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NCAA Tournament notebook, Day 2: LSU posts 3 double-doubles, Alabama survives a scare and Ohio stuns Virginia

Adam Spencer

By Adam Spencer

Published:

We didn’t get the 3 overtime games we saw on Friday, but Saturday was another exciting day of NCAA Tournament action!

And, like Friday, the 3 SEC teams went 2-1, with the team playing in the latest tipoff of the 3 being the one to lose.

The big takeaway for me in Round 1 was that I’m glad I have Gonzaga and Illinois in my final. Yes, they were only playing 16-seeds, but man, did they ever look good. Illinois faces a really tough test today against Loyola-Chicago, but I’m counting on the Illini to survive and advance.

The Round of 32 starts today. Arkansas takes on Texas Tech at 6:10 p.m. ET on TNT and Florida plays Oral Roberts at 7:45 p.m. ET on TruTV.

But, before we get there, let’s take a look at another day of bracket-busting March Madness action. (There are apparently no perfect brackets out there after today. Crazy.)

SEC notes

LSU 76, St. Bonaventure 61

The stat of the year held true in this one. LSU is now 18-1 when Darius Days scores at least 10 points. The Tigers are 0-9 when Days doesn’t play or scores fewer than 10 points. He had 13 points and 11 rebounds in the Tigers’ win over St. Bonaventure — 1 of 3 players on LSU’s roster to have double-doubles.

The others were Trendon Watford (11 points, 11 boards) and Aundre Hyatt (13 points, 10 rebounds). But, once again, it was Cam Thomas who led the Tigers offensively.

After a slow start (for Thomas and the Tigers as a whole), Thomas finished with 27 points. When his shot wasn’t falling, he got to the free-throw line, knocking down 11 of his 13 attempts from the charity stripe.

But, don’t worry — he also hit plenty of his trademark tough shots, including this 3 from the logo:

It’s just insane that he would take that shot, first of all. But he made it look so easy.

Here’s a more complete highlight reel for his big day:

He’s a special player. I see him being an Isaiah (not Isiah) Thomas-type in the NBA next year. He’s going to be a spark plug off someone’s bench for years to come.

Now, the Tigers advance to face 1-seed Michigan. I have LSU winning in my bracket. We’ll see if Thomas can lead the Tigers to the first upset of a 1-seed in this tournament.

Alabama 68, Iona 55

It wasn’t easy, but the Tide pulled away late to beat a tough Iona team. Coach Rick Pitino had the Gaels ready. He’s a Hall-of-Fame coach. But, Alabama coach Nate Oats is the master of the halftime adjustment, and he had more talent to work with.

Herb Jones showed why he was the SEC’s Player and Defensive Player of the Year, putting up 20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. Alex Reese hit a pair of clutch 3s in the second half. And, Jahvon Quinerly (the SEC Tournament MVP) picked a great month to play the best basketball of his career.

Look at this speed. And that finish in traffic? Yeah, you can’t guard that:

He had 11 points off the bench. It’s clear he wants to prove the SEC voters wrong, as they named Arkansas’s JD Notae the league’s Sixth Man of the Year over Quinerly (though Notae had a big game for the Hogs on Friday).

The biggest problem for the Tide on Saturday was that John Petty Jr. was ice cold offensively. He went 3-for-13 from the floor, 1-for-5 from 3-point range and a disappointing 3-for-8 from the free-throw line. He finished with 10 points, though, and still managed to contribute, leading the Tide with 7 rebounds.

Oats was quick to praise Petty’s defensive leadership after the game:

When you’ve got a guy like Petty who can carry an offense when he’s hot, you let him shoot his way out of the slump. The Tide just need Petty to snap out of his shooting struggles in Round 2. There are no redos in March.

Oklahoma 72, Mizzou 68

This is the Mizzou team we’ve come to know down the stretch of the 2020-21 season. These Tigers are a far cry from the squad that reached the top 10 in the AP Poll after beating Alabama the day before the Super Bowl.

Yes, Mizzou made a nice late run to put itself in position to potentially hit a game-tying 3 with only seconds remaining. Instead, the Tigers … didn’t? They had a couple of opportunities to launch a 3, but passed it around until the Sooners fouled them. Look at this. It is utterly embarrassing:

That all but sealed the Sooner victory.

