The “March madness” is already there! After an interesting “First Four” at the start of the week, the serious things started from yesterday afternoon, then continuously until late this night, with the first salvo of matches of the first round.
And like every season, major “upsets” came from the start to upset the “brackets”, like last year when the improbable Saint Peter’s (#15) sent Kentucky (#2) on vacation in the first round. Yesterday, the first victims of the “Petits Poucet” in the tournament were Virginiaseed #4 eliminated by Furman, seed #13, and Arizonaseed #2 eliminated by Princeton, seed #15!
The craziest and most representative sequence of what is “March madness” was undoubtedly this absolutely lunar end to the match between the Cavaliers and the Paladins, when Kihei Clark, the point guard of Virginia, launched a desperate pass attempt to get rid of a two-man take in his half of the field… when his team was leading by 2 points and still had a timeout (67-65)!
The pass was then intercepted by Garrett Hien of Furman, who passed the leather to his teammate JP Pegues, the author of the award-winning shot which restored the advantage to the Knights, two seconds from the end.
A terrible collapse, while they were still leading by 4 points with 19 seconds remaining, with possession in their favor! And like in 2018, when as the #1 seed they lost to a #16 seed, the Cavaliers are once again on the wrong side of the equation.upset…
” It’s an exceptional moment » appreciated after the feat Furman’s coach, Bob Richey. ” What a day for us. »
The Knights will now face San Diego State (#5) in the second round, in the South region.
A symbolic victory for Princeton (#15)
Even more surprising: the defeat of Arizona (55-59), seeded #2 after winning the regular season and then the Big-12 tournament. Leading by 12 points 9 minutes from the end of the match, the Wildcats completely collapsed against this uninhibited Princeton squad, which took out the barbed wire at the best time, notably finishing the match with a 9-0!
” We must use this loss to learn from our mistakes, to understand the value of a 10 or 12 point lead with ten minutes to play. launched a logically bitter Tommy Lloyd after the meeting. ” We have to learn better how to press the accelerator in these situations, not to let the opposing team come back into the game, and then hope when they have a chance to win. This is what happened, very simply. »
Note that Princeton is playing its first round in Sacramento, where the illustrious former program coach Pete Carril, who died this summer, spent 15 years as an assistant on the Kings staff. A strong symbolic victory, therefore.
” He would be very proud of this group » assured Mitch Henderson, the coach of the Tigers, former playmaker of the program at the end of the 90s, under the orders of the mythical Carril. ” He would have wanted the focus to be on the players and only the players tonight who went for that win. »
In the second round, Furman will challenge Missouri (#7), in the South region.
Maryland (#8) survives trap West Virginia (#9)
Among the most balanced of the first round on paper, this beautiful poster between the Terrapins and the Mountaineers kept all its promises, with many twists and turns that punctuated the match.
Especially from the outset, when Maryland started the match particularly badly: 16-4 for West Virginia after 10 minutes played! But without panicking, Kevin Willard’s men caught up, even joined the locker room with a narrow lead in the score (32-30).
A good start to the second period from Bobby Huggins’ squad, driven in particular by a super Kedrian Johnson (27 points), once again endangered the Terrapins (51-43 with ten minutes remaining). But then again, the teammates of a very good Julian Reese (17 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists) did not bend and even went to snatch the victory with forceps, in the last moments.
” We showed our strength of character » delivered Hakim Hart, author of 15 points in the victory, about the resilience of the Terrapins, despite several slumps. ” We always fight until the end. »
In the second round, Maryland now has a lot to do: challenge the #1 seed in the South region, Alabama.
Nothing to report for the #1 seeds
With the exception of Purduewho is playing today in the East region, the other three #1 seeds in the tournament played yesterday, and won relatively quietly.
Alabama 21 points (96-75) in the South region against Texas A&M Corpus Christi while Brandon Miller did not score a single point, Houston of 11 points (63-52) in the Midwest region against Northern Kentucky, and finally the defending champion Kansas28 points (96-68) in the West region against Howard.
Main favorites for the titles, the “Goliaths” of the tournament are therefore waiting to be worried…
