- You remember how Thursday started the whole thing? With Dayton pulling off the little brother upset with a late floater clanking off the rim? Yeah, well Friday's opener decided to top even that! Duke, one of the supreme powers in college basketball, was attempting to avoid a second first round exit in three years. Mercer, a small conference school with big dreams and huge talent, was leaning on their senior's experience to guide them past this monmouth. It might be something in that Atlantic Sun water, but Mercer was not to be denied this upset bid and looked like a 2012 or '13 Florida Gulf Coast team. Down one at half, the Bears were simply playing with Duke. The second half saw the Bears' experience and toughness win out over the inexperienced finesse and talent of the Blue Devils. In the most stunning first round upset, Mercer's prolific offense beatdown Duke's obstinate defense and the Bear's defense shut down the fertile offense of the Blue Devils.
Mercer 78 Duke 71 - The Big 10 saw an upset to open up the tournament Thursday, but couldn't produce one of their own 6-11 upsets to move Nebraska forward and earn themselves a first ever NCAA tournament win (0-7). Baylor's offense was outplayed by Nebraska when they shot just above 40% from the field and 15% from beyond the arc. However, rebounds (28 defensive and 9 offensive) and a limited number of fouls (16) to go along with a hefty 38 makes on 48 attempts from the line led the Bears past the Cornhuskers.
Baylor 74 Nebraska 60 - If you had watched this game, you would have thought Stanford was the 7 seed that simply controlled the game, all game long. However, that wasn't the case. New Mexico, heralded by many (yours truly included) as a possible challenger to Kansas in the third (second) round, entered the game as the 7th seed after earning the automatic bid from the Mountain West after beating San Diego State in the conference championship. Stanford was seen as a possible upset pick by about 38% of the ESPN brackets. (But then again, only 20% picked Dayton and 3% picked Mercer) The Lobos trailed most of the game, in fact they only had the lead once in the early going at 2-1. However, a late surge from New Mexico kept the game interesting down to the final minute.
Stanford 58 New Mexico 53 - In the first matchup of Wildcats on the day, Arizona looked like a typical one seed dispatching of the too little too late Weber State offense. However, Weber State didn't go down easily and put a scare in the Arizona Wildcats before the final buzzer coming within nine in the final two minutes. Arizona would not be denied though and seamlessly ended the game to move onto the round of 32.
Arizona 68 Weber State 59 - Did anyone know that Tennessee had an offense? Massachusetts clearly had no idea in that first half. In the second 6-11 game of the day, Tennessee dismantled the Minutemen's defense in the first half and simply matched scores in the second half. The Volunteers put up 80+ for only the second time against tournament teams this season. The other time? Against the defensive-minded Cavaliers of Virginia. Chaz Williams, the Minutemen's most talented star, has always played as the little guy at 5'9" was held to 12 points and was manhandled on the defensive side of the ball by the bigger Tennessee guards. Jarnell Stokes and Jordan McRae combined for 47 points and went 13 of 14 from the line.
Tennessee 86 UMass 67 - Louisiana Lafayette showed up to provide McDermott and Co. a first round test that many did not see coming. However, McDermott dropping 30 on 56% shooting is sure to push the Bluejays past most competition they will see in this tournament. The Ragin' Cajuns stayed around throughout the entire game by handling their own on the offensive glass, grabbing 13 offensive boards, but shot under 38% from the field and only 25% from beyond the arc.
Creighton 76 LA Lafayette 66 - In another first round test, the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky stayed with the Jayhawks throughout much of the game and went into the half knotted at 32. Before an 11-1 run by Kansas halfway through the second half, the Colonels led Kansas by three. The Jayhawks finished the game on a 16-8 run that featured dunks from Tarik Black, Andrew Wiggins and Jamari Traylor. A good effort from the Colonels but Kansas didn't even need a single three-- they went 0-7 from beyond the arc-- to compliment their 60% shooting from the field en route to a first round win.
Kansas 80 Eastern Kentucky 69 - Gonzaga shut down the upstart smarts of Marcus Smart and Markel Brown. But this was one of the dirtiest games I have ever seen. 33 fouls... by the Cowboys. 28 by the Bulldogs. That's a total of 61 total. Five players fouled out. Five others ended the game with four fouls apiece. Turnovers abounded for each side (12 for OK State and 15 for Gonzaga), but Oklahoma State's 10 steals weren't enough to stop the hot handed Bulldogs from draining shot after shot. The Bulldog's 50% shooting from the field and from beyond the arc coupled with their 63% from the charity stripe laid low the strong defense of Oklahoma State.
