Without questions, at this time of the year "bracket" is the greatest seven-letter word in the English language. Here are some quick thoughts on Thursday's first set of games:
-All is Right with the Universe: Pitt beat Oral Roberts 82-63. In all honesty, nothing else matters. The 2008 NCAA Tournament can already be considered a success, and Jamie Dixon (Pitt's coach) has my ever-loving gratitude (however much that's worth).
-Josh Duncan and Derrick Brown Saved my Bacon: Speaking of guys who have my ever-loving gratitude, these two gentlemen inspired Xavier(one of my Final Four picks) to go on a 22-6 run in the second half to rally and beat Georgia. The Muskateers outscored the Bulldogs 47-26 in the second half. I have lost Final Four teams on the first day of play before (South Carolina in 1997 and Syracuse in 2005), so I appreciate Xavier's second half efforts to keep all four of my teams alive.
-Joe Crawford's Better is Better than Your Better: In what could very well be the best individual performance of the first round, Kentucky's Joe Crawford carried his team, scoring 35 points. Unfortunately for Crawford, the rest of his teammates managed just 31 points in the 74-66 lost to Marquette.
-If Only the First Half Didn't Count: Kent State had a first half to forget, tallying only 10 points in the first 20 minutes of their 71-58 loss to UNLV. The good news for the Golden Flashes is that they won the second half 48-40. UNLV's Wink Adams will be around for at least one more game, and who doesn't love a guy named Wink.
-No Christmas in March: Michigan State held Temple's top scorer, Dionte Christmas, to just three points in the Spartans' 72-61 win. MSU looked very much like the team that upset Texas in December and much less like the team that lost to Penn State in February.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment