By Ron Pitts for Urban Media Today
Game 1 #8 Seed Ohio State Buckeyes takes on the #9 seed TCU Horn Frogs
Jamie Dixon, TCU Horn Frogs head coach, put on a first half defensive clinic on coach Jake Diebler’s Ohio State Buckeyes. TCU held OSU to 36% shooting and 18% from behind the three point line. TCU forced 6 turnovers in the first half; which led to 10 points. TCU’s Forward #5 Micah Robinson led all scores at half with 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting. He was also 3-3 from behind the line. Forward #24 Xavier Edmunds followed up with 10 points to help his Horn Frog running mate. TCU went into the locker room at half with a 39-24 lead over Ohio State. TCU shot 47% from the field and 54% from three. The Buckeyes scoring leader #2 Bruce Thornton who averages 20 points a game was held to 5 points.
Coming out in the second half the madness kicked in. After trailing by 15 points the Buckeyes and the Ohio State faithful fans had taken the Horn Frogs lead. You could feel the momentum shift in the building as the OSU energy started taking over. They relied on the duo of #0 John Mobley Jr.(15 points) and #1 Amare Bynum for the Ohio State comeback and to tie the game with a three pointer by Bruce Thorton with 34 seconds left in the game.
Coach Diebler’s Buckeyes could not complete the comeback due to TCU’s Xavier Edmunds layup to put the Horn Frogs up and over the top. Bruce Thorton tried to win with a buzzer beater three pointer but was unsuccessful. TCU was able to survive the first round of March Madness and sent Ohio State home with a heartbreaking loss.
I had an opportunity to speak with John Mobley Jr. postgame, and I asked what it was that helped OSU spark the second half comeback, he said, “I just thought I’m not going home like that. I’m not going home without putting my all to it. I had a talk at halftime; I’ve just got to do better”.
Coach Diebler said when asked what he wants people to take away from watching his team this year, “I hope people saw and appreciate the toughness and family atmosphere we have in this program. It’s a big reason why we got to this point of the season”.
TCU’s #15 David Punch said after the game, “Staying together during timeouts, in between possessions, and just talking to each other helped them survive OSU comeback attempt.”
The TCU Horn Frogs will face Duke Blue Devils Saturday evening.
Game #2: #1 Seed Duke Blue Devils (32-2) vs #16 seed Siena Saints (23-11)
Siena got off to a fast electric start in the first half shooting 55% from the field and 45% from behind the three-point line. #4 Gavin Doty had the hot hand with 16 points in the first half with the help of his running mate #11 Francis Folefac with 13 points. Coach Gerry McNamara’s team showed in the first half that they were not afraid of the moment by taking a 43-32 lead in the locker room over Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils in the first half. Duke’s star freshmen #12 Cameron Boozer (13 points) and his brother #2 Cayden Boozer (8 points) kept Duke in the game.
In the second half, Duke fought back to take the lead and eventually win the game. The Boozer brothers led the charge. Cameron with 22 points and Cayden with 19 points. #3 Isaiah Evans sparked the comeback with a huge dunk to go along with his 16 points.
Coach McNamara went the entire game without a substitution. His starting five played 40 minutes, and they just didn’t have anything else left in the tank. McNamara addressed it by saying, “You’re looking at a guy that played 40 minutes a lot. We just got here from Atlantic City doing pretty much the same thing. I thought we needed Riley and Francis on the court at all times because of their size.”
Siena played like they belonged in the tournament and didn’t show any signs of fear. They had a level of confidence that #11 Frances Folefac addressed by saying, “I feel like we take every game, we treat every game the same way. We just come out and try to have extreme focus, energy, effort, pour our heart out in every minute of every game, play together, hold each other accountable, and just try our best to come up with victories”.
Duke put Siena away with a 71-65 score overcoming a13 point deficit. However, it wasn’t easy according to Duke coach Jon Scheyer. He credits McNamara for giving his Blue Devils all they could handle. Scheyer said, “I’ve known Gerry for a long time; G Mac had his guy way more ready to play than I did. He outcoached me; he outcoached us. That’s one of the hardest moments for me in sport, period, to not have your best stuff.”
Duke will face TCU Saturday Evening for a second round match up
Game 3: #6 Seeded North Carolina Tar Heels (24-8) vs. 11 VCU Rams (27-7)
This matchup created an electrifying crowd with VCU fans and UNC fans just as loud. That level of energy filtered down onto the court also. Both teams brought a high level of intensity on both ends of the court to start the game.
