March Madness scores, winners and losers: North Carolina, Wisconsin collapse; Nebraska makes history

The Cornhuskers celebrated a program first, while the Tar Heels and Badgers are in the news for all the worst reasons

Isaac Trotter

Cameron Salerno

David Cobb

Mar 19, 2026

10:39 pm ET

•

9 min read

Getty Images

There are losses, and then there are meltdowns, and then there is this. North Carolina blew a 19-point lead in the second half and collapsed to No. 11 seed VCU, 82-78, in overtime. It's the sixth-worst collapse in Round of 64 history and a cursed last month for UNC has somehow descended into a finish from the depths of hell.

There is no coming back from this moment. North Carolina used its powerful transition attack to dominate for the first 30 minutes. Henri Veesaar's 3-pointer extended the lead to 15 with less than 10 minutes left.

And then defense became utterly optional, and somehow, the plan and execution on offense were even worse.

VCU guard Terrence Hill Jr. scored 14 of his game-high 34 points in the final nine minutes of regulation to force overtime, and North Carolina's offense also had 11 empty possessions in 13 opportunities to end regulation.

Two missed front ends, including one by senior Seth Trimble with 29 seconds to go, were brutal. The last play of regulation was doomed from the start, and UNC fumbled it out of bounds. It didn't score a single bucket in overtime, and yet had a chance to force double-overtime when Veesaar toed the line for a pair of free throws down 80-78.

Brick, unintentionally.

Brick, intentionally.

Ballgame.

Caleb Wilson could only bury his face in his hands. The same hands that betrayed him and kept him sidelined with a broken thumb on an innocuous dunk in practice on the eve of the regular-season finale against Duke.

It's a fitting bow on a disastrous season for North Carolina that started with loads of promise as Wilson exceeded all expectations on his way to All-American honors, but also included Trimble breaking his arm in a wild weight-room accident and Wilson somehow breaking both his left hand and his right thumb in stunning ways. Now it has to swallow one of the worst postseason losses in North Carolina history and kickstart a load of questions surrounding Hubert Davis' future after he couldn't steer the Tar Heels away from disaster. A 26-42 record in Quad 1 games isn't acceptable. Blowing a 19-point lead to VCU ain't it, either.

Let's dive into the winners and losers from Thursday's electric opening slate of March Madness. No one had it worse than North Carolina, although Wisconsin fans might argue otherwise.

Loser: Wisconsin lets go of the rope at the worst time

Wisconsin's ridiculously fun season is over far too early and in the most stunning fashion. High Point rocked the Badgers, 83-82, with a stunning rally in the nick of time. Nick Boyd looked … mortal if only for a moment. The all-everything point guard delivered 27 points, six assists and five boards in this one, but the audacious lefty didn't have one more bucket in his bag down the stretch. Boyd's final stat line is glitzy, but the senior will rue the missed layups in crunch time.

All season long, Wisconsin has walked teams down in the second half. This time, the script was flipped on the Badgers as High Point erased an eight-point deficit in closing time.

Wisconsin got 49 points combined from John Blackwell and Boyd. It shot 39% from 3-point. The team with the best collection of high-end wins will not advance to the Round of 32.

The opposite side of the coin in March Madness is BRUTAL. — Isaac Trotter

Winner: Siena's special stuff

Yeah, Siena ended up losing to top-seeded Duke, 71-65. Sure, this injured team with no depth ran out of gas down the stretch. A couple of missed dunks and a 3-pointer that did everything but drop may stick in Gerry McNamara's head forever.

But the feeling they brought back to this wonderful tournament is going to stick for a while. Cinderella was in our presence for all of 38 minutes. The Saints gave Duke the business deep into the second half. They led 43-32 at the break. They led 61-56 with 7:34 to go. McNamara's boys were right there, frustrating eventual National Player of the Year, Cameron Boozer, along the way. — Trotter

Winner: High Point strikes late to stun Wisconsin

26-year-old, sixth-year senior Chase Johnston notched his One Shining Moment to help High Point rally from an eight-point deficit with four-and-change to go and stun Wisconsin, 83-82. Johnston drilled three triples from the parking lot and deposited the game-winning layup -- the 3-point specialist's first two-point bucket of the season -- to send High Point into the second round.

Big, bad Darius Acuff and Arkansas awaits. — Isaac Trotter

> CHASE JOHNSTON FROM THE LOGO 🎯 pic.twitter.com/BW4gGNkHW2

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2026

Winner: Nebraska gets its first-ever tournament victory

Nebraska was the only program with