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Mid-Major Madness Reacts Survey: Who had the best performance in the Opening Day Marathon?
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- Mid-Major Madness Reacts Survey: Who had the best performance in the Opening Day Marathon?
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Mid Major fans and fans across the country.
We had eight glorious games as part of the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon, which featured mid-majors vs. mid-majors.
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Some of the top programs in our coverage were featured across the games in Rock Hill, S.C., and Sioux Falls, S.D.
So, our question this week is the following: who had the most impressive performance in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon? High Point, Queens, Murray State, McNeese, App State or Furman.
Before we break down each of those teams and their wins, we have to give a shoutout to the other two winners as part of the event: Grambling and Northern Kentucky. The Tigers held off a second-half surge from Northern Illinois for an 89-87 win behind 29 points from Isaiah Miranda. The Norse knocked off UTEP 84-76 with freshman Willie Foster exploding on the scene with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
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High Point
HPU tipped off the event with a 72-57 win over Liberty. The Panthers clamped down defensively in the second half by limiting the Flames to 23 points and outscoring them by a dozen. Flynn Clayman's team had a balanced attack with three players in double figures, with Curtis Williams Jr. in the lead with 12 points. Freshman Trey Pearson scored 11 points in his debut. Conrad Martinez added 10 points and six rebounds.
Queens
The Royals flexed their offensive muscles with a 103-98 shootout win over Winthrop as both teams shot better than 52%. Queens scored 55 points in the first half and led by 17 at the break on its way to a wire-to-wire win. Jordan Watford was on triple-double watch with a career-high 26 points, eight points and seven rebounds. Nasir Mann poured in 19, while Isaiah Henry and Caleb Jones had 15 apiece, and Nic McLean added 14.
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Murray State
The Racers asserted their dominance in a 94-64 rout of Tennessee State. Ryan Miller's bunch shot 67% in the second half and used an 18-4 run to turn an 11-point halftime lead into a blowout. Roman Domon led the way with 22 points and five rebounds. Kaden Magwood added 15 points. Talis Soulhac and Brayden Shorter each contributed 13 points. Brigham Rogers was also in double figures with 10.
McNeese
The Cowboys just missed reaching the century mark in a 99-78 win over UAB. McNeese torched the nets by shooting 66% in the second half, which included a 10-for-16 (62.5%) clip from deep. Larry Johnson notched a career-high 31 points. Jaylon Dean-Vines also had a career-best with 17. Choppa Moore added 15 points.
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App State
The Mountaineers earned a 63-49 win over Merrimack. They coasted following a 23-3 spurt to start the game. Jaylen Colon scored 14 points, while a pair of teammates scored a dozen apiece. Ben Kopetzki chipped in 12 points and five rebounds. Ted Neal also had 12 points, five boards and four assists.
Furman
The Paladins closed the night with a 79-70 win over Bethune-Cookman. Bob Richey's team struck early and led by as many as 15 in the first half. Fifth-year seniors Charles Johnston and Tom House led the way. Johnston went 6-of-9 from 3-point land for a game-high 23 points. He also pulled down 11 rebounds. House finished one point behind with 22. Fellow veteran Marcus Kell added 14 points.
