Standings first, recap second. Click the link below to see how you are doing in each of the pools.
Quick summary: Fred still holds the top spot in the Main Pool, but Aiden and Scott B still have a lot of potential points available to them, while Vince and the two Nates are also within striking range. Scott B continues to have a strong hold over the Gamblers Pool.
There have been some impressive defensive performances in this year's tournament, whether it was Abilene Christian forcing non-stop turnovers in their upset win over Texas or Loyola-Chicago clamping down on Illinois in a dominant round two victory. But on Monday, the name of the game was offense. From the first game of the day to the last, we saw teams light up the scoreboard. It was quite the contrast from the First Four, where no team scored more than 60 points until the final game of the session. On Monday, it seemed like a bunch of teams might eclipse 100 points as they tried to reach the Sweet Sixteen.
It was no surprise that the Oregon-Iowa game would be a high scoring affair. The Ducks had recently put up 91 in their quarterfinal win against Arizona State in the PAC-12 quarterfinals. Iowa averaged over 100 points per game in the 6 wins they had to start the season before Gonzaga "held" them to 88 points in one of the big matchups of the early season. Both teams were letting it fly early and neither team seemed to be eager to play much defense as we had a 46-46 tie with two minutes to go in the first half. But while Oregon would keep their foot on the gas pedal in those last two minutes, the Hawkeyes tank hit empty. The Ducks would score the last 10 points of the half to open up a big lead at the break. Their run continued in the second half as they scored 11 of the first 16 points to make this game a blowout. Luka Garza, Iowa's star big man, did all he could to keep the Hawkeyes in it with 36 points and 9 rebounds, but it was not enough to derail the Ducks, who moved on after a 95-80 victory.
While Oregon and Iowa were two teams that weren't shy about scoring points, the best offense in the nation belongs to Gonzaga. Their offense reminds me a little bit of the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL. They might fall behind at times, but they have this scary ability to just score a lot of points in a very short period of time and completely change the feel of the game. That ability was on display in their second round tilt with Oklahoma as the Sooners were ready to throw haymakers from the opening tip. Guard Austin Reaves was ready to play the game of his life, as he drove to the hoop time and time again to help put Oklahoma up 8. The Zags didn't look crisp early on, but they certainly never looked panicked either. As the half wore on, the Sooners lead evaporated. By halftime, the Zags were up 12 and the situation felt a bit hopeless for Oklahoma. To their credit, the Sooners never gave up. Reaves continued to make one big play after another. And for Oklahoma to stay as close as they did without their 2nd leading scorer was admirable. But in the end, it was Gonzaga putting up a ho-hum 87 points while cruising to a 16-point victory.
Over the next couple of hours, it was time to say goodbye to a couple of offensively-inhibited Cinderellas that didn't have enough scoring to extend their stay in the tournament. UCLA beating Abilene Christian seemed like more of a lock than any of the 1 vs 16 matchups in round one. The Wildcats needed the perfect storm of events to take down Texas by a point in the opening round. It was unlikely they would be as fortunate in round two. Combine that with a UCLA that seems to be picking up momentum as the season has gone on and you had a recipe for a mismatch. Abilene Christian managed about as much offensive output as they did in round one, but 47 points wasn't going to get it done here. UCLA moved on with an easy 20 point win. Ohio had a bit more ability on the offensive end than Abilene Christian, but they only managed 62 points in their first round victory. They needed a big game from star Jason Preston if they were going to take down another higher seed in Creighton. But Preston could only manage 4 points against the Bluejays and the Bobcats were doomed. Creighton becomes the next team to try to give Gonzaga their 1st loss as they head to the Sweet 16 after a 72-58 victory.
Game of the day would be next. The Big 10's reputation had taken a huge hit during this tournament. Many pundits thought they might have three representatives in the Final Four. But as we got to the early part of Monday evening, they only had two chances to get a team into the Sweet Sixteen. Maryland would be a considerable underdog later on against Alabama, leaving Michigan as the best hope for the most hyped conference in the land. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, they were running into one of those "heating up late in the season" teams in LSU. The Tigers nearly won the SEC conference tournament, losing by a point to the aforementioned Crimson Tide. They barely broke a sweat taking down St. Bonaventure in round one. Simply put, they were not going to be intimidated by Michigan. This game was unlike any other in this year's March Madness in that it was almost exclusively a game of runs. These teams weren't trading buckets end to end. Instead, one team would score for 2-3 minutes, then the other teams would take over for the next couple of minutes. This pattern played out for the first 32 minutes of the game. With 8 minutes left, one team finally broke. LSU began to shy away from shooting threes, instead driving to the rim even if their shots were going to be contested. Unable to convert these tough shots, they allowed the Wolverines to go on a 14-1 run that would be the decisive stretch in the game. Michigan turned a 5 point deficit into an 8 point lead, which is what they final margin would be as well. The Big 10 lives on! Michigan survives and heads to week two after an 86-78 victory.
The final three games of the opening weekend did not provide much in the way of drama. Colorado had been on fire in their big win against Georgetown, but they were a paltry 6-25 from beyond the arc against Florida State as the Seminoles dealt the PAC-12 their first defeat of this year's tournament, dispatching the Buffaloes after an easy 71-53 victory. Maryland and Alabama gave vibes of Oregon and Iowa earlier in the day, but this time around, it was the Big 10 team having the score run up on them. The Terps didn't shoot it badly themselves as they went a respectable 10 for 27 from three-point range, but the Crimson Tide sank 16 of 33 from deep. Alabama probably could have scored 100 in this one, but by the time they had established a 23 point lead, they let up some. In the end, it was 96-77...Roll Tide! Finally, the USC-Kansas game looked on paper like one that could go down to the wire, but the Trojans put an end to the Jayhawks dreams by halftime. They scored the last 11 points before intermission and led by 19. That lead would grow as large as 35 in the second half. USC ends week one with the most dominating performance that we have seen in this year's tournament, humiliating Kansas in an 85-51 pummeling.
From 68 down to 16. Let's hope the remaining teams stay healthy as we head to week two. Remember, the Sweet Sixteen does not start until Saturday, so if you're flipping through the channels on Thursday looking for basketball, you probably won't find any. (Fine, that's not true. NC State is playing in the quarterfinals of the NIT on Thursday. But I think we all know how that story is going to end, right?). We'll have the South and Midwest regions on Saturday, the West and East regions on Sunday, with Final Four tickets punched on Monday and Tuesday. Yes, that sounds super weird, but these are the times we are living in. Until then...
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