Thursday’s NCAA notebook
The best game of last year’s NCAA tournament might have come in the first round. Butler’s victory over Old Dominion was fiercely-contested and decided on the final possession.
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Butler went on to knock off No. 1 seed Pittsburgh in the next round and advanced to the title game. If ODU had won that first round game at Verizon Center, the Monarchs might have done the same.
A year later, we have another game reminiscent of Butler-ODU. Thursday’s win by VCU over Wichita State was the best game of the day, also contested by a pair of mid-majors and decided on the last possession.
Though seeded No. 12, it’s not difficult now to envision VCU repeating its success of last year when it advanced to the Final Four.
This is a different VCU team – much younger, not as skilled, and fewer scoring options. But this year’s edition can intimidate and overwhelm teams with pressure defense. The Rams get so many easy baskets off turnovers, it offsets their shortcomings on offense.
Is there a hotter team in the country than VCU? The Rams have won 18 of their last 19. If it wasn’t for a 25-foot buzzer beater by George Mason’s Sherrod Wright, VCU would have the nation’s longest winning streak.
Few Upsets Make for Enticing Saturday. Thursday’s lack of upsets made for an unusually blasé day in the round of 64. The good news is the matchups that come when favorites win. Here’s the Saturday lineup: Wisconsin-Vanderbilt, Syracuse-Kansas State, Gonzaga-Ohio State, Marquette-Murray State, Indiana-VCU, Iowa State-Kentucky, Colorado-Baylor, and Louisville-New Mexico. Only regrets: It would have been nice to see UConn-Kentucky and UNLV-Baylor.
Ripping the RPI. Nice to see the first two teams out on Thursday were Colorado State and Southern Miss. The only thing that distinguished either of these teams was their RPI. Southern Miss at least put up a good fight against Kansas State. Too bad these teams made the tournament and Drexel didn’t. When selecting teams, wouldn’t it be better to judge by what we see on the floor, not what someone’s math project supposedly reveals.
Stars of the Day
Ohio State’s Deshaun Thomas (31 points, 12 rebounds)
KSU’s Rodney McGruder (30 points, four steals, 11-16 shooting)
Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins (27 points, six rebounds)
Marquette’s Jae Crowder (25 points, 16 rebounds, four assists)
Kentucky’s Terrence Jones (22 points, 10 rebounds, 9-13 shooting)
Indiana’s Jordan Hulls (22 points, 4-6 three-point shooting)
New Mexico’s Drew Gordon (18 points, 13 rebounds)
Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (16 points, nine rebounds, seven blocks)
Syracuse’s James Sutherland (15 points, eight rebounds off bench)