GREENVILLE, S.C. — TCU wasn’t short on confidence for Thursday’s NCAA tournament opener against Ohio State, with forward David Punch setting the stage of the matchup by saying he believed the Horned Frogs would beat the Buckeyes “nine out of 10 times.”

That, forward Xavier Edmonds said, added a bit of pressure on the Horned Frogs to back up Punch’s prediction.

“His words were just a little bit misconstrued and a little twisted,” Edmonds said. “Still, we saw it, and we felt like we had to stand on it.”

Given Ohio State’s raucous comeback from a 15-point halftime deficit, it’s hard to say what might happen if these two played nine more times, but on Thursday, Punch and Edmonds delivered. Punch connected on a nifty pass to Edmonds in the paint with four seconds to go for a go-ahead layup, helping TCU advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament with a 66-64 victory.

TCU was dominant from beyond the arc in the first half, but a brutal shooting performance after the break allowed the Buckeyes to claw back into the game, taking a 51-50 lead with just over seven minutes to play.

With Edmonds in foul trouble, Punch put the Frogs on his back late, however, finishing the game with 16 points, 13 boards and a pair of assists, including the go-ahead dish to Edmonds.

Ohio State had one final shot at the win, but Bruce Thornton couldn’t find an open man near the basket and settled for a half-court heave that fell short.

The win ensured Punch’s boast proved accurate, but TCU wasn’t done delivering a message to Ohio State.

“We just felt like them as a Big Ten team, they just haven’t felt or seen a defense like ours,” said Edmonds, who finished with 16 points and eight boards. “Being in the Big 12, and the different level of physicality and intensity, we just wanted to go out there and show them what Big 12 basketball is about.”

More than 130 days have passed since the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season tipped off. It has been a season of captivating storylines, from the dominance of the freshman class to Miami (Ohio)‘s perfect regular-season run — and it’s about to get even better.

The first round of the 2026 NCAA tournament has finally arrived and ESPN reporters are on-site to give you a real-time look at the Madness.

Follow along as they and the rest of the staff track all the live action on Thursday, with more games left to tip:

• (16) Siena vs. (1) Duke: 2:50 p.m. ET

• (12) McNeese vs. (5) Vanderbilt: 3:15 p.m. ET

• (14) North Dakota State vs. (3) Michigan State: 4:05 p.m. ET

• (13) Hawai’i vs. (4) Arkansas: 4:25 p.m. ET

• (11) VCU vs. (6) North Carolina: 6:50 p.m. ET

• (16) Howard vs. (1) Michigan: 7:10 p.m. ET

• (11) Texas vs. (6) BYU: 7:25 p.m. ET

• (10) Texas A&M vs. (7) Saint Mary’s: 7:35 p.m. ET

• (14) Penn vs. (3) Illinois: 9:25 p.m. ET

• (9) Saint Louis vs. (8) Georgia: 9:45 p.m. ET

• (14) Kennesaw State vs. (3) Gonzaga: 10 p.m. ET

• (15) Idaho vs. (2) Houston: 10:10 p.m. ET

Jump to: Post-game takeaways

How Duke won: No. 1 overall seed Duke advances to the round of 32. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but Siena certainly did all it could to make things interesting, taking the Blue Devils to the limit before falling 71-65. The Saints led by 11 at the half and didn’t surrender the lead until the 5:08 mark, but their starters played without a substitution until the final 90 seconds of action. And by late in the second half, it showed. Siena shot just 8-of-34 from the floor over the final 20 minutes, allowing the Blue Devils to claw their way back into the game. Cameron Boozer had 22 points and 13 boards to lead the Blue Devils, while his brother Cayden added 19. — David Hale

How High Point won: Wisconsin jumped out to a 15-5 lead over High Point within five minutes — but the Panthers didn’t let that last long. They put together a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 15-12 and played the Badgers close until entering the half down only two points. Wisconsin built another eight-point lead with 7:08 to play, but High Point outscored the Badgers 18-12 to close out the program’s first NCAA tournament win on a go-ahead layup from Chase Johnston — his first 2-point field goal of the season. Johnson entered the game 0-for-4 from 2-point range, earning most of his buckets from beyond the arc on 64-of-132 shooting from the 3 on the season. Three Panthers players finished with double-doubles: Rob Martin (23 points, 10 assists); Terry Anderson (15 points, 11 rebounds); and Cam’Ron Fletcher (14 points, 11 rebounds). — ESPN Staff

How Louisville won: Isaac McKneely led the way for the Cardinals, despite a late comeback push by South Florida to turn what had once been a 23-point lead to within single digits in the final five minutes. But the Bulls were utlimately unable to compete with the Cardinals’ 3-pointers, with star guard Wes Enis going 0-for-11 from 3 — the second-most missed 3-point field goal attempts in an NCAA tournament game since the line was introduced in 1987 (Wofford’s Fletcher Magee, 2019, was 0-for-12), per ESPN Research.

