The first round of March Madness has been full of moments that lived up to the hype.
A handful of programs made the most of their March Madness debuts or earned their first NCAA tournament victories. Howard won its First Four game and hung close with Michigan in the opening half of their first-round matchup. Siena was on the cusp of upsetting Duke. High Point gained bragging rights with its upset victory against Wisconsin.
But as much as the results matter, other highlights from the first round didn’t necessarily have an effect on the box score but still deserve recognition.
Here are our off-the-stat-sheet and personality-powered superlatives from the first round.
No. 12 High Point’s 83-82 upset victory over Wisconsin wouldn’t have happened without Johnston. The senior guard, who finished with 14 points in 22 minutes of play, came up huge with a finger roll in the final seconds to win the game for High Point.
FIRST 2-POINTER OF THE YEAR FOR CHASE JOHNSTON 😱
HIGH POINT LEADS!!! pic.twitter.com/N2ZWYSb9Dz
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2026
Why is this unique, you might ask?
The layup marked Johnston’s first 2-point field goal all season.
In Thursday’s game, Johnston had seven field goal attempts, six of which were from beyond the perimeter. Out of the seven attempts, he made five — four 3-pointers … and the layup.
During the regular season, Johnston attempted 143 field goals; 138 of those were 3-pointers, on which he shot the ball pretty efficiently at 49.3%.
Most likely to go platinum off a postgame interview: Flynn Clayman
High Point collected its first NCAA tournament win in school history with a win over Wisconsin — and head coach Flynn Clayman had plenty to say immediately after.
In a postgame interview, Clayman expressed confidently that mid-majors can compete with any Power 4 program.
“Looks pretty obvious to me that high-majors need to play mid-majors during the season. They said we ain’t played nobody — we played somebody now. Nobody would play us, just like nobody would play Miami (Ohio). But they gotta play us in this tournament,” Clayman said.
Most committed to the starting five: Siena
Siena put pressure on Duke from the moment the ball was tipped. Heading into the first-round matchup, Indiana was the only major-conference team the Saints played all season — they didn’t lead once that game, according to ESPN Research. But Siena threw that out the window when going up against Duke.
The Blue Devils trailed Siena 43-32 at halftime, making them the first No. 1 seed to trail by double digits at halftime of the men’s NCAA tournament. But in that entire first half, Siena did not make a single substitution.
Although Duke eventually outscored Siena 39-22 in the second half to avoid the upset and earn a 71-65 win, Siena kept the same five players on the floor nearly the entire 40 minutes. It didn’t make its first substitution until 10 seconds remained in the game.
The Saints had three players finish in double figures, with Gavin Doty’s 21 points leading the way, followed by Francis Folefac’s 18 points and Brendan Coyle’s 12 points.
Most likely to spill the tea: Long Island University vs. Arizona
Widely known for its student section’s “Fins Up” movement, No. 16 seed Long Island University faced No. 1 seed Arizona on Friday. But there was more than just a bid to the second round of the tournament on the line — both teams share a unique tie to a “form” of iced tea.
The Wildcats share a name with “Arizona,” the New York-based drink company popular for its iced tea, juices and energy drinks. The Sharks, on the other hand, are tied to the Long Island iced tea, an alcoholic beverage finished with cola to mimic the appearance of iced tea.
During the “Battle of the Teas,” the Arizona drink company chimed in on the matchup on social media after the Wildcats gained a quick 15-4 first-half lead, writing: “guys I think I’m winning.”
guys i think i’m winning https://t.co/QNlnyv7kRr
— AriZona Iced Tea (@DrinkAriZona) March 20, 2026
Arizona did eventually beat Long Island University 92-58, with the company celebrating the win with a splash of “tea.”
there’s no i in team but there is tea https://t.co/u0dTjGYIG2 pic.twitter.com/60euXCG6Am
— AriZona Iced Tea (@DrinkAriZona) March 20, 2026
Most likely to jinx an upset: North Carolina
North Carolina got off to a hot start against VCU, which might have made it seem like the Tar Heels had the win in the bag.
That was until North Carolina’s halftime tweet was posted.
up by 19 at the moment. pic.twitter.com/8cKopjUFa1
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) March 20, 2026
VCU’s Terrence Hill Jr. erupted in the second half to help close the 19-point halftime deficit and force overtime.
According to ESPN Research, Hill scored 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting in the final 15 minutes of play, compared with North Carolina’s 14 points as a team, to help secure VCU’s 82-78 upset win over the Tar Heels.
The win also improved VCU to 2-4 in overtime men’s NCAA tournament games and was its first such win since 2011, when it beat Florida State 72-71 in the Sweet 16.
Most sentimental bucket: Eddie Munyak
Heading into the first round, Long Island guard Munyak had seen only two minutes on the floor the entire season, playing only at the end of the Sharks’ 83-61 win over Le Moyne in January.
In the final minute against Arizona, Munyak checked into the ballgame. With 53 seconds remaining, he caught the ball deep on the wing and tossed up a contested 3-point shot. The ball hit the backboard and fell through the net, earning Munyak his first points of the entire 2025-26 campaign.
