March Madness in review
Championship winners UCONN holding up their trophy (Photo Courtesy of NCAA March Madness website)
By Luke Shimer, sports editor
March Madness has come and gone once again. This year’s tournament brought many upsets, blowouts, broken brackets, and Cinderella stories, making this tournament an instant classic.
March Madness is the single-elimination NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament of 64 teams that compete in six rounds for one to be crowned the national championship. The teams are seeded 1-16 in four regions: South, Midwest, East, and West. The teams selected for the tournament are based on what the NCAA committee determines as the best 36. The others are decided based on whether they won their own conference or if the committee determines them to be a competitive balance to be added to a specific region. Overall, even though not all the best teams are selected, it’s still a heavily competitive tournament, and this year was no different.
In the round of 64, the tournament's first round held many upsets, ruining people’s chances of winning their bracket challenges. It started early in the morning of the first day, with the 13-seed Furman University Paladins facing the four-seed University of Virginia Cavaliers. The whole game was Virginia’s to win until late in the second half, with about 10 seconds left, Virginia’s point guard, Kihei Clark, made a mistake that might haunt him for the rest of his career. He was trapped in the corner by two Furman players, and instead of taking the foul that they were about to commit, he decided to chuck the ball without looking toward half-court, where it was intercepted by Furman’s Garrett Hien, who passed it to JP Pegues who sunk a deep three-point shot to send the Paladins into the next round with the final score being 68-67 in favor of Furman. The second upset of the day came with a game between Ivy League university, the 15-seed Princeton Tigers, facing a powerhouse second-seeded Arizona Wildcats. Similar to the last game, this was Arizona’s to win, with them leading the entire game until the 2:03 mark in the second half. Princeton took the lead and held onto it, defeating Arizona 59-55 with Princeton’s forward, Tosan Evbuomwan, leading the team scoring 15, rebounding seven, and assisting four. And just after the first day of the round of 64, only 0.002675% perfect brackets remained, according to March Madness. The second day wasn’t much different, with one other upset braking brackets once again. This came in the game between one-seed Purdue Boilermakers, led by Naismith National Player of the Year, 7’4” Zach Edey, and the 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson Knights. This game was back and forth until FDU held Purdue scoreless for over 5 1/2 minutes down the stretch and moved ahead by five on a 3-pointer by forward Sean Moore. At this point, Purdue couldn’t catch up and lost 63-58. FDU being ranked as the shortest team of the 363 Division I teams in the country, no one thought they had a chance versus the gigantic Edey, but in the end, FDU became the second team in tournament history to defeat a one seed since UMBC defeated Virginia five years ago. And after only the second day of the tournament, zero perfect brackets remained, and another year goes by with no one building the perfect bracket.
The round of 32 was up next, with much more fun competition. Once again, this round held more upsets, and even a team no one expected to make it won another. The first notable game came between the eighth-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks and the one-seeded Kansas Jayhawks, the defending champions of last year’s tournament. The Jayhawks practically led the entire game, with their largest lead being 12 points. It wasn’t until the 8:55 mark in the second half when Arkansas took their first real lead, and from then on, it was back and forth until the very end. Foul trouble haunted both teams, with two Razorbacks being fouled out and two more having four fouls, along with the Jayhawks having one player fouled out and two with four fouls. This made free throws super important for both teams to secure a spot in the next round. This aspect of the game became crucial in the closing minutes when Arkansas’s guard Ricky Council IV made five free throws and scored the Razorbacks last nine out of 11 points to secure the 72-71 victory and send another one seed-packing. A crucial part of this game that not many people may have noticed was the Jayhawks were playing without their true head coach, Bill Self, due to his recovering from a heart procedure he had a week prior. Even though he was with the teams in meetings and practices, he didn’t feel well enough to coach, which may have had an effect on how they played. Either way, the Razorbacks dominated the second half, with guard Davonte Davis scoring 25 points, 21 in the second half while also securing eight rebounds to lead them to the Sweet 16, the next round of the tournament. The following outstanding game of the first day was (15) Princeton facing off against the seven-seed Missouri Tigers. This game wasn’t even close, with Princeton firing on all cylinders right out of the gate, taking a 13-point lead in the first half. Missouri cut it to seven right before half, but they could never get much closer. Princeton simply outplayed them in every category, with their most significant lead being 18 points and guard Ryan Langborg scoring 22, grabbing six rebounds, and assisting four buckets. Forward