If you are looking for upsets, yesterday was not your day to watch basketball, as seven of the games resulted in the better seed winning. The only exception to that 5-seed Gonzage defeating 4-seed Kansas, and even then Gonzaga was a betting 4 1/2 point favorite - if anybody is into that sort of thing. What that game did do is elimate one of our potential champions for the third day in a row, as did North Carolina's methodical dismantling of Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans.
Our remaining champions are: ALABAMA, Auburn, ARIZONA, BAYLOR, CONNECTICUT, CREIGHTON, DUKE, Florida, Florida Atlantic, GONZAGA, HOUSTON, ILLINOIS, IOWA STATE, Kansas, Kentucky, MARQUETTE, Michigan State, NORTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA STATE, PURDUE and TENNESSEE.
In the first game of the day, the Dayton Flyers put up a bit of a fight against the Arizona Wildcats, but in then end Arizona's depth was too much and they won 78-68. In the next game Gonzaga's offense was surgical in its precision 89-68 defeat of the Kansas Jayhawks which, admittedly, was missing its leading scorer Kevin McCullar, Jr. After this, North Carolina crushed Michigan State 85-69 and Iowa State outlasted Washington State 67-56.
Then, the fun began! 11-seed North Carolina State beat Cinderella-darlings Oakland 79-73, a game in which Oakland's Trey Townsend was easily the best player on the Court playing all 45 minutes. Close game, overtime, threes falling all over the place ... if you thought this was going to be the best game of the day, you might have been right as this game was followed by an ugly Tennessee 62-58 victory over Texas and Illinois absolutely shellacking Duquesne 89-63, which wasn't even that close.
And then, the magic happened. Creighton, coming off a season in which they missed the Final Four by one shot, played host to 11 seed Oregon, who had to rip through a run in the Pac-12 tournament to even qualify for this tournament,in PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. This game had runs, masterful - even dominating - individual performances, great unselfish team play, and it was close. So, overtime wasn't enough. How about DOUBLE OVERTIME!!! And, since the North Carolina State - Oakland game was in the same arena, lots of free basketball for the fans. This was the first time the same arena hosted multiple overtime games during the tournament on a single day since 1997! Oregon's stars N'Faly Dante (28 points/20 rebounds) Jermaine Cousinard (32 points/8 rebounds) carried the Ducks all game - scoring every single point for the team in the second half, and all but 2 in the overtime periods. But it was too much as Cousinard was visibly spent in the second overtime. I would have felt sorry for him if it wasn't for the fact the Creighton's Ryan Kalkenbrenner, Baylor Sheierman, and Trey Alexander all played all 50 minutes themselves!!! In the end, Creighton prevailed - and Your Tournament Host was extremely tired!
This means no bonus points for our pool. It also makes for a very boring "Pick of the Day" award. Gonzaga wasn't really an underdog despite being the lower seed - besides most of the pool had them. That would leave NC State as an 11-seed making the Sweet Sixteen as a potential pick of the day, except that was chosen by 13 people, most of which are not even alumni (looking at you Cassi Spruill of Fairfax, Virginia, who apparently took along herr friend Clair Bullock from Columbus, Ohio into Wolfpackdom).
So, where does that leave us? Well, Quinn Jackson of Reston, Virginia was the sole entry to select Oakland into the Sweet Sixteen. That was a bold pick that was only eliminated due to an overtime loss. But, it was still a loss. Since no single pick stands out, our award for "Pick(s) of the Day" is going to go to .... George Fox 2 of West Palm Beach, Florida, who went an amazing 8-0 yesterday. That's right, a perfect day by The Fantastic Mr. Fox helps him move up the leaderboard.
Given the lack of upsets and the fact only a couple of games were close, the round was pretty ho-hum. But some of the stats coming out of the games were absolutely amazing.
Stats of the Day
11. Washington State was 20-2 in games in which they held teams under 70 points. Except, they held Iowa State to 67 and lost. Make that 20-3.
10. With NC State's victory over Oakland, the 11 seed is now 7-0 All-time over the 14th seed in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
9. N'Faly Dante and Jermaine Cousinard of Oregon scored every single point for the team in the second half, and all but 2 in the overtime periods.
8. Gonzaga scored an amazingly efficient 1.39 points per possession in defeating Kansas.
7. Dyaisha Fair of Syracuse scored 32 points in her first round tournament win in the women's tournament, the high scorer in a day in which a record 13 players scored over 25 points.
6. Ryan Kalkenbrenner, Baylor Scheierman, Tre Alexander of Creighton played 50 minutes, N'Faly Dante of Oregon played 48, Jadrian Tracey or Oregon played 46, and Trey Townsend of Oakland played 45. All putting in WORK!
5. Tennessee forced Texas into 17 turnovers!
4. On the other end of the spectrum, Iowa State committed only 1 turnover between the 4:30 left mark in the first half and 5:45 left in the game.
