The action started off the same way on Sunday as it did on Saturday. A favored SEC team would jump out to a huge lead on their opponent from the Big 10. The Big 10 team would stage a comeback late in the second half. And the SEC team would have the ball for the last shot in the final seconds of the game. A few key differences though:
- Instead of LSU-Maryland, this was Tennessee-Iowa
- Instead of a 15 point advantage, the Volunteers led the Hawkeyes by 25 at one stage
- Yes, Tennessee found a way to blow a 25 point lead!
- And unlike at the end of the LSU-Maryland game, there was no dramatic game-winning layup right before the buzzer. It was more of a brick off the side of the rim that sent the game to overtime.
Luckily for Volunteers fans, they found their mojo again in the extra session, scoring the first 7 points. Iowa didn't have anything left in the tank to stage another comeback. Tennessee moves on with a 6 point win in the first overtime game of this year's tournament.
The next two games featured #1 seeds Duke and North Carolina. The Tar Heels had very little trouble dispatching Washington in a 22 point romp, but the Blue Devils game was a smidge tighter than that. Duke was facing UCF and although the Blue Devils feature the most prominent big man in college basketball (6'7", 284 pound Zion Williamson), they would not be trotting out the biggest fella on the court this day. That honor would go to UCF's Tacko Fall. Tacko is not only the tallest player in college basketball, he is one of the tallest people in the entire world at 7'6". Better put some arc on that shot if you want to get it over Tacko's wingspan.
To be fair, the Knights are more than just four role players and a giant in the middle and they would prove that against Duke. You have to wonder whether the fear factor is gone with the Blue Devils, since neither North Dakota State nor UCF seemed intimidated in the least when they took the floor with them. The first 10 minutes of the game saw the underdog jump out to the lead as Duke faced an early eight point deficit. They would reverse that by halftime though, heading to the break with an 8 point advantage. Could UCF hang with the top team in the land in half #2 or would this be another blowout? The Knights started the second half with a 21-10 run to serve notice that they were in this for the long haul. Even when Duke would build another 7 point cushion, UCF found a way to respond with an 11-2 run to regain the lead.
With the game knotted at 70, an insane sequence of events unfolded over the last 3 and a half minutes. It all started off innocently enough with UCF knocking down a jumper to go up 2. After forcing a Duke turnover, UCF tossed up an off-balance shot with 1 second to go on the shot clock. The ball's trajectory definitely changed after it passed the rim, which led the clock operator to reset the shot clock. Tacko grabbed the rebound and dunked the ball without jumping (think about that for a second!). Duke was furious and a long review ensued, but it was impossible to tell whether the ball had hit the part of the rim that connects to the backboard (not a shot clock violation) or whether it had hit the backboard (a shot clock violation that would wipe out the basket). Without conclusive evidence to overturn, the dunk counted and it was 74-70 for UCF.
Perhaps the most important sequence took place next. Duke missed a three pointer and the long rebound led to a breakaway for UCF. They tried to rush the fast break and instead of converting an alley-oop for a 6 point lead with 2 minutes to play, the missed dunk led to a Blue Devils 3-pointed on the other end. That 5 point swing brought the margin down to 1. UCF made 2 free throws with less than a minute left to go up 3 again and Duke strangely seemed to be in no hurry at the other end even though the clock was running out on them. After a missed three, Zion got the ball back, drove into the lane, rid himself of his defender, and clashed with the giant known as Tacko. The ref blew the whistle and Zion's shot fell through the hoop. Tacko had fouled out and the Blue Devils had a chance to tie the game. UCF went from being assured of still being up 1 to now looking at a tie game. Or looking at a deficit. Zion missed the free throw, but RJ Barrett grabbed the rebound and scored to put Duke up one.
(Note: With my Twitter feed mostly consisting of horse racing fans, I see a lot of pro-Kentucky tweets. It was amazing to see all of "Duke gets all of the calls" posts from them, a day after a late foul call helped UK hold off Wofford. It's like Yankee fans complaining that the Red Sox are spending too much on payroll. Give me a break already. Could Zion have been called for a charge? Sure. Did RJ Barrett shove the guy blocking him out on the free throw? Pretty clearly. I don't think that guy dove to the other side of the basket on his own. But Kentucky fans don't get to complain about Duke getting all of the calls. That's absurd.)
