We almost had a 16 beat a 1 yesterday but today we had the pleasure of watching 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast take down 2-seed Georgetown. This game was played in Philadelphia and the Eagles seemed to have a little Rocky Balboa in them. The amazing thing about all these upsets is that the lower seeded teams are winning the games outright. We aren't seeing any miracle Bryce Drew shots, except in the commercials. The only buzzer-beater we've seen is from Marquette to prevent an upset. FGCU closed the first half on a 13-2 run to take a 24-22 lead at the break. Then with the game tied at 31, the Eagles went on a 19-2 run in a four minute span. This is not something the 15-seed is supposed to be doing! Nor do they usually make highlights like Chase Fieler did. But when you control the pace of the game like FGCU did, you can do that. They knew the Hoyas like to play at a slower pace so they sped the game up and it worked. Georgetown tried to make a run at the end but it was way too late as they fell 78-68. Sherwood Brown scored 24 while Brett Comer added 12 points, six rebounds, and 10 assists. Florida Gulf Coast became the 7th 15-seed to beat a 2-seed and the 3rd in the last two years. Let's not forget that they had a win over another 2-seed, Miami FL, earlier this year. As for Georgetown they end their season on another disappointing loss. This is the 4th straight year they have been ousted by a double-digit seed in the tournament. Big East player of the year, Otto Porter Jr., had a rough night. Although he had 13 points and 11 boards, he was only 5-17 from the field.
LaSalle holds on late against Kansas State
The First Four play-in has only been around three years, but each year we've seen one of those teams win multiple games. In 2011 it was VCU, 2012 South Florida, and this year LaSalle. This was definitely a tale of two halves for the Explorers. In the first they jumped out to an 18 point lead at the half 44-26 hitting 18 of 31 shots. Then in the second half Kansas State finally decided to show up. The Wildcats steadily cut into the deficit and took their first lead of the game with 7:05 left, 57-56. From that point on, LaSalle did not make a shot (3-18 in the 2nd half) and K-State made one layup. However, Jerrell Wright made 7-8 free throws including two with 30 seconds left to give the Explorers the lead back as they closed it out 63-61. Wright was the leading scorer with 21 as he went 6-6 from the floor and 9-10 from the line. LaSalle is reminiscent of the 2011 VCU team that made the Final Four as they play a four guard lineup and like to get up and down the court.
Ole Miss continues the 12-seed special
When filling out your bracket everybody knows to pick at least one 12-seed to beat a 5-seed. For the first time ever three 12-seeds were able to pull off the upset as Ole Miss knocked out Wisconsin 57-46. All the talk before the game was if Wisconsin can stop Marshall Henderson, and his mouth. They stopped him for the most of the game as he started 1-13, 0-6 from distance. But once he hit his first 3-pointer, with just under 12 minutes to play, it brought the Rebels within three, 36-33, and started a 17-5 run for Ole Miss that gave them a 47-41 lead and ended up winning 57-46. Henderson finished 6-21 from the field with 19 points, but it was the work of their big men, Murphy Holloway and Reginald Bucker, that kept the Rebels in the game early when Marshall was off. They combined for 19 points, 21 rebounds and six blocks. If you ask me, this team could be a lot better if Henderson would defer more to his rocks inside. Coming into the tournament the Badgers weakness is going in scoring droughts and they were held to their worst shooting performance of the year going 15-59 (25.4%) from the floor and 7-30 (23.3%) from deep. Up next for the Rebels are the previously mentioned LaSalle Explorers in a 12 vs 13 matchup. Who had that one in their bracket?
Kansas has a bracket busting scare
The Kansas Jayhawks must not have paid much attention to Gonzaga's first game as they too took their 16-seed opponent lightly and it almost bit them. The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, with one of the best mascots in college, actually held the lead at halftime 31-30. They were able to limit turnovers (9 for the game) and slow the pace down, but had no answer for Kansas center Jeff Withey. The Hilltoppers two most efficient players tonight, George Fant (10 points) and Aleksejs Rostov (11 points), couldn't stay on the court because Withey (17 point, 7 blocks) had them in foul trouble all game. WKU struggled shooting the ball as well, 32% from the field and 3-20 from downtown, which is not what you need when trying to pull off a monumental upset. Kansas needs to shake this off and get back on track because they play a rejuvenated North Carolina team next. Roy Williams, meet Kansas. Do you guys know each other?
Iowa State dismantles Notre Dame
Lower seeded teams that can do damage in the tournament are ones that take and can make a lot of 3's, and that's what Iowa State does. The Cyclones took and made more 3-pointers than any other team in the country. Tonight though it was their post players, Georges Niang and Melvin Ejim, who led the way with 19 and 17 points respectively. ISU was able to score consistently inside as Notre Dame showed almost no resistance. They were also able to neutralize one of the best rebounders in the country, Jack Cooley, as he could only grab five boards. The fact that this Cyclone team was able to win going away playing a style of basketball they are not known for (they still hit nine 3's) shows that this team should not be overlooked by Ohio State. Especially in the unpredictable West Region, where we've seen five upsets in the second round.
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