- On the opening night proper of the NCAA Tournament, there was only one game in the Association and it was between two lottery leaders, Orlando and Detroit. The Magic had five of the six possible selections.
- For the circumstances, the scores weren't as bad as they could have been. The low man on the Pick One totem pole was Colin who found himself with one of the joint bench bargains in Markelle Fultz. His 21 PRA tied him with teammate Terrence Ross for the best output off the bench.
- Three participants went with Magic big man Mo Bamba with two analog picks (Matt & Ryan) and one via the Last Man In (Lou). He double-doubled in defeat and earned his trio of backers 24 PRA.
- Also on 24 PRA was Trevor's pick Moritz Wagner. Despite being a regular in the bench bargain blurb, this was Wagner's first selection in this edition of the Challenge and second overall between the two seasons.
- But taking home top score was the only person to go against the grain with a Detroit Piston. Al chose Marvin Bagley III, the ninth player to be selected on two teams, who put up 33 PRA with a double-double in the victory.
- Optimally, Moritz's brother Franz could have been selected by Lou and cashed out his 66 rookie-boosted PRA. Honorable mention goes to Saddiq Bey who scored a career-high 51 points en route to 64 PRA. Lou and Ryan could have had him. In terms of bench bargains, the veterans were spelled out above while Isaiah Livers had himself 18 rookie-boosted PRA to take the plaudits for the rookies.
Image Credits: Player Photos (ESPN)