And we have one relieved Lunatic. When Purdue is playing this way, especially against a smaller team, they are unstoppable. Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 18 and created a bunch of foul trouble, Zach Edey added 23 points, and Fletcher Loyer put up 15 points.

They outrebounded Utah State 49-26, and yet still shot 47.8 percent from three point range – when you are winning the paint and the perimeter, they are tough. I believe I heard that is the most points Purdue has scored in a NCAA Tournament, and it is the most wins a Purdue team has done in a season.

I feel a little bad for Utah State – they had a fantastic season – winning the Mountain West regular season championship and winning their first ever NCAA Tournament game. The future looks bright for their team. But the Purdue fan is happy the game wasn’t close and stressful.

Hoping this leads to more success next week. But for now, I can simply be happy. And that is probably good news for all of us – the happy Lunatic can enjoy the remaining slate of games. We can avoid the sad Lunatic giving up on the blog for the night.

Nervous about the next game – Gonzaga can be a scary team and they are different from when we faced them in Maui. But nervous and hopeful is so much better than sad and depressed.

BOILER UP!!!!

What an incredible game to start off the day. Marquette jumped out to an 11 point halftime lead, but Colorado kept cutting the lead throughout the second half. But every time the Buffaloes would tie the game (or even take the lead), the Golden Eagles would score some baskets and re-establish the lead.

With two great offensive teams, it looked like it could be whoever got the ball last, especially when Tristan da Silva tied the game with a minutes for Colorado.

After a couple of misses by both teams, Marquette’s Tyler Kolek drove to his left (like he did countless times in the game) – but instead of taking this one to the basket, he hit Chase Ross on the wing for a big three-pointer. But Colorado’s KJ Simpson quickly drove to the rim with a layup to cut the lead to one.

Then, the irony was defense took over – David Joplin drove to the lane for the Eagles but missed a well contested layup. KJ Simpson drove to the basket for the Buffaloes but got double teamed and forced into a jump ball. Kolek tried to kick the ball out to the wing and had it stolen. Cody Williams missed a step back three pointer.

Finally, with 54 second, Kolek did what he does best – he dribbled past everyone with his left hand, went along the baseline and under the basket, started to pull the ball back out and turned and shot the short jumper in the lane to give the Golden Eagles a 3 point lead.

Colorado’s J’Vonne Hadley missed a three-pointer but Colorado got the rebound and Cody Williams got fouled trying to score. But unfortunately, Williams missed the first free throw before making the second and cutting the lead to 2.

This also posed another problem. Colorado did a great job all game of not fouling. But this poses a problem when you only have 3 fouls and the shot clock goes off when you are behind. And you have to give credit to Marquette – it was clear Colorado was trying to foul but Kolek managed to pass the ball up the court before being fouled to waste a few seconds, and the same thing happened under the basket where he ran away from the Colorado defense and passed the ball out – managing to take precious seconds off the clock.

They did eventually foul David Joplin, and the junior forward managed to hit both free throws to make it a two-possession game with 7 seconds. KJ Simpson missed his three pointer from the wing, time ticked off the clock and the Golden Eagles are sending Coach Shaka Smart back to the Sweet 16.

I do have to say this funny moment as I realize I missed an opportunity – so this is one of my last chances to say it. Colorado is a good team at the fundamentals – as I mentioned they defended well without fouling. One of the announcers mentioned that Colorado was the 6th best team in the country in shooting three pointers. Well anyways

As the Buffaloes were coming back, Elizabeth said, “Go Buffaloes!!! And then said – wait what do Buffaloes say – is it Mooooo like a cow!”

And without missing a beat, I screamed “They say BOX OUT!!!!”. So maybe fans of the blog should be happy that it didn’t occur to me to say it until Elizabeth said something, and while the Buffaloes played great today, they will not be making a deep run into the tournament – because I am sure BOX OUT would come up several more times now that it crossed my mind. Buffaloes go to Sportsbars and say It is all about the fundamentals! BOX OUT!

