March Madness 2023 - Advancin' Ain't Edey

In many of the recent tournaments, there has been a ton of fireworks during the first round games on Thursday, followed by a bit of a ho-hum second day on Friday.  I'd guess that the shock of seeing fellow teams from a major conference getting upset or at least taken to the brink set off alarm bells in the minds of the Day 2 favorites.  But things were a little different on Day 1 this year.  Sure, we saw a couple of huge upsets when Virginia and Arizona were sent home early, but for the most part, the seeds held throughout the day.  And in a lot of instances, the games weren't particularly close.  Would Friday's favorites be ready to play or would Thursday's results leave them more vulnerable than normal?

Well, we'll get to that in the recap, but if you'd rather skip all of that, than you can go straight to the spreadsheet, which you can find here.

First game of the day would be between Michigan State and USC, a 7-10 matchup.  This year's Michigan State team is not that different than what you'd expect to see each year from a Spartan squad in the tournament.  Their seed is a little lower than usual, but they played one of the toughest schedules in the country and should be battle tested for whatever may come their way over the next three weeks.  USC was out to prove that the PAC-12 was more than just UCLA and Arizona this year (or should I say more than just UCLA?).  The Trojans hopes would seem to rest on star player Boogie Ellis and when he went most of the first half without a bucket, USC found itself down 11.  But the rest of the team rallied over the last few minutes of the half and this game went to intermission tied.  In the second half, Ellis was able to make a few buckets, but it was Michigan State that opened up a lead yet again.  Six minutes into the second half,  the Spartans would be up by 9.  Then it ballooned to 15.  USC wouldn't have an answer this time as Michigan State marches forward to round two.

Xavier-Kennesaw State was an interesting matchup because very few brackets had Kennesaw State winning this game, yet very few brackets had Xavier advancing to the Final Four.  If the 3 seed in this region was such a no doubter in this matchup, why were they so unlikely to make it to Houston?  My guess is that it was because Kennesaw State was a name that most bracket predictors were unfamiliar with.  Substitute in Valparaiso, Murray State, or Loyola-Chicago, and maybe more folks would have selected the Owls.  One thing that was for certain is that Kennesaw State was not intimidated by the Musketeers.  They were here to run and gun and that translated to a 43-36 advantage at the half.  They would extend that lead to 13 at several times in the second half, the last time at 61-48 with just over nine minutes to play.  But they ran out of physical and mental energy from that point forward.  Xavier began picking up the pace on the offensive end and the Owls could not match it with their fading defensive intensity.  And on the other end, it seemed like Kennesaw State had one play left that they could run.  Point guard Terrell Burden would dribble around a bunch of screens, dive to the hoop, and put up either a pressured layup (hoping for a foul really) or an out of control pass that would generally lead to a turnover. The lack of energy and imagination cost the underdogs as Xavier would rattle off 15 points in a row.  They still had a chance to win it down one in the waning seconds, but everyone in the building knew what was coming, especially Xavier defender Jack Nunge, who swatted away Burden's final layup attempt.  4 free throws in the final 2 seconds made the margin look larger than it really was, as Xavier was very lucky to escape being upset in round one.

The other two games in the early afternoon session were pretty similar with the underdog team keeping it close in the first half (UCSB actually led Baylor at the break), but the favorites pulled away in the second half, as Baylor defeats the Gauchos by 18, while St. Mary's sends VCU home after a 12 point victory.

For the second set of games, I'm going to remove the elephant from the room right off the bat.  NC State lost.  If I wrote honestly about this game, it would just sound like bitterness and bias.  So I'll leave it at this...congrats to the Creighton Bluejays on moving on to round two.  And thank you to Terquavion Smith for spending another year at NC State.  Hope you have an awesome NBA career.

While I was watching my favorite team play their final game of the season, there were three other games in action.  Marquette has been one of the best storylines of the year, going from unranked when they tipped the ball back in their first game in early November to Big East champs and a #2 seed as they began this tournament.  They might still be fighting for nationwide respect, but they likely have it in the state of Vermont after dominating the Catamounts from start to finish in a 17 point victory.  Pitt squeaked by in their First Four game, earning them a matchup with an Iowa State team that dominated on their home floor throughout the season.  But this game wasn't in Ames, and the Cyclones had no aim early on, doing their best Oral Roberts impression and falling behind 22-2.  Iowa State would get as close as 5 before the Panthers turned on the afterburners again, whipping the 6 seed in a comfortable 18 point win.  Finally, Iona was playing in a very familiar venue, taking the court in Albany where MAAC rival Siena plays its biggest games.  The Gaels held the edge at the half over Connecticut, but like UCSB earlier in their game against Baylor, the team with designs on a bracket-busting upset was simply outclassed in half number two.  The Huskies put on a clinic in the second half, showing why they will be a tough out in the loaded West region.  UConn moves on, ending Rick Pitino's tenure at Iona in a 24 point blowout.

