The Madness: Opening Thursday Wrap

Notes on the games from Thursday….

MIDWEST REGION

-Kansas struggles early but cruises…. Ho-hum

-Northern Iowa shot the ball ridiculously well… like from the tip until the dagger at the end… contested threes were nothing but water lol….. I don’t think they have a fighting chance against Kansas unless they shoot 60% from 3… but they could

-Tennessee scraps and claws past SDSU… very evenly matched game from talent standpoint, and really an underrated one based upon the timeslot it was played in… enjoyed it… and Tennessee is now a sweet 16 favorite because….

-Ohio throttles Georgetown…. Read that again… Ohio throttles… Georgetown? Whoops… This was a case of Georgetown sleepwalking through the 1^st half, and by the time they woke up and started dominating the offensive end, Ohio was in a groove offensively themselves and just couldn’t be stopped… 97 points? Good gracious…. I still think it’s a fluke situation (Ohio was under .500 in a bad MAC conference this year) but wow

WEST REGION

-Oh UTEP… The first of my sweet 16 teams to lose yesterday (though Georgetown lost later)…. Up 6 at half, and then give up 50 points in the 2^nd half… a total collapse for 20 straight minutes… was painful… Butler has a 2^nd half team reputation and that continues… I really like them

-Murray State over Vandy… This was pegged as a gigantic upset…. Meh, not so much… Murray State won 30 games and was less than a 5 point underdog in this game… a huge win, and a crazy buzzer-beater but Vandy was sketchy to me prior and I had them going down to UTEP in round 2

-BYU survives… Whew… that would’ve been a big blow for me, and they really could’ve lost this game multiple times, but Florida’s execution down the stretch was wretched… and BYU has Jimmer… 37 points, and an array of crafty offensive moves like no one else in the country, love him

-K-State cruises… I got nothing… North Texas is/was awful….

EAST REGION

-Kentucky led by 25+ at half… Bledsoe hits 9 threes (?)… what else do you say? Overmatched team in ETSU gets pounded

-Wake wins at the gun… Probably the worst coaching matchup I saw yesterday and Rick Barnes should be ashamed of himself… Up 8 with 2 minutes to go in OT and they somehow blow that lead to a team with no go-to-guy… 2 of the bigger enigmas in the field, and Wake will need a much better effort to hang with Kentucky

-Washington comes all the way back… Back-and-forth all game with Washington up early, Marquette storming out 17-3 to start the 2^nd half and Quincy Pondexter taking over late including the game-winner off-glass…. The Pac-10 has maybe even become under-rated (although still down this year)…. Brutal for the Big East and Marquette

-New Mexico struggles a bit (Darington Hobson’s injury didn’t help) but holds on in an uneventful battle against Montana… Anthony Johnson (of 34 2^nd half points fame) did absolutely nothing for Montana….

-Old Dominion beats ND… I didn’t see a second of this game I’m ashamed to say… but I picked the upset and it seems like Luke Harangody was who I thought he was (copyright Dennis Green)….

-Baylor (Elite 8!) was engaged in a battle early and was the beneficiary of the biggest short-term meltdown of the day… Sam Houston was very much in this game until they committed FOUR turnovers in a row with about 3 minutes to go to blow the doors open….

-St. Mary’s dominated the 2^nd half against Richmond…. Which thoroughly surprised me not because St. M isn’t good (they are) but because Richmond’s veteran guards absolutely disappeared… this wasn’t a typical “guardplay wins” tournament game… Omar Samhan… Omar Samhan…. Omar Samhan….

-Villanova…. Yikes… they’re somehow still in the field thanks to a late letdown by Robert Morris… but between the Reynolds/Fisher benching and Reynolds’ shooting (wow)… There are even more reservations… no front-court play at all and if they don’t make shots, they’re very, very pedestrian….

That’ll do it for now… Let’s hope that Friday is ½ as good as Thursday was… what an amazing day of hoops