Caden Pierce, brother of Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce, also secured a huge 16 rebounds and scored nine points. The game finished 78-63 in favor of Princeton, sending them to the Sweet 16, becoming the third straight year that a 15 seed has made it to that point in the tournament and continuing their unexpected cinderella run. The next day there was another superb showing from a lower-seeded team when the number seven Michigan State Spartans, led by veteran coach Tom Izzo faced off against the two-seed Marquette Golden Eagles, led by one of the most prolific guards in the country Tyler Kolek. Izzo, who has coached the Spartans for the past 28 years and made it to the Sweet 16 14 times, has the experience, but with a weaker team this year, some didn’t think they would make it out of the first round. The Spartans started out strong putting up a 12-point lead midway through the first half, which Marquette cut down to five at halftime. The entire second half was neck and neck, but with Kolek only having seven points the whole game, the Golden Eagles never stood a chance as Michigan State came out on top 69-60, led by a dominating performance from guard Tyson Walker who scored 23 points along with two other starters grabbing ten boards a piece. Other notable games that happened in this round were between the four-seeded Tennesse Volunteers versus the Duke Blue Devils, where Tennessee came out on top 65-52, and the three-seed Kansas State Wildcats versus the Kentucky Wildcats, where K-State came out on top 75-69. Now, these may not look like upsets, but we have become accustomed to seeing Duke or Kentucky in the Final Four or even the championship, so seeing them out this early surprised most.
The third round of the tournament, the Sweet 16, may have been one of the craziest rounds of March Madness in recent history. It started on the first day when (3) K-State faced off against (7) Michigan State. As earlier stated, the Spartans are led by a veteran coach Izzo whereas, on K-State’s side, it's the complete opposite. K-State is led by first-year head coach Jerome Tang who led the Wildcats to a 26-9 record in his rookie season. This matchup was incredible to watch, and it went back and forth the whole game, with the most significant lead only being nine by K-State. The Wildcats eventually won the game in an intense overtime victory of 98-93, being led by 5’8” guard Markquis Nowell who had a tournament record of 19 assists along with 20 points and five steals. He made a huge name for himself with his flashy passes and excellent court vision, and since he is only 5’8”, most people overlooked him as a potential NBA player, but he may have proved everyone wrong. That same day the three-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs played a thriller versus the two-seed UCLA Bruins. The first half of the game was owned by UCLA, with them leading by 13 at the half. The start of the second half was similar, and it seemed all hope was lost for the Bulldogs until the trio of Drew Timme, Julian Strawther, and Malachi Smith brought them back into the game putting them up by ten with two minutes left in the game. Like other matchups, however, the ending came down to a free throw competition until Gonzaga turned it over, and the Bruins' Amari Bailey hit a three-pointer with 13 seconds left. This was when Strawther decided to take the game into his own hands, receiving the ball and shooting a three from the logo with seven seconds left on the clock, splashing it down, and winning the game for his team in his hometown of Las Vegas in front of all of his family. Timme, however, kept the Zags in it, scoring 36 and grabbing 13 boards in the 79-76 victory. To close out the first day of the Sweet 16, the ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic University Owls faced off against (4) Tennessee. The Volunteers looked dominant in their win over Duke however, this game did not go in their favor, with FAU taking the lead late in the game and winning 62-55. Johnell Davis was the leading factor in this victory, scoring 15 and rebounding six. The second day of the Sweet 16 was an incredible sight to see and ruined everyone's chances of winning their bracket pools. The two tournament favorites and the remaining two one-seeds Alabama Crimson Tide and Houston Cougars faced off against five seeds San Diego State Aztecs and Miami Hurricanes. The Aztecs certainly played the way they wanted to against the top overall seed in March Madness. Darrion Trammell and San Diego State used a dominant defensive performance to knock Alabama out of the tournament, bottling up All-America freshman Brandon Miller in a 71-64 victory in the Sweet 16. Nijel Pack and the Hurricanes came in on fire shooting over 50% from the field and 44% from the three, which included seven threes made by Pack. Miami gained the lead over the Cougars at the 5:58 mark of the first half and didn’t give it up for the rest of the game, with their largest lead being 17 points. Every player in the Hurricane’s starting five scored in the double-digits, and Pack led the way with 26 points and four rebounds, along with guard Isaiah Wong, who scored 20 and grabbed six boards. This was the first time in tournament history that not a single one-seed made it to the Elite Eight. Another noteworthy game that occurred was (15) Princeton versus the sixth-seeded Creighton Bluejays. Even though Princeton was so successful in the first two rounds, their luck ran out, and they were defeated 86-75.
