Friday afternoon was kind to teams at the end of the alphabet.
The Friday afternoon window of the 2015 NCAA Tournament's Round of 64 had three double-digit seeds doing their best to take down favorites. None of them got it done, and West Virginia, Wichita State, and Virginia all moved on to the weekend's Round of 32.
West Virginia was one of the trendiest upset picks in the entire March Madness bracket, given the Mountaineers' first foe, a very good Buffalo team coached by Bobby Hurley. And the Bulls, making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, gave themselves a shot late, with an extended 18-7 run that spanned more than nine minutes and tied the game at 62-62.
But the Mountaineers got a couple of free throws, and then Tarik Phillip put Cinderella to bed.
That three was followed up by a clutch Phillip rebound at the other end, and West Virginia moved on with a 68-62 win — its first since making the Final Four in 2011.
Wichita State, also no stranger to the Final Four, had a more back-and-forth affair on its hands with Indiana. The Shockers trailed at halftime, and by five early in the second half, but clicked off 8-0 and 15-3 runs in the period.
Still, this one wasn't quite sealed until late, thanks partly to Yogi Ferrell's 24 points for the Hoosiers. This squirming Tekele Cotton finish in the final minute gave Wichita State a four-point lead...
...but the Shockers needed four more free throws from Ron Baker in the final minute to finish off Indiana by a 81-76 count. Predictably, Tom Crean was mad.
Wichita State's win sets up a massive Sunflower State showdown on Sunday between the last team from the state to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and Kansas.
In the final game of the mid-afternoon slate, Virginia held off a valiant second-half effort from Belmont to move on to the second round.
The Bruins closed to within two at 62-60 on a Craig Bradshaw three — Bradshaw had 24 points — but promptly conceded a 9-0 run to Virginia, and never got closer than nine points again. The 79-67 win moves the Cavaliers on to one of the showcase games of the Round of 32, a clash with Michigan State that is a rematch of a Sweet Sixteen classic from last year's tournament.
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1AREldm
No comments:
Post a Comment