With the First Four in the books (the winners of the games being UNC-Asheville, Clemson, Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Texas-San Antonio) the round of 64 kicked off yesterday with 16 games played at such timing and spacing that three different networks showed basketball for some five hours--heaven for the true sports fan.
Since baseball hasn't started up yet and football has ended-and may be ended for a while-and my dad and I are big sports fans, this is the first time in a while I've really been into basketball. I watched the March Madness '08 tournament with relish, even switching my vote from one team to another during Kansas' surprising Final Four massacre of UNC. This year, since I'm learning more names and more rules and since I enjoy my dad's gruff-but-usually-accurate (think Simon Cowell) commentary on plays and coaching, I've been watching a lot of hoops. Some NBA (by now, I'm quite well-acquainted with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, Paul Pierce, etc...) and some college (in my house we're Duke fans).
But there's no question that college ball is more interesting than pro ball. The games are shorter, the players are more selfless, the crowds are far more enthusiastic, the stakes (pride, bragging rights) are much higher, and it's just more fun to watch. The scores are closer to earth and the officiating tends to be better.
I worked from 1-9 yesterday, so I missed the vast majority of the basketball action yesterday, and I was too tired to finish what I was able to watch late. But it was a scintillating day of action where some favorites ruled the roost but where some lower-seeded teams sparked upsets worthy of their own true-story film.
Yes, there were beatdowns. The third-seeded Connecticut Huskies whomped the 14-seeded Bucknell Bison, 81-52, with All-American Kemba Walker leading the charge with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists in a magnificent performance. Number-two Florida rolled over its 15-seeded-opponent, University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), 79-15, and another Number Two seed, San Diego State, rejected the University of Colorado, 68-50.
But not all top dogs reigned supreme on this exciting day. Sixth-ranked St. John's, who beat 1 seeds Duke and Pittsburgh during the regular season but were playing without injured point guard D.J. Kennedy, lost an early lead and never recovered, losing to 11-seeded Gonzaga 86-71. Fifth-seeded Vanderbilt suffered their third first-round loss in as many years, losing 69-66 to twelfth-seeded Richmond.
On ESPN recently there has been some amusing discussion about who could be this year's Butler (some saying it could be Butler itself), Butler being Butler University, Butler of the Horizon Conference who rose to prominence during last year's NCAA tournament and ended up playing all-time great Duke in the National Championship Game. Their run memorably ended on a halfcourt shot by Gordon Heyward that nipped the rim and bounced away. Last night they got another memorable ending, this one in their favor, when Matt Howard tipped in a ball that had been flung and then deflected near the hoop as time expired, with the Bulldogs' game against ninth-seeded Old Dominion tied at 58. Shawn Vanzant did the flinging, and then Andrew Smith hit the ball, where it deflected off the backboard. As the final seconds ticked away, Howard flicked it in for the 60-58 victory.
In one of the day's biggest upsets, fourth-seeded Louisville, whose impressive run through the Big East tournament had fallen just short of the intended goal with a championship game loss to UCONN, saw their run end as early as possible when Morehead State's Demonte Harper nailed a three-pointer with 4.2 seconds left to give the 13-seeded Eagles a one-point lead, 62-61. The play was based, according to reports, on a dream Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall had the night before. A dream victory in more than one way.
The Temple Owls had a dream of their own to remember last night, when Juan Fernandez hit a one-footed fadeaway from 18-feet distant to give the Owls a 64-62 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions.
And after an unusually difficult night on the court, Kentucky freshman Brandon Knight shook off a night where he missed his first seven shot attempts and landed a driving layup with 2 seconds left to give the UK juggernaut a breathtaking 59-57 victory over 13th-seeded Princeton.
Naismith Player of the Year favorite Jimmer Fredette scored 32 points in Brigham Young's 74-66 win over Wofford, a school I almost attended, to keep that 3-seed's hopes alive.
This day of exciting, often edge-of-your-seat action did not even include three of the number one seeds (Ohio State, Kansas, Duke), who will all play Friday. Duke has been in the headlines for the recovery of superstar freshman guard Kyrie Irving, who missed almost 30 games with a toe injury. The Blue Devils won the ACC tournament with impressive full-team play that some say could be hindered by the return of a star of Irving's magnitude.
Here are all the scores from Day 1 of the Round of 64:
5-Kansas State-73, 12-Utah State-68; 11-Gonzaga-86, 6-St. John's-71;
6-Cincinnati-78, 11-Missouri-63; 7-UCLA-78, 10-Michigan State-76;
4-Wisconsin-72, 13-Belmont-58; 3-UCONN-81,14-Bucknell-52
3-BYU-74; 14-Wofford-66;
2-Florida-79, 15-University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB)-51
2-San Diego State University-68, 15-University of Northern Colorado-50
12-Richmond-69, 5-Vanderbilt-66
1-Pittsburgh-74, 16-UNC Asheville-51; 4-Kentucky-59, 13-Princeton-57
7-Temple-66, 10-Penn State-64; 13-Morehead State-62, 4-Lousiville-61
8-Butler-60, 9-Old Dominion-58; 5-West Virginia-84; 12-Clemson-76
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