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One day was madness, the other was mundane.
Split across Thursday and Friday, the opening round of this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament became an exercise in polarity. The former dripped with excitement in the form of Ohio State-TCU, Wisconsin-High Point, VCU-North Carolina and an instant classic between Siena and Duke in which the event’s No. 1 overall seed was nearly felled. The latter brought an onslaught of predictability as every single betting favorite advanced to the Round of 32 in the chalkiest of slates.
Now we move onto the weekend.
Here are my takeaways from the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament:
1. St. John’s sends a message to the selection committee
Zuby Ejiofor of St. John’s drives to the basket against Will Hornseth and Ben Schwieger of Northern Iowa. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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By and enormous, there wasn’t a lot for the plenty to complain about when this yr’s males’s NCAA Match bracket was revealed earlier this month. The 4 No. 1 seeds had separated themselves sufficient in the course of the common season to quiet any debate about who deserved to land on the highest line. The bubble was so weak and barren that no one on the skin trying in might actually have a official gripe. Each crew and each seed felt comfortably inside the anticipated margin for error — besides what occurred to St. John’s.
Winners of each the Huge East common season and event titles for the second consecutive season, the Crimson Storm (28-6 general) had been inexplicably handed a No. 5 seed and shipped throughout the nation to play first- and second-round matchups in San Diego. Head coach Rick Pitino voiced his displeasure in a pregame information convention on Thursday afternoon.
“We’re a 5-seed as a result of the Huge East is just not regarded the way in which they was once once I was at Louisville,” Pitino mentioned. “In order that’s the issue.”
Head coach Rick Pitino of the St. John’s Crimson Storm appears on in the course of the first half in opposition to the UNI Panthers. (Photograph by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Photographs)
There’s no query that the Huge East largely endured a down season, evidenced by solely three groups reaching the NCAA Match in St. John’s, UConn and Villanova. Whereas Seton Corridor (21-12, 10-10) permeated most bubble conversations down the stretch, different perennial league powers like Creighton and Marquette completed beneath .500 in convention play. When eighth-seeded Villanova misplaced its opening-round sport by double digits to Utah State on Friday afternoon, the league’s popularity took one more hit.
However punishing a Crimson Storm crew that doled out a 20-point thumping of UConn within the Huge East Match final weekend just because the remainder of the league is smooth by no means made a lot sense. Particularly contemplating how favorably the committee handled Duke (1-seed) and Virginia (3-seed) in what was nothing greater than a modest season within the ACC. Two issues could be true concurrently: Positive, the Huge East struggled this yr, however St. John’s nonetheless carried out effectively sufficient to obtain a better seed within the NCAA Match.
Although Pitino downplayed the concept his crew would harbor any sort of grudge when it took the ground in opposition to No. 12 Northern Iowa, the moment domination appeared to talk for itself. St. John’s opened the sport on a 13-0 run and led by 19 factors at halftime, smashing the Panthers on the glass and burying them with a barrage of seven makes from past the arc.
When the sport lastly and mercifully ended late on Friday night, the Crimson Storm had cruised to an emphatic 79-53 victory that arrange a gathering with fourth-seeded Kansas on Sunday. Simply think about what Pitino’s crew might have performed to a fair lesser opponent if the committee seeded St. John’s correctly.
2. An damage to Iowa State star Joshua Jefferson might seriously change the Midwest Area
Iowa State Cyclones ahead Joshua Jefferson (5) cheers from the bench. (Photograph by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Photographs)
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Every little thing in regards to the potential consequence within the Midwest Area, the place Michigan holds the 1-seed, quaked and quivered when Iowa State ahead Joshua Jefferson suffered an damage fewer than three minutes into his crew’s opening-round sport in opposition to No. 15 Tennessee State on Friday afternoon.
Jefferson soared towards the ring for an tried layup with 17:23 remaining within the first half when he landed awkwardly beneath the basket, his left ankle rolling fairly considerably. He slapped the ground in frustration and rocked backwards and forwards in ache earlier than the Cyclones’ coach arrived at his facet.
Finally, Jefferson was helped off the ground and into the locker room with out placing any weight on his injured leg. Tv cameras later confirmed Jefferson on crunches within the tunnel. He wore a boot within the locker room after the sport.
