The Morning Dish – Friday, March 19th
East Rutherford Region
Manhattan 75, Florida 60 The nation’s fifth leading scorer scored 26 points to lead the Jaspers to an upset win over the Gators in Raleigh, N.C. The 12th seeded Jaspers became at least the 13th team in the last 14 years to upset a 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. By beating the Gators, it was Manhattan’s first tournament win since 1995 over Oklahoma. What a nice 40th birthday present for Jasper’s head coach Bobby Gonzalez.
Texas Tech 76, Charlotte 73 In the long storied coaching career of Bobby Knight, he can now add another accomplishment to his list of accolades. By beating Charlotte in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., Knight won his first tournament game with the Red Raiders. His last trip to Buffalo was one that he could not forget – a loss in the 2000 NCAA Tournament to Pepperdine in his final game with the Indiana Hoosiers. Andre Emmett and Jarrius Jackson each had 11 points to lead Texas Tech.
Wake Forest 79, Virginia Commonwealth 78 With already one upset in the books on the day, Virginia Commonwealth tried to make it two, but fell short to the Demon Deacons in Raleigh, N.C. Freshman Chris Paul had 22 points, while Justin Gray added 15 for Wake Forest. Jamaal Levy returned to the game after he sprained his left knee and scored 10 points and 10 rebounds, including the go-ahead score with a minute to go. Wake Forest will now play Manhattan in the next round on Saturday.
St. Joseph’s 82, Liberty 63 Many critics believed that St. Joseph’s was not deserving of a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. St. Joe’s and Liberty thought otherwise as St. Joe’s rolled to an easy first round win in Buffalo, N.Y. Jameer Nelson scored 22 of his season-high 33 points to help lead the easy victory. Delonte West added 18 points and nine rebounds for St. Joe’s, who will play Texas Tech on Saturday.
Phoenix Region
Maryland 86, UTEP 83 Chris McCary scored 19 points, including two clutch free throws with 13.6 seconds left to preserve a first round win over UTEP from the WAC. Some critics believed that UTEP could take advantage of Maryland being in high spirits after their big win over Duke in the ACC Championship game on Sunday, but that was not the case in Denver. The Terrapins, the 2002 National Champions, hit 8-of-9 free throws down the stretch, including 4-of-4 in the final minute to hold on for the victory.
Alabama 65, Southern Illinois 64 Antoine Pettaway hit a 6-foot runner in the lane with five seconds left to help the Crimson Tide to an exciting win over the Salukis’ in Seattle on Thursday. SIU’s Darren Brooks, who had a game-high 25 points, had a chance to tie the game as the horn sounded but his buzzer-beater shot fell short. Earnest Shelton led Alabama with 18 points in the winning effort.
Syracuse 80, BYU 75 The defending national champions fought off a valiant effort by BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Denver. But no effort was greater than Gerry McNamara’s 43 points on nine three-pointers. McNamara replicated his effort in his last NCAA Tournament game – the national title game against Kansas – when he had six three’s in that game. Syracuse, who shot 53 percent from the field in the game also got 20 points from Hakim Warrick. The Orangemen will now take part in a game that features the last two national champions – Maryland – on Saturday in the second round.
Stanford 71, UT-San Antonio 45 Top-seeded Stanford got 26 points from Josh Childress, six of which came during a 12-0 run in the second half, en route to an easy win from Seattle. Stanford had a much better outcome when compared to the last game they played in Seattle – a 75-62 loss to Washington for their only loss of the season. Stanford, who won their 10th straight first round game, will now face Alabama for a right to go to the Sweet 16.
Connecticut 70, Vermont 53 Connecticut’s Emeka Okafur proved why he is one of the best defenders in the country. He held the nation’s third-leading scorer, Taylor Coppenrath to 12 points – 12 below his average – in a dominating win by the second seeded Huskies from Buffalo, N.Y. Rashad Anderson scored 22 points to lead Connecticut and help them advance to the second round. With the win, the Huskies moved to 12-0 in first round games under Jim Calhoun. In addition, won his 30th tournament game to tie Adolph Rupp for 12th on the all-time list.
