- Storyline: The first weekend of March Madness brought upsets, buzzer beaters, meltdowns, new heroes, and new goats. It seemed as almost every game came down to some miraculous finish. But I’m sure that teams like Northern Iowa, Stephen F. Austin and Xavier could have done with a little less drama.
Sports writers and fans are susceptible to the current moment in time, quick to label games or players as the “greatest ever.” Forget about all the decades prior and all that history.
Courtesy: foxsports.com
But what I’m seeing in front of my face is the most amazing thing I’ve ever witnessed: the first weekend of March Madness. Last weekend is being dubbed the most dramatic ever by the majority of sports pundits. Usually I would disagree with a declaration of that magnitude, but the funny thing is that they all might be right.
The first weekend of the Tourney brought upsets, buzzer beaters, meltdowns, new heroes, and new goats. It seemed as almost every game came down to some miraculous finish. These scenarios play out every year in the Tourney, but 2016 seemed to double down on the excitement. It may have truly been the most dramatic NCAA weekend we’ve ever had the pleasure to live through.
How’s that for hyperbole?
The drama started on Thursday at noon on the East Coast and didn’t stop until around midnight on Sunday. The following are my observations — likes, dislikes, random thoughts, and anything else I may have witnessed as the events unfolded over the past few days.
Josh Hagins in victory against Purdue (Denverpost.com)
The first chunk of madness I saw was Purdue collapsing in the final minutes against Arkansas-Little Rock. Little Rock guard Josh Hagins put his name into NCAA lore by hitting a ridiculous three-pointer to tie the game in regulation. He then made countless other big-time shots in both overtimes that followed.
Hagins showed clutch while Purdue guards were shrinking from the moment. Little Rock collapsed on Purdue’s formidable big men and dared the guards to beat them. They couldn’t. That fact was never more glaring when a Purdue guard (name removed for piling on reasons) caught the ball in the backcourt with five seconds left and stood there before deciding to move. My goodness son, GO! The moment got the best of Purdue and they were upset, 85-83.
On Thursday Yale, Gonzaga and Wichita State all pulled upsets as double-digit seeds. Yale was a surprise, but I think we should be less than shocked by Wichita State and Gonzaga, teams that have played this role before. More shocking was Arizona coach Sean Miller’s choice of wardrobe. Miller soaked through two plain white dress shirts during the game and his sweat soaked bod became an internet sensation. Undershirts Coach Miller … please think about them.
Providence ended the first day with a 70-69 win over USC. The Trojans failed to cover the Friar’s Randy Bullock right under the hoop on an inbounds play with a couple of seconds left. A blown assignment and easy lay-in sent USC home after a very well-played game. It was a definite (bad pun alert!) bollocks for the Trojans–in probably one of the easiest game-winning shots the tournament has ever produced.
More hyperbole please!
Middle Tennessee shocks Michigan State (wsj.com)
Friday brought us the instant classic upset of Michigan State by the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. The Spartans are always a Tourney favorite with Coach Tom Izzo at the helm, but they seemed ill-prepared to deal with the slashing Blue Raiders offense. I’m not sure this was the “greatest upset ever,” as some people have claimed, but it was shocking. As a Michigan fan, I shed no tears for Sparty’s early exit.
Little did I know that I’d need those tears later that night. Michigan took a 12-point lead into halftime against Notre Dame, but collapsed in the second half. The Irish moved on to the round of 32 with a 70-63 victory. (I’m so glad I didn’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Screw the Irish!)
I love how the Tourney makes stars that fans will remember for ages. Thomas Walkup of Stephen F. Austin made his mark with a phenomenal game against West Virginia. Walkup, who was fearless with 33 pts. 9 rebs and 4 assts, also knocked down 19 of 20 free throws. Walkup’s shock of red hair and beard make him the living embodiment of the Lumberjacks program.
Friday night concluded with two crazy finishes. Northern Iowa’s Paul Jespersen banked in a half-court shot at the buzzer to finish off Texas just after the Longhorn’s Isaiah Taylor tied the game with a layup with 2.7 seconds left. A few minutes later in the St. Joseph’s versus Cincinnati game, the Hawks’ Isaiah Miles drilled a 3 pointer to put Joe up 78-76 only to see the Bearcats’ Octavius Ellis tie the game up with a dunk at the buzzer. But WAIT! Replays showed that Ellis still had his fingertips on the ball as the buzzer sounded. The basket was ruled no good and St. Joe’s eeked out the win.
Hollywood got nothing on the NCAA!
Courtesy: thrillist.com
The Saturday games gave fans a break from the dramatic; most of the top seeds took care of business with the exception of Indiana over Kentucky and Gonzaga over Utah. No buzzer-beaters and no legendary moments, which was actually a good thing because I always spend the first Saturday of the Tourney hitting the bars all day drinking with friends. I’m pretty sure any legendary moments would have been rendered fuzzy with the amount of beer we consumed.
But drama was back with a vengeance on Sunday. Notre Dame and Stephen F. Austin both played excellent games as each team took their turn with the lead, making several runs. The Lumberjacks seemed to have the momentum heading into the final minutes, but SFA really struggled with offensive execution at the end. The Irish had the ball down one with 17.5 seconds and missed a couple of wild shots. Then Rex Pfluger tapped the ball up and somehow got it to spin in the basket with a second left. The Irish win (got lucky) one more time.
Buddy Hield has been the breakout star in 2016 and he once again showed why on Saturday. Hield drained jumpers from all over the court and scored 19 of his 36 points in the final eight minutes to lead his Oklahoma Sooners over a game VCU squad, 85 to 81. Hield has got a little Stephen Curry in him and is a danger anywhere on the floor.
Bronson Koenig hits 3 v. Xavier (wiscnews.com)
You want some more breakout stars and buzzer beaters? How about Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig’s brass balls as he drained not one, but two, three-point bombs in the last minute to upset Xavier. These were totally amazing shots by Koenig, but they did not make me happy. I had Xavier making the championship round and he made Bill Murray sad. Nobody should be praised if they make Bill Murray sad.
All this drama … and I still haven’t discussed the most shocking game of the Tourney. The Texas A&M Aggies 92-88 win and comeback against Northern Iowa was truly one of the greatest of all time, literally. No team had ever overcome a bigger point margin–12 points–with such little time, 44 seconds left on the clock. The Northern Iowa loss was one of the biggest collapses of all time.
No hyperbole needed.
Northern Iowa turned the ball over on in-bounds passes THREE freaking times in the last forty seconds! Then, with a few seconds left, UNI turned it over a FOURTH time when they were trapped in the corner and threw the ball right to the Aggies for the game tying lay-up.
Courtesy: wcfcourier.com
I’ve never seen anything like it, and the next two overtimes were almost anti-climactic after witnessing that flurry of turnovers near the end of regulation. I can’t imagine going to class on Monday as an UNI player. How do you get over that?
There you have it, a breakdown of the most dramatic weekend in NCAA Tournament history. Most times the hype is unwarranted, but in this case it’s completely valid.
I’m pretty sure that teams like Northern Iowa, Stephen F. Austin and Xavier could have done with a little less drama.
