HoopsHD continues its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t). Up next it is time to finish the First and Second rounds of the NCAA Tournament as we take a look at the fourth and final of the four pods in the East Region. The final pod features three conference tournament champions from among the power conferences — the ACC’s Florida State Seminoles, the SEC’s Florida Gators and the Pac-12’s UCLA Bruins. These teams, together with the Big South champion Winthrop Eagles, would battle in Tampa for the last of the spots in the Sweet 16 and a trip to New York City for the East Regionals.
FIRST ROUND – EAST REGION – TAMPA, FLORIDA
(7) Florida vs (10) UCLA
The final pod of the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament was being played in Tampa, Florida and featured a pair of teams from the Sunshine State – Florida and Florida State – being potentially lined up to meet in the Round of 32. First, of course, both teams would have to get by their first round opponents. For the Florida Gators, the lone remaining SEC team in the field, that would mean first getting past the red-hot UCLA Bruins. The Gators themselves were on a roll, entering the Big Dance after having won the SEC Tournament. UCLA was coming off of a Pac-12 Tournament title and an amazing late-season run that moved them from an afterthought for the NCAA’s to a team that was not only in the field, but dangerous enough to win a few games once they were there.
This 7 vs 10 battle had all the earmarks of a great game heading into it. And that is exactly what it ended up being. Both teams came ready to play and the first half was back-and-forth the entire way. The largest lead for either team was 5 points, and that did not come until right before halftime when UCLA’s Jake Kyman sunk a 3 with 36 seconds left to send his Bruins to the break up 38-33. UCLA tried to build off of that lead early in the second, extending their lead to as many as 9. However, the Gators fought back and were able to retake the lead with just under 2 minutes left to play. A pair of free throws from Noah Locke with 29 seconds left to go put Florida up 74-71. UCLA was not done either, and a quick layup by Cody Riley cut the Gators lead down to a single point. UCLA quickly fouled Kerry Blackshear – who promptly went to the free throw line and missed both shots. The Bruins had the ball, down by one point, and 10 seconds to try to win the game. After a quick timeout, Mick Cronin’s team got the ball down the court and into Cody Riley’s hands for a 10-footer as time expired. The ball went up, it came down, a “swoosh” was heard as it went through the net, and the Bruins players mobbed their teammate, celebrating an amazing buzzer-beating 75-74 win and a spot in the second round.
Final Score: (10) UCLA 75, (7) Florida 74
(2) Florida State vs (15) Winthrop
Florida State pulled the “double” in the ACC this season – capturing the regular season title by a game over the three-way tie between Duke, Virginia and Louisville and following that up with the ACC Tournament championship as well. Their season was impressive enough for some of the so-called experts to claim they deserved a 1-seed in the Big Dance, but the ‘Noles could not complain about being on the 2 line and heading to Tampa for their first two rounds of play. Up first for FSU was the Big South tournament champion Winthrop Eagles. Winthrop had traveled cross-country back in November to win a game at St. Mary’s, but the rest of their wins had come against teams in the bottom half of the NET rankings. It would certainly be a tall order for the Eagles to just stay close with the Seminoles in this game.
Florida State appeared to come out ready to play, taking the early lead and then putting together a 9-0 run late in the first half to head to the locker room seemingly in control, leading by a score of 40-29. Florida State apparently forgot to bring their game back out of the lockers, as Winthrop pounced early with a 15-4 run to suddenly tie the game at 44 just over 5 minutes into the second half. The next 10 minutes were back and forth until back-to-back 3-pointers by Winthrop’s Charles Falden turned a tie game into a 6-point Eagles’ lead. Florida State kept trying to fight back the rest of the way, but every attempt was promptly answered with a Winthrop basket. In the final minutes, the Eagles were a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw stripe to seal the major upset, becoming the second 15-seed to win their first round game and ousting the mighty Seminoles from the Big Dance by a final score of 91-85. Hunter Hale led the way with 19 points for the Cinderella victors.
Final Score: (15) Winthrop 91, (2) Florida State 85
SECOND ROUND – EAST REGION – TAMPA, FLORIDA
(10) UCLA vs (15) Winthrop
The game was supposed to be the battle of Florida between the Gators and the Seminoles. Instead, 10-seed UCLA was battling 15-seed Winthrop for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16 in New York City. With the two in-state teams gone, the arena was only slightly more than half-full instead of packed to capacity. However, that did not matter to either of these teams. UCLA was looking to add another win to their late season surge and prove to their fans that Mick Cronin had this program heading back towards its days of glory. Despite having brought Cincinnati to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 9 seasons, Cronin had only once advanced to the Sweet 16 with the Bearcats, and was now looking to do so in his first year at the helm at UCLA. Winthrop, on the other hand, was looking to become only the second 15-seed ever to make it past the second round.
Pat Kelsey’s Eagles came out strong in the first half, which was back-and-forth until a late run by Winthrop put them up by 10 points, 45-35, at the break. After having played such a strong second half against Florida State in the first round, it appeared that Winthrop might indeed have a magical run in store this season. Instead, this game ended up being almost a mirror-image of the Winthrop-Florida State game as UCLA came out red-hot in the second half and tied the game less than 5 minutes into the second. The game remained tight until the Bruins put together a 9-0 run with just under 5 minutes left to play to turn a 63-63 tie into a 72-63 lead. A pair of 3-pointers in the final minute kept the final score close, but UCLA made their free throws late and hung on to win 87-83 and punch their ticket to the Sweet 16 in Madison Square Garden. Jalen Hill was named player of the game with his double-double for the Bruins, and Mick Cronin had finally found a way back to the second weekend of the Big Dance.
Final Score: (10) UCLA 87, (15) Winthrop 83
