The first edition of the College Basketball Crown kicks off on Monday with opening-round action. The 16-team, single-elimination postseason tournament will take place from March 31 to April 6 and will air on FOX and FS1.
All four games on Monday can be seen on FS1. Utah and Butler came down to the wire, with the Bulldogs emerging with an 86-84 win on a late bucket. After that, Boise State showed why the Broncos are the favorites to win the entire tournament with their 89-59 win over George Washington.
[Related: 10 names to know in the College Basketball Crown]
Then, Nebraska staged an impressive second-half rally against Arizona State. The Cornhuskers boast one of the best players in the tournament, senior Brice Williams, who had a game-high 30 points in the win.
The nightcap pits Georgetown against Washington State at 11 p.m. ET. Head coach Ed Cooley led the Hoyas to a winning record this season after they went 9-23 the year before. The Cougars finished in sixth place in their first season in the West Coast Conference.
Here are Monday’s highlights!
Brice Williams scored 30 points, his 18th game with 20 or more points, and Nebraska rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat Arizona State 86-78.
Coming into the tournament, Nebraska had dropped five straight games to end the season. It looked like the Cornhuskers would make that six in a row when they trailed Arizona State 38-30 at halftime.
Five minutes into the second half, they were down 49-39. Then the Cornhuskers started playing with tempo.
Even more importantly, Williams got some help. In the first half, Nebraska got its usual output from their prolific scorer. He led the Cornhuskers with 13 points, while the rest of the team combined for 17 points (zero of which came from the bench).
In the second half, fellow senior Juwan Gary hit another gear and Connor Essegian came off the bench to go on a solo 8-0 run. With 8:49, Essegian tied it at 58-all with a corner 3. All 17 of his points came after halftime.
Juwan Gary finishes the layup on the fastbreak, extending Nebraska’s lead over Arizona State
In his final collegiate game, senior Basheer Jihad had a game-high 15 points at halftime and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the first half. He finished with 21 points and a career-high 12 from the charity stripe.
Boise State was left out of the NCAA Tournament. On Monday, the Broncos had a message to send to the selection committee with a dominating 89-59 win over George Washington.
The Revolutionaries entered the game at 21-12, their best record since 2016, and for most of the first half, they hung around with the Broncos. George Washington jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead, and only trailed by six points at the half (32-26). But its defense couldn’t slow down Boise State.
The Broncos got help from everyone in the first half, with 17 of their points coming from the bench and eight of those courtesy of Javan Buchanan.
Boise State’s Javan Buchanan throws down a dunk in the first half vs. George Washington
BSU’s defense also stepped up, forcing 11 turnovers in the first half and 22 turnovers overall.
But the star of the matchup was Tyson Degenhart, who led all scorers with 19 points and was a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point land. He helped blow the game wide open as Boise State went on a 25-7 run halfway through the second half.
RJ Keene II scores on a put-back, plus a foul, extending Boise State’s lead over George Washington
Degenhart also chipped in with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. He’s now 10 shy of 2,000 career points.
Pearson Carmichael added 15 points and a game-high six steals for the Broncos.
Boise State had five players in double figures. George Washington had three: Trey Autry (16 points), Rafael Castro (11 points) and Ty Bevins (11 points).
Butler comes away with 86-84 nail-biting win over Utah
It was a back-and-forth game all afternoon, one that came down to the final minutes. Pierre Brooks II took it right to the hole with 3.2 seconds left, giving Butler an 86-84 lead.
Utah had one more chance but couldn’t connect on the running attempt that would have sent the game to overtime.
The Bulldogs are advancing to the quarterfinals, thanks in large part to Brooks’ effort. The senior forward, highlighted as one of FOX Sports’ players to watch in The Crown, totaled 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including a 4-of-8 day from behind the arc. Brooks had 17 of those points after in the second half. He also led his team with nine rebounds and three assists.
Utah held a 46-42 lead at halftime and got an assist throughout the game from super fan Corey, who made sure he made his voice was heard whenever Butler went to the free-throw line.
Corey’s screaming had an effect on the Bulldogs, who went just 13-of-20 from the charity stripe. Brooks admitted as much after the game.
But unfortunately for the Utes, it wasn’t enough to get the win.
Keanu Dawes finished with 19 points for Utah, while sharp-shooting Gabe Madsen had 17 points, 15 of which came from the 3-point line.
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