The NCAA Tournament 2015 got underway on Tuesday night with First Four action as both Ole Miss and Hampton caused immediate upsets.
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There was madness in the air on opening night of the tournament as Ole Miss overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat BYU to stun the Cougars and win just their second tournament game since 2001.
Stefan Moody led the Rebels’ thrilling comeback with a team-high 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting, and his performance helped his team set up a meeting with Xavier in the round of 64.
BYU shot an impressive 57 percent in the first half while holding Ole Miss to 30 percent, but the story completely changed in the second half with roles reversing as the Rebels went 60 percent from the field while the Cougars started to struggle and connected on 41.4 percent of their field goal attempts.
Meanwhile, that wasn’t the only shock of the night as Hampton overcame Manhattan in the first game of the tournament to set up a meeting with the Kentucky Wildcats.
Quinton Cheivous had 15 points and 13 rebounds in the win but was forced to leave the game with injury late in the second half, but that will only take off part of the gloss of a memorable win.
However, it will now take a really special effort to overcome the tournament favourites next time out, with many experts picking Kentucky to go all the way and remain undefeated throughout the season.
NCAA scores:
Hampton 74-64 Manhattan
BYU 90-94 Ole Miss
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