It's Only Just Begun : March Madness and what happened in the first two rounds.
- bantoch99
- Mar 26, 2019
- 9 min read
For the first time since I can remember, the bracket has played out to be more 'chalk' than ever. What this means, is that we have seen a relatively lower amount of upsets than in recent years. No UMBC, FGCU, Lehigh, or S.F. Austin.
The round of 64 saw an unusual amounts of blowouts. Twenty of the first thirty-two games were decided by ten points or more. While only three games ended up coming down to the final possession.
In the first day of basketball, we saw a few opportunities for upsets. Michigan State found themself in a one possession game going into halftime against 15 seeded Bradley. Led by junior guard Cassius Winston's 26 points, the Spartans were able to hang on and control the game in the second half giving them an eleven point win. Another double-digit hopeful, and popular upset pick was Belmont. They found themself up by more than ten points at once before Maryland came back to win by a whole two points.
Some double digit seeds were not as fortunate as Bradley and Belmont to have a chance to advance to the next round. For 16 Fairleigh Dickinson against 1 Gonzaga, 15 Abilene Christian facing 2 Kentucky, 15 Montana versus 2 Michigan, and 13 Northeastern playing against 4 Kansas, they all lost by an average of 31.5 points.
In the first day of the round of 64, Purdue's guard Carson Edwards helped them defeat Old Dominion 61-48 after putting up 26-7.
Both 10 seeds Minnesota and Florida upset their 7th ranked opponents Louisville and Nevada. Minnesota was a commonly picked 10-7 upset, while the Martin twins run last year was cut short in a shocker by the Florida Gators.
Five seeded Auburn was also able to defeat popular upset pick New Mexico State 78-77 in a thriller. Auburn up nearly double digits with no more than a minute less missed multiple free throws followed by threes from New Mexico State that allowed them back into the game. A three pointer as time expired was long and Charles Barkley was able to breath easy again as the war eagles moved on.
Florida State's Terrance Mann led the Seminoles against UVM and helped them advance to the second round. Last years NCAA Tournament champion Villanova also moved on against Saint Mary's by a slim four point margin.
The game on everyones radar coming into the day... Marquette, and Murray State. Markus Howard and Ja Morant. A back to back affair early in the first half edged Marquette towards the five minute mark until Ja Morant began his takeover. An ankle breaker gave Murray State a seven point lead into halftime. He was only getting started. His 17-16-11 triple double was too much to overcome for 5 Marquette who was eventually defeated by 19. (Ja Morant is only the 6th one ever recorded in the NCAA Tournament ever).
The second day of the round of 64 was highlighted by three key upsets. 12 Oregon's convincing 18 point win over 5 seed Wisconsin after being tied at half, 12 Liberty over 5 seed Mississippi State by four points in another 12-5 upset that a lot of people anticipated coming into the tournament. The biggest one of the tournament was 13 UC Irvine's victory over the new Big 12 Champions Kansas State (I'd like to mention I had all three winning in the first round).
On the not so shocking stage, all three one seeds from the ACC advanced to he second round. Duke, led by R.J. and Zion, UNC, and Virginia. After Virginia's early exit last year to UMBC, they found themselves in a similar position to Gardner-Webb early in the first half down 14. They eventually found themselves and outscored GW 41-20 in the second half to get a 15 point win.
Admiral Scohfield's 19 points held off a rally by 15 Colgate in the second half to give Tennessee a seven point win and a date with number 10 Iowa after their upset over 7 Cincinnati being led by 19 points from guard Joe Wieskamp.
Both three seeds from the day were able to defeat their matchups. Jarrett Culver for Texas Tech finished with 29-8-7 and led the Red Raiders to a 72-57 blowout over the Norse from Northern Kentucky. Houston's route of Georgia State finished at a final score of 84-55 after guard Corey Davis Jr. dominated putting up 26-7-6.
There were three 8-9 matchups over the course of the day. Pac-12 Regular season champion Washington easily moved on past Utah State with a commanding 17 point victory. Oklahoma finished off Ole Miss's season and UCF eliminated VCU by an average of 20 points each. 7' 6" Tacko Fall for UCF stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points and an astounding 18 rebounds and 5 blocks.
The ACC had another good day not only after the three one seeds advanced, but 4 seed Virginia Tech led by sophomore Nickel Alexander-Walker's 20 points and 6 assists lifting them past Saint Lois in a 66-52 loss.
Buffalo, last year a cinderella, this year a favorite. The tides turned for them going from a 13 seed to a 6 seed in back to back seasons. They picked up where they left off last year with an easy win over Arizona State finishing them off 91-74.
The closest game of the day, and most entertaining was Big 12's Iowa State facing the Big Ten's Ohio State. Ohio State down double digits in this game rallied to keep their season alive behind Kaleb Wesson's 21 and 12. His effort allowed them to hold on to a three point 62-59 victory, and an appearance in the round of 32.
With minimal upsets through the first round, a lot of fans anticipated a somewhat crazy second round similar to last year. We did not see this.
We'll begin in the East bracket. Overall one seed Duke and nine seed UCF. Tacko Fall versus Zion Williamson. Two heavyweights battling for a sweet 16 appearance in Washington D.C. 32 points and 11 rebounds for Williamson doubled the stats the trash talking Tacko Fall had as he finished with 15-6. He fouled out with fourteen seconds remaining in the game. A one point lead for UCF with Zion at the line right after Fall fouled out cost them. Williamson missed the free-throw but was grabbed by Duke freshman R.J Barrett and put back in to give the Blue Devils a one point lead instead of a tie game. UCF's B.J. Taylor attempted the game winner which rolled off the rim, was tipped back up by Aubrey Dawkins but rolled around the rim and off again in dramatic fashion as Duke found themself victorious again.
