5:52: Second half of the day and we’ve got 4 doozies going on right now. As we speak Kansas State has picked their lead back up to 8 (BEASTY on the offensive glass), Washington State has pulled away from Winthrop, Texas A&M and BYU are in a classic neck and neck 8 vs. 9 battle and Duke is really struggling with Belmont. Definitely didn’t see that coming, they are up 5 now with less than 7 to go. This right here is why you love March Madness.
6:00: To the Belmont/Duke game where they names change but the issues don’t. It’s not Maynor time it’s RENFROE time.
6:02: Belmont is down 3, they’ve missed two straight 3-pointers. Pretty badly as well. They can’t leave this in the refs hands or else they will lose for sure. Who saw this coming??
6:05: Big And-1 for K-State puts them up 6 with 5 minutes left. Bad news for the Trojans and I wish I had stuck with my gut.
6:06: Just like I said the refs would give it to Duke. Belmont has a tie-up situation they of course call a foul and send Gerald Henderson to the line. Duke’s up 2 with 2:40 left in the game.
6:07: Belmont gets a big-time 3….refs be damned. DeMarcus Nelson is way short on a wide-open shooter, Belmont gets the board and the foul. Going to the line with the chance to take the lead with 2:02. At the line…Justin Hare. 91.5% free throw shooter. Yikes.
6:08: Hare hits the first…tie game.
6:16: Unbelievable. Belmont doesn’t get a foul call, Henderson gets a layup, Belmont comes back down and then turn the ball over on an out-of-bounds play. Horrible turnover by the way. Like ‘Who was he throwing to/Is he point-shaving?’ type turnover.
6:18: Belmont gives us a first ‘scare’ of the tournament, you know the lower seed that no one thinks has a chance but just stays there the whole game.
6:19: DeMarcus Nelson at the line for two, up 1, 2.7 seconds left. His booty was super tight as he clanks the front end of the 1-and-1. Uh oh.
6:20: 2.2 seconds left…Renfro Time? I feel like this is going to get batted down. Hare catches it at half-court and shoots a deep three….it looked good. But it wasn’t…Duke escapes 71-70.
6:23: Kansas State pulled away to beat USC 80-67 a game where Beasley vs. Mayo didn’t matter as much as the fact that USC’s bigs did nothing. Nothing. Kansas State got about 20 offensive rebound and they all got in foul trouble. Gibson, Jefferson, Wilkinson and some other guy wh doesn’t even exist. OJ Mayo pulls a Durant with the early exit.
6:24: Just a word to the wise…Washington State held Winthrop to 11 points in the 2nd half. Watch out. Unless BYU can pull this out I’m looking at a split for this foursome of games. I need a miracle, come on now where is Shawn Bradley when you need him?
6:26: BYU nails a couple free throws to cut the lead to two with just under 3 minutes to go.
6:28: A&M scores on an easy drive but BYU comes back with and And-1. By the way….did anyone notice this is a whiteout vs. blackout game?? Not to be racist…but damn. Is Texas A&M representing black people like OJ did??
6:29: Dude from BYU missed the free throw and then they give up a bucket. Crap. 61-57 A&M with about 1:30 left. Of course BYU responds with a deep 3. For no reason. 1:13 left in the game and A&M is up 4.
6:31: BYU responds with a three. 63-60 A&M with 59.5 seconds left in the game. Can BYU get ONE….FRIGGIN….STOP??? Doubtful.
6:34: I was right…BYU couldn’t get a stop. I mean if Texas A&M’s one white guy was driving by everyone. He got them an open 3 and they knocked it down. Game, set, match. Why did I pick them? Sweet mother of anything.
8-4 going into the last 4 games.
6:43: Live-look in at George Mason’s pre-game speech….wow. That will be on YouTube shortly. The theme was 2 years ago GM took their fans on a magical carpet ride. He wants them to go into their bag of tricks and make the Fighting Irish disappear. A+ for effort and creativity. F for any semblance of a game plan and not seeming like a lunatic on national TV.
6:44: Notre Dame has to win right? Too many people picked George Mason? Nothing like talking yourself into a pick 13 seconds in. Thank goodness they nailed a three. I feel better.
6:45: Until they give up an And-1 on a jump hook. Sheesh. They are swarming Harangody. I feel sick already.
6:53: Arizona vs. West Virginia…this should be a good one folks. White people rejoice as Chase Budinger and Joel Alexander are trading buckets. his should make you feel better about the BYU thing.
6:58: WV jumps out to an early 8-3 lead as Kevin O’Neill pulls the pro trick and calls an early timeout. I liked West Virginia more when they had Pittsnogle and not the guy who is balding. I mean reallly…you’re in college. Not just that but you’re a college basketball player. How do you rock the balding look. That’s just gross.
I’ll have to dip on you. The NIT (stop snickering) is calling. Be back later. Just to get my thoughts I feel like Arizona is going to come back strong and win this one, Wisconsin is going to struggle with Cal-State Fullerton for 12-17 minutes, Notre Dame will fight off George Mason and UCLA will blow out Mississippi Valley State so bad that the little asian kid will get in and score.
Final Thoughts:
–To end the night Arizona definitely just couldn’t get over the hump. I swear Arizona is the best/worst team in the nation. Allow me to explain. With the talent they have there is no reason why they shouldn’t have been one of the top teams in the nation. They had a big man (Jordan Hill), two great scorers (Budinger and Bayless), a veteran (McClellan) and an up and down PG (Nic Wise). Granted their bench was next to nothing but still that’s a nasty lineup. For some reason they were always there worst enemy and could never put together 40 great minutes, usually shooting themselves in the foot with a lack of discipline. Rant over.
Wisconsin and Notre Dame turned it on and pulled away from their opponents. Sorry George Mason fans but the magic carpet ride is d-o-n-e. UCLA demolished Mississippi Valley State but Lee didn’t play. Sad day.
11-for-16 on the day for me. Curses to you USC, Baylor, Georgia, Arizona and BYU. Join us tomorrow when we bring you a messy dual-blog of Day 2. Gotta love it.
Also curses to you MJ….there is no cinderella.