There weren’t as many upsets or as many close games, and no buzzer-beaters at all.

There was plenty to enjoy, though, as the 68-team 2019 NCAA Tournament field was cut down to the Sweet 16 teams for this weekend’s regionals at Washington D.C., Louisville, Kansas City and Anaheim.

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There is only one double-digit seed remaining. There are no mid-majors left. This is reserved for heavyweights from here on out. But the kind of teams that tend to be tournament darlings gave us some nice moments on the opening weekend. And the kind of teams that make their mark annually came through, as well.

These are the top 16 moments from the tournament — so far.

16. Justin Robinson returns

Because Zion Williamson got back for the ACC Tournament, Robinson’s recovery from a foot injury was the biggest injury return in the NCAAs. He was able to wade back into the action during a comfortable victory against Saint Louis. He had to be better against Liberty in the second round, and he was, lasting 29 minutes and getting his first double-figure scoring game since Jan. 30.

15. That Payton Pritchard 3

Only a bit more than seven minutes remained in the second-round game between South Region No. 12 seed Oregon and No. 13 UC Irvine. The Anteaters had led at the 12:32 mark, before Ehab Amin’s 3-pointer put the Ducks in front. But UCI was trying to hang in when Pitchard found a small opening on the left wing and fired from deep. It was the kind of shot that might be launched by a veteran guard with Final Four experience. When it slammed through the goal, the lead was in double figured and Oregon was safe.

14. Carsen Edwards recovers his touch

The precise starting date of Carsen’s calamity is difficult to ascertain, but let’s go with the idea it began as January turned to February and the Purdue Boilermakers opened their month with a home game against Minnesota. Edwards went 6 of 20 from the field in that game. From that point until he lined up against Villanova in the NCAA second around, he shot .350 from the floor. He made half or more of his shots in just three of 12 games. But against Villanova, his shot was exactly where he needed it to be. He made 9 of 16 from 3-point range, earned nine free throws and converted them all and wound up with a career-high 42 points. Good timing. But he’ll need more like that in the Sweet 16 (and maybe beyond).

13. Rick Byrd wins

In his career at Belmont, the great Rick Byrd had won 804 games as head coach. He won nine games in the NAIA championship tournament and twice made the semifinals. He won seven Division I conference tournament titles and once made the NIT quarters. But he’d never won an NCAA Tournament game. That changed in the 2019 First Four, when Byrd’s Bruins entered as an at-large selection and pulled away from Temple late in the game and earned an 81-70 victory. Predictably, Byrd called it a historic night for the program because it was “Belmont’s first win.” Not his.

SWEET 16 PREVIEWS

UNC-AUB | UK-UH | MSU-LSU | ZAGS-FSU | UVA-UO | PURDUE-UT | UM-TT | DUKE-VT

12. Liberty can’t miss

With 7:21 left in their first-round tournament game, the Mississippi State Bulldogs held a 63-53 lead over Liberty. Less than 30 seconds later, MSU guard Lamar Peters fouled the Flames' Caleb Homesly attempting a 3-pointer. What happened after he made three free throws was impressive. The Flames made four consecutive 3-point shots — including three by Homesly — and hit 5 of 7 overall from the field. They also hit 10 of 12 on free throws. They outscored MSU 27-13 down the stretch.

11. Grant Williams works overtime

It was amazing to see Iowa recover from 25 points down to force overtime against Tennessee, but does the comeback matter if it doesn’t result in victory? At least it made Saturday afternoon more entertaining, and it gave Williams the platform to remind everyone why he’s an All-American. He scored all but three of UT’s first eight points, including four on two short jumpers that showed off his offensive versatility. He also picked up a steal that helped seal the game with a minute remaining.

10. Jordan Murphy back for a parting gesture

As he was warming up for Minnesota’s second-round game against Michigan State, Minnesota senior Jordan Murphy had a feeling it would be a tough night. He lasted four minutes because of a back injury that made it impossible for the Big Ten’s No. 2 career rebounder — Hall of Famer Jerry Lucas is first — to battle the Spartans. When the game was out of hand, though, coach Richard Pitino wisely thought to insert Murphy and sub him out for the the standing ovation from Gophers fans he’d earned with 1,305 career rebounds. “I wanted to get him that moment, you know,” Pitino said. “That was special for everybody.”

