HoopsHysteria > 2015 > March
Are You Not Entertained?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsqJFIJ5lLs
Yes Maximus. I was. What a way to kick off March Madness with a tournament record five games decided by 1-point including UC’s thrilling OT win over Purdue. However it can’t be March Madness without upsets and those came quickly as two 14 seeds (Georgia State & UAB) sent thousands of brackets to the trash unless your name is Jeff Warren who correctly predicted both upsets. He is the leader after day one getting 15 out of 16 correct. He came oh-so-close to perfect start but saw SMU fall to UCLA in a controversial ending when the referees awarded UCLA with the go-ahead basket on a goaltending call with 10.9 seconds. SMU missed two attempts to win the game before time ran out and were upset by the 11 seed Bruins. The SMU loss could be even more costly to Jeff’s entry as it had the Mustangs making the Elite 8.
However the darlings of day were Georgia State and UAB. Both are 14 seeds and both won their opening game by one point. Georgia State rallied late outscoring Baylor 13-0 in the last 2:54. It included an unbelievable 3-pointer from RJ Hunter with 2.7 seconds left that left Baylor stunned, 57-56. Meanwhile UAB destroyed countless brackets with their upset of Iowa State, 60-59. The Blazers surprisingly owned the boards against the Cyclones who surrender a season high 19 offensive rebounds to the Blazers.
The night continued with several more close games. Ohio State needed overtime to advance defeating VCU 75-72. Two 5 seeds both escaped upset with narrow victories.North Carolina squeaked by Harvard 67-65 while Arkansas slipped by Wofford 56-53. The UC/Purdue game had it all including Troy Caupain’s game tying basket as the clock expired. It was a shot that you would expect to see in movie but even then you would say that it’s too cliche.
What made this shot even more incredible was that UC trailed by seven with 48.6 to play. But this happened in a 9 second span ..
A 6-0 lightning quick run by the Bearcats and suddenly they trailed only by one. Ultimately the game goes to overtime and continues as a back-and-forth battle. With UC leading 66-65, Troy Caupain is fouled with 5 seconds. He misses the free throw and Purdue’s Vince Edwards gets off a three that just misses. For once everything went right for UC in a tournament game (including overcoming Ellis’ ejection) and their reward is Kentucky. Undefeated Kentucky. David meet Goliath.
Xavier controlled their game from the tip against Ole Miss en route to a comfortable 76-57 win. The Muskies took advantage of a slow starting Rebels team possibly due to their track meet against BYU on Tuesday night. Matt Stainbrook owned the paint scoring 20 to go along with 9 boards. Xavier gets Cinderella Georgia State for a chance at the Sweet 16.
As for the pool, we have 148 current entries but the official total will not be verified until all payments are received. Once this is complete I will announced the prize pool. Good luck to all and hopefully the rest of the tournament is just as exciting.