Only one team from the First Four this year, the no. 10 seed Colorado Buffaloes, is standing heading into the round of 32. And the Buffaloes propelled themselves forward in high octane affair on Friday afternoon.
The Buffaloes looked in control in the second half against the Florida Gators, knocking down every shot in sight. Florida had a furious comeback, setting the stage for a KJ Simpson buzzer-beater. Simpson knocked down a baseline jumper with 1.7 seconds left to give Colorado a 102-100 victory.
Colorado was in a completely different battle than the defensive-minded victory over Boise State in the First Four. In that meeting, the Buffaloes won 60-53 whereas in Friday's game, each team alone nearly matched the combined total.
In the Round of 64 victory, Simpson had 23 points, five rebounds, and five assists while Eddie Lampkin Jr. had 21 points, six rebounds, and five assists. The Buffaloes overcame the 33 points of Florida's Walter Clayton Jr.
Excitement kicked into full gear on Thursday, when the 14th seed in the South Region Oakland Golden Grizzlies locked into a special kind of magic. Oakland rode the three-point stylings of Jack Gohlke to defeat the no. 3 seed Kentucky Wildcats, 80-76.
Gohlke scored 32 points, knocking down 10 of Oakland's 15 three-pointers. Ten made threes by Gohlke fell one short of the record held by Jeff Fryer of Loyola Marymount, set in 1990.
Double digit seeds will be represented well in the round of 32, though not as in-depth as year's past. A pair will be squaring off on Saturday, guaranteeing at least one seed lower than nine will be in the Sweet 16.
On the 5/12 line, it took until the last set of games on Friday night to see a no. 12 seed advance. Two, in fact, with James Madison and Grand Canyon keeping the tradition alive.
Teams on the 16-seed line did not defeat those on the top line this year. And this year saw the end of a three-year streak in which a no. 15 seed advanced. The two closest were losses by South Dakota State (17, to Iowa State) and Western Kentucky (18, to Marquette).
All told, three teams seeded no. 11 advanced, followed by two 12-seeds, and one each from the 10, 13, and 14 lines.
SEC and Mountain West falter
The SEC entered the tournament with eight teams. And while they ended Friday strong with victories by Alabama and Texas A&M, results overall were disappointing. The Yale Bulldogs added to that misery with an upset over the Auburn Tigers.
Auburn lost starter Chad Baker-Mazara early when he was tossed from the game for a flagrant 2 foul. The Tigers built double digit leads, with Yale hanging around before finally taking the lead late. Auburn had their chances, missing multiple attempts to tie or win the game in the closing seconds.
A year after Princeton gave the Ivy League an upset, Yale repeated the effort behind 28 points from John Poulakidas in the 78-76 victory.
The five teams that bowed out from the SEC were all higher seeds in their matchups. The conference went 3-5, with Tennessee the other victor, but futility might belong to the Mountain West, at least as far as expectations go.
The Mountain West placed six teams in the tournament. Yes, by the end of the Friday two teams advanced to the Round of 32. But four teams bowing was not exactly how the conference planned to showcase this outstanding season.
Boise State exited in the First Four. Colorado State won once but couldn't overcome an 11-point first-half effort in their loss to Texas. Conference tournament champion New Mexico lost 77-56 to Clemson.
The closest was perhaps Nevada, who saw a 17-point second-half lead vanish, falling to Dayton 63-60.
A 3-4 record on paper so far looks okay. Just disappointed to see so many fall short.
East Region
Three of the eight games in this region saw the lower seed advance. Yale was the last of the lower seeds in this region to advance. Earlier Friday, Northwestern overcame a cold start to knock off last year's darlings Florida Atlantic, 77-65.
On Thursday, the no. 11 Duquesne Dukes won a NCAA tourney game for the first time since 1969, defeating BYU 71-67. Duquesne led much of the game and had to withstand a BYU rally to pick up the victory.
Two other lower seeds put up valiant efforts but ultimately fell short. Both Morehead State and Drake looked poised to pull off the upsets. Morehead State lost to Illinois by 16 and Drake let a late lead slip away in falling to Washington State by five.
