Placed at the top behind the efforts of fantastic freshmen, Arizona will seek to avoid desert dramatics as it headlines the West Region.
Keep track of all the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament happenings in the West Region below …
(Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
Click here for other regions …
RELATED: East Region Preview | South Region Preview | Midwest Region Preview | West Region Preview | Ballislife Writer’s picks
First Round (March 19-20)
(7) Miami (FL) vs. (10) Missouri
Friday, 10:10 p.m. ET, TruTV
(2) Purdue vs. (15) Queens
Friday, 7:35 p.m. ET, TruTV
(8) Villanova vs. (9) Utah State (-1.5)
Friday, 4:10 p.m. ET, TNT
(1) Arizona (-30.5) vs. (16) Long Island University
Friday, 1:35 p.m. ET, TNT
(3) Gonzaga (-21.5) vs. (14) Kennesaw State
Thursday, 10:20 p.m. ET, TBS
Matas Vokietaitis is the immovable force and he is DESTROYING BYU
Love when Big Men play BIG
— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) March 20, 2026
(11) Texas 79, (6) BYU 71
AJ Dybantsa‘s hyped freshman season came to an end as the Longhorns continued their trek with a follow-up victory over the Richie Saunders-less Cougars. Dybantsa played all 40 minutes and paired 35 points with 10 rebounds, but his collegiate career came to a potential end thanks to Texas center Matas Vokietaitis, who needed only the first half to cure his own double-double before sealing Texas’ victory with an emphatic rejection of Robert Wright III, preventing the score from falling to one possession in the final minute.
Darius Acuff with a TOUGH lefty finish pic.twitter.com/TNNA1i4RHM
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 19, 2026
(4) Arkansas 97, (13) Hawaii 78
SEC champion Arkansas scored the first 11 points and never looked back, rolling to its largest NCAA Tournament victory since the 1994 regional semifinals. NBA hopeful Darius Acuff Jr. had 24 points and seven assists (part of 26 helpers for the Razorbacks) while Malique Erwin had a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double on a day where Arkansas put up 64 tallies in the paint.
High Point’s Chase Johnston, who shoots nearly 50% from 3, just made his first two-pointer of the season to beat Wisconsinpic.twitter.com/JhsHkbMY4V
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) March 19, 2026
(12) High Point 83, (5) Wisconsin 82
Chase Johnston‘s first two-pointer of the season couldn’t have come at a better time, as the three-point specialist took a long ball from Rob Martin to create a game-winning fastbreak with 11 seconds remaining in what became the first major upset of the Tournament. Trailing by as much as 10, High Point earned the first NCAA Tournament win in program history behind Johnston’s heroics brought about by Martin’s pass, created through the last of 10 rebounds on a 23-point night.
First Four (March 17)
TRAMON MARK FOR TEXAS!!!
THE MADNESS IS ALREADY HERE!!!pic.twitter.com/hHsXP4MseV
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 18, 2026
(11) Texas 68, (11) NC State 66
A game-winning fadeaway from Tramon Mark in the penultimate second helped render a late Wolfpack rally long forgotten as Texas prevailed in a return to the First Four. The Longhorns led by nine with just under three minutes to go before NC State managed to force a tie, but Mark’s heroics, part of a 17-point night, allowed them to sweep a tournament doubleheader from the Wolfpack after previously taking a showdown at November’s Maui Invitational.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
Editor’s Pick
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