After disposing of the 2-seed Georgetown, Florida Gulf Coast sent San Diego State packing as well 81-71 and became the first ever 15-seed to reach the Sweet 16. Not only has this team pulled off two huge upsets, they've done it rather easily. Despite trailing by one at the half, 35-34, FGCU came out strong again in the second and they are averaging 50.5 points per game in the latter half of games. Jamaal Franklin did everything he could for SDSU, 20 points and 11 rebounds, but it wasn't enough for the Aztecs. The Eagles were lighting it up all game hitting 56% of their shots, led by Bernard Thompson and Sherwood Brown who scored 23 and 17 respectively. Brett Comer also had a great game as a facilitator dishing out 14 assists and plenty of alley-oops for "Dunk City". FGCU is having more fun than any other team and it shows on the court, which definitely helps their play. They are loose and free but might tighten up as they go deeper into the tournament and the pressure mounts. Next they face the University of Florida and who would have thought the first matchup between sunshine state foes would be against Florida Gulf Coast in the Sweet 16, not Miami in the Final Four.
Aaron Craft lifts Ohio State over Iowa State
The South Region was busted wide open before Ohio State took the court Sunday with the number 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 seeds all being knocked out. The Buckeyes almost joined that list but Aaron Craft made the last seven points for OSU including the game-winning 3-pointer with one second remaining to advance 78-75. The game was tight the entire first half but with 6:07 to go in the game Ohio State took its biggest lead of the game 69-56. Immediately, Iowa State went on a 13-0 run to tie the game. Later, with the game tied at 75, Craft missed the potential go ahead jumper with 30 seconds left but the Cyclones couldn't come up with the rebound (the ball looked like it might have been knocked out by Deshaun Thomas but there is no review in college, we will revisit this in a moment). So Ohio State, and Craft, were given another chance and he delivered. Craft finished with 18 points and 6 assists while Thomas added 22 as the Buckeyes shot better than 50% from the field and beyond the arc. ISU was led by Korie Lucious (19) and Will Clyburn (17) but lost their best defender and solid outside shooter, Chris Babb, late in the first half. OSU will now play the only other team in their region to not be upset in the rounds of 64 or 32, 6-seed Arizona.
Miami FL escapes against Illnois
Possibly the most controversial game so far, Miami FL looked to be in control of this game early but needed Shane Larkin and a little help from the refs to comeback late to beat Illinois 63-59. Let's just fast-forward to the end, with less than two minutes left Illinois held a 55-54 lead. Shane Larkin hit a big 3-pointer for Miami to give them the 57-55 edge with 1:00 left. On the ensuing possession, D.J. Richardson missed a 3 of his own and with both teams going for the rebound the ball gets knocked out of bounds. The officials give it to the Hurricanes but the replay clearly shows Kenny Kadji being the last to touch it which would give Illinois another chance to tie or take the lead. Instead they are forced to foul and the U hit their free throws. This was the second game of the day where there was a questionable call with a ball going out of bounds late in a close game. The Ohio State call would have been tough to overturn but was definitely worth a look, however there was no question Kadji touched it last. Look for college to adapt the NBA rule of being to look at possession in the last two minutes of games on replay. Now I'm not saying Illinois would have won if they got the ball but you never know what can happen, especially with a shooter like Brandon Paul. Their chances would have been better if Paul (18 points) could have received a little help from their second leading scorer, Richardson, could have hit a few shots as he went 1-11 from the field. Larkin had 17 for the Hurricanes but reserve Rion Brown came up big with 21 points on 5-10 from deep.
Indiana rallies late past Temple
The Indiana Hoosiers were less than two minutes away from being eliminated early as Temple's Khalif Wyatt almost single-handily made IU the second #1 seed to fall. But Victor Oladipo wouldn't let that happen. Wyatt was hot from the tip as the Owls held the halftime lead 29-26 and maintained that lead for most of the second half. Indiana crawled back to take a 53-52 edge and with 15 seconds left Oladipo all but ended the game with a dagger 3-pointer. The Hoosiers ended the game on a 10-0 run to earn a 58-52 victory. Oladipo finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Cody Zeller added 15 and six. For the Owls, Wyatt dropped 31on 12-24 from the field but was only 3-12 from distance. His teammate and second leading scorer, Scootie Randall, went 0-12 as Temple shot only 34% as a team. Randall's performance tied UConn's Khalid El-Amin for the worst shooting performance in the tournament since the field expanded in 1985. Every year the team that wins it all needs to squeak by at least one opponent, Indiana is hoping this will be the only one.
LaSalle beats the clock to reach Sweet 16
The only game that featured two teams that pulled off upsets in the second round came down to the last possession as LaSalle's Tyrone Garland hit a running layup with three seconds left to send Ole Miss home, 76-74. The was tight throughout and the lead switched hands multiple times down the stretch, luckily for the Explorers they held the ball last and were able to finish it off. Garland scored 17 but it was Ramon Galloway that led the way with 24 on 6-10 on 3-pointers. For the Rebels, Marshall Henderson put in 21 and Murphy Holloway added 14 and 13 boards. The craziest stat from this game I saw was that in two tournament games, Henderson had 64 touches and only passed the ball 18 times. I know he can score but that's ridiculous. Especially when you have solid post players like Holloway and Reginald Buckner. This team could be so much better if Henderson deferred more often. Now, LaSalle moves on to the Sweet 16 to play Wichita State. This is the first time ever two teams ranked 13 or lower reached the Sweet 16 as LaSalle and Florida Gulf Coast made it to the second weekend.
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