A few years ago, the tournament started with a crazy day 1 filled with upsets and buzzer beaters, only to be followed by a day 2 where everything returned to normal. There were no Cinderellas and very few games would have gotten your pulse racing. This year's tournament has fallen into the same day 2 malaise. To be fair, if you're a higher seed playing on Day 2 and you watch all the big guys either get eliminated or have to sweat things out until the final buzzer, you probably develop an appreciation of how quickly your tournament life can end. As a result, you're not as likely to look past your opponent, a school you've never heard of before.
In the opening set of games, there simply was no letdown. Kansas took on New Mexico State, jumped out to a double-digit halftime lead and never looked back. Michigan State came in as a very scary #7 seed after starting the season slowly but gaining momentum as March neared, taking Wisconsin to overtime in the Big Ten championship game before falling. Even though Georgia is a major school from the SEC, they played like the favorites they clearly were in this game, building the same 13-point halftime lead that Kansas had in their game. Georgia would make a bit of a run early in the second half, closing the lead down to 2, but the Spartans would build that lead back up again in short time, winning comfortably. Northern Iowa is a mid-major, but they spent most of the year near the top 10, as they, along with Wichita State, proved how dangerous the Missouri Valley Conference truly is. They drew a Wyoming team that got into the tournament with their upset win in the Mountain West Conference tournament. The Panthers wasted no time in proving they are one of the elite teams in this year's March Madness, also staking themselves to a double-digit halftime lead before winning by 17. The only game that held any interest early on was another #5 vs #12 battle between West Virginia and Buffalo, although the Mountaineers continued the trend of favorite holding double-digit halftime leads. The Bulls chipped away at that lead, finally tying the game with two minutes left to play. But after tying the game, Buffalo would not score again, with West Virginia sealing the deal by hitting a three with less than 30 seconds left and going on to a six-point win.
The next set of games was certainly more exciting, but still no upsets. If you thought Michigan State was a scary #7 seed, let me introduce you to #7 seed Wichita State. Like Northern Iowa, they spent considerable time in the top 10 this year, yet a whopping 24 teams were seeded ahead of them on the bracket. And a loss to Indiana would have ratcheted up the idea that they were overrated all season. The Hoosiers played the Shockers tough, holding a slim 3 point lead at the half. Wichita State was awful from behind the arc (2 for 13), but their experienced team found a way to comeback in the second half. Unable to hit from long range, the Shockers got to the charity stripe often, knocking down 29 out of 34 free throws, including some clutch ones at the end of the game as the Hoosiers were forced to foul. Wichita State would move on with a 5-point win. Meanwhile, Virginia, who as recently as 2 weeks ago was the #2 team in the country, was struggling against #15 seed Belmont. This wasn't one of those upset specials where the big underdog hangs around all game long and has a shot at the end to win it. The Cavaliers went up by 14 in the second half, but the Bruins took their best punch, got off the canvas, and started wailing away on Virginia. The loose Belmont squad closed to within a bucket with under 5 minutes to go. That run may have been all they had left though, as Virginia would score the next 9 points and win by a final score of 79-67.
The last two games of the afternoon were tight #4 vs #13 affairs. Louisville looked like a national championship contender earlier in the year, but as the season wore on, their offense sputtered. That trend continued in their game against UC Irvine. To be fair to the Cardinals, they had to stay out of the lane almost the entire game as the Anteaters featured the biggest guy in the tournament: 7 foot 6 inches of Mamadou Ndiaye. It's not like Louisville has a small lineup, but they looked puny in comparison to the gigantic Ndiaye. Forced to develop a perimeter game, the Cardinals misfired frequently. That kept an inferior UC Irvine team close. How close? They needed two free throws with 9 seconds left to break a tie. The Anteaters didn't even get a final shot off, turning the ball over in the final seconds. It was an ugly game, but Louisville prevailed. The final matchup of the afternoon pitted Maryland versus Valparaiso. Valpo is known for one of the most memorable upsets in NCAA history as Bryce Drew's three at the buzzer sent Ole Miss packing in the 1998 tournament. Drew is now the coach of the Crusaders. The game started as a series of runs. Maryland shot out to a 11-4 lead, Valpo responded with a 17-4 run, and the Terrapins came back with 10 straight of their own. Maryland held a 4-point halftime lead, but the game would be a 1-point affair until the Terrapins got a 3-point play to reclaim their 4-point advantage with less than two minutes left. Valpo would get within three and have the ball for a final possession, but like UC Irvine, never got a shot off, turning the ball over instead. Maryland moved on to play West Virginia in the next round.
I have to admit that I didn't get to see any of the night session games for day 2, but it sounds like I didn't miss a whole lot. Oregon beat Oklahoma St. in the closest of the games, with the #8 seed taking down the #9 seed by 6 points. The only other game with a final margin of victory less than 10 points was Oklahoma taking out the Great Danes of Albany by a score of 69-60. The rest of the games? Duke by 29, Iowa beating a Davidson team that didn't show up by 31, Wisconsin by 14, San Diego State by 12, Gonzaga by 10, and Dayton finally ending the string of favorites winning with a 13 point stomping of Providence.
Day two was a bit of a bore, but day three would bring back the Cinderellas from day one to see if they can advance to next weekend's Sweet 16. With UCLA playing UAB in a #11 vs #14 matchup, we'd have at least one double-digit seed playing in week two. Could anyone else join them? The day three recap is next after a post on the day two standings.
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