Just a quick recap of what I saw in my Sportz Room -- filled with TVs that I can watch all four games going on at the same time.
GAME OF THE DAY: Creighton vs San Diego State. While people were glued to St. Peter's upsetting Kentucky (more on that in a second), Creighton and San Diego State were battling it out in Fort Worth. The Blue Jays mounted a spirited comeback and needed a missed free throw by the Aztecs late to send the game into overtime ... then making the big plays on both ends of the floor for the win. Freshman Trey Alexander was huge down the stretch.
UPSET OF THE DAY: St. Peter's vs Kentucky. Kentucky followed up what may be the worst season in its proud program's history with possibly their worst loss in tournament history. This wasn't the typically dominant Wildcats team from a talent standpoint ... even though they may have the national player of the year. It isn't just that they lost to St. Peter's, but that they looked shaken while the Peacocks looked the the program that has won eight national championships.
CONFERENCE OF THE DAY: Big 12. Baylor an Kansas were looked at as the weakest of the top seeds, but they flexed their muscle in their first round matchups. No conference really dominated (the West Coast Conference looked good before San Francisco fell to Murray State in overtime) but the Big 12 did what they were supposed to do.
CONFERENCE WITH A BAD DAY: Mountain West. The Big East also had a tough day with UConn getting upset and Marquette getting spanked, and the Big Ten took a bigger hit as Indiana got completely rolled by Saint Mary's while Iowa ... the Big Ten tournament champion and buzz pick to win their region ... lost to Richmond. But the Mountain West really stunk. Boise State, San Diego State and Colorado State were all beaten by lower seeds today. Couple that with Wyoming's loss to Indiana in the First Four and the Mountain West went 0-4 in the 2022 NCAA tournament and are all gone.
DUD OF THE DAY: North Carolina vs Marquette. This was the biggest blowout in an 8-9 game ever and it was almost instantly a dud. The Tar Heels had been so up and down all season that you really didn't know what you were going to get. Marquette's press defense did nothing to phase Carolina and their offense couldn't get anything going.
DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: Saint Mary's vs Indiana. Indiana had a tough task of winning a First Four game in Dayton and then flying out to Portland to face a tough Saint Mary's team, The Gaels, who soundly beat Gonzaga a few weeks ago, just trounced the Hoosiers and quickly turned this game into a laughter. When Indiana's best moment was a cheerleader getting the ball down off the backboard, you've had a bad day.
UNDERLYING STORYLINE OF THE DAY: Mid majors. Today was a great day for the mid-majors. Not only did St. Peter's, Richmond and New Mexico State pull off upsets, but Vermont and San Francisco performed nicely in losses. Gonzaga and Saint Mary's ended up winning handily and Murray State continues on with their magical season. .
No comments:
Post a Comment