Wisconsin, Oregon Impress, Texas Beats The Clock
Whew!
March Madness, once again proving why it’s arguably the greatest spectacle in American sports, left us with amazing games, dramatic finishes…oh, and upsets! Lots of UPSETS! An 11 seed and two 12 seeds won games on Thursday, with a third No. 12 seed (N.C. State) giving us drama in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory as No. 5 seed Saint Louis pulled off one of greatest escapes in recent tournament memory.
Here in Milwaukee, the twists and turns had to wait until almost midnight. It was worth the wait.
In the day session, both Wisconsin and Oregon easily took apart their foes, with the No. 2 seed Badgers wiping out American University, 75-35, and the Ducks taking out BYU 87-68. Michigan followed to start the evening session with a routine 57-40 win over Wofford, but then Texas and Arizona State finally provided the drama, with the Longhorns’ Cameron Ridley scoring off an offensive rebound at the buzzer to knock off the Sun Devils, 87-85. As much as the Longhorns celebrating was an indelible image for fans at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, the Arizona State sideline reaction at the buzzer beater tells the story even better.
There were highs and lows in our first night in Milwaukee, and we picked out the best of both.
Hero(es) of the day: The Oregon bench.
A game that promised high-scoring and up-and-down action delivered…sort of. Other than allowing a run early in the second half, seventh-seeded Oregon had no problems with No. 10 BYU in the West Region second round match-up, with the Ducks’ bench scoring 49 of their 87 points. Milwaukee native Elgin Cook, who had scored in double figures only once in his last 23 games, exploded for a career-high 23 points while clearing eight rebounds (four offensive). Jason Calliste, one of the nation’s leading scorers off the bench (12.4 points per game) exceeded his scoring average with 14, including going 11-of-12 from the free throw line. Dana Altman’s bunch also had one of its best games in terms of moving and sharing the basketball, with 21 of the Ducks’ 27 field goals coming off of assists.
Runners up: Texas’s scoring balance (six players in double figures in points vs. Arizona State), Arizona State center Jordan Bachynski (25 points, 7 rebounds, 8-14 FG vs. Texas).
Left something to be desired: Drama
This would have been a slam dunk choice before the Arizona State-Texas game provided the tournament’s first official buzzer-beater. But until then, it had been an relatively uneventful first 120 minutes of basketball in Milwaukee. Not only that, at least two of the games in each of the other tournament sites on Thursday provided nail-biting drama until the very end that made a good number of us in press row leave our seats to watch those finishes in the back room. American made it a game with Wisconsin for the first 10 minutes until the Badgers put it on overdrive, going on a 56-11 run to coast to victory. Oregon’s passing and athleticism overwhelmed BYU in the second matchup before Michigan delivered a workmanlike performance again Wofford. Even with 12 minutes to go in the finale, Texas had a 14-point lead at 61-47, and I immediately lamented that we were going to be the snooze fest of the NCAA Tournament locations on Thursday. Then again, just leave it to March Madness to provide drama, even when you least expect it.
Runner up: American in the second half (3-19 FG, 1-9 from three).
What’s next:
The times are officially set for the third-round games, with Texas taking on Michigan at 5:15 PM ET on Saturday, followed by Oregon and Wisconsin at approximately 7:30 PM ET. The biggest intrigue could lie in the second game, with Oregon’s fast-paced tempo and depth and its ability to really push the Badgers into an uncomfortable style of game. In other seasons, this would be the perfect type of game for the Badgers to fall, as the Badgers would have a tough time handling the athleticism and needing to keep the scoring at a minimum to pull out a win. But this is Bo Ryan’s best offensive team in Madison, that was important so Wisconsin could have a good chance winning a game in the high 70s as much as it would have if the score was in the low 60s (or even 50s). Mike Moser of Oregon against the big bodies of Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker is going to be fun to watch all game.
For Texas to pull off the upset against the Wolverines, Cameron Ridley – all 6-9 and 285 pounds of him – needs to be the focal point against a somewhat undersized Wolverines team. Michigan has played well without its stud interior threat in sophomore Mitch McGary, who is sitting out the rest of this season after back surgery in January. Jordan Morgan, whose role diminished when McGary went on a run of three double-doubles in six NCAA Tournament games last season, has been a steady replacement. Ridley still has the size and skill advantage over Morgan, which may make Texas head coach Rick Barnes think about making the offense go through the big man on Saturday. Another shooting performance like Texas put on tonight (53% FG, 59% in the first half) wouldn’t hurt either. Michigan’s roster is chock full of players that made the national championship game last season, and they give off an air of quiet confidence that few teams in the country do. To suggest that Michigan would make a repeat of the national title game appearance this season without McGary and the departed Trey Burke would have seemed like, at the very least, wishful thinking not too long ago. With that in mind, no coach may get the most out of his players during NCAA Tournament time more than John Beilein.
Let’s do this again, shall we? Enjoy the Madness on Friday!
