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AJ Mast / Associated Press
In a wild first full day of the NCAA Tournament in 2021 on Friday, 14 different seed lines scored with a win, including the Oral Roberts, no. 15, which fails the state of Ohio.
The bar was high for Saturday, and it was another exciting series of games.
A three-point blockade from Colorado ended a popular uproar in Georgetown, Michigan’s first-seeded Michigan, and brothers Tanner Groves and Jacob Groves of Eastern Washington caught the country’s attention in a troubled effort who shot too short.
And these were just the first golf games.
Let’s look at some winners and losers of Saturday’s matches before the action in the second round starts on Sunday.
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Tanner GrovesAJ Mast / Associated Press
Every March Madness gets a handful of standouts from the middle major finally getting the attention they deserve nationally with a striking NCAA tournament performance.
The Groves brothers from East Washington will undoubtedly be one of the enduring storylines of this year’s opening round. It’s just a shame we only got one game from them.
Tanner Groves was the Eagles’ best player of the season, averaging 16.4 points and 8.1 rebounds to win the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year.
The 6’9 “junior threw 35 points on 11-of-18 shooting and 5-of-11 from distance to help scare the Jayhawks in Kansas.
His younger brother, sophomore Jacob Groves, scored a career-high 23 points with four three-pointers and a team-high nine times.
Since both players are eligible, East Washington will be a team to watch during the 2021-22 season.
It’s just a chase that we could not look at them this year.
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Jabari WalkerMichael Conroy / Associated Press
The Colorado Buffaloes would not have made anyone’s list of the most dangerous three-point shooting teams in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
Despite shooting a respectable 36.7 percent of the depth during the regular season, they placed outside the top 100 in tries per game (7.5, 148th) and three-point attempts per game ( 20.4, 229th).
It was simply not a fundamental part of their game – at least until Saturday.
On the strength of a dazzling 16-of-25 series showing off three, the Buffaloes had a quick 96-73 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas.
Those 16 tries are a record for a Pac-12 team in the NCAA Tournament.
First-years Jabari Walker (24 points, 5/5 3PT) and senior D’Shawn Schwartz (18 points, 5/7 3PT) did the hard work, but seven different players connected from deep.
Colorado advances to the second round of the tournament for the first time since 2014.
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Creighton’s Christian BishopAssociated Press
The uproar was just there, and UC Santa Barbara could not secure it.
The Gauchos led 62-61 on some free throws from Amadou Sow with 37 seconds left, but they could not miss a missed shot from Damien Jefferson of Creighton on the other side of the floor, and Christian Bishop had ‘ some free throws after being committed after his offensive setback.
With 16 seconds of play and a one-point deficit, the Gauchos chose to name their last time-out, but put the ball and the game in the hands of JaQuori McLaughlin.
A former top-100 recruiter who played his first two collegiate seasons in Oregon State, McLaughlin won the Big West Player of the Year averaging 16.2 points and 5.2 assists per game.
McLaughlin drives across the length of the floor, pulls a double team into the corner and finds Sow inside with a wild pass as time ticks away.
The 6’9 “big man went up with an awkward shot attempt against a smaller defender and did not equalize the offense.
So close.
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Balsa KoprivicaDarron Cummings / Associated Press
While the Colorado buffalo caught fire earlier in the day from the three-point line, it was the opposite for the state of Florida.
Despite shooting 0-of-9 from outside the arc, the Seminoles managed to escape with a win over UNC Greensboro, who became the first team since Kentucky to win an NCAA Tournament in 2018 without switch off from a long distance.
“We are the number one three-point shooting team in the ACC, and we were able to win a game that was 0-for-9 out of three,” Florida head coach Leonard Hamilton told reporters. “I thought we jumped back and could overcome some adversity.”
The Seminoles shot 39.0 percent from distance during the regular season, which was good for the eighth highest percentage in the country. They also averaged 8.2 tries per game.
