ST. LOUIS – And just like that, 68 teams are down to 32. After months of bracket speculation and bubble talk, it’s amazing how quickly the names vanish. So now what?
It was not a great first round for upsets. Thirty-two games were played on Thursday and Friday, and the higher seed won 24 of them. Four of the eight who didn’t were 8 vs. 9.
It was not a great Friday for drama. The average winning margin was 19.7 points. Only five of 16 games were settled by single digits, sharing the day with massacres of 59, 34, 34 and 33 points. Thank goodness for Kentucky vs. Santa Clara, and it helped that California Baptist and Furman tried their best to scare Kansas and Connecticut.
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These were not great days for chaos in the bracket. By late Friday night, the Midwest and East still had seven of eight top seeds remaining. Only four of the 32 double-digit seeds, who began 72 hours before, were standing.
Not that there haven’t been compelling moments.
Thursday gave us Duke cornered by Siena, North Carolina melting down against VCU, High Point’s lightning bolt against Wisconsin.
Friday gave us an epic Kentucky-Santa Clara overtime finish after a nuclear exchange of 3-pointers in the final 2.4 seconds of regulation, the Wildcats saved by a half-court bank shot.
CLUTCH
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There was the remarkable box score from Connecticut’s Tarris Reed Jr., with his 31 points and 27 rebounds against Furman – the first 30-25 stat line in the NCAA Tournament in 58 years. “My mindset coming into the game is really just to be dominant,” he said afterward. “This is my last March Madness. My days are numbered in college basketball.”
There was history from Purdue guard Braden Smith. Assist No. 1,077 came on a one-handed bounce pass in the first half to Trey Kaufman-Renn, who muscled down the lane and scored against Queens as he was fouled. That sent Smith past Bobby Hurley’s all-time career record, a mark that had held for 33 years.
“For me, I don't think it's really set in, because to me it's my job,” Smith said. “It's why I came here. As a point guard, that's what you're supposed to do.”
His partner in the record-breaker on Friday was perfect. Assist No. 1 for Smith came 1,228 days before against Milwaukee in his freshman season. The Purdue player at the other end that night was also Trey Kaufman-Renn. “I think it's just been really cool over the years, us kind of growing together,” Kaufman-Renn said. “As a player, I'm thankful. He’s not only the first and last, but he's accounted for a lot of my scoring throughout my career.”
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Friday gave us Kansas savoring a big night from Darryn Peterson, until the Jayhawks looked up and noticed California Baptist had chopped a 26-point lead to six. They won by eight, so all those 28 Peterson points were needed. “They say survive and advance,” Bill Self said. “And that's what we did.”
There was Virginia needing 18 lead changes to finish off Wright State, and a UCLA walk-on player having to find Skyy Clark’s lost tooth, knocked out during a scramble for a loose ball against UCF.
Friday was the end of the road for the Cinderella story from Oxford. Hoping to make further statements about its March viability, Miami lost by 22 points to Tennessee. League compatriot Akron lost by 20 to Texas Tech. It was not a great day for the MAC. Still, what a ride for the RedHawks. A 32-2 ride. “That doesn't take anything away from our team,” Travis Steele said when it was over. “We're everything that's right about college athletics in my opinion.”
The coach who sent his physical defense out to put an end to this fairy tale had a thought, too. “They would win some games in our league,” Tennessee’s Rick Barnes said. “Make no bones about it.”
TERRENCE HILL JR 😱 TIE GAME
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UNREAL COMEBACK
Now that High Point has shocked the veteran backcourt of Wisconsin, what do the Panthers have left for the freshman backcourt of Arkansas? At No. 12, High Point carries the flag now as the lowest seed alive.
Gonzaga missed its first Sweet 16 in 11 years last March. Texas will try to make it two in a row.
Texas A&M gave up 50 points to Saint Mary’s in the first round. Houston allowed Idaho only 47. Now that they’re meeting, you wonder how many open shots anyone will get.
Other matchups come with other features.
📺 WATCH: High Point sharpshooter hits his first 2-point shot to beat Wisconsin
St. John’s vs. Kansas means Rick Pitino vs. Bill Self, and the Jayhawks hoping to take a fire hose to the Red Storm. St. John’s has won 20 of 21 and started the past four games with leads of 9-0, 8-0, 10-0 and 13-0.
Connecticut vs. UCLA is a clash of programs with 17 national championships.
Few teams have bashed opponents more than Saint Louis and Michigan, Nos. 4 and 6 in the nation in average scoring margin. So what happens when they try to bash one another?
Duke might be vulnerable with its injuries and recent close finishes; TCU will try to find out.
Iowa State lost star Joshua Jefferson to an ankle injury three minutes into the first round game with Tennessee State. The Cyclones carried on without him and even had a 23-0 run. But they weren’t playing Kentucky. They will Sunday.
Vanderbilt plays Nebraska, so something has to give. The Commodores have not been in the Sweet 16 since 2007, the Cornhuskers never.
Utah State’s 86-76 win over Villanova was only its third NCAA Tournament victory in 56 years. As a reward, the Aggies now get Arizona. Coach Jerrod Calhoun said he’d be watching Arizona game films for at least 10 to 12 hours. “Coffee is going to be flowing tonight. But there's a lot of other coaches that would love to be in this position.”
Purdue started the season No. 1 in the country, Miami (Fla.) picked eighth in the ACC. They’ll meet at high noon on Sunday. The Hurricanes have gone from 7-24 to 26-8 in one year, and that plus-19 matches the best ever in Division I. But the Boilermakers are in resurgent mode. Since staggering into the Big Ten tournament, they’ve won five consecutive games and trailed only 9:03 out of 200 minutes. Painter was wearing a March Madness button on Friday.
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“What people don't understand is that when you go, and you start your workouts and your practices in June, it's for March and April,” he said. “Everybody feels great in June. Not everybody feels great in March. It's hard. Everybody is banged up. Everybody is injured. And now, can you lay it on the line and be able to get a victory or get two victories or get three victories? We want to have a long run in the tournament, but everybody wants to have a long run. So you have to cherish it.”
They all do, the 32 survivors. And that number is going down in a hurry.