Eight games left in the night sessions to wrap up round one.  The first matchup figured to be the least competitive game of the night.  Purdue was one of the best teams in college basketball this year and they featured the player of the year, dominant big man Zach Eddy, who stands 7'4" tall.  On the other end of the court was Fairleigh Dickinson, a team that only got into the tournament because the team that won their conference (Merrimack) is ineligible to play in the NCAAs until next year.  Did I also mention that the Northeast Conference was the lowest rated of all conferences in college basketball this year?  And that Fairleigh Dickinson was the absolute smallest team in college basketball this year, which is kinda less than ideal when facing the best big man in the land?  Well nobody told the Knights about how badly they were supposed to get beaten.  In fact, after winning their First Four game on Wednesday, their coach declared on camera that the more he had seen of Purdue, the more he thought his squad could beat them.  Bold words.  But his team was doing everything they could to back them up.  The Boilermakers had the size advantage, but Fairleigh Dickinson had the speed advantage.  And for some odd reason, Purdue was running everything from Kentucky's playbook in 2022 when they lost to St. Peter's.  In that game, Kentucky ran everything through All-American Oscar Tshiebwe.  When it worked, great.  When it didn't, then the other 4 players on the floor looked extremely hesitant to shoot the ball.  And as this Purdue-FDU game got to the later stages with the Knights still hanging around, the non-Edeys tightened up more and more.  Awkward lob passes were thrown to the star player, which were either picked off or stolen away when Edey brought the ball down to where the Knights could swipe at it.  And when FDU hit a three with less than 1:30 to go to increase their lead to 5, you could sense that we were about to witness history.  Purdue had a couple chances late to tie things up, but their sloppy play continued.  In perhaps the greatest upset in college basketball history, tiny Fairleigh Dickinson plays giant slayer, taking out #1 seed Purdue.

It was hard to keep focus on the other early evening games with history taking place in Ohio, but a couple of other powerhouses were on the court at the same time.  Kentucky is another college basketball blue blood that struggled for most of the season, but like Duke, they have hit their best stride late.  They held a 7 point lead at the half against Providence, then kept the Friars at bay for the final 20 minutes, basically holding on to a 4 to 8 point edge throughout the evenly played second half.  Kentucky moves on to the second round.  Gonzaga was the #1 overall seed in this tournament the last two years, but they seemed to be headed for something in the 5-6 range until they found their killer instinct late in the season, which got them up to a 3 seed.  They were neck and neck with a feisty Grand Canyon team through the first half of their game, but early in the second half, the Bulldogs went on a 24-4 run to break the game open, before waltzing to a 12 point win.

The last game of the early evening set looked like it could produce our first 5 vs 12 upset.  Miami looked like they were playing the role of the underdog in their matchup vs Drake, as it was the Bulldogs who held the lead for most of this game.  The Hurricanes would come back time and time again to tie things up, only to see Drake build a lead again.  And when the Bulldogs built their biggest lead (8 points) with less than 5 minutes to go, it felt like they had finally put Miami away for good.  But whether you want to say Drake pulled an Arizona or a Kennesaw State, the Bulldogs simply didn't have it in the final few minutes of the game.  The Hurricanes amped up their defensive pressure and finished the game on a 16-1 run.  No 12 seeds in the second round this year!  Miami comes through late to play another game on Sunday with a 63-56 victory over Drake.

The last 4 games of round one featured two nail biters and two games without much tension.  Let's start with the easy ones.  I've already mentioned that Purdue and Marquette were not in the preseason top 25 and had amazing years.  Kansas State might not have been in the preseason top 125.  Coach of the Year Jerome Tang has done wonders in Manhattan, Kansas in his first year with the team, getting them a #3 seed when most people thought they wouldn't even make the tournament.  They weren't spectacular in their first round test against Montana State, but they were always in control of this one.  Their performance was actually kinda similar to how their next opponent, Kentucky, played on the same court about two hours earlier.  We'll have Wildcats battling Wildcats in round two as Kansas State moves on after a 77-65 victory.  The flow of the Indiana and Kent State game was similar.  Indiana was always in control and the lead seemed to slowly grow as the game went on.  The Hoosiers move on to face Miami after taking down Kent State by 11.

