March Madness: Winners and losers from the men’s NCAA tournament first round Saturday
first day of spectacular upsets, the second day of first round matchups in the men’s NCAA Tournament are underway.
Bracket-busting and Cinderella runs were brewing but ultimately put to rest in the early set of games, as Kansas staved off No. 14 Northeastern’s upset bid despite trailing at halftime and Florida State shook off a late rally by No. 13 seed UNC Greensboro. Both mid-majors were dangerous but couldn’t pull it off against their power conference opponents.
Other upsets possibilities never materialized, as Colorado blew out Georgetown and LSU handily beat St. Bonaventure.
Winners and losers of Saturday’s smorgasbord of games:
Winners
Florida State. The Seminoles (17-6) only led by one against their No. 13 seed opponent, UNC Greensboro, with five minutes left thanks to a big rally from the Spartans. But once FSU figured out how to manage against UNCG’s zone defense to make patient plays, coach Leonard Hamilton’s team was able to pull away for a 64-54 win and avoid a major upset against a very dangerous mid-major squad from the Southern Conference. RaiQuan Gray (17 points) had several pace-controlling buckets that kept UNCG at arm’s length in the game’s final minutes.
Kansas. The Jayhawks (21-8) trailed 46-38 at halftime vs. No. 14 seed Eastern Washington but came into their own in the second half thanks to a collective effort that saw five players score in double-figures. Kansas survived the upset bid and 35 points by the Eagles’ Tanner Groves, finally pulling away 93-84. Marcus Garrett (23 points) and David McCormack (22 points) paced Kansas in this victory — which was a character-building win after the team pulled out of the Big 12 tournament due to COVID-19 protocols and had three playersnot travel for Saturday’s game.
Losers
Georgetown. The Hoyas (13-13) weren’t competitive in a 96-73 loss to Colorado and simply looked happy to be there after unexpectedly winning the Big East tournament. This was a bad matchup for coach Patrick Ewing’s group at the No. 12 vs. No. 5 seed line given the Buffaloes’ versatility and depth. Colorado’s Jabari Walker came off the bench and was on fire from deep, canning five three-pointers to finish with 24 points.
St. Bonaventure. It was just too much Cam Thomas for the Bonnies (16-5) to handle in a 76-61 loss. The freshman guard who averages 22.6 points, scored with ease in this No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed clash, with 27 points. St. Bonaventure was the best team in the Atlantic 10 but didn’t look like it belonged in the same building against its SEC opponent. Because of COVID-19, the Bonnies played seven fewer games than LSU this year. It showed. The loss hurts because an injury-plagued Michigan probably will be the second-round opponent, so there’s potential for a big upset.
Follow college basketball reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.