3. With his 12 assists, Ryan Nembhard sets the single-season assist record for Gonzaga, surpassing Josh Perkins. If you set a season record, you will probably be mentioned here.
2. Same with career record. Ryan Kalkenbrenner set the Creighton career block shots record previously held by Benoit Benjamin.
1a. Oregon did not shoot its first free throw until there was 26.4 seconds left in regulation. And only then because Creighton was intentionally fouling.
1. Creighton has not had a player foul out in 53 straight games!!!
Hmmmmm, Benoit Benjamin ... Creighton. Let's flash back to him. Benoit Benjamin played at Creighton from 1982-1985, and, despite never making an All-American team while in college ended up being selected 3rd overall in the 1985 draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, ahead of people like Chris Mullin, Charles Oakley, Karl Malone, Joe Dumars, A.C. Green, Terry Porter, Arvydis Sabonis, Uwe Blab and Manute Bol. (Just had to add Blab because it is fun to say). He managed to play 15 seasons in the NBA for 9 different teams, never making much impact except being 7-feet tall. Well, that's not a good history lesson.
So, hmmm, where to go next. Well, the record Kalkenbrenner broke was for blocks. The blocks leader for a single NCAA Tournament history is ... Jeff Withey from Kansas in 2012 with 31? Yeah, that's not interesting either. Especially since Anthony Davis is tied for second with 29, also from 2012, and Kentucky beat Kansas in the finals. What could be interesting is that Joakim Noah is also tied for second with 29 in 2006, the year that the UCLA Bruins cheerleaders were mocking him for being ugly - something they took from me - but I have already told that story in previous blogs. (Ask me if you don't know or don't remember).
Wait, here is something. In 1992, a behemoth of a man-child set the single-game blocked shot record for the NCAA Tournament by swatting 11 shots against BYU. That man, Shaquille O'Neal.
In the first round in Boise, Idaho, LSU, the seven seed, played BYU in the first round, with the Tigers beating the Cougars 94-83, behind soon-to-be number 1 draft pick Shaquille O'Neal's triple-double of 26 points, 13 rebounds and the aforementioned 11 blocks. Maurice Williamson, the only other Tiger in double figures scoring, paced the team with 30. This set up a second round matchup against number 2 Indiana. The Hoosiers defeated LSU despite Shaq's 36 point, 12 rebound, 5 blocks performance. Indiana was able to win behind its own 30-point effort from Calbert Cheaney - holder of one of the best baseline jumpers I ever saw - supplemented by Alan Henderson's 19.
Indiana would go on to defeat the 3rd seeded FSU Seminoles in the Sweet Sixteen 85-74, with Calbert Cheaney scoring 17, and unheralded Eric Anderson leading the way with 24 off-the-bench. This might have been FSU's best ever non-Covid year basketball team, with Sam Cassell, Bob Sura, Douglas Edwards, and Rodney Dobard four of the starters and Heisman-trophy winning quarterback Charlie Ward playing significant minutes off-the-bench. Coach Pat Kennedy always said that if Sura could see the rim from the parking lot he would put it up. Indiana then advanced to the Elite Eight, where they boat-raced the 1-seed, Pac-10 champion UCLA 106-79, behind Cheaney's 23 and 22 from wunderkind Damon Bailey. That UCLA featured Tyus Edney, Tracy Murray, American Pie singer Don McLean [Ed. note - not the American Pie singer], and a young Ed O'Bannon, who the tournament - and later the NCAA - would hear a lot from in later years.
In the Final Four in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Indiana would give a huge fight to Duke, losing 81-78. Indiana succombed to Duke and Bobby Hurley's 26 points and only 8 from Christian Laettner - first game post-Kentucky shot [Ed. Note - I STILL HATE CHRISTIAN LAETTNER]. Speaking of 30s for 30, Duke went on to defeat Michigan 71-51, but nobody cares about those winners. The staring lineup of the runners-up - Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, Ray Jackson, Chris Webber, and Juwan Howard - might go on to become famous for something or other. Hint: It's The Fab Five.
Those guys were some players ... and speaking of players ...
Players of the Day
10. Caleb Love, Arizona - 19 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
9. Jaylen Wells, Washington Stae - 20 points
8. Jack Gohlke, Oakland - 22 points, 8 rebounds (6 three-pointers)
7. Steven Ashworth, Creighton - 21 points (10 in overtime!!!)
6. RJ Davis, North Carolina - 20 points
5. DJ Burns, North Carolina State - 24 points, 11 rebounds at 6'9", 275 pounds
4. Terrence Shannon, Illinois - 30 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
3. Jermaine Cousinard, Oregon - 32 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists
2. Trey Townsend, Oakland - 30 points, 13 rebounds
1. N'Faly Dante, Oregon - 28 points, 20 rebounds
Note, the top 3 players all played on losing teams!!!
Because the games were primarily uneventful, interesting social media was quiet except for all of the Fire Calipari stuff. So ... let's say goodbye to Jack Gohlke.
