Every year, college basketball teams across the country have their eyes on one prize, the March Madness title. This year UNC – Chapel Hill, South Carolina, Duke, Marquette, Arkansas, Texas Southern, Troy, and Seton Hall all played the first two rounds of the tournament at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Downtown Greenville.

Each game was filled with excitement; most came down to the last few seconds. For example, UNC was down by three with 30 seconds left, facing an upset by Arkansas. However, thanks to missed free throws and sloppy defense by the Razorbacks, the Tar Heels were able to come back and win by five.

The most intriguing upset of the week was Duke vs. USC. The 2 seed Blue Devils were coming off a 87-65 win against the 15 seed Troy Trojans while Carolina, the 7 seed, was coming off a 93-73 win vs. 10 seed Marquette. The Gamecocks turned heads, beating the favored Blue Devils by forcing 18 turnovers and playing well on offense in the second half.

During the first half, the Blue Devils led the Gamecocks by 7 points. The Gamecocks shot the ball terribly in the first half of the game, shooting 21.3% from the field. However, the Cocks played great defense and kept themselves in the game.

“As a Carolina fan, it was big; it was a good year for South Carolina. We haven’t had a strong team in a while and watching them win 2 games in person was awesome to see, especially seeing them knock off the 2 seed Blue Devils,” said junior Gamecocks fan Jackson Houser.

Although the Blue Devil fans did not come out of The Well with the outcome that they would have hoped for, they all still enjoyed the experience. “It was fun even though we lost,” said Ben Essex, son of former Duke basketball player Rey Essex.