The chaos of March Madness continues on Friday with another full slate of first-round games.
Duke freshman sensation Cooper Flagg is cleared to play and make his NCAA tournament debut after missing a couple of games with an ankle injury. And two-time defending champion UConn is also in action as a No. 8 seed facing No. 9 Oklahoma.
But of course, we’re always on the lookout for an unexpected upset.
Here’s how Friday’s schedule will unfold (all times Eastern, scroll for live updates):
Friday’s schedule of games, how to watch
No. 9 Baylor 75, No. 8 Mississippi State 72
No. 2 Alabama 90, No. 15 Robert Morris 81
No. 3 Iowa State 82, No. 14 Lipscomb 55
No. 5 Memphis vs. No. 12 Colorado State (TBS)
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s (CBS)
3:15 p.m.: No. 7 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 10 Vanderbilt (TruTV)
4:05 p.m.: No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 North Carolina (TNT)
4:35 p.m.: No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Grand Canyon (TBS)
6:50 p.m.: No. 1 Florida vs. No. 16 Norfolk State (TNT)
7:10 p.m.: No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 14 Troy (CBS)
7:25 p.m.: No. 7 Marquette vs. No. 10 New Mexico (TBS)
7:35 p.m.: No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 13 Akron (TruTV)
9:25 p.m.: No. 8 UConn vs. No. 9 Oklahoma (TNT)
9:45 p.m.: No. 6 Illinois vs. No. 11 Xavier (CBS)
10 p.m.: No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 15 Bryant (TBS)
10:10 p.m.: No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 12 Liberty (TruTV)
Follow along below for live reaction, highlights and more from Yahoo Sports:
Live56 updates
Khaman Maluach showing off for Duke
Cooper Flagg isn’t the only reason that Duke’s on the short list of favorites to win the NCAA tournament. Khaman Maluach is also a first-round NBA prospect and is showing off early.
The 7-2 center just pulled up from 3-point distance extend to Duke’s lead to 33-15. He followed up his 3 with dunks on each of Duke’s next two possessions, one of them on an assist from Flagg.
Duke leads, 38-18 with 6:30 remaining in the first half.
Duke’s Jon Scheyer: Cooper Flagg is ‘looking great’
Duke coach Jon Scheyer spoke with CBSTracy Wolfson about Flagg during a break in the action early in the second half. He likes what he sees.
“He’s looking great,” Scheyer said. “For me, it’s about the way he’s moving. You can tell he’s ready to go. I think more anxious than anything, but he’s been great for us.”
The box score backs it up. With 9:50 remaining in the half, Duke leads, 28-12. Flagg is 4 for 4 from the field and leads all scorers with nine points alongside one rebound, one assist and one block.
CSU retakes the lead vs. Memphis
A Kyan Evans 3-pointer and a Nique Clifford jump shot and assist on a Bowen Born layup has helped the Rams go ahead of the Tigers with 13:20 to play.
Dain Dainja hits 20 points again for Memphis
The 6-foot-9 senior forward is up to 20 points with the Tigers holding a 48-45 lead early in the second half.
It’s the third straight game he’s hit the 20-point mark and fourth time the last five games. He has eight 20-points in Memphis’ last 13 games.
Cooper Flagg slams home highlight dunk after brief rest
Cooper Flagg took an early break on the bench at the 16:06 mark, but was back in the game quickly at 13:11. He returned emphatically with a baseline dunk on a pass from Patrick Ngongba to extend Duke’s lead to 22-6.
As expected, Duke is rolling. And Flagg looks just fine.
Final: Iowa State 82, Lipscomb 55
The Cyclones just delivered one of the largest margins of victory of the tournament. The game was effectively over at halftime as ISU took a 40-24 lead and never looked back.
Milan Momcilovic led the way for the Cyclones with 20 points and 5 rebounds. They’ll play the winner of Ole Miss and UNC on Sunday.
The story behind Penny Hardaway’s bracelet
The gift was courtesy Maci Barrett, a Taylor Swift fan, who made the bracelet for the Memphis head coach in January.
Memphis starts 2nd half with steal and a dunk
PJ Haggerty forces the turnover and Nicholas Jourdain slams it home for the Tigers.