With the outside shot not falling, the RaiQuan Gray of 6’8 “(17 points, seven rebounds) and the Balsa Koprivica (7’1”) (13 points, nine rebounds) worked inside the paint, and the Seminoles still shot 52.1 percent of the floor overall.
The end result was a 64-54 victory and a trip to the second round for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Region.
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VCU’s Nah’Shon Hyland (right)Associated Press
Amidst all the fun and excitement of the first two days of the NCAA Tournament, came a hard memory of the global pandemic that is still taking place around us.
The match between no. 7 Oregon and no. 10 VCU that would be the last game on Saturday was decided by the NCAA committee due to COVID-19 protocols.
Oregon will advance to the second round.
It’s a disappointing event for the entire VCU Rams program, but a particularly discouraging development for sophomore Nah’Shon Hyland.
The 6’3 “guard is a legitimate NBA prospect who may have picked his position as a first-round pick with a strong performance on the biggest stage in college basketball. He averaged 19.5 points per game during the regular season. scored, while scoring 69 tries on a 37.1 percent cut.
I hope this is the first and last time COVID picks up its ugly head during March Madness.
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Evan MobleyPaul Sancya / Associated Press
In Friday’s winner and loser article, Oklahoma State star Cade Cunningham–or, more specifically, the hype surrounding him as the supposed overall choice–was included among the losers after struggling in his NCAA Tournament debut.
Another talented freshman with a bright NBA future was spotted Saturday when Evan Mobley, the 7’0 “forward, gave the speech for the USC Trojans.
How would the potential number 2 overall choice fare during his first Madness outing in March?
After averaging 16.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.0 blocks to win Pac-12 Player of the Year during the regular season, Mobley scored 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in 38 minutes of action against Drake . This is more than just a good version of a good Bulldogs team that played in the field with a first four win over Wichita State.
The Trojans walked away with a comfortable 72-56 victory, and Mobley continued to excite NBA scouts with his long-term potential.
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James BouknightRobert Franklin / Associated Press
The Connecticut Huskies were a different team this year with James Bouknight.
The most notable sophomore averaged 19.0 points per game, scoring 40 in an early-season game against a good Creighton team, but he missed six weeks in the middle of the season with an elbow injury. The Huskies were 11-3 in games he played and only 4-4 without him.
With the rust shaken off and UConn setting a 7-2 record in their last nine games for the tournament, it looked like they could shake things up as the number 7 team in the Eastern Region.
UConn legend Kemba Walker put the Huskies on his back as they ran to an NCAA tournament in 2011. Kon Bouknight–a potential lottery in the NBA draft in 2021–do the same?
The answer is a resounding ‘no’, as the Huskies fell 63-54 to the Maryland Terrapins in the first round on Saturday night.
Bouknight finished with a team-high 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting and 1-out-6 from outside the arc, and the Huskies left most of the entire second half behind in a game that was more one-sided than the final score indicates.
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Jason PrestonTony Dejak / Associated Press
There was no more obvious upset choice in this year’s first round as No. 13 in Ohio as No. 4 in Virginia.
The biggest reason for the lack of confidence in Virginia had nothing to do with the way the two teams on the track match and everything to do with COVID-19.
The Cavaliers were banned from the ACC tournament last Friday after a positive test, and their subsequent one-week quarantine made them the last team to arrive in the NCAA tournament in Indianapolis.
The emotional aftermath of whether or not they are allowed to play, coupled with all the travel so close to tipoff, leaves Virginia susceptible to an upset.
However, it was not all question marks that were out of court that made it a popular upset.
Anyone who has seen the Ohio Bobcats give the No. 1 seed in Illinois everything he could have lost 77-75 on Nov. 27 knew this team could stick with anyone.
Point guard Jason Preston averaged 16.6 points, 7.2 assists and 6.8 rebounds per game during the regular season, and on Saturday he again filled the stats with 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Ben Vander Plas scored 10 of his team-high 17 points during a crucial 12-2 run by the Bobcats late in the game, and they were able to hold on to a twisting time for a 62-58 victory.