Archives
NCAA TOURNY - Day 1
With my MEGA MARCH MADNESS on DirecTV....I watched every game. I have the ol' three TV setup going on so I can catch all the action [one TV is on a channel that has three games on at once]. So...here is what I saw on Day 1.
I WAS 11-5: I lost my upset pick, San Diego State. I also lost the Nevada, Oklahoma, Syracuse [crap, I knew that one!] and UNC-Wilmington.
WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE DOES IT AGAIN: For the 2nd straight year, Wisconsin-Milwaukee wins in the first round of the tournament. For the 2nd straight year, they beat a team wearing red uniforms on a green court. Eeerie.
BRUCE PEARL DOES IT AGAIN: Well, last year, Pearl was the coach at UW-M....but moved on to Tennessee in the summer. He got his Vols into the dance and played a great, great game against Winthrop. Winthrop didn't score in the final 3:30 of the game. In fact, they scored just THREE points in the final 9:10 of the game. And it cost them, as Chris Lofton hit a fade away shot from just inside the arc....with a man right in his grill....to win the game. Best shot of the dance thus far.
DUKE NEEDS SOMEONE ELSE TO STEP UP: I know this isn't a new nugget of info....but Redick scored 29 and Williams scored 29 in Duke's 70-54 win over Southern. That means that those two All Americans score 58 of the Devils' 70 points [83%]. That's good enough to beat Southern, but that won't cut it as they get deeper in the tournament.
OH...AND THIS GUY: Nice mohawk!!!
SYRACUSE GAVE AT THE OFFICE LAST WEEK: Gerry McNamara tried, but his groin injury prevented him from being effective [for the first time in his Syracuse career he failed to hit a FG]. The Orange were ousted by an equally hot Texas A&M team. Nothing to be ashamed of, however. Just 10 days ago, Syracuse was on the outside of this tournament looking in. Next thing you know, they are a 5th seed in the NCAAs! Their magical 4-game run for the Big East title was just something to behold....and something every one of those players and fans should cherish forever. You gave it one heck of a run guys!
THE BIG EAST LAYING EGGS: Well, 3 of the 8 Big East teams that made the field played on Thursday...and all 3 of them lost. TWO of which were the better seeded team. As I just noted, Syracuse was beaten by Texas A&M. Also, Marquette was upset by Alabama, 90-85 [the Eagles were down by 14 at the half]. And, in the most experimental of the games, Seton Hall was shalacked by Wichita State 86-66. That game was interesting because it matched up a MVC team against a Big East team. As ya see what happened [there are two more MVC-Big East matchups]. Tomorrow, the Big East should inflate that record a bit....as UConn and Villanova both play #16 seeds. But Pitt, Georgetown and West Virginia need to watch out. ALL of them play really tough teams [Kent State, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois, respectively].
THE SEC LOOKED GOOD, THOUGH: Alabama, LSU and Florida looked darn good in advancing. Bama upset Marquette....while LSU beat a game Iona team and Florida handled South Alabama.
OKAY, MAKE THAT 20 TIMES IN 22 YEARS.....: For the 20th time in 22 years, a #12 seed beats a #5 seed. Oh...and this year it happened TWICE! This time, it was Montana beating Nevada 87-79. I watched most of this game, and Montana looked like a seasoned ACC team. Their offense was fluid, their big man dominating, and their defense was [at times] stellar. Boston College better look out! Then, later, it was that Syracuse-Texas A&M defensive battle.
SPEAKING OF BOSTON COLLEGE: The Eagles escaped with a win over Pacific. The game went to TWO overtimes before Boston College pulled away in the third largest margin of victory for a team that won an NCAA tournament game in overtime [88-76].
LEAVE AIR FORCE ALONE: Look, I was very critical of their inclusion into the dance over Cincinnati. But, the Academy put up a darn good fight with Illinois.
MIKE DAVIS FIGHTS ANOTHER DAY: The Indiana-San Diego State game was blistering. How about a game filled with runs that made 10 pt leads evaporated in the thin air?? Indiana got a huge shot drilled in by Robert Vaden as the Hoosiers outscored the Aztecs 8-2 to close out the game with a four-point win.
GONZAGA TAKEN TO THE LIMIT: Xavier owned this game...but just wore out as it went along. The reason I picked the Zags to be in the Final Four was because of what happened in this game! They have a guy that can take it over when everyone else is struggling. Adam Morrison poured 35 points in...and made some huge shots down the stretch [and good defensive plays, too] to will the Zags to this win.
BEST GAME OF THE DAY: How about George Washington?? The Colonials were dead....down by 18 in the 2nd half. Well, they erased that by going on a 19-0 run of their own....and the game finished with dueling big shots [in eventually went into overtime]. UNC-Wilmington had a 85-81 lead in overtime...but didn't score again. G-Dub went on a 7-0 run to end the game...and UNCW's season.
THE WORST GAME OF THE DAY: This was easy. It was UCLA's complete dismantling of Belmont. The Bruins....uh, the UCLA ones....beat the Bruins....uh, the Belmont ones...78-44. Belmont's leading scored had just 8 points [not the leading scorer for the season...the leading scorer for the GAME!!!]. Belmont actually held an 18-12 lead early in the game....but a 23-5 later by UCLA ended it [you could say it was a 66-24 run].
THE BOMB SCARE: Thank goodness it was just that.....a scare.
THE BEST ARENA: I'd have to say Cox Arena in San Diego. Looked nice and everything on TV looked really colorful.
THE WORST ARENA: Salt Lake City. It's dark and just looks like a weird place to play. I also love the lumberjack feel to it...lol. Why don't they play the games in the Delta Center????
Read NCAA Tournament: Day 1 for more breakdowns..
sportzassassin at 1:18:00 AM EST Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
-
Tough first day for ya' Jamie. I went 13-3. I had Nevada and Syracuse too (Crap). But I did take UNC-Wilmington, yea!
3/17/06 9:57 PM