{"id":206286,"date":"2021-03-19T15:24:44","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T12:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/march-madness-gets-off-to-wild-start-with-epic-first-four-matchups\/"},"modified":"2021-03-19T15:24:44","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T12:24:44","slug":"march-madness-gets-off-to-wild-start-with-epic-first-four-matchups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/march-madness-gets-off-to-wild-start-with-epic-first-four-matchups\/","title":{"rendered":"#March Madness gets off to wild start with epic First Four matchups"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#March Madness gets off to wild start with epic First Four matchups<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

Who are we kidding? \u201cFirst Four\u201d still sounds more like an educational toy than the prelude to three of the best weeks in sport.<\/p>\n

But because of the pandemic, it\u2019s been 710 days since last we saw the NCAA Tournament \u2014 who\u2019s counting? \u2014 so let\u2019s not quibble over names and go straight to the opening-night review:<\/p>\n

Pretty, pretty good.<\/p>\n

In the finale pitting two of college hoops\u2019 marquee programs, UCLA outlasted Michigan State 86-80 in overtime. Two other game<\/a>s were decided by a single point: Drake beat Wichita State 53-52, and Norfolk State squeezed App<\/a>alachian State 54-53. In Thursday\u2019s opener, Texas Southern pulled steadily away from Mount St. Mary\u2019s and won 60-52.<\/p>\n

The first four games were grafted onto the 64-team main bracket in 2011, naturally, to pad the NCAA coffers. They were originally dubbed \u201cplay-in\u201d games, and then briefly the \u201cFirst Round,\u201d which the NCAA quickly squashed to avoid any confusion with the 16 games that begin the tournament in earnest Friday.<\/p>\n

Only one First Four team has also made it all the way to the Final Four \u2014 Virginia Commonwealth in 2011 \u2014 but survivors tend to punch above their weight. Four teams have made it to the Sweet 16 and 2019 marked the only year at least one of the first four survivors failed to win a game in the big-boy bracket.<\/p>\n

Michigan State\u2019s brief appearance in the tournament was coach Tom Izzo\u2019s 23rd straight, but it was small consolation. He got into a heated exchange with one of his own players \u2014 and not for the first time \u2014 after what appeared to be a defensive miscommunication on the final play of the first half. When Gabe Brown turned away, Izzo grabbed his arm and then the back of his jersey.<\/p>\n

\"Tom
Tom Izzo has an exchange with Michigan State\u2019s Gabe Brown.<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was a normal nothing. But in this day and age, everything\u2019s got to be something,\u201d Izzo groaned, then added. \u201cIt was over a missed switch that we talked about.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Spartans promptly went on to hand back the double-digit lead they held at intermission, yet still led by six points with four minutes left. Then the house fell in. The Bruins Jaime Jaquez Jr., who finished with 27 points, banged in a layup and added the game-tying free throw in regulation. Johnny Juzang hit back-to-back baskets to begin the extra period and UCLA kept its nose in front the rest of the way.<\/p>\n

The reward for winning the clash of No. 11 seeds is a short drive to Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where the Bruins will face No. 6 Brigham Young.<\/p>\n

Drake\u2019s win was a long time coming \u2014 50 years to be exact \u2014 and didn\u2019t go into the books until a last-second 3-point try by Wichita State\u2019s Alterique Gilbert clanged off the front rim. An early dunk by the Bulldogs 6-foot guard Joseph Yesufu over the Shockers 6-7 Clarence Jackson produced the tournament\u2019s first sure-fire poster. But Drake had to erase a double-digit, second-half deficit in a battle of No. 11 seeds and then hold its breath until the final buzzer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a long time coming and our guys knew that,\u201d said Bulldogs coach Darian DeVries, whose eight-year contract extension, signed just a day earlier, is already paying dividends. Good thing, too, because he\u2019ll draw No. 6 USC in the main bracket.<\/p>\n

Texas Southern simply had too much pace for a deliberate Mount St. Mary\u2019s squad in a match of No. 16 seeds. TSU coach Johnny Jones took advantage of the sport\u2019s more equitable transfer rules to quickly build an up-tempo attack. He sweet-talked eight talented kids from other programs onto campus, including John Walker III, who had a season-high 19 points and nine rebounds. The win was the Tigers\u2019 10th straight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m on top of the world,\u201d Walker, who was previously at Texas A&M, shouted afterward.<\/p>\n

But maybe not for long.<\/p>\n

Texas Southern faces East Region top seed Michigan on Saturday. Jones won\u2019t have long to prepare a game plan, but he planned to savor the win, which his players celebrated by emptying a water cooler over his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey drenched me,\u201d Jones laughed, \u201cbut I\u2019ll tell you what: It\u2019s one of the best feelings I\u2019ve had in cold water in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Appalachian
Appalachian State\u2019s RJ Duhart drives against Norfolk State.<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Norfolk State won the other battle of No. 16s, but did so drenched in sweat. The Spartans built a big first-half lead, squandered it and then some in the second and had to close with a 9-2 run \u2014 capped by Devante Carter\u2019s free throws with 8.6 seconds left \u2014 to prevail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew what was on the line. Nobody wants to go home. They told me that the flight was leaving tomorrow at 9:30 (am),\u201d Norfolk State coach Robert Jones said. \u201cI told them I\u2019m not packing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones better not put the suitcase too far out of reach. The Spartans\u2019 reward is a chance to burnish their giant-killer reputation against the overall No. 1 seed this year \u2014 Godzilla \u2026 er, Gonzaga.\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#March Madness gets off to wild start with epic First Four matchups” Who are we kidding? \u201cFirst Four\u201d still sounds more like an educational toy than the prelude to three of the best weeks in sport. But because of the pandemic, it\u2019s been 710 days since last we saw the NCAA Tournament \u2014 who\u2019s counting?…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":206287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/ucla-msu.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[98436,95874,97300,77956,96564,96771],"class_list":["post-206286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-3-19-21","tag-march-madness","tag-march-madness-2021","tag-michigan-state-spartans","tag-ncaa-tournament","tag-ucla-bruins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}