Survive and advance. It's the name of the NCAA Tournament game.
Across the month of March, 68 of the finest college basketball programs get distilled down to one, with the last team standing crowned champion.
With just forty minutes, spread across two halves, to score, win, or go home, shooters with hot hands are worth their weight in gold.
And despite basketball being a team game, sometimes it takes a superstar effort from a single player to see teams punch their ticket to the next round, advancing from the Sweet Sixteen to the Elite Eight, onward to the Final Four and then - fingers crossed - the national championship game.
From a prolific Fighting Irish scorer to a Navy Admiral destined for brighter lights, here are the 10 highest individual scoring performances in NCAA Men's Tournament history.
1. | Austin Carr (Notre Dame) | 61 points | 1970 |
2. | Bill Bradley (Princeton) | 58 points | 1965 |
3. | Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati) | 56 points | 1958 |
4. | Austin Carr (Notre Dame) | 52 points | 1971 |
5. | Austin Carr (Notre Dame) | 52 points | 1970 |
6. | David Robinson (Navy) | 50 points | 1987 |
7. | Elvin Hayes (Houston) | 49 points | 1968 |
8. | Hal Lear (Temple) | 48 points | 1956 |
9. | Austin Carr (Notre Dame) | 47 points | 1971 |
10. | David Corzine (DePaul) | 46 points | 1978 |