Gonzaga 85 Oklahoma State 77 - George Washington gave Memphis a scare, but the Tigers held on late with a few key free throws to keep the Colonials from advancing to the round of 32.
Memphis 71 George Washington 66 - Providence put up quite a fight against the Tar Heels. The Friars were overly efficient from the field (53%), made four threes (25%) but were deadly accurate from the free throw line (81%) to stay close to North Carolina. None of the Tar Heels scored more than 19 points while Providence's Bryce Cotton nailed 36 points on 33% from three, 7-7 from the line and 56% from the field. However, having five players in double figures were just enough for the Tar Heels to hang on to a win over the Big East tournament champions.
North Carolina 79 Providence 77 - Wichita State dispatched their first tournament team of the year to move to a record 35-0. Once again, if you don't believe in these guys I don't know what drugs you are using but you need to stop because they are really bad for your health and are really impairing your judgment. The Shockers dropped a consistent 32 points both halves, held Cal Poly to 20% from the field, blocked six shots, grabbed 46 rebounds, and assisted on 17 of their 50 shots. Okay, the Shockers weren't perfect. They turned the ball over 12 times, shot 46% from the field, and missed nine free throws. But this team is for real. (Oh, and congrats to the Mustangs on their first ever NCAA tournament win earlier in the week!)
Wichita State 64 Cal Poly 37 - VCU had this game won. It was over. The Rams were about to head back to the Round of 32. Then a freshman made a freshman mistake. In the closing seconds, down by four, the Jacks of Stephen F Austin were praying for a miracle. That miracle came in the form of JeQuan Lewis who decided to defend until the final whistle. SFA's Desmond Haymon launched a three and Lewis came flying in to interrupt the shot but instead hit Haymon as the shot fell through the net. Whistle. Foul. Four point play opportunity. Whistle. Haymon launches the ball from the line. Swish. SFA goes crazy. VCU collapses. The game goes to overtime with SFA controlling all the momentum before closing the game out on a 14-8 run.
SFA 77 VCU 75
(The 12 seed won 3 of 4 matchups this year) - Virginia looked like would be making history but in the worst way possible. Down five to Coastal Carolina at half, the Cavaliers were facing the possibility of becoming the first 1 seed to ever fall in the first round. Their offense had to come back and their defense needed to get back on course. However, like any good championship-quality team, Virginia came out of the half calm and came back to win the game by holding the Chanticleers to 24 points and scoring 40 of their own in the second half.
Virginia 70 Coastal Carolina 59 - Kentucky. The 40-0 Cats. The Destiny's Child of basketball recruiting. The ones who were supposed to make it look easy this year. So much talent under a great head coach. However, the Cats under performed like so many highly touted teams before them. Kentucky was full of inexperienced, big-headed, talent-driven, scoring machines that simply did not click for much of the season. All that has changed. Their run in the SEC tournament started it and their play against the Wildcats of Kansas State simply annunciated that fact. Seven of the eight players in Kentucky's box score had never been to the NCAA tournament before, but that didn't stop them from playing like they were meant to be there. 40 rebounds highlighted an all around performance for Kentucky that was bookended by a school freshman record twenty-first double double for Julius Randle. The heart is also there, evidenced by Andrew Harrison commenting that he would play today even if he only had one arm.
Kentucky 56 Kansas State 49 - Although Iowa State won their game against North Carolina Central, the Cyclones took a huge blow when their third leading scorer, Georges Niang, suffered a broken foot that will see him on the bench today. Their offensive prowess was evident when they stacked up 93 points on 63% shooting from the field and 53% from downtown. The Cyclones did experience some mental errors that saw them turn the ball over nine times while forcing only six of their own.
Iowa State 93 NCC 75 - The final game of the opening round was not nearly as exciting as the closing game of Thursday night, but it sent UCLA to the Round of 32, which is just fine with the Bruins. The Bruins went extremely deep on Friday, playing nine players and buried Tulsa by burying 87% of their free throws while shooting 46% from the field. The UCLA defense forced 16 turnovers off 11 steals while blocking five shots.
UCLA 76 Tulsa 59
There you have it, a wrap up of the first round games to get you started before the second round action picks back up in about an hour today. Enjoy the second round and may be the odds of Bracketeering always be in your favor!
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