The first day of the NCAA Tournament is in the books. Here are some thoughts on the day’s games:
- The NCAA Tournament is always where players we never heard of have big games, and the first example of that is probably Memphis guard Roburt Sallie. Here’s a guy who was supposed to go to Nebraska out of high school, enrolled at the school and paid his own way before going to junior college, then wanted to stick with the school after two years of junior college but was denied eligibility because he didn’t meet initial eligibility requirements out of high school. That brought him to Memphis, where he was averaging just 4.5 points per game – basically a bit player. Then he goes on to score 35 points and bail out a Tigers team that for a while looked like it might get knocked off by Cal State Northridge.
- I said it last weekend, but it bears repeating: Maryland may be hitting its stride at a good time. The Terrapins played a solid game against California for the win, and can’t be written off against Memphis. They’ve had some success with the zone, and zone can work against the Tigers. Also, Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes are dangerous, with Hayes clearly playing well of late fresh off a couple of good games at the ACC Tournament last weekend.
- As happened a few times this season, Matt Howard got in early foul trouble and it hurt Butler. He picked up two fouls within six and a half minutes, and was limited to 25 minutes for the game. He made the most of that time with 22 points in the losing effort.
- Early on, it looked like Chattanooga might give Connecticut a ballgame, especially since they made the Huskies a jump shooting team for the first few minutes. But before the first half was over, that changed and it wasn’t a competitive game.
- It’s not a surprise that North Carolina beat Radford without Ty Lawson. The Tar Heels have plenty of talent to compensate in a matchup like this. But let’s see how they fare if he can’t play against LSU and Marcus Thornton, who scored 30 in the Tigers’ win over Butler.
- Speaking of the Tar Heels, it’s fitting that Tyler Hansbrough became the ACC’s all-time leading scorer on a free throw in the win over Radford.
- John Beilein has done it again, this time at Michigan. The Wolverines are back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 11 years, and now they’ve won a game against a good Clemson team, although one that didn’t play well in the last few weeks of the season.
- If you live in the northeast corridor and Thursday night was your first time seeing Derrick Mercer and Garrison Carr at American, shame on you. If you live outside the region and they never played where you are, then luck was clearly not with you. They were a fun duo to watch play, especially the ultra-tough Mercer, who may have a small body but also has the heart of a lion. Carr finished his career with the Patriot League record for three-pointers with 302, surpassing the prior mark of 300 during the game.
- In the second half of Villanova‘s win over American, you could see the Wildcats gaining momentum right away. It just took a little time before the scoreboard showed it, but once it did, the Wildcats were on their way.
- Western Kentucky seemed like a trendy upset pick, and although it was a close call late, their win probably helped a few brackets out there. It also continues a nice story, the Hilltoppers getting to the second round in what was thought to be a rebuilding year after some major personnel losses and having to adjust to a coaching change.
- All along, I felt the matchup of Eric Maynor being guarded by Darren Collison would be a dandy to watch in the matchup of VCU against UCLA. Sure enough, the game came down to that, and as usually happens, defense won out. So ends a tremendous career for Maynor, who showed potential as a freshman under Jeff Capel and became a star in his sophomore year under Anthony Grant.
- After the game, VCU declined to come to the interview area, leaving all interviews to be conducted in their locker room area. I won’t speculate that this is the reason for the move, but my guess is that if they did come there at some point Anthony Grant would be asked some variation of whether or not he will still be the head coach at VCU next year, even though the person asking the question would probably know the answer even before posing it to Grant.
- A.J. Abrams just continues to light up opponents, going for 26 points with eight three-pointers to lead Texas over Minnesota. You have to figure the Golden Gophers were going to key on him, so give the Longhorns credit for getting him open and getting him the ball.
