Rivard & Harvard upset #3 UNM - time for new celly.
Thursday Highlights - On Thursday the action started out as expected. Michigan State handled Valpo, Butler moved past a tough Bucknell team, and Saint Louis took care of business against Canadian loaded New Mexico State. Things got interesting when Canadian G Nik Cochran of Davidson had Marquette on the ropes with less than a minute to play, and Matthew Delledova had a shot to beat Memphis at the buzzer. However Marquette squeeked by thanks to an Evander Blue lay up as time practically expired, and Delledova over shot the 3 which would've sent Memphis for an early exit. Wichita State handled Pittsburgh and my disregard for the Pac 12 came back to bite me as both #12 seeds (Oregon & Cal) beat two of my favourite #5 seeds (Oklahoma St. & UNLV). Freshman superstars Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State) and canuck Anthony Bennett (UNLV) couldn't do enough for their teams to fight off the upset. Louisville, Arizona, and Michigan all looked strong in their victories. Michigan suprised me in how well they played and how poorly Nate Wolters (South Dakota State) played vs them. Every Canadian's team - Gonzaga - sure kept it interesting. Thankfully a cluth 3 pointer by Pangos with just over a minute left sealed the deal for the #1 Zags. My favourite team to watch in the tournament (VCU) showed exactly why they are just that in their blowout victory over Akron. VCU won by over 40 points as did Syracuse over Montana. Making me look smart Colorado State easily took care of Mizzou and should give Louisville a good game in their matchup next round. The madness didn't stop there. It was still going late into thursday evening and early into friday morning. The Canadian Laurent Rivard led his nerd school (Harvard) to the biggest upset of day one. 15 points from behind the arc for Rivard helped Harvard send the New Mexico Lobo's for yet another early exit.
FGCU PG - Comer is fun to watch!.. if the shoe fits.
Fridays Highlights - A great day one was followed up by even more madness on Friday. More upsets, nail biters, heartbreaks, and even some blood was on the menu. Duke kicked off the day as they cruised by Albany. Wisconsin was shocked by Ole Miss and was the third #5 seed to be eliminated already. Miami (Fl) flexed their muscles and beat up Pacific, and Temple edged by NC State thanks to Khalif Wyatt's 31 points. Things got interesting again as #13 La Salle (and star G Galloway) held on to upset Kansas State. Doug McDermott and #7 Creighton sent another Big 10 team packing as Cincinnati came up short. Indiana took care of business and Illinois seemed to easily handle Colorado to my surprise. Then it happened! #15 Florida Golf Coast was taking the court vs #2 Georgetown. Not many other games were that tight with Florida, Ohio St., and North Carolina looking like they were on route to easy victories so I stayed with FGCU vs GTOWN. I am glad I did. The FGCU Eagles were a thrill to watch. Leading by 18 points in the 2nd half over the Hoyas at one point the Eagles held on to get the win. Making it only the seventh time a #15 seed has won in NCAA Tournament history. Who are these guys? G - Comer sure makes things interesting with his style of play, he is fearless. Athletic forwards finishing at the rim either off putbacks or alley oops make them very exciting not to mention conferenece player of the year G - Brown. They will face off vs San Diego State on Sunday after San Diego St beat Oklahoma in a convincing fashion. Now as for the "surprise" winners they are as follows. Iowa St and Minnesota each used stifling defense to beat high ranked opponents with #7 ND falling to the Cyclones, and #6 ranked UCLA losing to the Golden Gophers. One thing to note, Villanova made a valiant comeback effort which even cost G Archidiacono some blood when he dove for a lose ball, however it wasn't enough and UNC will meet Kansas in the next round making for a great coaching battle; Roy Williams vs. Bill Self.
