March Madness Round Of 64 RECAP & ANALYSIS

Recap and analysis of round 1 of March Madness. All games are displayed in order they were played.

Photo Courtesy: NCAA.com

No. 5 Notre Dame 60,  No. 12 Princeton 58 

In one of the most tense games of the tournament thus far, Notre Dame (5) take down Princeton (12) in a 60-58 victory on Thursday.

The game was relatively close from start to finish. Both teams fought hard and ran a high tempo offence. Bonzie Colson scored 10 of his game-high 18 points in the first half, leading the Fighting Irish to a 36-30 lead at half. The Tigers came out from the break a little slow, only shooting 2-6 at the 15 minute mark. Notre Dame led the game 59-54 with 1:10 after Colson hit a pair at the charity stripe. The Tigers then scored back-to-back putbacks following missed threes. Both putbacks were provided by Princeton’s 6’11 center, Pete Miller, who scored only 4 points on the game. Notre Dame almost blew an 11-point second half lead, and saved themselves from an upset. The MVP of the game was Bonzie Colson, who’s game-high 18 points and efficient shooting from the field (46%) led Notre Dame to a narrow victory over Princeton. Notre Dame face the 4th seeded West Virginia Mountaineers in the 2nd round of the tournament on Saturday, the 18th.

No.  5 Virginia 76, No. 12 UNC Wilmington 71  

Many thought UNC Wilmington would upset #5 Virginia (including myself) but Virginia proved it's doubters wrong and will be moving on in the tournament. London Perrantes and Marial Shayok combined for 47 of Virginia's 76 points. UNCW were in this game all the way to the end, at one point they were leading by 15, but could't finish the game. Chris Flemmings and Devontae Cacok both help keep their team in the game but came up short. Virginia will move on to it's fourth consecutive appearance in the round of 32.

No. 4 Butler 76, No. 13 Winthrop 64  

Butlers Avery Woodson was the star and also our MVP of this game putting up a team high 18 points, all his points came from behind the the 3 point line as he shot 6-10 from behind the arc. He help put his team on a 12-2 run during the 2nd half which put the game too far out of reach for Winthrop to make a comeback. #4 Butler will now face off against #12 Middle Tennessee.

No. 1 Gonzaga 66, No. 16 South Dakota State 46  

South Dakota hung on for as long as they could but Gonzaga had a strong 40-point 2nd half leading to them winning by 20. The Jackrabbits played with high intensity and lots of effort but could not match Gonzaga's talent. Guard Jordan Mathews was the MVP of the game putting up 16 points and grabbing 5 rebounds in the win. #1 Gonzaga will now face off against #8 Northwestern in the round of 32.

No. 4 West Virginia 86, No. 13 Bucknell 80

  The #4 seeded Mountaineers looked to hold off an upset against the #13 Bucknell Bison. Bucknell won the jump ball, and center Nana Foulland scored off an Avi Toomer assist for the first points of the game. West Virginia would take control after that, finishing the first half up 42-33. The Bison were out rebounded 42 to 31 during the game.

In the second half, the Bison rallied behind big scoring performances from Kimbal Mackenzie, Nana Foulland, and Stephen Brown. Mackenzie hit a big three-point jumper with 9:00 left to pull the Bison within three points. From then on, West Virginia dominated on the floor, and they closed out a first-round tournament win with a final score of 86-80 over Bucknell. For each team, their field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage was nearly identical. The difference was rebounding and strong bench play from West Virginia’s Lamont West and Tarik Phillip. The MVP of the game was West Virginia sophomore Esa Ahmad, who scored 15 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and hit 7 of his 9 free throw attempts. West Virginia will take on #5 Notre Dame on Saturday in the Round of 32.

No. 4 Florida 80, No. 13 East Tennessee State 65  

#4 Florida cruised past East Tennessee State with help from Junior Forward Devin Robinson who put up a game high 24 and added 7 rebounds. KeVaughn Allen struggled a lot in this game shooting 1-11 from the field but he did shoot 4-4 from the line and finished with 7 points. #4 Florida will now face off against #5 Virginia. 

