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For today’s UTR Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE

Yesterday’s games started with a flourish in the two afternoon games, but almost all six games in the evening sessions were for the most part chalky and noncompetitive. As described below:

Jacksonville

LSU and Maryland tipped off the festivities to see who would punch the first ticket into the Sweet 16. LSU controlled most of the game, but both the Tigers and Terrapins traded 3-point shots in the final minute of the game. At the end of the day, the ball ended up in Tremont Waters’ hands and he hit the game-winner with 1.9 seconds remaining to send the Tigers to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2006; that team featuring Glen “Big Baby” Davis would also go on to the Final Four later that season.

The second game featured a defensive clinic by Kentucky on how to defend Wofford star Fletcher Magee. Amazingly enough, despite shooting 0-for-12 from 3-point land, the Terriers remained in the game for a full 40 minutes before Kentucky iced the game at the free throw line for a 62-56 victory.

Des Moines

The first 18 minutes of the game saw Michigan claw their way to a 1-point lead against Florida, but a 14-0 run sandwiched around halftime saw the Wolverines take control and eventually move on to a 64-49 victory against the Gators. Jordan Poole led Michigan with 19 points.

The second game of the doubleheader saw Michigan State knock out Minnesota without much difficulty at all. Xavier Tillman had 14 points and 6 rebounds to lead the Spartans to a 70-50 victory against the Golden Gophers; their reward will be a trip to the East Regional and a game against LSU next weekend.

Hartford

Unfortunately for the fans of Hartford, they were treated to the least set of competitive games yesterday. Florida State brought down the curtain on the Ja Morant show and Murray State; the Noles hammered Murray State 90-62. While Morant had 28 points for Murray, Mfiondu Kabengele scored 22 points and 7 rebounds off the bench for Florida State.

In what seems to be the annual make-or-break round for Villanova, they were emphatically dethroned by Purdue 87-61 in the nightcap. Carsen Edwards had 42 points for the Boilermakers; Purdue made their third straight Sweet 16 appearance for the first time since 1998-2000 under Gene Keady.

Salt Lake City

By yesterday evening’s standards, there was at least some intrigue in the game between Gonzaga and Baylor. The Zags raced out to an 18-point lead in the first half, but the Bears were able to close the deficit to 8 points with 7 minutes remaining in the game. Gonzaga outscored Baylor 19-15 the rest of the way to set up a Gonzaga-Florida State Sweet 16 rematch from last season.

Last year, Auburn was getting blasted by 31 points against Clemson. This year, the Tigers completely flipped the script and took a 25-point halftime lead against Kansas in the nightcap. While Auburn didn’t completely blast the Jayhawks in the end, they still won fairly comfortably and will face either North Carolina or Washington in the Sweet 16 in the Midwest Region.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

(10) IOWA VS (2) TENNESSEE (12:10 PM, CBS, Columbus) – The Hawkeyes came back from an early 16-5 hole to knock out Cincinnati in the first round of the NCAA Tournament; Tennessee also had a scare against Colgate on Friday before eventually salting away their victory.

(9) WASHINGTON VS (1) NORTH CAROLINA (approx. 2:40 PM, CBS, Columbus) – North Carolina was one of three #1 seeds that struggled in the first half against a #16 seeded opponent, but they wasted no time in putting away Iona in their opening game. Washington also used a late run against Utah State to roll to a 17-point win in their opener on Friday night.

(9) CENTRAL FLORIDA VS (1) DUKE (5:15 PM, CBS, Columbia) – This will be the third time that Mike Krzyzewski will go up against either a former player or coach in the NCAA Tournament; he won the previous 2 such meetings (2001 against Quinn Snyder/Missouri; 2002 against Mike Brey/Notre Dame). While Duke pulled away against North Dakota State in the 2nd half of their game, UCF beat VCU without too much difficulty for their first ever NCAA Tournament win.

(6) BUFFALO VS (3) TEXAS TECH (6:10 PM, TNT, Tulsa) – Fresh off of a dominant win against Arizona State and former head coach Bobby Hurley, Buffalo will be looking for their first-ever Sweet 16 bid against a Texas Tech team that will be looking for back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances themselves for the first time in program history.

(12) LIBERTY VS (4) VIRGINIA TECH (7:10 PM, TBS, San Jose) – Liberty erased a 10-point deficit en route to their first ever NCAA Tournament victory against Mississippi State on Friday; Virginia Tech will be looking for their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1967 with a win tonight.

