Gonzaga was pushed by Southern in their first game and they were thought of by many to be the first 1-seed to out of the tournament. Tonight they proved those people right as 9-seed Wichita State took out the top team, 76-70, in the crazy West Region. The Shockers jumped out early going up 26-13 and leading 36-31 at the half. Gonzaga came out in the second half blazing on an 18-5 run to take an eight point lead 49-41. At this point you figured the Bulldogs have found their groove and will continue their run to closeout the Shockers. But it was Rob Baker who scored eight points in 1:38 to give Wichita State the lead back at 67-63 with just under three minutes to play. Baker finished with 16 points on 4-6 from deep and Cleanthony Early also chipped in 16 with seven boards. The Shockers went 50% from the field including 14-28 on 3-pointers. On the other hand the Zags couldn't find their offense down the stretch going only 4-12 in the last 6:05. Kelly Olynyk finished with 26 points and nine rebounds.
Marquette seeks revenge on Butler
This was a rematch of a game from November in Maui that Butler won on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Rotnei Clarke for the 72-71 win. Marquette wanted to come out and get revenge for that heartbreaking loss but it was the Bulldogs that had the 35-27 lead at the break. Marquette managed to fight back in the second half and tie the game late with 1:29 left after Vander Blue hit a 3 to make it 69-69. After three free throws by the Golden Eagles, Butler's Roosevelt Jones found himself on the line with 15 seconds left. Jones made the first and The Bulldogs were down two. He missed the second and these two teams found themselves in the same position they were in at Maui. Butler got the rebound off the miss and Rotnei Clarke hoisted the potential game-winning 3 but he was off. Marquette finished off the late rally to win 74-72 behind Blue's 29 points. Clarke added 24 for Butler. The closest margin of the day before this game was Oregon over Saint Louis by 17, so this was the type of nail-biter we all expect to see in the tournament.
Michigan and Michigan State cruise to the Sweet 16
The state of Michigan sent the first two teams in the Sweet 16. Michigan led the way as the Wolverines reached the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since 1994. Coming into their game against the VCU Rams, Michigan was said to be on upset alert for the second straight game. The biggest reason is VCU's "havoc" defense and the fact that they just beat a short-handed Akron team 88-42, but Michigan had a few surprises for the Rams. The first was that to handle their press the Wolverines decided to have Tim Hardaway Jr. bring the ball up to help Trey Burke. VCU leads the nation in steals, led by Darius Theus (2.4 spg, who was on Burke), but the Wolverines took care of the ball well in the first half as Burke and Hardaway only had three turnovers combined and led 38-23 at the break. The other surprise was the play of Mitch McGary who played his most minutes of the season and rewarded John Beilein with 21 points on 10-11 shooting and 14 rebounds, both career highs. An inside presence has been UM's most glaring weakness all year, if McGary can keep this up it makes the Wolverines an even tougher out. Michigan's largest lead was 31 and the highlight of the night went to Spike Albrecht's left handed bounce pass between defenders to Glenn Robinson III for the dunk. Michigan held VCU to only 3-16 on 3-pointers and the Wolverines now gear up for Kansas.
March is the month of Tom Izzo and Michigan State. Memphis was able to keep it close in the first half (32-29) but the Spartans pulled away in the second to earn the 70-48 victory and move on to the sweet 16. Gary Harris was hitting early and often as he poured in 23 points on 4-7 from beyond the arc and Adreian Payne controlled the paint with 14 points, ten boards and a career high five blocks. MSU turned the ball over 18 times but a stifling defense held Memphis to only 29.7% from the floor. The Spartans also are going to have to check the status of Keith Appling as he left the game with a right shoulder injury. The starting point guard said he could have gone back in if needed but it will be interesting to see how it will affect him next weekend. MSU now awaits the winner of Creighton and Duke, if the Blue Devils prevail it will be a matchup between two of the best coaches in the country.
Oregon shows they are for real
Oregon felt disrespected by receiving a 12-seed and they are taking it out on their opponents. After dismantling Oklahoma State 68-55 in their first game, Saint Louis was the next victim 74-57. The Billikens were a sexy pick by a few analysts to possibly upset #1 Louisville but they never reached that matchup because the Ducks weren't having it. The game was tight for the first seven minutes when Saint Louis held an 11-10 lead. After that, Oregon finished the half on a 25-8 run and never looked back. Saint Louis had one of the best defenses in the country but the Ducks ran their offense with great efficiency as they shot 53% from the field and were 8-11 from distance. Freshman Damyean Dotson led the way for Oregon with 23 points and 5-6 on 3-pointers. Also, Arsalan Kazemi controlled the paint with eight points and 16 rebounds, including seven offense. Oregon faces Louisville next weekend and shouldn't be taken lightly by the top seed in the Midwest.
Arizona is looking like the team that started the season 14-0
Another Pac-12 team that didn't get much respect when the tournament began was Arizona. The Wildcats were once ranked as high as #4 in the country after starting 14-0 with wins over Florida, Miami FL, and San Diego State. In conference play (Oregon gave them their first loss) Arizona struggled against the top teams in the Pac-12 and ended up a 4-seed in the conference tournament, then ousted by UCLA. However, they seem to be rejuvenated in the big dance as they've won their first two games by an average of 20 points. Belmont was a popular upset pick by many but they were no match for Arizona and neither was Harvard after pulling off its major upset over New Mexico. In both games the Wildcats have been over 55% from the floor and their leading scorer Mark Lyons has been on fire. In two games Lyons has 50 points on 20-32 shooting. Arizona is back to being a team that has Final Four hopes as they seem to be hitting on all cylinders at the right time.
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