Social Media/Quotes of the Day
1. Goodbye Jack Gohlke - may you forever be remembered in hell for beating Kentucky, and by everyone else for a heckuva a tournament run.
Ok, so let's get to the standings. Double-check your scores and contact me if you have any questions or if you think I missed something. I will be happy to double check.
Standings after Round 2/Day 1
1. Braeden Helland - 66
Blake Jackson - 66
3. Brian McMahon - 65
4. Marcus Jackson - 64
Allison Parker - 64
6. Jody Cox - 63
Bill Ganoe - 63
8. Josh Zdrowak - 62
9. Measha Williams 3 - 58
10. Jeff Plamondon - 57
Rich Samuels 4 - 57
Amanda Staudt - 57
13. Daniel Barsky 1 - 56
Kevin Dick - 56
Bill Ganoe 1 - 56
Ty Hedgpeth - 56
Chris Simmons - 56
18. Scott Bieterman 2 - 55
Paul Cummings 2 - 55
George Fox 2 - 55
Miles Jackson - 55
Max Macon 3 - 55
Day Yi - 55
Bubba Zdrowak - 55
25. Mark Holbert - 54
Quinn Jackson - 54
Shane Jernigan 2 - 54
William Pujals - 54
Justin Yung - 54
30. James Coleman - 53
Bill Ganoe 2 - 53
Kingfish Parham - 53
Pepe Sosa - 53
Cassi Spruill - 53
Keith Zdrowak - 53
36. Joel Chernoff - 52
Carolyn Fowler - 52
Jacey Reynolds 2 - 52
Kyle Henderson 1 - 52
Skip LaForte - 52
Rich Samuels 5 - 52
42. Alvaro Gonzalez - 51
Dave Piasecki - 51
Ashley Poer - 51
Cheryl Spuhler - 51
Jeremy Spuhler - 51
47. Paul Cummings 3 - 50
Matt Hopps - 50
Javier Rodriguez - 50
Rich Samuels 2 - 50
George Walks 4 - 50
Measha Williams 1 - 50
Measha Williams 2 - 50
54. Paul Cummings 1 - 49
Silas Nichols - 49
Marcus Spruill - 49
George Walks 3 - 49
Keith Wynne - 49
Amy Zdrowak - 49
Keith Zdrowak - 49
61. Justine Frank - 48
Max Marion 1 - 48
Si Nichols - 48
Rich Samuels 3 - 48
65. John Hedgpeth - 47
Max Macon 3 - 47
Sean McInerney 2 - 47
Matt Okell - 47
Lee Pagan - 47
Ryan Rodriguez - 47
71. Scott Bieterman 1 - 46
Jacey Fowler (1) - 46
Dan Laishley - 46
Max Macon 2 - 46
Sasha Moon - 46
Brittany Sosa - 46
Lily Spuhler - 46
Biscuit Zdrowak - 46
79. Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 45
80. Melissa Gaynor - 44
Tyler Giamberini - 44
Rich Samuels 1 - 44
Logan Spuhler - 44
George Walks 2 - 44
85. Kyle Henderson 2 - 43
Nick Kuehl - 43
Max Marion 2 - 43
Max Marion 4 - 43
Chris O'Neil - 43
Jessica Samuels - 43
George Walks 1 - 43
92. Clair Bullock - 42
James Garvin - 42
Shane Jernigan 1 - 42
Karen Katz - 42
Michael McNally - 42
97. Jenna Finkelstein - 41
Adam Jorgensen 1 - 41
Adam Jorgensen 2 - 41
Dawn Lamb - 41
Derrick Lowe - 41
Max Macon 1 - 41
Kisha Marzouca 1 - 41
Jane Reynolds - 41
A.J. Ripin - 41
Jamie Toole - 41
107. Katie Kollmeyer - 40
Cheryl Spuhler - 40
Jonathan Wasserman - 40
Mike Wolff 1 - 40
111. George Fox 1 - 39
Max Macon 4 - 39
113. Barbie Curlett 2 - 38
Chris Pettit - 38
Savannah Grace Pressly - 38
116. Guy Hughes - 37
Mike Wolff 2 - 37
118. Daniel Barsky 2 - 36
Colleen Giamberini - 36
Coco Wynne - 36
121. Anne-Marie O'Neil - 35
Barkley Sosa - 35
123. Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 34
Dave Marzouca 2 - 34
Natalie Moon - 34
126. Brent Bellinger - 33
Noel Martinez 1 - 33
Hannah Sosa - 33
129. Barbie Curlett 1 - 32
Arlene Amo Hopps - 32
Kisha Marzouca 2 - 32
Sean McInerney 1 - 32
133. Noel Martinez 2 - 31
Dave Marzouca 1 - 31
135. Stephanie Henderson - 30
Jason Spuhler - 30
137. Alyssa Hopps - 25
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