Not interested in the recap? Then go right to the spreadsheet, which you can access here.
Saturday marked the beginning of the second round. Would the Cinderellas from Thursday (Princeton, Furman, and Penn State) have anything left in the tank to make it to the Sweet 16? We'd get one answer right away as the first game of the day featured Furman taking on San Diego State. The Paladins probably didn't need to change up the scouting report from round one as San Diego State played a style of basketball similar to Virginia. (In retrospect, we may owe Furman a debt of gratitude as a San Diego State - Virginia round two matchup might have wound up with a score of 47-45). But this game got off to a very different start for the Paladins. With the game tied about 10 minutes in, Furman watched the Aztecs break the game open with 13 points in a row. The lead would be 14 at the half and San Diego State would keep it above 20 for pretty much the remainder of the game. Furman will be featured prominently in One Shining Moment after the championship game due to their amazing last-second victory against Virginia, but their tournament runs here with a 75-52 loss to San Diego State.
Perhaps the most compelling matchup of the day was up next. Duke had won 10 in a row and was on the upswing. Tennessee had been near the top of the rankings for most of the year, but limped into the tournament. Their 3 point victory over Louisiana was not nearly as impressive as Duke's 23 point win over Oral Roberts in round one. So the popular opinion going into this one was that Duke would be moving on to the Elite Eight, as a win here would make them a huge favorite in the next round against the winner of Fairleigh Dickinson and Florida Atlantic. But Tennessee had other plans as they decided to bring Duke down "into the mud". The Vols were going to make this game very physical from the outset and see how the Blue Devils reacted. Tennessee's center committed two hard fouls on Duke star Kyle Filipowski in the first two minutes, likely as a message to the Blue Devils about how the next 38 minutes were going to play out. The Vols refused to give an inch on the defensive end, taking Duke out of their offensive routine. Tennessee wasn't doing much scoring either until the very end of the first half, when they scored the final 9 points to take a 27-21 lead into intermission. The second half was the Olivier Nkamhoua show, as Duke had no answer for the Vols forward. Nkamhoua put up 23 points in the second half alone, turning a tight game into a runaway. Duke's win streak ends at 10 as Tennessee moves on to the Sweet 16 with a 65-52 victory.
It's not uncommon for a tournament team to be affected by medical issues. There are several teams who worked around injuries to key players in their first round games. But Kansas was dealing with a whole different issue altogether. Coach Bill Self was diagnosed with a heart issue during the Big 12 tournament, causing him to miss the team's run to the championship game, where they fell to Texas. His doctors advised him not to be on the sideline for the defending champions opener against Howard and despite his pleas to coach the team's second round game against Arkansas, he was overruled by doctors once again. He'd have to watch his team on TV as they took on the dangerous Razorbacks, a team that had been to the Elite Eight the past two years and began this year ranked in the preseason Top 10. Like North Carolina, Arkansas was one of the big disappointments of the season, but they did just enough to get into the tournament. After dismantling Illinois in round one, they got one more chance to prove that the preseason chatter was justified. Early on in this one, though, it was all Jayhawks. The champs jumped out to a 13-4 lead and thwarted every run that the Razorbacks threatened to go on. It began to feel like one of those games where the team that had jumped out in front would hold the other team at arms length the whole way. But with 12 minutes left, Arkansas grabbed the momentum. A 10-0 run tied the game up and suddenly Kansas looked like they had been hit with a jab and needed a standing 8 count. From there, it was a back and forth affair. Inside the final minute, it was tied. Then Arkansas took the lead on a layup. Kansas was fouled and sank two free throws to deadlock the score again. The Razorbacks looked to go back on top and were fouled. They made the first free throw, but missed the second. However, the rebound went right back to the free throw shooter, who was fouled as he charged to the hoop a second time. This time he made both free throws. This unorthodox three point play was huge with only 21 seconds to go. If it sounds like there were a lot of free throws in the final minute, just wait. Kansas drove to the hoop at the other end only to be fouled. Two free throws cut the deficit to one. The Jayhawks immediately fouled. Arkansas hit two free throws to extend the lead back to three. Then the Razorbacks fouled with 3 seconds left to stop Kansas from having a shot at a tying three-pointer. Kansas made the first. Then they attempted the basketball equivalent of an onside kick. Intentionally missing a free throw so that your teammates can get the rebound is much harder than it looks. As with an onside kick, you're basically looking for a funky bounce to go your way. There is also the danger that you will do what Kansas did in this situation: accidentally make it. The Jayhawks crashed the boards hoping for a rebound, but when the ball went in the hoop, they were totally out of position defensively. Arkansas quickly inbounded the ball still up by 1 and ran the final three seconds off the clock. Down goes another #1 seed as Coach Self doesn't get the chance to be on the court to help his team defend their title. The other coach was a little more jubilant. Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman decided to celebrate with the Arkansas faithful by ripping off his shirt and waving it above his head deliriously. Unsure if he'll need to put it back on since Arkansas will be playing their next game in Vegas, but we'll see Musselman and crew again next weekend.
