By ALEX HORTON
Staff Writer
This March has been nothing short of madness. There have been plenty of upsets and plenty of lower seeds who have given some big-time schools a scare.
The first two games of Day One really set the tone for the rest of the day. Notre Dame stumbled and left Northeastern a chance to stay in the game, which they did until the closing minutes of the game, when Notre Dame seemed to wake up and remember who they were. That, coupled with some really sloppy play from Northeastern, whose turnovers at the end sealed their fate, allowed for the Fighting Irish to hang on and win by four points, squeaking by the No. 14 seed 69-65.
The next game, which was also a No. 3 vs. No. 14 seed, pitted the Cyclones of Iowa State against the University of Alabama Birmingham Blazers. This game was a bracket buster. Even I was bold enough to take Iowa State to the Final Four.
The same story applies here as the Notre Dame/Northeastern game, as turnovers at the end of the game really killed Iowa State. They were also out, rebounded 52-37. UAB fought the whole game and took down the Big 12 Champions in a one-and-done appearance, where the Cyclones were hoping to best their Sweet Sixteen appearance of last year.
The No. 3 vs. No. 14 seeded games must have something unlucky about them, because the Baylor Bears turned the ball over 21 times, allowing the Georgia State Panthers to take down the second No. 3 seed of the day. Those 21 turnovers really hurt the Bears, allowing Georgia State to keep it close until the closing seconds, when R.J. Hunter hit a deep contested three to put the Panthers ahead 57-56 and complete the upset.
The UCLA Bruins, a team said to not belong in the tournament, decided they would show up and take down the No. 6 seed SMU, coached by former NBA coach Larry Brown. Bryce Alford was the storyline for the Bruins, shooting nine for 11 from the three-point arc. He ended the day scoring 27 points for UCLA.
The three ball was just too much for Brown’s Mustangs with UCLA shooting 50 percent from the field. However, this game ended in controversy, as so many basketball games in March do, when Alford’s final 3-pointer seemed to be offline and was touched by Mustang’s center Yanick Moreira before it hit the rim. This resulted in a goaltending call from the officials, awarding UCLA three points.
The Ohio State vs. Virginia Commonwealth was also a very interesting game to watch, as OSU won the game over VCU by a score of 75-72 in overtime. D’Angelo Russell was the whole story for the Buckeyes, scoring 28 points while shooting 10-20 from the floor and 4-7 from three-point land. Russell has been a sensation at Ohio State all season, averaging 33 minutes a game. That’s a lot of minutes to bear, especially as a freshman.
For most of this season, the Cincinnati Bearcats have not looked up to par like they have in past seasons. The loss of Sean Kilpatrick can do that, but the Cats seemed more than up to the challenge of taking on the Purdue Boilermakers. Cincy took down Purdue in a one-point contest that was sent to overtime on a buzzer beater by Troy Caupain of Cincinnati. Outscoring Perdue 7-6 in the overtime period, the Bearcats took a 66-65 game away from the Boilermakers.
Now, for all you UNC fans out there, you should consider yourselves quite lucky. Harvard is not a easy out in the tournament, and I was extremely careful when picking this game for my bracket.
Harvard has shown up the past two years and earned wins in the tournament, and they looked poised to do it again after Siyani Chambers completed a four-point play to put Harvard ahead 65-63 with 1:15 left to go. But the upset was not destined to happen. Justin Jackson intervened and snatched the game away, saving the Tar Heels in the closing seconds of the game.
The second day did not have as many surprises as the first. There were only five games that were decided by four points and none of them ended in an upset.
The only upset of the day was No. 11 Dayton taking down No. 6 Providence, but that game was decided long before its conclusion, with Dayton winning by 13 points in a 66-53 rout.
North Carolina State Wolfpack squeaked past by the LSU Tigers, thanks to a last-second jump hook that beat the buzzer. The game was tightly contested, but the Tigers really struggled with free throws, shooting only 55 percent from the charity stripe.
Arkansas took down a sneaky Wofford team 56-53 in a slim victory, barely escaping upset. In a game that saw 18 lead changes and 10 ties, neither Arkansas or Wofford were able to bring their lead to more than five points. However, SEC Player of the Year Bobby Portis combined with Michael Qualls proved just too much for the Terriers, combining for 35 of Arkansas’ 56 points.
Chris Jones’ absence from the Louisville starting five has really hurt the Cardinals, and it showed in this game. The loss not only took a senior point guard and leader off the floor, but put an inexperienced freshman out to try and fill the void.
Louisville barely escaped from UC Irvine, winning 57-55 in what has been a shaky season for Rick Pitino and his team. But when it came time for freshman Quentin Snider to rise to the occasion and show that he can take over where Jones’ could not, he knocked down two free throws that put the game away for Louisville and sent them into the next round.
So far, this year’s NCAA Tournament has been exciting beyond belief. Of course, it is still March, so for the rest of the tournament, anything can happen.