No. 12 Middle Tennessee 81, No. 5 Minnesota 72

Middle Tennessee had the first big upset of the tournament by defeating #5 Minnesota
 81-72. Middle Tennessee played a fantastic team orientated game breaking down Minnesota's defence early. In terms of MVP awards head coach Kermit Davis will receive the honours. Coach Davis has shown lots of confidence in this team and with the way his team played against Minnesota don't be surprised if they keep winning. 

No. 8 Northwestern 68, No. 9 Vanderbilt 66

No. 11 Xavier  76, No. 6 Maryland 65 

No. 1 Villanova 76, No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s 56   

The Villanova Wildcats get a good start to their tournament  defeating the 16 seed team Mount St. Mary’s 76-56.

Villanova started off slow in first twenty minutes of the game but then they took charge and controlled the game."I'm not annoyed," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "I really am shocked, not how Mount St. Mary's played, but that we didn't start the game with energy. We don't have time to figure it out." After their shaky start, the Wildcats looked good with Donte Divincenzo putting up 21 points to lead the Wildcats to victory. Miles Wilson led the Mountaineers with 22 points and 7 rebounds for an all around impressive game.

The Villanova Wildcats move on to face the Wisconsin Badgers which will be an interesting game starring the 1st place team in the East (Villanova) and the 8th placed team (Wisconsin)
No. 7 Saint Mary’s 85, No. 10 VCU 77  

No. 4 Purdue 80, No. 13 Vermont 70  

No. 3 Florida State 86, No. 14 Florida Gulf Coast 80

This matchup featured in-state rivals with the same regular season record of 26-8. In the first half, #14 Florida Gulf Coast played well against #3 Florida State, and trailed by only 4 points. The FGCU Eagles forced 16 total turnovers, and limited the Seminoles to a 15.4% three-point shooting percentage. In the second half, Florida State took control. FSU’s Terrance Mann made a huge dunk with 18:04 remaining to increase the Seminoles’ lead to 7. FGCU was seemingly a one-man show. Eagles’ guard Brandon Goodwin led all scorers with 28 points. He made only 2 of 10 three pointers, however, and needed 27 shots to amass his total. FGCU never got within striking distance, and fell to the Seminoles by a score of 86-80.

The MVP of the game was Florida State guard Dwayne Bacon. He scored a team high 25 points, collected 9 boards, and even contributed 3 three pointers. Neither team had much success shooting 3’s, but the Seminoles out rebounded the Eagles 46-26. FSU also made more free throws (24-14). Next, #3 Florida State will face #11 Xavier, who upset #6 Maryland in the first round.

No. 8 Wisconsin 84, No. 9 Virginia Tech 74

The Wisconsin Badgers faced off against Virginia Tech and started the tournament with a win, outscoring their opponents 84-74.

Bronson Koenig had an exceptional night setting a new school record for most three-pointers in a game (8) for Wisconsin. Koenig finished with a game-high 28 points. Another impressive player on the court that night was Nigel Hayes who posted a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) for the Badgers as well. Zach LeDay had a surprising game coming off the bench and leading the Hokies with 23 points with 8/10 shooting.

The Badgers will play the Villanova Wildcats (1st in the east) and will have to play much harder,quicker and smarter than they did against the Hokies if they want to win.

No. 2 Arizona 100, No. 15 North Dakota 82

The Wildcats showed no problems when they steamrolled the Fighting Hawks in a 100-82 victory. Two big contributions to this game were Arizona’s freshman players Lauri Markkanen and Rawle Alkins, who did anything but act their age Thursday night. They combined for 40 points and efficient shooting from both players. Arizona dominated the first half, going into the break with a cozy 53-37. Despite the loss, North Dakota had some exceptional performances of their own. The Hawk’s Quinton Hooker and Drick Bernstine combined for an impressive 45 of the team’s 82 points. Unfortunately, it was not enough to spark a comeback for their team. The MVP of the game was Arizona guard Rawle Alkins. He shot a perfect 8/8 from the field, and accompanied that with 4 rebounds and 5 assists in only 29 minutes. Arizona are hoping to keep the momentum going into their game against St. Mary’s (7), who are coming from an impressive win of their own against VCU.

