The official NCAA tournament may have been postponed but here in Chatham County it will play out using the final projection bracket of famous bracketologist Andy Katz.
Of statewide interest, it was North Carolina Central advancing in the First Four games as the Eagles took an 87-79 victory over Robert Morris as Jibri Blount and C.J. Keyser had 23 and 19 points respectively.
With the win NCCU earned an opening round matchup in Saint Louis where the locals dropped a 68-54 loss to the South Region top seed in Baylor despite 17 from Blount.
Other opening round games saw Duke pull away from Akron 72-53 in Greensboro in East Regional play behind a three-point barrage from Tre Jones, Matthew Hurt and Jordan Goldwire, who hit a trio of treys each for the Blue Devils while Vernon Carey had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
Defending national champion Virgina was stunned 58-57 in the opening round by in-state foe Richmond as Blake Francis canned a 24-foot trey from the left wing as the buzzer sounded to lift the Spiders to the upset March Madness style in Greensboro in East Regional action.
Florida State advanced in the opening round of the South Regional with a 76-60 triumph over Arkansa Little-Rock in Tampa while Louisville also moved on in the Midwest Regional with an 88-53 win over Vermont in Tampa.
Second round action saw action saw a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference teams advance into the Sweet 16 as Duke squeeked by Texas Tech 66-61 in a grind it out affair with Carey netting 17. Florida State took down a feisty Butler squad 77-74 while Louisville lost 92-87 to an experienced and dangerous Brigham Young squad.
Of note, all four of the top-seeds advanced into the Sweet 16 in Kansas, Dayton, Gonzaga and Baylor.
Duke takes on Dayton in New York City in third round action while Florida State will battled Cinderella story East Tennessee State in Houston.