{"id":209189,"date":"2026-03-18T02:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T02:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/209189\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T02:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T02:44:10","slug":"texas-vs-nc-state-live-updates-march-madness-first-four-begins-in-dayton-umbc-falls-to-howard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/209189\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas vs. NC State live updates: March Madness First Four begins in Dayton; UMBC falls to Howard"},"content":{"rendered":"

March Madness<\/a> officially tips off Tuesday evening with the First Four<\/a>, which will determine the last four teams in the 64-team first-round field.<\/p>\n

The No. 16 seeds got the action started early Tuesday as Howard held off a furious late rally by UMBC in the final minutes to win 86-83<\/a>. The Retrievers had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but the shot glanced off the rim.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

It was the first-ever NCAA tournament win for Howard.<\/p>\n

[Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem: Make your picks for $50K in total prizes<\/a>]<\/p>\n

On tap in the second matchup of the night is a game between No. 11 seeds Texas Longhorns (18-14, 9-9) and NC State Wolfpack (20-13, 10-8). The winner will advance to play AJ Dybantsa and No. 6 BYU.<\/p>\n

In case you were wondering, we did, in fact, have AI predict every March Madness game<\/a> \u2026 and our good friend Claude got the first game of the night wrong by picking UMBC. NC State is a slight favorite in the second game, and Claude likes the Wolfpack.<\/p>\n

Texas vs. NC State start time: 9:15 p.m. ET
TV channel\/live stream: TruTV<\/p>\n

Follow along with Yahoo Sports for the latest out of the men’s NCAA tournament, tipping off with the First Four on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Live34 updatesTue, March 17, 2026 at 6:31 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:43 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

\"NickTue, March 17, 2026 at 7:24 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Nick Bromberg<\/p>\n

The Longhorns started hot and ended the first half ice cold.<\/p>\n

Texas is now shooting 29% from the field. NC State is at 35%. Not the prettiest half of basketball you\u2019ll ever see.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:24 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

The Longhorns led by double digits at one point in the first half, but it\u2019s just a one-point game as we head to halftime.<\/p>\n

NC State’s Darrion Williams is leading all scorers at the break with 14 points.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:20 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

The Wolfpack have closed the gap late in the first half and it\u2019s a one-point game with just under a minute left.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:05 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

The Longhorns are still in control of this one as the first half ticks down inside the 5-minute mark. They are controlling the boards (21 to 10).<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 6:53 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

The Longhorns are up 19-14 as we hit the 10-minute mark in the first half. NC State\u2019s Darrion Williams had 10 of his team\u2019s first 12 points.<\/p>\n

Texas is 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range so far.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 6:51 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

The former Texas Tech player has 10 of the Wolfpack\u2019s 12 points.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 6:42 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

This game should have an entertaining production for those who are fans of Chuck and Dickie V. They\u2019re joining play-by-play announcer Brian Anderson for the duration of this one.<\/p>\n

\"NickTue, March 17, 2026 at 6:38 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Nick Bromberg<\/p>\n

The Longhorns enter the first TV timeout on a 9-0 run after NC State took a 2-0 lead to open the game. All of those points are on 3-pointers by three different players.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 6:36 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

We are underway with the No. 11 seed matchup between Texas and NC State and the Wolfpack is on the board first.<\/p>\n

NC State was a 1.5-point favorite coming into the game and is led by a four-pronged attack of Paul McNeil Jr., Quadir Copeland, Ven-Allen Lubin and Darrion Williams. The first 3 average 13.9 ppg. Williams averages 13.8.<\/p>\n

Dailyn Swain buoys the Longhorns with team-high averages of 17.8 ppg, 7.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 steals.<\/p>\n

\"NickTue, March 17, 2026 at 5:56 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Nick Bromberg<\/p>\n

2026 is the Bison\u2019s fifth NCAA tournament appearance. They\u2019ve always been a No. 16 in those tournaments and lost in the First Four in 2024.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 5:55 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

Well, the comeback fell just short. UMBC had a clean 3-point look that would\u2019ve tied the game at the buzzer but missed the mark.<\/p>\n

Ose Okojie led the way for the Bison with 23 points. Harris had 19 points, 14 boards and 5 assists.<\/p>\n

So Howard will advance to face No. 1 seed Michigan in Buffalo on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 5:47 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a 2-point game under the 1-minute mark after a furious late rally by the Retrievers!<\/p>\n

They\u2019re on a 9-0 run in the last 90 seconds to keep UMBC alive and maybe produce an early March miracle.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 5:34 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

The Bison are keeping UMBC at arm\u2019s length with just under 5 minutes left in the game.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 79-67. Do the Retrievers have a comeback in them?<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 5:25 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

There\u2019s just over 8 minutes left in the game and UMBC has cut it back to 72-67. Jah’Likai King has 17 points as the Retrievers try to creep back into this one.<\/p>\n

\"NickTue, March 17, 2026 at 5:18 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Nick Bromberg<\/p>\n

As the Retrievers try to cut into Howard\u2019s deficit, much of the lead has been gained at the stripe. At the under-12 timeout, Howard is 15-of-18 from the foul line while UMBC is 9-of-15.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 5:10 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

Four different Howard players are now in double figures as the game winds down inside of 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

Ose Okojie still leading the way with 19, but the Bison are 7-for-13 combined from behind the arc.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 4:59 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

We are back for the second half and Howard has taken a double-digit lead right off the bat. We\u2019ll see if UMBC can get back in this thing.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 4:40 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March Madness officially tips off Tuesday evening with the First Four, which will determine the last four teams…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[82040,48876,9817,27,29,537,28,82039],"class_list":["post-209189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-howard","tag-march-madness","tag-nc-state-wolfpack","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-news","tag-umbc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}