Was that recap a little long? You're in luck. The Missouri-Princeton recap will be much shorter. This all-Tigers matchup would be one of the biggest blowouts of the weekend. And no, it wasn't a case of the 15 seed having a letdown after taking out Arizona in round one. The Ivy Leaguers completely dominated this game. You might think Princeton is all back door screens, reverse layups, and the occasional open three pointer. Not this squad. Princeton made the Missouri press look silly, easily getting up court for the first 38 minutes of this game (they did have a little trouble at the end when the game was essentially over). And in the second half, breaking the press meant open threes, which Princeton hit with deadly accuracy. On those rare occasions when they missed, they were dominating the boards. But my favorite tidbit from watching this game was seeing the smart kids do something all teams should do when trying to run out the clock with a big lead. In college basketball, the clock runs after a made basket until there is one minute to play. So anytime Missouri made a hoop, Princeton made no effort to get the ball an inbound it. Three to five seconds would run off the clock before a Princeton player picked it up or a Missouri player heaved it to a ref in frustration to force a Princeton inbound. Call me a nerd, but running the clock down with no risk is heady play as far as I'm concerned. Athletically and intellectually superior, the Princeton Tigers are headed to the Sweet 16 after a 78-63 drubbing that was not as close as the score might indicate.
No one got a better draw this year than Auburn. Not because Iowa and Houston are pushovers. Rather because a 9 seed should never have anything resembling home court advantage, yet Auburn drew Birmingham, Alabama as the site of their opening weekend games. The crowd was behind them as they took out the Hawkeyes. They would need even more support to take out the top-seeded Cougars. Houston had to be feeling a little pressure as no #1 seed had made it to the second weekend yet, with Purdue bowing out on Friday night and Kansas getting dethroned about an hour earlier. Maybe those nerves played a factor in the first half as Auburn got the best of the Cougars, building up a 10-point lead at the break. But Houston showed their superiority in the second half. They came out knocking down shots to erase that Tigers lead quickly and then they won the free throw battle the rest of the way. Typically that would mean that more fouls went their way and they got more free throw opportunities. But this was far and away the tightest called game in the tournament. Seemed like there was a whistle every time down the court for a stretch. Auburn got the better this exchange in terms of free throw opportunities, but the Tigers struggled from the charity stripe, while Houston made everything from the free throw line. Auburn wasn't only misfiring from the line. They would make a paltry four field goals in the entire second half. Houston began to pull away, with the only drama being whether they would have enough players to finish the game as almost everyone in their lineup had 4 fouls with 2 minutes to go. They managed not to get everyone disqualified and became the first #1 seed to make the Sweet 16, cruising to an 81-64 victory over Auburn.
