For the next 25 hours or so, yours truly will be attempting the seemingly impossible task of watching and blogging about the college basketball marathon tipoff. Games every two hours, sometimes every hour for the next two days...shouldn't be too difficult for a die hard like me right? Only time and the shot clock will tell...see you all on the other side!
Hour Zero: A game of note that is not being televised is the Stanford Cardinal vs. the University of San Diego Torero's. At the half, Stanford is up 35-19 with 10 points from both Andrew Zimmerman and Josh Owens, whose return to the game has been anxiously awaited by Cardinal fans everywhere. Fear the Tree.
Stanford cruises to victory over San Diego, 64-48.
Hour 1-2: Miami (FL) vs. number 19 ranked Memphis....both strong, big, fast teams. One of the better match-ups in my opinion...will come down to who can prevent the penetration. Half time score reflects this at 38-37, Memphis with the lead. Memphis is looking significantly stronger in the paint, but Miami is looking quicker on the break.
On another note, there has already been a big surprise upset in the ACC...Georgia Tech was defeated 63-80 to the Kennesaw State Owls, a small school only 21 miles from GT...they are in the Atlantic Sun conference and this is this first win over a Power 6 school EVER. The Owls shot 47% over GT for the win. Back to the drawing board for Georgia Tech....
Miami's Reggie Johnson was key on both offense and defense for the Hurricanes.
Memphis's shooting is key in this game; being able to throw down outside the 3 point line and then full court press, causing Miami to burn a time out is really impressive. Memphis head coach, Josh Pastner, only 33 years old and the 7th youngest coach in NCAA history, runs a slightly different system then his predecessor, the great John Calipari; Pastner incorporates more screenplay. Good, close game; little preview of how tough this March to madness is going to be, but ultimately Memphis comes out with the "W", which stands for WORK, of the hard variety. Oh and some clutch free throws. 17 pts for the frosh Jackson..very impressive. On to the next one...
Hour 3-4: St. Johns vs. Saint Marys Gaels (my old alma mater)...most exciting thing about this game is the return of Steve Lavin to collegiate coaching after a 7 year absence. St. John's playing the zone in the first half trying to force SMC to try to penetrate and at the same time stretching out their offense. This game is fast and loud thanks to two very athletic teams and a small, hometown gym. St. John's up 31-28 at half.
2nd half remained close...both young'ins and vets stepping up big for SMC. Lavin loves that matchup zone. And SMC loves that inside out pass to Clint Steindel. Is Saint Mary's australian for recruiting? Maybe, maybe not but Gaels win 76-71 over St. John...and they do it with excellent free throw shooting and not much else.
Hour 5-6: Central MIchigan vs. Hawaii. Fatigue and mild delusion starting to kick in a bit...time to fire down a red bull and get after it, in the words of the great Brian Wilson. Might sneak in a quick nap during these few down time games...shhhhhhhh!
So as predicted...I sacked out for a tiny bit...missed a few games but am updating myself on what has gone down now.
Central Michigan fell to Hawaii by 3...65-62...another tough, hard fought game.
Stony Brook rolls over Monmouth 51-49.
Kent State squeaks by Robert Morris, 62-59.
And Northeastern ousts Southern Illinois in OT, 63-62.
Pretty close games all around....now back to the grind....
9 Hours Later.... Oral Roberts vs. Tulsa....heavy shooting game...Tulsa breezes by Oral Roberts, 83-68.
LaSalle vs. Baylor is up next...and this is a great game to watch, as the 17th ranked Baylor is a team to keep an eye on...with their lanky length and quickness. Baylor beats up LaSalle by 10, 74-64.
Now on to one of my personal favorites, the number 3 ranked Kansas State Wildcats...they are facing off against the number 25 ranked Virginia Tech. This is truly one of the best matchups thus far...K-State looking to be one of the final four left standing. This game is going to be very very fast. K- State has a formidable foundation on returning guard Jacob Pullen, who is supported by forwards Curtis Kelly and Jamar Samuels.
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