I like Cuonzo Martin, but if his offensive schemes don’t improve quickly, this Tiger team is going nowhere the next 2 years. It’s unlikely that Dru Smith, Xavier Pinson and Jeremiah Tilmon — a trio of incredible Tigers — return next year.

If Martin doesn’t hit the transfer portal and bring in some talent, the 2021-22 season is going to be a long one in Columbia.

Other notes

Kansas 93, Eastern Washington 84

Look, we all knew Kansas was going to have to get through a high-powered team from Eastern Washington if it wanted to get to the Final Four. Gonzaga is an elite squad, so it’s no surprise the Jayhawks struggled in this game.

*Checks notes*

Oh, wait … the Jayhawks were struggling against “Eastern Washington” not just a team located in Eastern Washington? Well, in that case, time to break out this tweet:

Yes, it was another tight Round 1 game for Bill Self’s squad, but Kansas pulled off the win in the end, despite the best efforts of Tanner and Jacob Groves. Tanner had 35 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. Jacob added 23 points and 9 boards.

They were doing it all early as Eastern Washington built up a big lead:

And, Tanner became a fast favorite of fans (including me) watching Eastern Washington play for the first time:

Ultimately, though, David McCormack led the Jayhawks back. He finished with 22 points off the bench. And, he went 4-for-5 from the free-throw line. That’s in line with his season average. Having a big man who can hit free throws is such a plus in the NCAA Tournament.

Now, we’ll see if Kansas can win a couple more games to play that other team from Eastern Washington — Gonzaga.

Colorado 96, Georgetown 73

The Hoyas’ magic ran out in a big way, as this 12-5 upset wasn’t meant to be. That’s in large part thanks to the hot shooting of Jabari Walker, son of former NBA player Samaki Walker, was red hot, scoring 24 points off the bench and going 5-for-5 from beyond the arc.

That’s more 3-pointers than his dad ever hit in college or the pros, so Jabari trolled his old man after the game:

When you’re shooting like this, though, you can troll whoever you want!

Colorado looked really good, but it’s important to note that Georgetown was a sub-.500 team in the regular season before its run in the Big East Tournament. Florida State will provide a much tougher test for Colorado in Round 2. Speaking of the Seminoles …

Florida State 64, UNC-Greensboro 54

Florida State went 0-for-8 from behind the 3-point arc in the first half against the Spartans. So, the Seminoles made an adjustment. They just stopped shooting 3s. They finished the game 0-for-9 from long range.

That’s an impressive feat in this day and age, winning a game in which you don’t make a single 3. Colorado, the team Florida State will meet in Round 2, went 16-for-25 from 3-point range against Georgetown.

The Seminoles might want to hit the gym and work on their 3s a bit on Sunday if they want to beat the Buffaloes on Monday. That’s going to be a heck of a game, it looks like!

Creighton 63, UC-Santa Barbara 62

What separates teams that advance in the NCAA Tournament from teams that go home? It’s a matter of millimeters, sometimes.

This was the shot the Gauchos got with the game on the line and … it just missed:

It was a heck of a game from both teams, but only 1 can survive and advance. The Blue Jays go to Round 2, while the Gauchos will be thinking about this shot that came up just short for months to come.

Ohio 62, Virginia 58

I’m not here to criticize coach Tony Bennett. The Cavaliers won the most-recent NCAA Tournament in 2019, after all. But, the Hoos also have a history of early exits with this system of all-defense, no-offense:

Again, the 1 title makes it all worth it. But, it’s also worth asking whether this system works if you don’t have a guy who can get a bucket on his own (a la De’Andre Hunter).

Meanwhile, Ohio had 2 guys who could get buckets — Ben Vander Plas and Jason Preston. Preston had 11 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists. He normally scores more points, but he was doing it all for the Bobcats:

Preston’s next stop is the NBA, but he’ll look to keep his season alive a bit longer in Round 2.

Now, we’ll see if the Bobcats can advance past Creighton on Monday. Let’s just say I’ve been on the Bobcat bandwagon for a while now:

They’re going to be a tough out for the Blue Jays!

Oregon vs. VCU — No contest

Unfortunately, the last scheduled game of Round 1 was also the first game to be declared a no-contest due to COVID-19. Here’s the statement that was released:

Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart, the NCAA Tournament committee chair, provided an in-depth interview with the CBS studio crew:

It’s unfortunate that the Rams season had to end this way. Let’s hope the second round can go off without a hitch.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.

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