Defending champions Connecticut won handily, with the Huskies defeating Stetson 91-52. The top seed will look for a return visit to the Sweet 16, with a possible 2023 title game rematch with San Diego State on the horizon.
Round of 32, East Region matchups (Predicted winners in bold. All times Eastern)
- (7) Washington State vs (2) Iowa State - 6:10 p.m. (3/23)
- (11) Duquesne vs (3) Illinois - 8:40 p.m. (3/23)
- (9) Northwestern vs (1) UConn - 7:45 p.m. (3/24)
- (5) San Diego State vs (13) Yale - 9:40 p.m. (3/24)
West Region
Grand Canyon was one of only two lower seeds to advance in the West Region. The Lopes and WCC champion Saint Mary's were back-and-forth for most of the first half. Grand Canyon got rolling early in the second half, maintained, and then had to hold off a Gaels comeback in picking up a 75-66 win, their first-ever NCAA tournament victory.
A battle of the old guard will take place between Michigan State and North Carolina in the Round of 32. UNC did have some trouble pulling away from Wagner, despite what the 28-point margin of victory says. The Spartans built a nice cushion in their first-round game, in some ways coasting to victory.
Four good games should be on tap in this region. Most intriguing to me is the 2/7 matchup between Dayton and Arizona. Both played uneven basketball in their opening round wins. While I think Arizona advances, I wouldn't be surprised if the Flyers pull this one out.
Round of 32, West Region matchups (Predicted winners in bold. All times Eastern.)
- (7) Dayton vs (2) Arizona - 12:45 p.m. (3/23)
- (9) Michigan State vs (1) UNC - 5:30 p.m. (3/23)
- (6) Clemson vs (3) Baylor - 6:10 p.m. (3/24)
- (12) Grand Canyon vs (4) Alabama - 7:10 p.m. (3/24)
South Region
Lower seeds were the name of the game in this region, where five advanced, including four double-digit seeds. Top seed Houston avoided the chaos, racing out to a 13-0 lead and not looking back in their victory over Longwood.
Not only will there be a guaranteed double digit in the Sweet 16, we'll also see a team with Duke in the title advance. The Dukes of James Madison, winner of 32 games this season, will take on Duke. The Blue Devils did have some struggles with Vermont, with start Kyle Filipowski scoring only three points on 0-1 shooting. (He did have 12 rebounds.)
James Madison knocked off no. 5 seed Wisconsin 72-61, leading a good chunk of the game.
Round of 32, South Region matchups (Predicted winners in bold. All times Eastern.)
- (14) Oakland vs (11) N.C. State - 7:10 p.m. (3/23)
- (10) Colorado vs (2) Marquette - 12:10 p.m. (3/24)
- (12) James Madison vs (4) Duke - 5:15 p.m. (3/24)
- (9) Texas A&M vs (1) Houston - 8:40 p.m. (3/24)
Midwest Region
Purdue managed to avoid last year's tournament fate, handling a spirited effort by Grambling State. Behind Zach Edey's 30 points, 21 rebounds, and three blocked shots, the Boilermakers won 78-50.
Save for the upstart Oregon Ducks, this region was held in check by the higher seeds. Both Gonzaga (to McNeese) and Kansas (to Samford) were popular choices to be upset in the first round. Especially Kansas, without their leading scorer Kevin McCullar Jr. The Jayhawks, however, withstood Samford coming back from a 20-point deficit to win 93-89.
Oregon took care of business thanks to a spectacular 40-point showing from Jermaine Cousinard.
Utah State, a roster basically rebuilt from scratch, picked up their first tournament win since 2001 with a 88-72 victory over TCU. Meaning fans should be treated to a great matchup between Aggies star Great Osobor and Purdue's Edey.
Round of 32, Midwest Region matchups (Predicted winners in bold. All times Eastern.)
- (5) Gonzaga vs (4) Kansas - 3:15 p.m. (3/23)
- (7) Texas vs (2) Tennessee - 8:00 p.m. (3/23)
- (11) Oregon vs (3) Creighton - 9:40 p.m. (3/23)
- (8) Utah State vs (1) Purdue - 2:40 p.m. (3/24)
photo credit: Flickr
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