Coach Hubert Davis and his Tar Heels started to pull away in the first half and got the lead as much as 15 points. UNC went into half with a 39-28 lead over VCU. #13 Henri Veesaar led the Tar Heels with 13 points and 5 rebounds in the first half. The UNC defense also stepped up and created 5 turnovers which led to 8 points and 9 fast break points. They also limited VCU to only 34% shooting from the field. Neither team shot well from three; both shot 25% on 3-12 shooting from behind the arch.
Coach Phil Martelli Jr.’s Rams came out flat to start the second half, and they allowed UNC to get the lead up to as much as 19 points. However, his team turned up the heat and ate into the deficit with 3:50 left in the game and brought it within 2 points with a three pointer by #6 Terrance Hill Jr. Which awakened the VCU fans, and the Rams started feeding off it.
The Rams Havoc style of play came back and tied the game 75-75 to send it into March Madness overtime. Terrence Hill came off the bench and led all scorers with 34 points. Overtime did not stop Terreance Hill Jr. He hit a huge 3 pointer to put the Rams up by 2, and later VCU Rams shut the door on the UNC tournament hopes with an 82-78 victory. #1 Nyk Lewis finished the game with 16 points and 7 rebounds and clutch stops down the stretch to help close the game out.
The Tar Heels ran out of gas in overtime and had good looks at the basket but just couldn’t get the ball to go in according to Coach Davis. He also said, “You really want to compliment VCU, their resiliency being down 19 to keep trying to find a way. I also felt like just the small details. In order for a team to come back, they have to be good enough and resilient enough to do that, and VCU was.”
Coach Davis was questioned about why he only used a 6-man rotation in the second half, and he replied, “Because it was my decision.”
Terrance Hill Jr. was asked if he thinks the nation now knows about the VCU brand? His response: “Yeah, they know it now. I think they’ve been knew it. VCU has a great history behind us, and we want to represent it as much as possible.”
VCU Rams will play Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday
Game 4: #3 seed Illinois Fighting Illini faces #14 seed Penn Quakers
Coach Brad Underwood and his Illinois team got off to a solid start in the first half to go into the locker room with a 10 point lead over Coach Fran McCaffery and his Quakers. The Fighting Illini were led by #0 David Mirkovic with 17 points and 10 rebounds at half. The difference in the game is Illinois had 14 offensive rebounds which created 16 second chance points. Penn shot 42% from the field to Illinois 39%. The Quakers were led by #7 Michael Zanoni with 10 points.
The second half did not work in favor of the Penn Quakers; the 10 point first half turned into a 28 point deficit. Penn was no match for The Fighting Ilini. Coach Underwood’s team had a lead as large as 40 points at one time. You can see who the more superior team was. Illinois closed the game out with a final score of 105-70. David Mirkovic led the way for the Fighting Illini with 29 points and 17 rebounds. #23 Keaton Wagler also helped with his 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Wagler said, “I think what we saw tonight, if we can defend for a whole 40 minutes like we did, we have a really good chance of winning games. I feel our offense will always be on point. When we’re getting stops”.
When asked what he learned about his team this year, Coach Underwood credited his veterans for the success of his freshmen leading the way. “They’re not in any way threatened by any of that. They’re accepting. I’ve said it all along, this team has tremendous chemistry, both on and off the court. They don’t care who does it. They have pure joy seeing others succeed.”
#5 Cam Thrower credits the size difference as a big part of not matching up well with Illinois. He said, “Obviously we try to give it our best effort to limit them to one. Obviously, those are some pretty big dudes out there. Ultimately, I think the biggest thing is we fought till the end. We tried our best. Yeah, their size was pretty tough to contend with.”
Coach Fran was more reflective in his press conference when speaking about his team. “We’re part of something bigger, the university, the athletic department. Penn basketball and the tradition is something that a lot of people take great pride in, and they put me in charge. I couldn’t be more thankful to coach these young men.”
Illinois Fighting Illini will play VCU Rams on Saturday
The first round of March Madness was a day of highs and lows. You saw joy and excitement in moments, and tears and frustration in another. Overall, this is why they call it March Madness because anything can happen at any time. Welcome to, in my opinion, the most wonderful time of the year.