DePaul 76, Dayton 69 (2OT) Drake Diener scored 10 of his collegiate-high 28 points in the second overtime to propel the Blue Demons over the Dayton Flyers in Buffalo. It was game that was decided on the free throw line. DePaul was 23-of-40 from the line, while Dayton was just 12-of-23. DePaul advances to play Connecticut on Saturday.
Atlanta Region
Duke 96, Alabama State 61 Top-seeded Duke pounded Alabama State, thanks to Shavlik Randolph’s 20 points and Daniel Ewing’s 19. Duke was practically playing on their home floor as they hosted ASU, who came into the tournament with an R.P.I. of 230, in Raleigh, N.C. It was Duke’s eighth straight opening round win in the NCAA Tournament. Malcolm Campbell scored 26 points for a team that started the year 3-12 and ended 16-15.
Texas 66, Princeton 49 Brandon Mouton scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half as the Longhorns rolled over the Ivy League’s Princeton in Denver. Texas, making their sixth straight NCAA appearance, also got 15 points from Royal Ivey and 14 from Brian Boddicker and out-shot Princeton 60 to 35 percent from the field in the second half. Texas trailed 27-22 early in the second half and erupted with a 24-6 run and never looked back.
Seton Hall 80, Arizona 76 Seton Hall trailed by 14 points and had their best player on the bench. Game over, right? Wrong! Kelly Whitney overcame leg cramps to score 24 points and 14 rebounds to lead a ferocious comeback over the Wildcats, preventing a Duke/Arizona showdown. Seton Hall will now advance to play Duke on Saturday in Raleigh, N.C. Andre Barrett was also big down the stretch as he finished with 19 points and several key defensive plays to shut down any attack by the Wildcats. Seton Hall was making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in four years and shut down a team that was in it for a national-best 20th straight season.
North Carolina 63, Air Force 52 ‘Home floor advantage’ had been kind so far for teams in the NCAA Tournament. That was not going to happen for Air Force, who play just a shade over an hour south of Denver. The Falcons, who got in as an at-large, put up a valiant effort, but could not stop an 11-0 run by the Tar Heels in the second half. Sean May had 14 points to lead North Carolina and they will play Texas on Saturday.
St. Louis Region
Nevada 72, Michigan State 66 In the only other upset of the day, Nevada defeated the Spartans, who were considered by many to be one of the sleepers in the Tournament field. The Wolf Pack erased a 16-point deficit to claim the victory in Seattle. Kirk Snyder, the WAC player of the year, had 19 points to lead Nevada, who defeated a Big Ten team for the first time in nine tries.
Gonzaga 76, Valparaiso 49 The second seeded Bulldogs had no problems with the Crusaders, who had their legendary coach Homer Drew back in the NCAA Tournament after his brief retirement last season. Ronny Turiaf scored 14 of his 15 points in the second half, while Cory Violette scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds. Blake Stepp had 13 points and nine assists as well for Gonzaga, who move on to play Nevada on Saturday.
Day Two of the NCAA Tournament
• East Rutherford Regional: Wisconsin vs. Richmond; Pittsburgh vs. Central Florida; Memphis vs. South Carolina; Oklahoma State vs. Eastern Washington.
• Phoenix Regional: Vanderbilt vs. Western Michigan; N.C. State vs. UL-Lafayette.
• A
tlanta Regional: Illinois vs. Murray State; Cincinnati vs. East Tennessee State; Xavier vs. Louisville; Mississippi State vs. Monmouth.
• St. Louis Regional: Kentucky vs. Florida A&M; Washington vs. UAB; Providence vs. Pacific; Kansas vs. Illinois-Chicago; Boston College vs. Utah; Georgia Tech vs. Northern Iowa.