Next up, the Elite Eight, which started on day one with a matchup between (3) K-State and (9) FAU. All game, the two teams were trading buckets back and forth, with no one taking a significant lead. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, late foul trouble and back shot selection led to their demise, losing 79-76. Another impressive performance from Nowell for K-State, scoring 30 and assisting 12, was overshadowed by a dominant game from the Owl’s center Vladislav Goldin scoring 14 and rebounding 13. His size was no match for the undersized Wildcats, and FAU made it to the Final Four for the first time in program history. On the same day, the fourth-seeded UConn Huskies took on (3) Gonzaga and were in command of the game right after halftime and didn’t lose it, winning by almost 30 points, 82-54. This was their third double-digit win in a row, and this game was led by guard Jordan Hawkins who scored 20 points on six threes and added six rebounds onto that. Day two of the Elite Eight was nothing less than extremely exciting, with the strong two-seed, Texas Longhorns, playing against (5) Miami. During the middle of the first half, the Longhorns took the lead and held onto it and were up by 13 points when the Hurricanes decided it was their turn to show them what they were capable of scoring 13 straight points tying up the game late. Their late-game heroics were too much for Texas to handle, and they fell 88-81. Once again, Miami had all five starters score in the double-digits, showing their starters' consistency. However, the one true star of this game was Hurricane guard Jordan Miller scoring 27 points and shooting 100% from the field and the free throw line. The second game of the day was a solid defensive matchup between (5) SDSU and (6) Creighton, with the score being 56-56 with 1.2 seconds left when Trammell put up a floater near the free throw line and was fouled by Creighton’s guard Ryan Nembhard. Trammell’s first free throw bricked off the rim, but he sunk the second sending the defensive-sided SDSU to the Final Four to face off against (9)FAU.
It seemed like almost all of (5) SDSU’s games came down to the wire in this tournament, and their Final Four was no different. The Aztecs are known as defensive, so they weren’t used to being down by 14 to (9) FAU, who seemed like they couldn’t be stopped. Nonetheless, late in the second half, SDSU came back, down one with ten seconds left when they blocked an Owl shot and got the ball to guard Lamont Butler, who had ice in veins shooting a jumper with two seconds left, swishing it and sending the Aztecs to their first ever national championship. The other Final Four game was quite the opposite compared to SDSU’s late victory as (4) UConn continued their path of destruction against (5) Miami. Their highest lead being 19, the Hurricanes simply couldn’t catch up. The Huskies center Adama Sonogo led the way with 21 points and ten rebounds. Now the championship was set, an SDSU team who had never made it this far in their program’s history going against a known tournament dominator, the four-time champion winners, the UConn Huskies.
Unfortunately for the March Madness National Championship viewers, the game wasn’t very close or threatening for the Huskies. UConn topped off one of the most impressive March Madness runs in history, clamping down early and breaking it open late to bring home its fifth national title with a 76-59 victory over San Diego State. Sanogo had 17 points and ten rebounds, winning the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and guard Tristen Newton also had a double-double with 19 points and ten boards for the Huskies, who became the fifth team since the bracket expanded in 1985 to win all six NCAA Tournament games by double-digits on the way to a championship. This seemed to be UConn’s tournament to win with the way they decimated every team on their path to victory, but nonetheless, it was once again an extremely entertaining tournament. Who knows what next year holds for the tournament, who will win, who will cause upsets, and who will break people’s brackets? But, at this point, we must enjoy the exciting college basketball season and the ending we all just witnessed because we might never see something like this again.