UCF still had 7 seconds to find a game-winning basket, but it was hard to believe Duke was going to lose after the missed UCF alley-oop, the Zion bucket, Tacko fouling out, and the missed free throw being converted into a go-ahead basket. The Knights ran a play that was very similar to what LSU ran to win their game vs Maryland. They inbounded the ball to a guard who drove right and slipped underneath his defender. Rather than go underhand, UCF's BJ Taylor floated a runner off the glass. It looked like it might go in, but it caromed off the rim. And then for all the world, it looked like Duke was headed home. UCF's Aubrey Dawkins had timed the rebound perfectly. He reached up with his right arm, caught the ball, and gently tipped it back towards the basket. It glanced off the backboard, rolled all the way around the rim...and off. Duke was simply not meant to lose. The Blue Devils survive with a 1 point win over UCF.
There wasn't too much drama in the next 4 games. Liberty looked like they might be this year's Cinderella when they went to the half with a 3 point edge on Virginia Tech, but they were flat in the second half as the Hokies gradually took control and extinguished the Flames. Buffalo was one of the highest scoring teams in the nation, at least until they met the best defensive team in the country in Texas Tech. The Red Raiders held the Bulls to a mere 58 points, 20 less than they would need to stay with Texas Tech. Virginia didn't blow out Oklahoma, but after the first basket of the second half, the Sooners never got the gap under 10 as the Cavaliers moved on. The story was essentially the same in the Houston-Ohio State tilt. The Cougars didn't maintain as large of a lead as the Cavaliers did in their game, but for the majority of the second half, the Buckeyes couldn't get within two possessions of Houston. They'll move on to face Kentucky in the Sweet 16.
The late game of the night featured two West Coast teams appropriately enough and the winner would be our only double-digit seed getting an invite to next weekend's fun. Oregon was the 12 seed and UC Irvine was the 13 seed. Despite having similar seeds, one side was being heavily favored in this affair. Oregon was a team from a major conference that had "finally put it together" and won their conference tournament. UC Irvine was simply a mid-major with an awesomely unique mascot. (Fear the Anteater!) I hadn't heard a single "expert" on TV make a case for UC Irvine winning this game. Early on, it looked like the talking heads were right. The Ducks were up 14 late in the first half and running on all cylinders. But then their engines stalled. Over the next 10:19 of game action, Oregon scored zero points. That is really hard to do, but they pulled it off. Meanwhile, the Anteaters had scored 16 points. That wasn't exactly offensive efficiency at its finest, but it gave them the lead. When Oregon's Ehab Amin finally hit a three-pointer to end the dry spell, it not only put the Ducks back on top, it completely re-energized them. Sometimes you just need to see the ball go through the hoop. Oregon went on a 30-10 run that put the game out of reach. We say goodbye to the Anteaters as Oregon moves on to play Virginia next weekend.
In all the years that I have done this pool, I can't remember having a second round where no bonus points were given out, but that was the case this year. The higher seeded team won 15 out of the 16 games, with Auburn being the lone lower seeded team to advance. Even that wasn't a surprise as they were favored in Vegas, making faves 16 for 16 on Saturday and Sunday. Very chalky. So while there are no Cinderellas left to root for (unless you consider Oregon a Cinderella), this year's national champion will have to go through a gauntlet of 4 tough opponents to win the title, no matter where they are in the bracket.
As for the pool standings, things tightened up in the Safety School division as Fred's lead has decreased to 2 points. King James has opened up a larger lead than that in the Purchased SATs division, now leading by 3 points after the first weekend. Here are your leaders:
Safety School:
- Fred Alcaro - 65 points
- Alex Peerenboom - 63 points
- Will Peerenboom and Aiden Schweitzer - 62 points
Paid For My Kids SATs:
- James Dematteo - 64 points
- Nate Heffner - 61 points
- Aiden Schweitzer - 60 points
For the full standings, click here.
I am off to Vegas to play in the Horseplayer World Series this weekend, so wish me luck. Lord knows I can't pick college basketball. Maybe the horses will be friendlier to me!
The Sweet 16 begins on Thursday night with the West and South regions. Enjoy the games everyone!
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