(9) OKLAHOMA VS (1) VIRGINIA (approx. 7:45 PM, TruTV, Columbia) – According to NCAA statistician David Worlock, Oklahoma’s 23-point win against Ole Miss tied for the 3rd biggest victory by a 9-seed in the first round (the biggest being a 29-point win by Pitt against Colorado in 2014). They will have their hands full against a Virginia team that did have to come back from an early 12-point deficit against Gardner-Webb in their opener.

(11) OHIO STATE VS (3) HOUSTON (approx. 8:40 PM, TNT, Tulsa) – While the Buckeyes held on for a narrow 3-point victory against Iowa State in their opening game, Houston was enjoying their biggest NCAA Tournament margin of victory against Georgia State on Friday. A win by Houston would launch the Cougars into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1984.

(13) UC-IRVINE VS (12) OREGON (approx. 9:40 PM, TBS, San Jose) – A week ago at this time, we were talking about the real possibility of the Pac-12 getting only one bid into the NCAA Tournament. Now, a red-hot Oregon will be the home team against a white-hot UC-Irvine team that has won 17 straight games since a surprising loss at home to Long Beach State in the Black and Blue rivalry in the Big West.

For today’s UTR Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE

Day 2 of the NCAA Tournament looked for a moment like we could have a repeat of last year’s UMBC shocker, but in the end there was a twin killing in one of the subregionals. Without further ado:

Columbus

Cincinnati started off the game on a 16-5 tear and looked like they might blow Iowa out of the water. But foul trouble to Nysier Brooks was a big difference – with him in the lineup, Cincinnati outscored the Hawkeyes by 12 points. Without him in the lineup, Iowa outscored the Bearcats by 19. Brooks fouled out at the 4-minute mark and was a major difference in Iowa’s 79-72 comeback victory.

Tennessee also raced out to a 16-point lead in the first half, but Colgate also came back and even took the lead on a couple of occasions in the 2nd half of their game. In the end, Tennessee’s depth wore out the Raiders and the Vols held off Colgate for a 77-70 victory in the 2nd game of the afternoon doubleheader.

In the first game of the evening doubleheader, Washington looked like a team relieved to escape the shadow of the Pac-12 and raced to a 12-point lead at halftime. Utah State was able to cut the deficit to one point later in the 2nd half, but the Huskies countered with an 11-2 run to put some distance between themselves and the Aggies and ended up winning 78-61.

Iona had a great first half in which they shot 10-for-21 from 3-point land and actually led North Carolina by 5 points in the 1st half. UNC did not waste time taking control of the game in the 2nd half – they changed their deficit into an 8-point lead in the first 4 minutes of the 2nd half and eventually went on to an 88-73 victory.

Columbia

Oklahoma-Ole Miss actually resembled more of a 1-16 matchup than Virginia/Gardner-Webb would – the Sooners jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game and were never challenged during their easy 95-72 victory against the Rebels. Oklahoma led by as many as 29 points before Lon Kruger finally called off the dogs.

For the first 7:30 of the game, it was looking like lightning would indeed strike Virginia twice as they fell behind Gardner-Webb 28-14. Unfortunately for the Runnin Bulldogs, UVa outscored them 57-28 for the remainder of the game en route to a 71-56 victory for the Hoos. DeAndre Hunter didn’t play for Virginia last year due to an injured wrist – he made up for it this time around with a 23-point, 6-rebound performance.

Amazingly, Duke also struggled with North Dakota State in the first half and managed only a 4-point lead at halftime. The 2nd half was, again, a different story where the Blue Devils outscored the Bison 54-35 en route to a 23-point victory.

In the nightcap, Central Florida put on a defensive clinic against VCU for the first 30 minutes of their game. VCU was able to turn a 20-point deficit into a 7-point hole at the 5-minute mark, but they could not get any closer. The Knights won 73-58 for their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.

Tulsa

Northern Kentucky kept their game with Texas Tech close for a half; they trailed by 4 points going into halftime. The Norse got as close as 3 points following 3 free throws from Drew Sharpe at the beginning of the half, but the Red Raiders went on a 19-7 run to take control of the game and eventually won 72-57.

Buffalo trailed for the first 8 minutes of the game against Arizona State, but a 14-2 run midway through the first half put the Bulls ahead for good and they also won 91-74 without any further trouble against the Sun Devils. This also marks the first season that a team from the First Four will not advance to the second round since the field expanded to 68 teams in 2011.

Houston breezed to a 29-point win against Georgia State in the opener of the nighttime doubleheader at the BOK Center. It was their biggest blowout in school history – even the Phi Slamma Jamma-era Houston teams only managed two double-digit victories during their 1982-1984 dynasty!