9. Fran Dunphy bows out

In his final season as head coach at Temple after 30 years as a Big Five head coach, Dunphy managed to squeeze the Owls into the First Four and one last NCAA appearance. He’d made it 16 times previously in his career, including seven at Temple. It looked for a while like he might make this one last at least a few more days, but Belmont pulled away in the end and advanced to play Maryland. Dunphy, ever a coach, told the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Mike Jensen he planned to watch the game tape: “What else am I going to do?”

MORE: Ranking Sweet 16 teams' chances of winning it all

8. Irvine gives us an upset

Although seeded 13th and playing Big 12 co-champion Kansas State, UC Irvine went off as only a slight underdog to the Wildcats. That was because K-State star forward Dean Wade missed the game with a foot injury, leaving his team struggling to score. Kamau Stokes hit a jumper for K-State with 3:21 left so that his team trailed only by a basket, but UCI scored seven of the final 10 points to become the first “Cinderella” of 2019.

7. America says hello to Fletcher Magee

After he’d led Wofford to the Southern Conference championship and a 21st consecutive victory against league competition, Magee entered the NCAAs only three long-range buckets away from breaking the Division I career record for 3-pointers. He made those shots count big. He was 7 of 12 on 3s against Seton Hall and scored 24 points. His three with 7:13 left put Wofford ahead for good, and he made two more as the Terriers outscored the Hall 22-8 in the final seven minutes.

6. Kentucky says goodbye to Fletcher Magee

With freshman wing Tyler Herro getting the majority of the assignment, but with plenty of assistance from the Kentucky bigs who hedged forward on every screen and the UK coaches who came up with the scheme that worked so well, the Wildcats controlled Magee well enough to hold him to 0-for-12 shooting from long distance.

5. Gardner-Webb makes us wonder

With 7:33 left in the first half of the Bulldogs’ first-round game, forward DJ Laster converted a layup. At that point, they were ahead by 14 points and had doubled the score of their opponent. That opponent was Virginia, the No. 1 seed in the South Region, and for a moment (or two) everyone following the tournament wondered if it might be UMBC all over again. For all but ardent Cavaliers fans, it was an instant when history seemed possible, again. (It didn’t last).

MORE: Why your team won't make the Final Four

4. New Mexico State thinks pass-first

In the final six seconds of NMSU’s game against No. 5-seed Auburn, Aggies guard AJ Harris, drove down the left side of the lane and left behind two defenders. Suddenly he had the chance to convert a layup and tie the game, forcing overtime. Instead, Harris chose to whip a pass with his left hand out to teammate Terrell Brown behind the 3-point line, trying to go for the regulation win. It looked like that brainlock might work out OK when Brown, shockingly, was fouled attempting a 3-pointer. But Brown missed two of three free throws. Auburn won by a point.

3. Ja Morant's triple-double

With 4:42 remaining in Murray State’s first-round destruction of Marquette, Morant pulled down what otherwise would have been a routine rebound. Except this was his 10th of the game. As he already had recorded double-figure totals in points and assists, this became the first triple-double in the NCAA Tournamnt since Draymond Green did it in 2012. For two days following that performance, America was on fire over Ja. It didn’t last. Florida State was just too good, but Morant owned this tournament’s first weekend.

2. Tremont Waters to the hoop

Depending on where you check, LSU’s sophomore point guard is either listed at 6-0 or 5-11, and that means he is about a foot shorter than Maryland bigs Jalen Smith and Bruno Fernando. But in a tie game with a trip to the Sweet 16 available, Waters got a screen and wound up matched against Smith (with Bruno along the baseline as a possible help defender). From there, he decided to attack the basket. It was an audacious decision, one that seemed certain to result in his shot being rejected and the two teams starting overtime. But Waters got in clean for a layup — and one of the best clutch shots in NCAA Tournament history. “Great players make great plays,” LSU interim coach Tony Benford said. “He made a great play.”

1. Zion vs. Tacko

With Duke trailing by three points and an offensive possession that began with 25 seconds left quickly evaporating toward disaster, there was an instant when it became clear Zion Williamson was not going down easily. He was going to take the ball to the rack and make something happen, whether that something was good or bad. He figured it would likely be good, because most of what he does on the court goes that way. After he drove past guard BJ Taylor — who fell to the floor — Williamson rose toward the rim and encountered 7-6 UCF center Tacko Fall, who owned 252 career blocks. This instead became his 299th career foul. Williamson took the contact from Fall and finished a finger-roll layup. He missed the free throw he earned, but teammate RJ Barrett scored on put-back to give the tournament’s No. 1 seed a trip to the Sweet 16.