The first big day of March Madness (featuring 16 NCAA men's games) is nearly in the books, with a game that just ended -- UCLA vs. Michigan State -- providing a huge number of hot and cold stretches by both teams. The play-by-play sheet is now available, with which I can add detail [in brackets] to my previous general recollections.

UCLA used a 15-2 second-half run to go up by 23 [64-41 with 8:36 left in the game, after it had been 49-39]. Michigan State then had an 18-3 spurt in roughly a four-minute span, to close within 67-59 at the 4:21 point [I had erroneously said the lead was cut to 10]. The Bruins held a 10-point lead in the closing minutes [76-66 with 1:31 left], but a flurry of Spartan three-pointers [at 1:03, 0:59, and 0:08] combined with dreadful UCLA free-throwing [2-of-10 in the final 1:17] left the outcome in doubt until the final seconds. Ultimately, the Bruins held on, 78-76.

Earlier today...

Morehead State darted off to a 15-2 lead over intrastate rival Louisville, but saw the favored Cardinals gradually overcome their initial deficit and seemingly take control with a 48-41 lead. The Eagles then unleashed another run, 11-2, to lead 52-50, before prevailing 62-61 in a see-saw finish (play-by-play sheet).

San Diego State used a 13-0 spurt to pull away from Northern Colorado.

Florida stormed out to a 10-1 lead over the University of California, Santa Barbara, then went on a 12-0 run to increase a 23-13 Gator lead to 35-13, en route to a 79-51 win (play-by-play sheet).

At one point, UConn led Bucknell only by 27-20. The Huskies then outscored the Bison 30-5 to balloon the lead to 57-25, ultimately winning 81-52 (play-by-play sheet). During the time it gave up the 30-5 run, Bucknell made only 1 field goal in 16 attempts.