In the final game of the day, Ohio State put on a defensive clinic against Iowa State for most of the way. Both teams missed critical 1-and-1 foul shots late in the game, but a missed 3-pointer by Iowa State in the closing seconds sealed a 3-point win for the Buckeyes.

San Jose

UC-Irvine was a trendy upset pick going into today’s game, and despite falling behind early by 10 points against Kansas State, they were able to control the 2nd half and led by as many as 8 points before withstanding a late K-State charge; they won 70-64 in only their second NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.

Oregon also completed the afternoon twin-killing in San Jose with their 72-54 victory against the Badgers. The Ducks were tied 29-29 at the half with Wisconsin, but they pulled away in the 2nd half thanks to a 17-point game performance from Peyton Pritchard.

Mississippi State led most of the way against Liberty in the 3rd game of the day, but not only were they never able to put the Flames away, Liberty actually came back to take the lead for good with 2 minutes left to play. Liberty iced the game away at the free-throw line; they were 20-for-25 behind the stripe for the game.

Virginia Tech made sure that history (2008, Tampa Bay) was not repeated where the lower-seeded teams completed a clean sweep in the first round. They beat Saint Louis 66-52 in a game where the Hokies raced to a 22-point lead at halftime. It was Virginia Tech’s first NCAA Tournament victory since 2007 and they will be looking for their first Sweet 16 appearance in 52 years with a win on Sunday.

SECOND ROUND GAMES

(6) MARYLAND VS (3) LSU (12:10 PM, CBS, Jacksonville) – Maryland survived an upset bid by Belmont to advance to the 2nd round; LSU had a little easier time holding off Yale in their opener. But even that game had a little uncertainly going into the final minute of that game.

(7) WOFFORD VS (2) KENTUCKY (approx. 2:40 PM, CBS, Jacksonville) – With or without PJ Washington in the Kentucky lineup, this is likely to be the game of the day today. Will Wofford extend their school-record 21-game winning streak, or will Kentucky survive an upset bid and move on to the Midwest Regional in Kansas City?

(10) FLORIDA VS (2) MICHIGAN (5:15 PM, CBS, Des Moines) – The Gators nearly blew an 18-point lead in their first-round game with Nevada, but managed to survive and advance. Michigan had no trouble getting by Montana in their opener.

(12) MURRAY STATE VS (4) FLORIDA STATE (6:10 PM, TNT, Hartford) – Murray State does have a history of frequent NCAA Tournament appearances, but a win today would send them to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. Florida State did struggle with a half against Vermont, but they ended up winning without any further difficulty.

(9) BAYLOR VS (1) GONZAGA (7:10 PM, TBS, Salt Lake City) – Baylor was the first #9 seed to advance to the 2nd round this year, but they appear to have a tall order against a Gonzaga team that beat Fairleigh Dickinson into submission back on Thursday.

(10) MINNESOTA VS (2) MICHIGAN STATE (approx. 7:45 PM, CBS, Des Moines) – The Gophers beat Louisville with a little bit of surprising ease in the first round, but they were shellacked in their first and only meeting against Michigan State earlier this season. Were the Spartans scared straight against Bradley, or will they be sweating later tonight?

(6) VILLANOVA VS (3) PURDUE (approx. 8:40 PM, TNT, Hartford) – Villanova remains the last hope for the Big East in the tournament, but this is a rare year in which a second-round loss would frankly not be a surprise. If Purdue tries to play this at a methodical pace, it may actually play into Nova’s hands this time around.

(5) AUBURN VS (4) KANSAS (approx. 9:40 PM, TBS, Salt Lake City) – Kansas has advanced to at least the Elite 8 for the last 3 straight seasons, but that streak will be on the line against a hot (and lucky) Auburn team that escaped the 5-12 upset against New Mexico State in the first round.

For today’s UTR Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Dartmouth Academic All-American James Foye – CLICK HERE

As is normally the case in the NCAA Tournament, Day 1 offered us a few token upsets and a couple of near-misses by double digit seeds. Without ado, here is a quick review by location:

Des Moines

Minnesota had not been a spectacular 3-point shooting team this season, but they were buoyed by 11 3-pointers and led Louisville by as many as 19 points in the second half before Louisville made the margin a little more respectable. The end result was an 86-76 win by the Gophers.

Michigan State had far more trouble with Bradley than anyone expected – they found themselves in an early 10-2 hole, but they ended up trading leads with the Braves on multiple occasions until they finally took control of the game with a 9-0 run with 3 minutes remaining in the game before winning 76-65.

