NCAAM teams
Jake Trotter, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Everything you need to know about Friday's first-round games

Men's College Basketball, Virginia Cavaliers, UMBC Retrievers, Creighton Bluejays, Kansas State Wildcats, Nevada Wolf Pack, Texas Longhorns, Cincinnati Bearcats, Georgia State Panthers, Xavier Musketeers, Texas Southern Tigers, Missouri Tigers, Florida State Seminoles, Texas A&M Aggies, Providence Friars, North Carolina Tar Heels, Lipscomb Bisons, West Virginia Mountaineers, Murray State Racers, Wichita State Shockers, Marshall Thundering Herd, Arkansas Razorbacks, Butler Bulldogs, Purdue Boilermakers, CS Fullerton Titans, Clemson Tigers, New Mexico State Aggies, Auburn Tigers, Charleston Cougars, TCU Horned Frogs, Syracuse Orange, Michigan State Spartans, Bucknell Bison

What a wild first day of the NCAA tournament it was. Can Day 2 match it? Below are the players and numbers to know, as well as the upset possibilities for Friday's slate of games:

(All times ET.)

No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 10 Providence
12:15 p.m., CBS, West Region
Player to watch: Texas A&M's Tyler Davis has put up 11 double-doubles, the second most in the SEC. Davis is also on track to top the SEC in field goal percentage for a second straight year, with a rate of nearly 58 percent.

Key stat: The Aggies might feature the best rebounding duo in the tournament in Davis and Robert Williams. Davis is averaging 8.8 boards per game, second in the SEC.

Upset factor: OK. Providence, however, is also ranked 65th in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index, the lowest of any team to earn an at-large bid.

No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 15 Cal State Fullerton
12:40 p.m., truTV, East Region
Player to watch: All-Big Ten guard Carsen Edwards averaged almost 23 points in the final 10 games of Purdue's regular season, highlighted by a career-high 40 in a win over Illinois. He leads the Boilermakers' lethal 3-point barrage.

Key stat: Purdue shoots 42 percent from 3. That is the highest percentage in the Big Ten and second in the nation.

Upset factor: Improbable. This isn't baseball. And Purdue is just too efficient.

No. 4 Wichita State vs. No. 13 Marshall
1:30 p.m., TNT, East Region
Player to watch: Wichita State seems to always be blessed with dynamite point guards, and thanks to Landry Shamet, this season is no different. Shamet comes into the tournament averaging 15 points and 5.1 assists.

Key stat: The Shockers get almost 32 points per game from their bench, the most of any tournament team. Wichita State's bench accounts for 38 percent of the scoring.

Upset factor: Not optimal. Under Gregg Marshall, Wichita State has won at least one game in each of its past five NCAA tournament appearances.

No. 2 Cincinnati vs. No. 15 Georgia State
2 p.m., TBS, South Region
Player to watch: Georgia State's D'Marcus Simonds tops the Sun Belt in scoring at 21.1 points a game. Also the Sun Belt Player of the Year, Simonds can fill it up.

Key stat: Cincinnati is outscoring opponents by 17.5 points per game. That is the highest margin in the country.

Upset factor: Slight. Georgia State under Ron Hunter has a history of pulling off the big upset, notably three years ago, when it took out No. 3 seed Baylor. Cincinnati, however, has been grinding opponents into the ground.

No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 15 Lipscomb

2:45 p.m., CBS, West Region

Player to watch: North Carolina's Joel Berry II has scored 184 points in NCAA tournament play. That is the most among active players.

Key stat: It's a pick-your-poison situation with Berry (17.1 points per game) and Luke Maye (17.2). The two are on pace to become the first pair of North Carolina teammates to average at least 17 points each since Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins did so in 1984.

Upset factor: Inconceivable. Lipscomb is making its first NCAA tournament appearance. The Bisons are ecstatic just being in the Dance.

No. 7 Arkansas vs. No. 10 Butler
3:10 p.m., truTV, East Region
Player to watch: Kelan Martin is one of the most accomplished scorers in the tournament. He needs just nine points to become the third member of Butler's 2,000-point club.

Key stat: The Razorbacks are shooting 40.1 from 3-point range, which would break a school record.

Upset factor: Off the charts. Not only is Butler actually favored in Vegas, but BPI projected Butler to be a No. 7 seed, making the Bulldogs significantly under-seeded.

No. 5 West Virginia vs. No. 12 Murray State
4 p.m., TNT, East Region
Player to watch: Jevon Carter might be West Virginia's All-Big 12 guard, but his backcourt mate Daxter Miles Jr. was unconscious at last week's Big 12 tournament. Miles went 15-of-27 from 3-point range over three games. If he keeps that up, as Texas Tech coach Chris Beard put it, West Virginia might walk to the Sweet 16.

Key stat: West Virginia forces turnovers 24 percent of the time. Among tournament teams, only Stephen F. Austin produces a higher rate.

Upset factor: Adequate. West Virginia's veteran backcourt gives it a chance to make a deep run. But Murray State comes into the tournament on a 13-game winning streak, the second-longest active streak in Division I. The Racers can play.

No. 7 Nevada vs. No. 10 Texas
4:30 p.m., TBS, South Region
Player to watch: Kendall Stephens has made 118 3-pointers this year, which is a Nevada single-season record. He averages 7.8 attempts from 3 per game. If Stephens gets hot, he could shoot Nevada to the next round.

