Guess who's back? Back again! Well, not Shady, but Your Tournament Host fresh from posting Sunday's analysis. Now, we are back to being on time, as this post covers yesterday's on-court and in-pool action.
So, based upon yesterday's action here is what we know: (1) Gonzaga is going to be hard to beat; (2) Florida State can DUNK; and (3) the Pac-12 must be really underrated, as they have 4 teams remaining.
That includes Oregon, that ran roughshod over 2nd seeded Iowa. And, they will face-off with fellow conference member USC, who started strong against Kansas and then coasted to victory, guaranteeing at least one Pac-12 member in the Elite Eight. UCLA ended Abilene Christian's run, and they will face-off against Alabama who defeated Maryland. Creighton rounds out the Elite Eight in the left half of the bracket.
Several entries had UCLA making the Sweet Sixteen, but unfortuantely for the pool, Abilene Christian did not qualify as an upset. The only game that qualified as an upset was Oregon over Iowa, and 16 entries picked the Ducks to win. Only one of those entrants, Max Macon 3 of Jupiter, Florida, chose the second round matchup as his guarantee. Congratulations to Max on his 10 bonus points, and on your "Pick of the Day" award.
After Sunday's action, 8 of our 13 champions remained in the NCAA Tournament, but after Monday's games, only 6 made it to the Sweet 16. Our champions (with remaining teams in bold) are: Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Virginia.
Today's tournament history springs from yesterday's (well, actually earlier today's) mention of the 1968 Game of the Century between Houston and UCLA, with the Cougars upsetting the top-ranked and undefeated Bruins. UCLA's progression into the Sweet Sixteen makes it easy to re-visit that 1968 Championship team.
UCLA, the top-seed in the West region, defeated New Mexico State 58-49, after the Aggies beat Weber State. UCLA clinched their spot in the Final Four by beating Santa Clara 87-68. The West All-Region Team included three Bruins, Lew Alcindor, Lucius Allen and Mike Warren (more on him later).
In the Final Four, UCLA was able to extract some revenge over Houston by annihilating the Cougars 101-69. All five starters scored in double digits, led by Lew Alcindor, Lucius Allen and Mike Lynn's 19, with Alcindor grabbing 18 rebounds as well and Lucius Allen handing out 12 assists. Lynn Shackelford added 17 points, and Mike Warren scored 14 with 9 assists. UCLA won the championship by beating North Carolina 78-55, with Lew Alcindor absolutely dominating the game scoring 34 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. The Most Outstanding Player was Lew Alcindor, who was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Lucius Allen, Lynn Shackelford and Mike Warren, as well as Larry Miller from North Carolina.
Lew Alcindor, of course, would go on to become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the all-time greatest NBA players and its all-time leading scorer, as well as someone who busts his buns every night dragging Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.
Mike Warren would go on to become an actor as well, including his starring role as Officer Bobby Hill on Hill Street Blues.
Stats of the Day
3. The Oregon-Iowa game was the first game with 100 combined points in a half since 2008 in a first round matchup between North Carolina and Mount St. Mary's.
2. Speaking of North Carolina, this is the first year North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky and Kansas are all absent from the Sweet Sixteen since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985.
1. The combined number of seeds remaining in the Sweet Sixteen is 94, the highest number ever topping the 89 from 1986.
Players of the Day (Losing Team Edition)
4. Austin Reaves, Oklahoma. Reaves scored 27 points, and was the only Oklahoma player that truly looked comfortable against Gonzaga.
3. Aaron Wiggins, Maryland. Wiggins also scored 27 points, but also aded 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
2. Javonte Smart, LSU. Smart scored 27 points, had 9 rebounds and 6 assists.
1. Luka Garza, Iowa. The first team All-American ended his collegiate career with a 36 point, 9 rebound effort.
Players of the Day (Winning Team Edition)
5. Johnny Juzang, UCLA. Juzang, the Kentucky transfer, scored a game-high 17 points.
4. Eli Brooks, Michigan. Brooks scored 21, grabbed 4 rebounds and dished 7 assists.
3. Anthony Polite, FSU. Polite scored 22 points. His previous career high was only 15.
2. Chris Duarte, Oregon. Duarte scored 23 points and had 7 rebounds in Oregon's win over Iowa.
1. Drew Timme, Gonzaga. Timme scored 30 points on 9-12 shooting from the field, and 12-14 shooting from the free throw line. He also had 13 rebounds.
Now, on to the scoring. Please double check and let me know if you think there is a problem. I will be glad to double-check your bracket. Later this week I will update the standings to add winners/finalists for the entrants and maybe some other information.
1. Nancy McInerney - 67
Well, I’m not in last
ReplyDeleteTrue story.
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