Duke was now waiting the appearance of 12 seed Liberty or another ACC team Virginia Tech. After the first half you might think Duke might see the new cinderella in Liberty being up 32-29. However, VT forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. saw a different outcome. He led the team with 19 points and added nine rebounds lifting VT to a nine point victory. The ACC not only added another win to their column, but is now guaranteed at least one team in the elite eight after next week.
Also in the east bracket, 6 Maryland and 3 LSU played. We'll pick up the action with less than ten seconds left in the game with the ball in the hands of LSU guard Tremont Waters driving right and turning the corner with driving bank shot that fell through with only 1.6 second left. The Terrapins could only throw up a full court prayer because they were out of timeouts. Their heave hit the shot clock and dropped to the ground as LSU celebrated their second win of the tournament.
Who was LSU going to match up with now? The underdog Minnesota, or Big 10 powerhouse Michigan State. It was easy to tell pretty quick. The Spartans were up 14 at the half and ended Minnesota's season with a 20 point loss 70-50.
As the East bracket shapes up, the sweet 16 matchups are now 1 Duke vs. 4 Virginia Tech for the third time this season, and 3 LSU playing 2 Michigan State.
We now travel to the West region. Gonzaga found themself battling the 9 seeded Beards from Baylor. Gonzaga's Brandon Clarke's 36 points is enough for you to know that Baylor had their hands full. Unfortunately for them, it was too much to overcome being down 16 points at the half, and being defeated 83-71.
The only thing standing in Gonzaga's way now is Florida State. I'd love to say Ja Morant's story continues, but it is the end of the road for Murray State. It was a smoke show early on after Terrance Mann switched to guard Ja Morant after he started 5-5 from three point range in the first seven minute of the game. The biggest surprise of the second round saw FSU defeating Murray State. It's not entirely the fact that Florida State won that was surprising, but the final score. 90-62, and we'll leave it at that.
The bottom part of the West bracket saw a dominant performance from Texas Tech over 6 seeded Buffalo in a 78-58 victory thanks to all five of the Red Raiders starting five scoring in the double-digits.
Another ten seed had their chance to knock off another 2 seed. This time was Florida and Michigan. The four point game that favored the Wolverines at the half rapidly escalated to a fifteen point victory after Jordan Poole finished with 19 points.
Now, we'll see 1 Gonzaga and 4 Florida State battle for a date in the elite eight with either 3 Texas Tech or 2 Michigan. Both the East and West had no differentiation with seeds 1-4 with no cinderella's in sight.
The other side of the bracket had a bit more madness, but not by much. UNC controlled Washington easily 81-59 to advance to the sweet sixteen which they fell short of last season.
The usual 1 or 2 seed in the Midwest found themself as a four seed battling Auburn for a chance to meet with UNC in the sweet 16. After a dominating 30 point victory for Kansas in the first round, their 3 point shot evaporated. The final score looked prettier than the game actually was, which is saying a lot considering they lost 89-75. After the first half, the game was all but over. They were down big 51-25 after Auburn guard Bryce Brown started things for the War Eagles finishing with 25 points.
Some first round magic for Ohio State ran out when Houston came into town. What was a close game for the first 35 minutes, turned into a double-digit affair by the final buzzer. A 74-59 final score was capped by four of five Houston players scoring ten or more points.
The most fun game to watch in that bracket was the Wofford vs. Kentucky game. There were countless three point responses between the two teams in the second half after Kentucky started the game 0-8 from deep early. The Terriers fought to try and close the game into a one possession game, but Kentucky's free throws late in the last minute sealed the deal giving the Wildcats a six point victory.
Looking forward to this weeks matches. 1 UNC will face 5 Auburn, while 3 Houston will battle 2 Kentucky.
The final region of the bracket. The South. All three other regions had the one, two, and three seeds advance to the sweet 16, so how did it play out?
1 Virginia shut down 9 Oklahomas high flying offense keeping them to under thirty points in each half after their 90 point performance in the first round. Kyle Guy for Virginia may have had his worst performance ever in his college career. Shooting 2-15 and 0-10 from three, it is astonishing that Virginia was able to win 63-51. Watch out everyone.
12 Oregon and 13 UC Irvine. A guaranteed double-digit seed in the sweet 16 finally. The game was close early, and had multiple lead changes going early into the second half after a tie at 37. Incredibly, it took Oregon 7 minutes and 32 second to get their first points of the second half. What happened from there was unexpected. Oregon not only outscored, but blew out the Anteaters 36-17 to close out the game and dance their way to the sweet 16.
The final two games in the South begin with the defending champion Villanova Wildcats and Purdue Boilermakers. Another blowout in the first two rounds. Purdue scored 43 points in the first half and 44 in the second to get an 87-71 win knocking out the Wildcats and their title defense.
What a comeback! Almost... would be the headline in Iowa after a 25 point second half comeback to force overtime vs number 2 Tennessee. Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon finished the game with 18 for the Hawkeyes, but needed 20 in regulation to complete the comeback. Tennessee found themself once again in overtime and outscored Iowa 12-6 to ensure their school at least one more game.
As the first two rounds finish in the South, the matchups are now 1 Virginia against 12 Oregon, and 3 Purdue vs. 2 Tennessee. For the first time since I can remember, all four of the one, two, and three seeds advanced to the sweet 16.
Some interesting things that we could see in the sweet 16 that might surprise you. FSU might knock off 1 seed Gonzaga... AGAIN for the second straight year, and Auburn is looking to shock the Bracket pool after a dominant performance over Kansas as they want to knock off UNC. Don't be surprised if Duke pulls out a big win against Virginia Tech, and if Texas Tech knocks off number 2 Michigan.
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