If you stayed up until midnight, you were treated to two of the best games of round one.  Up first was TCU and Arizona State.  Early on, it looked like the Sun Devils were jet lagged after traveling from Dayton where they won impressively in the First Four.  The explosiveness from Wednesday night was missing as they quickly fell behind 15-4 to the Horned Frogs.  But they answered with a 13-2 run to tie things up, before going on another run that spanned the late first half and early second half to move ahead by 11.  It was time for TCU to go on a 13-2 run of their own.  Arizona State replied by scoring the next 8 before the Horned Frogs went on a 13-5 run to tie things up yet again.  Like a high scoring NFL playoff game, this one felt like it might go the way of whoever had the ball last.  And unfortunately for the Sun Devils, it was TCU holding the ball as the final seconds ticked down.  JaKobe Coles made a slicing move into the lane and floated the ball into the net with 2 seconds to go to retake the lead by 2.  Arizona State was unable to get off a desperation shot to try and win it, giving TCU the honor of taking on Gonzaga in round two.

Easily the craziest game of round one was the battle between Memphis and Florida Atlantic.  And all of the crazy was on the Memphis sideline.  Earlier in the day, there was a moment in the Xavier game where two of their players got into a heated argument during a timeout.  Memphis took that one level higher when an injured Tiger hopped off the court screaming at a teammate.  When the teammate got to the huddle, the injured player (who refused to sit down despite his ankle injury) barked at the teammate some more.  Which led to the teammate shoving the injured player in the back.  Memphis also forgot to sub in for a player who picked up his 3rd foul early in the second half.  And naturally that player got his 4th foul while the sub sat on the sideline.  Memphis would also have substitution problems in the last minute of the game.  Oh yeah, they were also playing a tight game against a Florida Atlantic team that spent several weeks in the Top 25 this year.  With two minutes to go, the Owls led the Tigers by 2, but Memphis was able to convert an "And 1" to re-take the lead.  A missed shot was redeemed by a fortunate tip-in to give Florida Atlantic the lead back, but then the exact same thing happened on the other end to put Memphis back up by 1.  The Owls came back down hoping to get the lead, but there was no tip in following the next missed shot and Memphis got the rebound.  The Tigers simply had to run out the clock or make some free throws once they were fouled, but they inexplicably threw the ball away.  Perfect opportunity for Florida Atlantic, except the dribbler immediately slipped and gave the ball back.  Or so it seemed.  There was a mad scramble on the floor where it looked like Memphis got control of the ball for a split second.  A Memphis teammate tried calling timeout, but a bunch of Owls descended on the Memphis player with the ball.  With the refs focused on the chaos on the floor, they didn't see the timeout being asked for and a jump ball was called.  The possession arrow pointed towards Florida Atlantic and they would have 5.5 seconds to try and steal this game.  Florida Atlantic called time out.  Then Memphis spent their final timeout for some unknown reason.  After two timeouts, Florida Atlantic drew up a very nice play, inbounding the ball to a player in the corner, who pump faked a three, drove into the lane, and laid the ball into the hoop with 2.5 seconds to go.  Memphis, now with no timeouts, had to rush the ball in.  The first player dribbled to half court, then passed it to a teammate.  Did I mention there was only 2.5 seconds left on the clock?  By the time his Memphis teammate caught the ball, the buzzer had sounded, and Memphis coach Penny Hardaway was throwing his water bottle across the court in frustration.  Memphis lets a golden opportunity slip away, while Florida Atlantic moves on to face Fairleigh Dickinson in the most improbable second round matchup in NCAA tournament history.

How many brackets had Fairleigh Dickinson winning?  Just one and that bracket belonged to John Falco, who has surged to the lead in the Main Pool with 31 points.  Two points behind him are Fred Alcaro and Maryanne (sorry, don't know your last name!).  Oddly enough, John Falco leads the Gamblers Pool with a different bracket that did not have Purdue losing in round one.  That bracket has 30 points, with Mark Grimes in 2nd with 28 points, and Tommy King in 3rd with 27 points.

Again, if you don't want to scroll all of the way to the top, you can find the spreadsheet here.

That's all for round one.  Only two games on Saturday have been completed, so I'm not as insanely behind as I usually am on the first weekend.  Enjoy the hoops!