McKneely was 7-of-10 from beyond the arc — tied for most 3s made by a Louisville player in an NCAA tournament game (with Taquan Dean in 2005), per ESPN Research. He scored a team-high 23 points, just his second 20-point game this season. Overall, Pat Kelsey’s team finished 13-for-25 (52%) from 3, compared to the Bulls’ 5-for-33 effort (15.2%). — Alaina Getzenberg

How TCU won: The Horned Frogs led by 15 at the half, looking poised to cruise into the second round; teams with halftime leads of 15 or more points were a perfect 34-0 over the previous three tournaments, according to ESPN Research. But the Buckeyes had no interest in going down without a fight, climbing all the way back to take a 51-50 lead at the 7:24 mark. The two teams traded blows the rest of the way — until a nifty dish from David Punch to Xavier Edmonds with four seconds to play proved the difference in a TCU victory. Punch was the late-game hero for the Horned Frogs, racking up 13 of his 16 points, seven of his 13 rebounds and two assists in the second half to keep his team dancing. — David Hale

How Nebraska won: The Cornhuskers made history with their first NCAA tournament win in program history as they throttled Troy with a dominant performance on both ends of the floor; they entered the game as the only program of any power conference without an NCAA tournament win after going 0-8 in their previous appearances. Junior forward Pryce Sandfort erupted with a program-record seven 3-pointers in an NCAA tournament game, one short of his career high set earlier this season. As a team, Nebraska shot 14-of-39 from beyond the arc while holding Troy to 8-of-28 from 3. The Cornhuskers not only dominated the glass, but turned those rebounds into 19 second-chance points — well over their season average of 9.2. Nebraska also forced Troy to commit 17 turnovers and turned those mistakes into 17 points. — Brooke Pryor

Liam Rosenior said Enzo Fernández has told the Chelsea head coach that he is happy at the club after casting doubt on his future earlier this week.

The Argentina international said he didn’t know whether he would be at Stamford Bridge next season following Chelsea’s 3-0 Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

“I don’t know. My focus is here for now. We have eight Premier League matches to play and the FA Cup. Then, the World Cup coming up so we’ll see after that,” he told ESPN Argentina.

He has five years to run on the contract he signed when joining for a then-British record fee of £107 million ($143 million) in 2023 but hinted to ESPN that the final eight Premier League games of the season plus the remainder of Chelsea’s FA Cup run could be his last.

Rosenior said he spoke to Fernández on Thursday and he has no concerns about the 25-year-old’s commitment.

“I had a great conversation with Enzo at length this morning at the training ground,” Rosenior said. “Not just about the comments, but the future and how much we want to win the coming games.

“I would say he made it really clear to me how happy he is here, how much he wants to win for the team, and how passionate he is for this football club.

“He said also the translation and emotion got misconstrued. He is completely committed to this football club.”

Meanwhile, the club has identified the party responsible for leaking Rosenior’s team selections ahead of both Champions League games against PSG.

The Press Association reported that it was not a member of the playing squad and the leak is considered to be external to the club.

“We know [who it was],” said Rosenior. “It’s not come from any place of malicious intent, to me or the team. We have dealt with the situation.”

Head coach Rosenior confirmed Trevoh Chalobah’s ankle injury sustained against PSG is not as bad as first feared but is likely to keep the defender out for six weeks.

The 26-year-old was stretchered off late in the game following a tackle from Achraf Hakimi and images appeared to show the joint badly twisted.

– Ex-Chelsea exec Christian Purslow: Transfer punishment ‘lenient’
– Chelsea’s Caicedo on PSG debacle: ‘We did our best against the best’
– The worst night in football? Chelsea’s Sarr loses two games 3-0 at same time after CAF ruling

The hamstring injury sustained by Reece James ahead of Tuesday’s game is “not serious” according to Rosenior but the captain will miss Saturday’s trip to Everton.

“Reece we will look more after the international break,” Rosenior said. “It’s not serious but something in his hamstring we will monitor after the international break.”

Filip Jorgensen’s groin injury, however, will require surgery.

Rosenior said defender Mamadou Sarr, whose error led to a goal in the sixth minute on Tuesday that effectively killed the round of 16 tie against the European champions, remains in his thinking after a difficult night.

“It’s a lot for all of us,” he said. “We are expected to achieve in the now. I am so excited for his career, that is why he is here.

“You have to go through negative experiences sometimes to improve. He is a massive part of our plans.”

PA contributed to this report.