Duke was supposed to blow Siena off the floor. Instead, Cameron Boozer had to drag them through it — and the way he did it is what made this stand out.

He finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, but it wasn’t a clean, easy 22. He shot 4-for-11 from the field. He turned it over a few times. There were stretches where it didn’t look smooth at all. And honestly, that’s kind of the point. This wasn’t about him getting hot — it was about him pushing through and finding ways to impact the game when the shots weren't falling.

He lived at the free-throw line, going 13-for-14, and that’s where the control showed up. He kept forcing contact, kept putting pressure on the rim, and never really drifted out of the game even when the offense got messy. When Duke needed something to settle things down, it usually came from him.

That’s the part that stood out. Not the efficiency, not the highlights — the presence. He didn’t speed up. Didn’t start forcing bad shots to try and “fix” things. He just kept playing through it, possession after possession, until the game tilted back their way.

You don’t usually think of a 22-point game as one of the more impactful performances of the day when guys are going for 30-plus. But this was different. This was a player controlling the game without needing it to look perfect — and in a setting like this, that matters a lot more than a clean stat line.

Matas Vokietaitis, Texas — 23 Points, 16 Rebounds

Dybantsa was a flashy spark of offense, but Vokietaitis on the other end was the steady engine.

He finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds, but the rebounding is what jumps out — and not just the number. He owned space early. Sealed deep, carved out position, and once the ball went up, it felt like he was the first one to it almost every time. He had nine offensive boards, constantly giving them extra possessions — those are backbreakers.

He wasn’t flying around out of control, chasing rebounds. He was anticipating them. Reading angles, getting inside early, and then finishing the play with strong hands. When BYU tried to match that, it didn’t really matter — he was already in position.

And offensively, it fit the same mold. Nothing forced. Just simple, efficient work around the rim, finishing through contact and taking what the defense gave him. He didn’t need touches called for him to impact the game. He created his own with positioning more often than not.

Rob Martin, High Point — 23 Points, 10 Assists

Rob Martin didn’t just have a good game — he controlled it.

The 23 points and 10 assists tell part of the story, but what stood out was how consistently he made the right decision. He wasn’t overdribbling, wasn’t forcing passes that weren’t there. He played at his pace the entire time, reading what Wisconsin gave him and taking it without hesitation.

When the defense collapsed, he found shooters. When they stayed home, he got downhill. When things got tight late, he didn’t change anything — same reads, same control, same confidence. That’s not easy to do in a game like that, especially when every possession starts to feel heavier.

And the assists weren’t empty, either. They came in real moments. Plays that shifted runs, plays that kept High Point in it, and then the biggest one — creating the look for the game-winner. It wasn’t flashy, but it was exactly what the moment called for.

Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas — 24 Points, 7 Assists

Darius Acuff Jr. spent the entire game putting Hawaii in bad spots.

They tried to pick him up higher early to take away the pull-up. He split it or turned the corner. When they dropped, he walked into rhythm jumpers or snaked the screen and got two feet in the paint. Once he got there, it was over — either he was finishing, or he was forcing that low man to step up and hitting the next pass on time.

He has such a clean handle getting into those actions. No wasted dribbles, no extra moves just to look good. One or two dribbles to shift the defender, then he's going. And when Hawaii tried to sit on his right hand, he was comfortable getting back left and keeping the same pace.

The assists matter here too. A couple of them came off simple drive-and-kicks, but a few were those quick, on-the-move reads where he didn’t even fully pick the ball up — just moved it to the next guy before the defense could recover. That’s how you stretch a defense without needing a bunch of set plays.

Gavin Doty, Siena — 21 Points in a Losing Effort

Gavin Doty didn’t win Thursday. Siena lost 71-65 to Duke after leading by 13 and holding it for most of the afternoon. Season over. That’s how this goes.

But Doty absolutely belongs here, because he continued to put Duke in uncomfortable spots for 35 straight minutes.

This wasn’t some offensive explosion — honestly, the shotmaking was just okay. He went 3-for-12 from three, and if he’s even at his normal clip, we’re probably talking about something completely different here.

But what got me was the feel. He just had a sense for where to be and when to be there. He kept finding those spots that made Duke uncomfortable — not forcing anything, just leaning into what was there and coming back to it over and over.

And there’s something to that. The subtle awareness that allows you to manipulate the game in your team's favor. You see it in guys like Josh Hart in the league — not always pretty, not always efficient, but the impact shows up because they know how to play. That’s what this felt like.

He made Duke guard him the entire game — not just for a stretch, not just during a run. The whole time. And for a while, it felt like he was dictating more of that game than anyone on the other side.

Siena didn’t finish it, but Doty played like he belonged on that floor from the first possession to the last.

Robbie Avila, Saint Louis — 12 Points, 5 Rebounds, 5 Assists

This one doesn’t look like the others on paper, but if you watched it, you felt it right away.

Avila had 12, 5, and 5 — nothing crazy — but he touched almost every good possession Saint Louis had. Not in a ball-dominant way, either. He’d catch at the elbow, take one look, and the next pass was already on its way before the defense could shift. Backdoor, flare, simple swing that turns into a better shot two passes later. It’s all connected to him.

What stood out was how quickly he processed things. Georgia tried to switch some of those actions, and he immediately went to work — quick seal, easy finish. When they stayed home, he didn’t force anything, just kept the ball moving until something clean opened up.

Saint Louis shot it well because the shots made sense. Guys were catching in rhythm. Spacing stayed intact. You could see the structure of the offense, and he was sitting right in the middle of it, connecting everything without needing to take over possessions.

That’s a different kind of impact. He’s not chasing 25. He’s making sure everyone else can chip in 12-15 without forcing it. And in a setting like this, that’s just as hard to deal with as a guy going off.

If Saint Louis is going to make any kind of run, it’s going to look like that — Avila touching everything, keeping it clean, and making defenses work longer than they want to on every possession.

Nothing About Day 1 Was Normal — Welcome to March

The first day of March Madness never really follows a script. You get a little chalk, a couple swings nobody saw coming, and somewhere in the middle, a few players quietly take over games and change how we’re talking about the bracket.

Thursday had all of it. A historic comeback that didn’t feel real until it was over. Nebraska finally breaking through. A freshman lottery pick playing his final college game. A veteran getting his moment. A 16-seed that had the top seed in the tournament feeling very uncomfortable for most of the afternoon.

Then we get to wake up and do it all over again. Who doesn't love March?

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