OK – the Lunatic must get nervous and watch his Boilers! BOILER UP!!!

Apparently, the Pittsburgh site has decided it needs more basketball. NC State and Oakland went to overtime, and now Creighton and Oregon are going to double overtime.

So much to write about but I am simply going to enjoy the game for now!

It is an unfortunate reality that happens in the tournament. Just like the movie, the clock eventually strikes midnight for Cinderella.

NC State and Oakland were exchanging the lead throughout the first 3 minutes of overtime when DJ Burns got a rebound off a missed three pointer from the corner, giving the Wolfpack a 1 point lead. On the next possession, NC State would find DJ Horne near the baseline who hit the jumper and extended the lead to 3. But on the shot, there was also a foul on DJ Burns blocking out Oakland’s Blake Lampman. The 93.3% FT shooter who had only missed 3 FTs all season missed the first free throw before making the second and cutting the lead to 2 points.

And then the dagger hit. The Wolfpack got the ball into Burns, who found Jayden Taylor for a three point shot that gave NC State a 5 point lead with a minute to play.

Jack Gohlke would miss a couple three point shots as well as Rocket Watts missing one. Horne and Burns both hit a couple free throws after getting fouled off the rebounds to cut the lead to 9, until DQ Cole cut the lead to 6 with 13 seconds. But they were given a little bit more hope when NC State turned it over on the inbounds pass. But Gohlke would miss the next three pointer, and NC State would run out the clock on the 14 seed.

So, the magic continues for NC State. The only other time a team won 5 games in 5 days to win their conference championship was 2011. The Connecticut Huskies went on to win 6 more games and claim the National Championship. Who knows what the future will bring – what is certain is everyone should be concerned about the Wolfpack – they are a super hot team right now, and are celebrating as a double digit seed breaking brackets to reach the Sweet 16.

With 1:48 left, Casey Morsell made a free throw for 14 seed Oakland Grizzlies to give them a 64-63 lead.

NC State’s Michael O’Connell drove to the basket with the shot clock running down and made the layup and got fouled. His free throw put the Wolfpack up 66-64 with 54 seconds.

Jack Gohlke got fouled on the other side of the court and hit his free throws to tie the game.

NC State got the ball to DJ Burn like they wanted, but his layup was just a little strong giving Oakland what looked like the final possession. But Chris Conway threw the ball out of bounds with 2 seconds left. After a replay, it looked like it clearly went off the NC State defender, but the call on the court stood. Casey Morsell put up a half court prayer that went off the backboard and rim and fell to the ground – meaning five more minutes between the two double digit seeds trying to make it to the Sweet 16.

Two different teams – two similar situations – one similar result.

In the West Regional, ACC regular season champion and #1 seed North Carolina was playing Michigan State. And the Spartans jumped out early to a 12 point lead. So, what would you expect happens when one of the best offensive teams in the country falls behind early. That is right – the Tar Heels went on a 20-1 run to take control of the game and never look back on their way to a 85-69 victory.

In the East Regional, Big 12 conference tournament champion and #2 seed Iowa State found themselves down 8 points early to Washington State. So, what would you expect happens when one of the best defensive teams in the country falls behind early. That is right – the Cyclones held the Cougars to 56 points, and scored 21 points off 13 forced turnovers to win the game 70-56.

And so the ACC regular season champion and Big 12 conference tournament champion have earned their way to the Sweet 16.

Just as a heads up, I believe that I have caught the website up with all the received payments. If you check your login page and it doesn’t look correct, please email me at thomas@tehodgson.com, and I will work with you to resolve it (I probably just missed a record – or the classic “the check is in the mail”).

I also have to thank Gonzaga for going on a ridiculous run to go from being down 1 to up 25, allowing me the ability to easily focus on getting the payments updated.

Finally got back from rugby – it was cold and drizzly and Katie’s team lost both their games, so was kind of a rough trip. But from a basketball perspective, it didn’t look like I missed much.

