Welcome to the latest edition of Talking Hoops With Ted Sarandis. The first full day of NCAA Tournament action is in the books, and as always, there is plenty to talk about.
We begin with the evening games that Ted covered in Jacksonville, where Kentucky handled Abilene Christian and Wofford pulled away from Seton Hall to set up an interesting second round matchup. Wofford put on quite a shooting display to win their game, and it was easy for some to forget that they were the higher seed. Earlier in the day, two great games were played as LSU held off Yale and Maryland edged Belmont in a game the Bruins certainly could have won.
One season that ended with disappointment is that of Nevada, who lost 70-61 to Florida. The Wolfpack were a top 10 team in the preseason and were highly ranked most of the season, but end up bowing out in the first round to a team that was up and down all year and hardly a lock for the NCAA Tournament, though by the time Selection Sunday rolled around they appeared to be on their way in.
The individual performance that will be talked about for some time is the triple-double that Ja Morant of Murray State put up. He had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 16 assists as Murray State shot 53.6 percent from the field and pull away from Marquette 83-64. Just as impressive, though, was how the Racers held Marquette to 32 percent shooting, with only five players scoring (three starters), and Markus Howard had 26 points but on 27 shots.
Two other games of interest were Baylor beating Syracuse with Frank Howard suspended and Villanova edging Saint Mary’s with their experienced cast. Syracuse ended a particularly disappointing season without a guy who they really missed when he was hurt at the beginning of the year, and that hurt their offense while the defense didn’t stop Baylor at all to boot.
We hope you enjoy the podcast and share it with your fellow college basketball fans. Be sure to tune in again soon for more on the NCAA Tournament, and we will have College Basketball Tonight every Sunday night into Monday morning for a complete NCAA Tournament breakdown with special guests.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