 No. 5 Iowa State 84, No. 12 Nevada 73

Friday Games.

No. 7 Michigan 92, No. 10 Oklahoma State 91  

No. 3 Baylor 91, No. 14 New Mexico State 73

 No. 8 Arkansas 77, No. 9 Seton Hall 71

 No. 3 Oregon 93, No. 14 Iona 77

 No. 2 Louisville 78, No. 15 Jacksonville State 63

When a #2 and #15 team face off, it usually doesn’t end well for the latter. Such was the case in this Gamecocks-Cardinals matchup. Although #15 Jacksonville State jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first half, #2 Louisville would return to regular season form and mount a sizable comeback. At the end of the first half, the Cardinals lead 38-31, and they never looked back. With 12:16 remaining in the second half, Louisville guard Quentin Snider hit a three-point jumper to extend his team’s lead to 17.

The lone bright spot for the Gamecocks was the performance by junior Norbertas Giga. He led all scorers with 30 points and added 9 rebounds. Even more impressive was his 84% field goal percentage (11/13) and 5 three-pointers (5/5). Fortunately for Louisville, they outrebounded JSU 36-23 and only committed 6 turnovers. Our MVP of this game is Cardinals’ forward Mangok Mathiang. No single Louisville player stuffed the stat sheet, but Mathiang’s 18 points led his team, and he also contributed 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. Up next for #2 Louisville is a tough matchup versus #7 Michigan in the Round of 32. 

No. 11 USC 66, No. 6 SMU 65

 No. 1 North Carolina 103, No. 16 Texas Southern 64

UNC was picked by many to go all the way in this year’s tournament and take home a championship trophy. The first step was to knock off #16 Texas Southern in the Round of 64. Obviously, the Tar Heels were heavy favorites coming into this contest, but the Tigers held their own to start the game. With 16:48 left in the first half, Texas Southern actually lead by a score of 10-8. This marked the last moment Tigers’ fans had to celebrate. At the end of the first half, UNC was up 52-27. The Tar Heels had 6 players that scored at least 10 points. To put this into perspective, those 6 players alone outscored the entire Texas Southern team 83-64. It was that kind of day for the #16 Tigers.

The outcome was never in question, but the final damage was greater than many first thought. The Tigers’ 27 rebounds were no match for the Tar Heels’ 54, and the route ended with a final score of 103-64. UNC became the 2nd team in the 2017 NCAA Tournament to crack 100 points, and surpassed Arizona’s 100 points with their own score of 103. Our MVP of the game was UNC’s Justin Jackson. He failed to get to the free-throw line, but his 21 points (8/13) and 5 three pointers (5/8) lead the team. In the Round of 32, UNC will look to bury their next opponent, the #8 Arkansas Razorbacks.

 No. 6 Creighton 84, No. 11 Rhode Island 72

 No. 1 Kansas 100, No. 16 UC Davis 62

 No. 7 Dayton 58, No. 10 Wichita State 64

 No. 2 Duke 87 No. 15 Troy 65

Coach K earned is 998th victory as Duke head coach against #15 Troy. Grayson Allen and Jayson Tatum carried the load offensively. Duke finished with 15 team assists and 13 triples on the other end Troy played a respectable game but couldn't match Duke talent. Troy sophomore Alex Hicks looks like a real bright spot in this lineup, he made many shots early, scored 2nd chance points and played solid defence. The MVP of this game was Duke freshman Jayson Tatum, he had 18 points 12 rebounds and 2 huge blocks. Duke will now face #7 South Carolina who defeated #10 Marquette 93-73.

 No. 6 Cincinnati 75, No. 11 Kansas State 61

 No. 8 Miami 58, No. 9 Michigan State 78

 No. 2 Kentucky 79, No. 15 Northern Kentucky 70

 No. 7 South Carolina 93, No. 10 Marquette 73

 No. 3 UCLA 97, No. 14 Kent State 80