The Arizona Wildcats became the first team to advance to the Sweet 16 as they beat Dayton by 10. For the couple of minutes I have seen, Kansas and Gonzaga have been trading baskets, with the Jayhawks going into halftime with a 44-43 lead. So, it looks like it should be an easy exciting game!!!

I have to tell you I was surprised. I was able to make it through Utah State’s upset of TCU (yes – I know Utah State was the 8 seed, but Vegas has the Horned Frogs as a 4.5 point favorite). Regardless, with it being a 8 vs 9 game that normally is a coin flip, seeing Utah State win 88-72 should be considered an upset.

I flipped over to the last game and was pleasantly surprised to see Grand Canyon leading Saint Mary’s 52-37. Then, my eyes shut. The next time they opened there was 1 minute left in the game and Grand Canyon was simply trying to run out the clock. After your typical three pointer by the team behind and a few free throws from the team in the lead, Grand Canyon was able to celebrate their first ever victory in the NCAA Tournament, beating the Gaels by 9. I smiled for the fact that the night ended with two 12 seeds winning, put the final winner of the first round into the database and went to sleep. I knew I had only 6 hours until Elizabeth, Katie and I had to head up to Alexandria for two rugby games (in what appears to be a significant amount of rain).

So you had to imagine my surprise as I wrote down the leaders. Thanks to the tie that I am in, there are only 5 entries who are beating the Lunatic. I must be still dreaming….

Congratulations to Debbe Evans, Sonny Mao, Ashley Peterson, Tom Forrest, and Earl McKnight – as the 5 of them managed to get 26 of 32 games right to take the lead at 260 points. This is really impressive if you think of the number of upsets. 11 teams according to seed won their games – Oakland (14), Yale (13), JMU (12), GCU (12), Oregon (11), NC State (11), Duquesne (11), Colorado (10), Texas A&M (9), Michigan State (9) and Northwestern (9).

Congratulations also to those tied with the Lunatic at 6th – Kennedy Urban, Joanna Crabbe, Tyler Crabbe, Sean Ellett, Scott Viera, Rob Nesbitt (both entries), Matt Richter, Carlie Reynolds, and my son Charlie – who are just 10 points behind for getting 25 of the games right. And we also have 28 more entries tied for 17th at 240 points.

In the upset pool, congratulations to Ashley Peterson who is in the lead with 141 points. Ashley is closely followed by Gus Woodburn (140), Tom Forrest (139), Sonny Mao (138) and Earl McKnight (137). We also have a 4 way tie for 6th with Debbe Evans, Sean Ellett, Tyler Crabbe and Jimmy Lee at 132 points.

For those of you who are behind, don’t despair – because while it is important to do well in the first round, it is more important to do well in the later rounds – 5 of the 16 leaders watched as all of those upsets took one of our Final Four teams (including the Lunatic), and as the upsets mount, the chances to move up grow.

And for those of you who picked Kentucky and Auburn to win it all, while this bracket might be a mess, you always get a second chance – those brackets will be out there after the weekend of games reduces the field from 32 to 16.

Good luck to everyone!!! Enjoy the games this weekend!!!!

Tom

12 seeded James Madison from the Sun Belt conference jumped out to a 15-4 lead, and they never really looked back. Wisconsin got the lead down to as many as 6, but then James Madison would score some big baskets and expand the lead back out to double digits. Wisconsin stayed cold most of the night, JMU slowed the game down towards the end – using the entire shot clock each possession, and won 72-61 to advance to the second round for the first time in 41 years.

I was already planning half this joke, but I will love what the CBS announcer said. Lots of interesting simularities. First, James Madison managed to beat a team from Madison, Wisconsin. And now, the Dukes will face off against Duke. You can’t make these coincidences up.

Congratulations to James Madison on their big upset. Also, in my fading in and out of sleep, Alabama and Houston managed to easily finish off their opponents to advance to the second round. Only two more games left – and they look like great games. But I am still not sure that I am going to make it. I already nodded off once during the JMU game. I think I might finish off my Saturday handicapping page, and go back to sleep……. Or I might just go back to sleep….