The game between Florida and Nevada looked for a few moments like it might be a carbon copy of Nevada’s amazing comeback against Cincinnati from last year. The Gators raced to an 18-point lead in the 2nd half before the Wolf Pack came back to cut the deficit to 2 with 4 minutes remaining in the game. This time, they could not complete the deal – Florida gradually pulled away in the final minute for a 70-61 victory.

For the second year in a row, Michigan defeated Montana in a game that became a runaway in the 2nd half. Charles Matthews had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolverines en route to a 74-55 win.

Jacksonville

LSU looked like they were going to dominate Yale early on, but the Bulldogs kept hanging around and even cut the LSU lead to one point in the final seconds of the game. The Tigers were clutch at the free throw line in the endgame and ended up winning 79-74.

Maryland looked like they were in real trouble early against Belmont – they trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half before they went on a 16-point run sandwiched around halftime. Belmont continued to hang tough and even looked like they might beat Maryland with a backdoor cut in the closing seconds, but the Terps forced a turnover and hit one of two ensuing free throws to escape with a 79-77 win despite 35 points and 11 rebounds from Belmont’s Dylan Windler.

Kentucky was never challenged in their opener and breezed to a 79-44 victory against Abilene Christian. Tyler Herro almost outscored ACU by himself in the first half – he had 12 points while ACU only managed 13. We also learned after the game that PJ Washington will not be available for Kentucky’s game on Saturday; he did not play against ACU.

Wofford and Seton Hall had a close game for much of the night, but after Seton Hall cut Wofford’s lead to 1 point at the 4-minute mark, Wofford blew the game open with a 17-0 run that made the final score an 84-68 victory for the Terriers. Not only was this Wofford’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win, it was the first for the SoCon since 2008.

Salt Lake City

Auburn was the most fortunate team in the early games today – they squandered a double-digit lead and nearly blew the game late when they were up a point on New Mexico State and fouled the Aggies while they tried a potential game-winning 3-point shot (and this was after NMSU passed up a wide-open layup that would have tied the game). The Aggies only hit one of three free throws, however, and despite getting one more chance late, their desperation 3-point shot was an air ball and Auburn escaped with a 78-77 win.

Kansas had a fairly workmanlike first half against Northeastern in building a 12-point halftime lead, but they blew out the Huskies 50-28 in the 2nd half en route to an 87-53 victory.

Unlike their last time in Salt Lake City as a #1 seed where they got a brief scare in the first round, Gonzaga breezed to an 87-49 victory against Fairleigh Dickinson. Rui Hachimura led the Bulldogs with 21 points and 8 rebounds.

Baylor ended up victorious in the first 8-9 matchup of the tournament; the Bears were led by former Yale standout Makai Mason’s 22 points.

Hartford

There were constant reminders of Vermont’s last NCAA Tournament victory throughout the early game against Florida State – they had the Noles on the ropes for 30 minutes before Florida State’s size inside overwhelmed the Catamounts. FSU won 76-69, but there were a lot of heavy hearts in their locker room when they learned that Phil Cofer’s (who was out with an injury) father had passed away earlier in the day.

Marquette ended their season losing six out of their last seven games, and Ja Morant and Murray State emphatically put an end to their season with an 83-64 victory. Marquette actually led 20-10 early in that game, but Morant ended the game with 17 points, 11 rebounds and a whopping 16 assists.

Villanova did one thing in tonight’s game they never did during their championship run in the NCAAs last year – they trailed by 2 at halftime against Saint Mary’s. They immediately took control early in the 2nd half and jumped out to a quick 7-point lead, but the Gaels did hang tough before Villanova finally salted away a 61-57 victory.

In the nightcap, Purdue controlled the game against Old Dominion for most of the way. The Monarchs got as close as 9 points in the 2nd half, but Purdue eventually salted away a 61-48 victory.

TODAY’S GAMES

(10) IOWA VS (7) CINCINNATI (12:15 PM, CBS, Columbus) – These are two teams headed in completely opposite directions to end the season. The Hawkeyes melted down late in the year after some mid-season dramatic victories in Big 10 play. Cincinnati avenged a pair of losses against Houston by finally beating the Cougars to win the American last Sunday.

(9) OKLAHOMA VS (8) OLE MISS (12:40 PM, TruTV, Columbia) – Oklahoma looked like they were going to end up miles outside of the NCAA Tournament at midseason, but they finally warmed up in February. Ole Miss also had a few significant wins earlier in the season, but are still going to be a tough out in the tournament. They have already announced that Kermit Davis will have his contract extended.

