Round One games were played Thursday in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, and Wichita’s INTRUST Bank Arena hosted the opening games for the Midwest and West regionals.
In the Midwest Region, number one seed Houston won easily over 16th seed SIU-Edwardsville, 78-40. In the second game, 8th seed Gonzaga won over 9th seed Georgia, 89-68.
West Region games in the evening had 11th seed Drake winning over 6th seed Missouri, 67-57 and 3rd seed Texas Tech winning over 14th seed UNC-Wilmington by a score of 82-72.
Second round games will be played Saturday.
5:10 p.m. – (11) Drake vs. (3) Texas Tech
7:40 p.m. – (8) Gonzaga vs. (1) Houston
Fan Fest opened Thursday morning at Naftzger Park, just north of the arena. A big screen was set up to watch tournament games, and there are yard games, food trucks and other activities. Watch parties and fan zone events were taking place at locations across the downtown area.
Some street have been closed for the tournament activities. Waterman is closed between Mead and Emporia, St. Francis is closed from Douglas to William, and Emporia is closed from Waterman to William.
The Q-Line shuttle service is running in the downtown area to take fans to the games and activities, and it runs along Douglas from Walnut to Edgemoor. A free Park & Ride shuttle is picking up fans at Wichita East High School at 2301 E. Douglas Ave. It will run two hours before tipoff and one hour after the final game on Thursday and Saturday. Downtown drop-off and pick-up is on the north side of Naftzger Park until 9:30 p.m.; after 9:30 p.m., pick-ups will be at the Wichita Transit Center.
[ photo: INTRUST Bank Arena – Gonzaga vs Georgia ]