With the #1 seed in the Midwest moving on, it was time to see if the #2 seed could join them. Texas had won the Big 12 conference tournament last week, moving them up the list of contenders for this year's title in the process. But they were running into possibly the hottest team in the tournament in Penn State. The Nittany Lions were firmly a bubble team leading up to the Big 10 conference tournament, but winning 8 out of 9 and losing the title game by a bucket to Purdue showed that they were going to be a tough out in the Big Dance. They further served notice that they meant business by thrashing Texas A&M in round one. Penn State was slow to get going in this one, only scoring 23 points and trailing by 8 at the half. The second half was a lot more entertaining. Both teams found their rhythm offensively, with the Longhorns still appearing to have control of the game. Then the Nittany Lions ripped off ten straight points and suddenly it looked like the Big 12 could see another powerhouse eliminated in the first weekend. That was when Dylan Disu took over. The Texas forward personally outscored Penn State 10-2 in the closing minutes, ensuring that the top two seeds in the Midwest region would be playing next weekend. Penn State's late season run falls a little short in round two as Texas advances with a 71-66 win.
Penn State may have been eliminated, but there was still one other feel-good Big 10 story remaining in the tournament. Northwestern doesn't have a long March Madness resume, but coach Chris Collins managed to take a team with low expectations and led them to a second place finish in one of the country's major conferences. They'd have a big hill to climb in this one as they were taking on UCLA, a team many thought should have gotten the final #1 seed over Purdue. And the Bruins looked like a #1 seed early in this one, jumping out to a 14 point lead in the first half. But the Wildcats didn't win all those games in the Big 10 this year without going through adversity. And maybe, just maybe, they felt at home in Sacramento. You might think that UCLA would have the advantage with the game being in California, but the purple-clad Wildcats were playing on the big purple court of the Sacramento Kings. Whether it was violet-inspired or not, Northwestern began a comeback in the second half. They put together a 17-4 run that tied the game at 45. But they were never able to edge in front of the Bruins. UCLA would score the next 6 points and never relinquish the lead the rest of the way. UCLA is another team headed to Vegas next weekend after taking out Northwestern by a score of 68-63.
The last game of the night involved the overall #1 seed in the tournament. Now as you might know, our household is very Crimson Tide friendly, especially when it comes to football. But it's hard to ignore the storyline with the Alabama basketball team this year. Earlier in the season, a young woman was killed in Tuscaloosa. One member of the Alabama team has been charged in her murder. The other player involved might be the best player in college basketball. Brandon Miller is an absolute superstar and he will probably soon be a great professional player as well. Still, it's tough to get excited about the athletic exploits of someone who supplied the gun used in a murder. Was that a crime? Should he have been suspended for his actions? Reasonable people can come to different conclusions. It just feels a bit icky to root for the guy, all things considered. Why write about all that? 1) Because it truly is an important storyline regarding the top team (and top player) in the land. 2) Because the final game of the night was a complete mismatch. Maryland was only down by 5 at the half, but it felt like the Crimson Tide were in command. In the second half, the scoreboard reflected that. The lead kept growing and growing and growing, making its way to 22 when the final horn sounded. Alabama will take on San Diego State in the first known Sweet 16 matchup next weekend.
Time for the standings and these results are a bit hard to explain. Ok, maybe not the leader of the Main Pool, as Princeton alum Fred Alcaro was the only one to have the Tigers making it to the Sweet 16. But somehow I am tied with Maryanne for second place despite going with the full homer bracket where NC State wins it all. It's even worse in the Gamblers Pool, where I'm leading by 1 point over Mark Grimes, with a 4 way tie 4 points back between Natalie Schweitzer, Jenn Nichols, Michael Blumenstein, and Tommy King. Not to worry though. I'm pretty sure I need the winner of Fairleigh Dickinson and Florida Atlantic to cut down the nets to stay above all of the other brackets for the next two weeks.
Don't want to scroll up? No problem, the spreadsheet is linked once again here.
The field of 24 will be whittled down to the Sweet 16 this evening. Recaps headed your way again tomorrow.
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