Key stat: Texas' Mohamed Bamba is averaging 10.4 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. The last player to average numbers that high in both categories was Kentucky's Anthony Davis in 2011-12.

Upset factor: Stout. That said, Texas had the youngest team in the Big 12, according to KenPom. That might not translate to a strong opener in the NCAA tournament.

No. 8 Creighton vs. No. 9 Kansas State
6:50 p.m., TNT, South Region
Player to watch: Marcus Foster, Creighton's leading scorer at 20.3 points per game, played two seasons with K-State before being dismissed from the team. Foster is the 12th player to play for and against the same team in an NCAA tournament.

Key stat: Dean Wade (16.5 points per game) and Barry Brown Jr. (16.0), who are both coming off minor injuries from the Big 12 tournament, are the first pair of K-State teammates to average at least 15 points since Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente did it in 2010, when the Wildcats advanced to the Elite Eight.

Upset factor: Major. The recent emergence of big man Makol Mawien as a scoring threat flanking Wade and Brown gives the Wildcats another dimension offensively they didn't possess for much of the season.

No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 14 Bucknell
7:10 p.m., CBS, Midwest Region
Player to watch: Miles Bridges is one of the headliners of this tournament. He has 11 games of at least 20 points this season -- all resulting in Michigan State wins.

Key stat: Zach Thomas leads the Patriot League in scoring with more than 20 points per game. Thomas, however, comes into the tournament having scored only 11 points total in his past two games.

Upset factor: Difficult to see. The Spartans are a trendy pick to win it all. With Bridges leading the way, Michigan State seems built for March.

No. 1 Xavier vs. No. 16 Texas Southern
7:20 p.m., TBS, West Region
Player to watch: Trevon Bluiett has the fourth-most NCAA tournament points among active players, with 111. The Musketeers are 18-1 when Bluiett scores at least 20 points.

Key stat: The Musketeers have won 27 NCAA tournament games. That is the most by any team without a Final Four appearance.

Upset factor: Unfathomable. Texas Southern routed North Carolina Central in the play-in game to secure its first-ever tournament win. Before that, Texas Southern was 0-7 all time in the tournament.

No. 4 Auburn vs. No. 13 Charleston
7:27 p.m., truTV, Midwest Region
Player to watch: The Tigers were not happy that guard Mustapha Heron was left off the All-SEC team. And with good reason. Heron is averaging 16.6 points a game and failed to reach double digits in scoring only three times all year.

Key stat: Charleston takes care of the ball with the best. The Cougars commit only 9.6 turnovers per game, the fourth fewest in the nation.

Upset factor: Not bad. Charleston is the only 2018 tournament team to feature three players averaging at least 17 points (Joe Chealey, Grant Riller and Jarrell Brantley). That kind of balance gives the Cougars a shot.

No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 16 Maryland-Baltimore County
9:20 p.m., TNT, South Region
Player to watch: With sixth man extraordinaire De'Andre Hunter out of the tournament with a wrist injury, the Cavaliers will need their starting lineup to be even better. It would help if leading scorer Kyle Guy kept the hot hand after nailing nine of his 17 attempts from 3 in the ACC tournament.

Key stat: Virginia averages 60.7 possessions per game, the slowest pace in Division I. In part as a result, Virginia gives up just 53.4 points per game, the fewest in the nation.

Upset factor: Negligible. Without Hunter, Virginia might be vulnerable later in the tournament. Not the case, however, in the opener.

No. 6 TCU vs. No. 11 Syracuse
9:40 p.m., CBS, Midwest Region
Player to watch: TCU's Vladimir Brodziansky is one of only three Big 12 players to average at least 15 points and five rebounds. Brodziansky is an underrated passer as well.

Key stat: According to KenPom, Syracuse boasts an average height of 6-foot-8 -- the tallest of any Division I team of the past 10 seasons.

Upset factor: Ample. TCU has not been to the tournament since 1998. Since that time, Syracuse has been to three Final Fours. The Horned Frogs also have been on a bit of a scuffle since point guard Jaylen Fisher suffered a knee injury Jan. 13.

No. 8 Missouri vs. No. 9 Florida State
9:50 p.m., TBS, Midwest Region
Player to watch: All eyes will be on Michael Porter Jr., who finally returned to the floor during the SEC tournament after missing all but two minutes of the season with a back injury. It will be fascinating to see if Porter, a potential NBA lottery pick this summer, can morph back into a difference-maker.

Key stat: Florida State leading scorer Terance Mann averaged 15.5 points per game through the Seminoles' first 22 games. Over their past eight? Mann is averaging only 6.9 points and shooting just 43 percent from the field.

Upset factor: Handsome. The Seminoles are incredibly athletic and can get up and down with anyone in college basketball. Couple that with the unknown surrounding Porter, and this one could go either which way.

No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 12 New Mexico State
9:57 p.m., truTV, Midwest Region
Player to watch: Clemson guard Marcquise Reed is one of the more underrated standouts of the tournament. Before being shut down by Virginia in the ACC tournament, Reed had averaged almost 19 points over a seven-game span.

Key stat: When Donte Grantham tore his ACL, Clemson was 16-3 and averaging 77 points a game. Since, the Tigers are 7-6 and averaging just 68 points.

Upset factor: Tremendous. BPI gives the Aggies a 26 percent chance to win. Clemson is also just a 5.5-point favorite.

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