High seeds did not struggle on Friday afternoon at NCAA Tournament

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On3 image — (Photo courtesy of Grant Halverson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Thursday night was an electric factory for the 2022 NCAA Tournament. There were upset possibilities everywhere. Of course, Kentucky was the biggest shock of the night.

Saint Peter’s recorded their first win in the Big Dance with the 85-79 overtime win in Indianapolis knocking out No. 2 seed and national championship contender Kentucky. Meanwhile, No. 13 seed Akron took No. 4 seed UCLA to the wire, and Vermont gave Arkansas a scare in another No. 4 vs. No. 13 matchup. We also had a pair of No. 12 over No. 5 upsets with Richmond beating Iowa and New Mexico State knocking off UConn.

However, all of that Cinderella magic seemed to disappear on Friday afternoon.

In what has been a snoozer of a day for March Madness, we’ve seen all high seeds cruise to victory and onto the Round of 32.

After a tight first half, Auburn hit Jacksonville State with a huge run, and the Tigers scooted their way to an 80-61 victory with diaper dandy Jabari Smith issuing an exclamation mark.

JABARI SMITH FOR THE LOVE OF ELEVATION pic.twitter.com/IXlERkfByy
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 18, 2022

Meanwhile, No. 3 seed Texas Tech dropped a fiftyburger in the first half and made easy work of No. 14 seed Montana State in a 97-62 win. In the East region, Purdue got 22 points from star guard Jaden Ivey and handled No. 14 seed Yale in a 78-56 win. The Boilermakers might be the favorite to come out of the region and could reach the Final Four for the first time since 1980.

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Oh, No. 2 seed Villanova beat No. 15 seed Delaware by 20 points after struggling with the Blue Hens early in Pittsburgh. Jay Wright’s club was able to figure out things quickly after being hit with an early haymaker.

All of this is just more salt in the wound for the Big Blue Nation.

Kentucky was hit with an onslaught of high-level shotmaking in the loss to Saint Peter’s, and the numbers tell us that the performance was somewhat fluky. However, that is why so many people love this tournament. In a one-and-done scenario, anything can happen.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats were on the other end of this year’s Cinderella. As we move away from the historical night, it’s becoming blatantly obvious that the win by Saint Peter’s will be talked about as one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history.