Recapping the First Half of Thursday's NCAA Tournament Games

Alright, so I figured with it being March, might as well throw together a recap blog. Somehow people are still working during this half of the day or sitting in class, so the plan is to do two recap blogs each day just to make it an easy visit and get all your information. Why not go to Barstool Sports for all your sports info, am I right? Anywho, let’s get right into it.

Scores: 

No. 7 Rhode Island 83, No. 10 Oklahoma 78 (OT)
No. 3 Tennessee 73, No. 14 Wright State 47
No. 4 Gonzaga 68, No. 13 UNC-Greensboro 64
No. 1 Kansas 76, No. 16 Penn 60
No. 2 Duke 89, No. 15 Iona 67
No. 11 Loyola 64, No. 6 Miami 62
No. 5 Ohio State 81, No. 12 South Dakota State 73
No. 8 Seton Hall 94, No. 9 NC State 83

Game of the session: Loyola 64, Miami 62

This wasn’t necessarily the most enjoyable game to watch from an offensive standpoint, but man did it deliver late. Loyola was a popular upset pick here and it showed why.

I do feel for Lonnie Walker here. The freshman, who is about to be a lottery pick had a rough last minute for Miami. While leading, he inbounded a pass and had it stripped from him only to fall off his knee and out of bounds giving the ball to Loyola. Then up 1, he was able to hold on to the ball and get fouled. He had one of the more excruciating missed free throws as it hit every part of the rim, looked like it was about to fall in and then fell off the rim. It ultimately led to that dagger three. This game was close the entire way, which despite the low score made it the best game of the day.

Star of the day: Sister Jean. I’m very here for all of Sister Jean.

Best player of the session: Keita Bates-Diop (Ohio State) – 24 points, 12 rebounds
Bates-Diop got off to a huge start for the Buckeyes. The game against South Dakota State was pretty crazy as it was up and down with a bunch of threes. Starting the game off was Bates-Diop though who was stepping into rhythm threes. He was able to give Ohio State an early lead and forced South Dakota State to alter its defense.

All-session team: 

Keita Bates-Diop (Ohio State)
Devonte’ Graham (Kansas) – 29 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assits
Mike Daum (South Dakota State) – 27 points, 6 rebounds
Trae Young (Oklahoma_ 28 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds
Al Freeman (NC State) – 36 points, 7 rebounds

Notes:

– Tennessee absolutely dominated Wright State, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Lamonte Turner, Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield led the way with 19, 15 and 14 points, but it was really what they did defensively that allowed for the blowout. It’s been what Tennessee does all year. They simple never stop busting ass and making teams work. They made guys like Grant Benzinger uncomfortable.

– Gonzaga is lucky to survive. They were never able to get Killian Tillie going, something that was a mismatch in this game. However, Johnathan Williams was able to make up for that and Zach Norvell Jr., hit the biggest shot of his season.

– Duke and Iona was as up and down as one expected it to be. That’s how you end up with 92 points in the first half. The big thing for Duke was putting Iona away early enough to get some rested legs. They’ll go up against a URI team that will run out four guards and make it physical for you on the defensive side of the ball. The biggest surprise here though was how consistent Trevon Duval was hooting the ball. If that’s who he is this month, Duke will be tough to beat.

– I talked earlier URI’s win over Oklahoma, but that depth at the guard position is absurd. Today it was Fatts Russell and E.C. Matthews coming up big and next game it could be Terrell or Robinson. It’s what makes them such a tough out despite having weaknesses.

– Seton Hall got its first NCAA Tournament win since Andre Barrett and shockingly it did it with Angel Delgado in foul trouble. The important thing here is the return of Desi Rodriguez. He did come off the bench, but scored 18 points and looked just fine coming off of injury. He’s going to be a mismatch against Kansas on Saturday.