Cooper Flagg makes NCAA tournament debut
We’re underway in Raleigh for Cooper Flagg’s highly anticipated NCAA tournament debut as No. 1 seed Duke takes on Mount Saint Mary’s.
Flagg hasn’t played since suffering a sprained ankle in Duke’s first game in the ACC tournament last Thursday, but has been cleared to play in the NCAA tournament. Duke’s off to a strong start with a 10-2 lead two minutes into the game. Flagg’s on the board with three points after an and-1 layup to extend Duke’s lead to 10-2.
Flagg, a National Player of the Year favorite and the presumptive No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, isn’t expected to have any limitations during the tournament.
Final: Alabama 90, Robert Morris 81
Well, it was anything but comfortable for a No. 2 seed’s opening round game. Robert Morris gave the Tide a real scare and led at a few points in the second half before Alabama pulled away for a win.
Senior guard Mark Sears led the way for Alabama with 22 points and 10 assists, but it was Grant Nelson who provided the spark off the bench when the Tide needed it most. He was forced into action when things got dicey in the second half and came through with some clutch late plays.
Alabama advances to play the winner of St. Mary’s and Vanderbilt.
Memphis takes a 36-31 lead into the half
The Tigers finished strong after a slow start and are up 5 at halftime.
Dain Dainja leads all players with 15 points and 3 blocks. Colby Rogers is right behind him on Memphis with 12 first-half points.
The Tigers are outrebounding CSU 22-12 and outshooting the Rams from the field 50% to 37.9%.
Iowa State rolling in 2nd half
The Cyclones are comfortable and having some fun now. Cade Kelderman just pulled up from well beyond the 3-point line to bury a triple and give Iowa State a big lead on Lipscomb.
They’re now up 25 with 13 minutes left in the game.
Bama up double digits
Barring a miraculous late rally, the dream is over for Robert Morris. The Tide have found some momentum with Mark Sears and Grant Nelson leading the way in the second half and it’s a 12-point game with under 2 minutes left.
Mississippi State may have some regrets
When Mississippi State looks back at its 75-72 first-round loss to Baylor, the Bulldogs are going to rue that someone besides Josh Hubbard attempted the potential game-tying 3-point shot.
Hubbard is Mississippi State’s leading scorer and best 3-point shooter this season. He led the Bulldogs with 26 points on Friday. And yet down 3 in the final seconds, it was Claudell Harris Jr. who took a dribble handoff and let it fly from the left wing.
Harris missed … badly. Now Mississippi State may be left with some regrets.
Alabama takes 9-point lead
When things got difficult for the Crimson Tide, they turned to veteran guard Mark Sears and mustachioed big man Grant Nelson. They’ve both delivered. Nate Oats had hoped to rest Nelson after he tweaked his knee in the SEC tournament, but he’s been forced into action today with how the game has played out.
The Tide are up 9 points with just under 3 minutes left in the game.
CSU Rams not going away against Memphis
Despite Memphis coming back from an early deficit, Colorado State keeps finding answers to keep the game close.
The Rams are down 31-28 with under 4 minutes to play in the first half, despite being outshot from the field 54.2% to 44%. CSU does have the advantage from distance with a 41.7% to 28.6% edge from 3-point range.
Final: Baylor 75, MSU 72
The Bears hold on for the win after a furious rally by the Bulldogs in the final minutes of the game comes up just short.
Robert Wright led the Bears with 19 points, but four different players had 12 or more. Josh Hubbard led MSU with 26 points in the losing effort.
The Bears advance and will likely play No. 1 Duke in the second round on Sunday.
Robert Morris takes lead!
The Colonials have taken the lead for the first time all game! We have a good one coming down the wire in the East region.
Game is on TruTV.
Robert Morris down 1!
The Colonials are within a single point with less than 8 minutes left in the game
Colorado State pulls to an early lead, but Memphis claws right back
We’ve got a close game brewing between No. 5 Memphis and No. 12 Colorado State. Early in the first half, the Rams pulled to a six-point lead over the Tigers.
But Memphis is coming right back, with some rebounds and defensive plays giving the Tigers a chance to make this an even game. With a little over ten minutes left in the first half, the two teams are trading leads. Will one team pull away before halftime?
