Games I watched (some of):
Queens University 71-104 Purdue
I am proud to say I am a Queens (College) alumnus and I was proud of my alma mater finally making it to the big dance. And for 15 minutes or so, they acquitted themselves admirably. But Purdue went on a run right before halftime, kept that run going after the break. Purdue is a good team and they did what good teams do: they handled their business and didn't fall for the scrappy underdog routine. As for Queens, hey, man they hung tough for a while, made some plays, looked good out there, but just couldn't hang with the big dogs. Purdue has a great PG (broke the all time NCAA assist record in this game) and they look ready to make a meaningful run.
Furman 71-82 Connecticut
Turned this one on kinda late, it was close for much of the game but by the time I got to it, Furman had pretty much shot their wad and the Huskies were able to ease the game to victory. Good survival skills for UConn should come in handy.
Wright State 73-82 Virginia
UVA's first win in the tourney in eons and I gotta say: I was not impressed. They play such a slow down style that they are just built to be upset. Wright State succumbed to foul trouble by the end and just couldn't hang down the stretch.
Santa Clara 84-89 (OT) Kentucky
Game of the day! I was impressed with Santa Clara, this was meant to look like an easy match for the Wildcats but really Santa Clara is the veteran team that showed a lot of grit throughout the season. UK, on the other hand, has some nice players but never found any consistency or real identity all season long. The game was back and forth, thought the Wildcats were generally better but they couldn't get any seperation and it felt like Santa Clara was doing everything they needed to do to steal it late. But Oweh tied it up late, Santa Clara hit a 3 with 2 seconds left, Oweh was able to heave up a prayer just beyond mid court--that went in! (*) OT went back and forth but UK made the defensive plays (two blocks!) in the final minute and got the outlet bucket needed to ice the W. Is this the wakeup call UK needed? Are they ready to go on a run? Well, their next match is against (2) Iowa State, so we'll know right away whether this something the Cats can build on. As for Santa Clara, tough L, they really could've won this match--and may have given Iowa State a real shock.
Missouri 66-80 Miami
The two teams were similar for the most part, the game was close til the midway through the 2nd half when Miami's scoring just became more reliable. Miami is not bad, they were defeinitely better than Missouri, but I'm not sure I'm that afraid of them going forward.
Utah State 86-76 Villanova
Utah State was the better side all the way through. I kept waiting for Nova to make some kind of run or take some control of the match but they just never did. Not sure if Utah State is pretty good or if Villanova just didn't have it this year.
Iowa 67-61 Clemson
These two struck me as pretty much the exact same team, except that Iowa was a better shooting team and the better bet to win throughout, which is what happened.
Games I watched on the scoreboard ticker:
Long Island University 58-92 Arizona
Prairie View A&M 55-114 Florida
Tennessee State 74-108 Iowa State
Hofstra 70-90 Alabama
Felt like Alabama would be an upset candidate and Hofstra hung with them for most of the 1st half, but Alabama went on a run and finished them fairly early, it looks like.
California Baptist 60-68 Kansas
Cal Bap scored a bunch late, don't think this game was as close as the score suggests.
Akron 71-91 Texas Tech
Northern Iowa 53-79 St. John's
Miami (OH) 56-78 Tennessee
UT jumped on them early and seemed in control throughout.
Central Florida 71-75 UCLA
This one, too, got close late, I think UCLA actually had this rather easily.
(*) It was long but it was a makeable shot, Oweh did well to get such a good look at that moment.
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