Murray State vs. Colorado State
Colorado State University's Jesse Carr (11) fights to get his shot off under pressure from Murray State University's Isaiah Canaan (L) during the first half of play in their NCAA basketball game at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, March 15, 2012. Reuters

As NCAA Tournament 2012 got underway Thursday, Murray State crushed Colorado State 58-41 to kick off March Madness.

The underdog, 11-seed Colorado State, was in good position to notch the first upset of the tourney, boasting a 24-23 lead over six-seed Murray State, the overwhelming favorite to win the game.

The seemingly-insignifcant one-point lead sent the Rams to the locker room with a confidence they could have built into a lead, but turnovers sunk the Colorado State University squad.

That slim lead slipped quickly away as the second half got underway with a massive dunk by Isaiah Canaan that ignited the Racers and put them back on top by one.

Murray State--which was down at the half five times during the regular season, only to win each game in the end--only lost one game all year, and that impressive streak has continued with their win over CSU on Thursday.

Isaiah Canaan led Murray State all game, scoring 15 points and getting 8 rebounds. But the star despite his team's loss, was CSU's Pierce Hornung, who grabbed a massive 17 rebounds and 12 points in a stellar performance.

The game was the first NCAA Tournament win for Murray State since 1988, and the school was 2-14 in tournament play heading into Thursday's basketball game.

Colorado State University was underestimated many times this regular season, and it was a fool's gamble each time, as the team has won some huge games against big teams. This would have been CSU's first Big Dance win since 1989.

CSU has five of their last seven regular-season games, including two over ranked opponents (then-#21 New Mexico, and then-#17 UNLV), so they have momentum coming into the game.

But Murray State was a beast all year, and the team pulled off a win as they nearly always find a way to do.

At halftime, the score was 24-23, not a big lead by Colorado State, but something to take into the locker room and build a win off of.

Win the half, we'll win the game, CSU Coach Tim Miles tweeted during the halftime break, indicating he was confident his team would pull off a win.

CSU's confidence seemed to falter, and a team has fallen to start the Big Dance.

Basketball