(14) NORTHERN KENTUCKY VS (3) TEXAS TECH (1:30 PM, TNT, Tulsa) – Despite an early exit from the Big 12 Tournament against West Virginia, Texas Tech still managed to share the Big 12 regular season crown with Kansas State. They will face a somewhat dangerous scorer in Drew McDonald, but Tech shouldn’t have too much trouble in this one.

(13) UC-IRVINE VS (4) KANSAS STATE (2:00 PM, TBS, San Jose) – This will be one of a few games today that will have a heightened upset alert. UC-Irvine won the Big West Tournament going away, but Kansas State also had a great regular season in which they shared the Big 12 regular season crown with Texas Tech and finished a game ahead of in-state rival Kansas.

(15) COLGATE VS (2) TENNESSEE (approx. 2:45 PM, CBS, Columbus) – Tennessee fell in the SEC Championship game for the second straight season, but should not have too much trouble against a Colgate team that will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996 after upending Bucknell for the Patriot League crown.

(16) GARDNER-WEBB VS (1) VIRGINIA (approx. 3:10 PM, TruTV, Columbia) – Gardner-Webb is the 2nd team (along with Abilene Christian) making their NCAA Tournament debut this year. Virginia will be healthy this season (unlike last year where they dearly missed DeAndre Hunter in the UMBC game) and should be able to exorcise their demons from a year ago.

(11) ARIZONA STATE VS (6) BUFFALO (approx. 4:00 PM, TNT, Tulsa) – This will be a battle of Bobby Hurley’s current team versus his former team, but Buffalo finished the season on fire after a couple of brief stumbles in MAC play back in January. Nonetheless, Arizona State has shown that they can knock off a big name on occasion as well.

(12) OREGON VS (5) WISCONSIN (approx. 4:30 PM, TBS, San Jose) – It took a while for the Ducks to overcome the injury bug and figure out their chemistly, but they beat both Arizona State and Washington twice during the regular season and the Pac-12 conference tournament. They are more than capable of giving Wisconsin problems in what may be the game of the afternoon.

(9) WASHINGTON VS (8) UTAH STATE (6:50 PM, TNT, Columbus) – This is another game of teams going in opposite directions. Washington hung on for dear life in the 2nd half of Pac-12 play with a loss at California and multiple losses against Oregon, but Utah State caught fire in the Mountain West Tournament and beat San Diego State for the championship.

(16) NORTH DAKOTA STATE VS (1) DUKE (7:10 PM, CBS, Columbia) – This will be a homecoming of sorts for Zion Williamson – lots of family and friends will make the trip from nearby Spartanburg to watch Duke take on a heavily overmatched NDSU squad.

(14) GEORGIA STATE VS (3) HOUSTON (7:20 PM, TBS, Tulsa) – This is the third time in five seasons that Ron Hunter and the Georgia State Panthers have advanced to the NCAA Tournament, but Houston is going to be a tall order for them in this one.

(12) LIBERTY VS (5) MISSISSIPPI STATE (7:27 PM, TruTV, San Jose) – This is another Upset Alert for today. Liberty won a hard-fought game at Lipscomb in the A-Sun Championship to earn the auto bid, and Mississippi State was a fairly solid (but not spectacular) team in the SEC this season.

(16) IONA VS (1) NORTH CAROLINA (approx. 9:20 PM, TNT, Columbus) – The nightcap should be a formality for North Carolina, although Iona is no stranger to March Madness under Tim Cluess.

(9) CENTRAL FLORIDA VS (8) VCU (approx. 9:40 PM, CBS, Columbia) – Call it a slugfest, rockfight, whatever adjective you want to use – first team to 50 most likely wins this one.

(11) OHIO STATE VS (6) IOWA STATE (approx. 9:50 PM, TBS, Tulsa) – Iowa State looked like they were nosediving at the end of the Big 12 season, but they beat Kansas State and Kansas back-to-back to win the Big 12 crown. Ohio State hung on for dear life while Kaleb Wesson was suspended – one win in the Big 10 Tournament was enough to at least avoid being relegated to the First Four.

(13) SAINT LOUIS VS (4) VIRGINIA TECH (approx. 9:57 PM, TruTV, San Jose) – Saint Louis looked like a disappointment for most of the season, but they did have a nice run in the A-10 Tournament where they beat the #2, #3 and #4 seeds in the process. They will have a tough time against a defensive-minded team like Virginia Tech, however.