“He has a sprained left ankle,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger mentioned in his postgame information convention. “We had an X-ray and the X-ray was detrimental. So we’ll proceed to reevaluate over the subsequent day or two and simply see the place issues are once we get to Sunday.”
Although Iowa State pounded Tennessee State, 108-74, the Cyclones might want to adapt their sport plan considerably if the damage to Jefferson proves important sufficient to sideline him within the Spherical of 32 in opposition to No. 7 Kentucky on Sunday. Jefferson, a senior, is second on the crew in scoring (16.9 factors per sport), first in rebounding (7.6 per sport), second in assists (4.9 per sport), second in steals (1.7 per sport) and tied for first in blocks (0.9 per sport). He’s second on this season’s Participant of the 12 months rankings on KenPom behind energy ahead Cameron Boozer of Duke.
Dropping a participant of Jefferson’s ilk for any extended time frame would drastically decrease the Cyclones’ ceiling in a season once they’ve established themselves as probably the greatest groups within the nation. Otzelberger’s group entered the Huge Dance having notched victories over fellow NCAA Match groups St. John’s, Purdue, Iowa, UCF, Kansas, Houston and Texas Tech. They misplaced the Huge 12 Match title sport to then-No. 2 Arizona by simply two factors, pushing an elite 1-seed to the brink.
The short-term benefactor on this state of affairs might be Kentucky, which wanted a 40-foot shot on the finish of regulation to pressure time beyond regulation in opposition to No. 10 Santa Clara on Friday earlier than finally prevailing. Past that, No. 3 Virginia and top-seeded Michigan loom as the opposite heavyweights on this quadrant. How a lot time Jefferson would possibly miss and the way impactful he’ll be after a possible return at the moment are the defining storylines within the Midwest Area.
3. New head coaches make a right away splash in Spherical 1
Siena head coach Gerry McNamara reacts in the course of the first half in opposition to Duke. (Photograph by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Photographs)
In all chance, the heartrate for Duke head coach Jon Scheyer nonetheless hadn’t returned to regular ranges throughout his postgame interview after an unimaginable scare. His Blue Devils, the No. 1 general seed within the NCAA Match, narrowly escaped what would have been simply the third 16-over-1 upset within the occasion’s historical past, erasing a double-digit deficit to fend off Siena.
Scheyer promptly acknowledged what everybody who watched the sport might plainly see.
“G-Mac,” Scheyer mentioned in reference to Saints’ head coach Gerry McNamara, “he outcoached me. They had been extra able to play. And the readiness and toughness by our guys simply to climate that storm within the second half, I’m pleased with them. It’s nice to get this win. I feel there’s quite a bit that we are able to be taught for transferring ahead.”
Although the Saints finally deflated in an eventual 71-65 loss to Duke, the character of Siena’s efficiency was emblematic of a theme that personified the opening spherical: A flurry of first-year coaches guiding their groups to the Huge Dance after which both pushing the powers that be to the brink or defeating them outright. By no means has program constructing and roster reconstruction occurred quicker than it’s proper now — due to the switch portal, an inflow of expertise from overseas and a brand new wave of forward-thinking coaches whose schemes are constructed on fashionable analytics.
No. 12 Excessive Level, underneath the path of first-year coach Flynn Clayman, scored the most important upset of the opening day by toppling No. 5 Wisconsin and burying 15 photographs from past the arc.
No. 11 VCU, led by first-year coach Phil Martelli Jr., the son of former Saint Joseph’s head coach Phil Martelli, roared again from a 19-point deficit to stun No. 6 North Carolina in time beyond regulation, using a beginning lineup that included three transfers and one true freshman.
No. 11 Texas, navigating its first season underneath head coach Sean Miller, buried a last-second shot to beat fellow No. 11 seed NC State within the First 4 earlier than toppling No. 6 BYU within the opening spherical, matching its deepest NCAA Match run since attending to the Elite Eight in 2008.
No. 10 Texas A&M, which made the daring resolution to rent then-41-year-old Bucky McMillan final April, only some years faraway from when he was nonetheless teaching highschool basketball, smothered No. 7 Saint Mary’s in a convincing double-digit win.
All of these outcomes converse to how shortly a program’s trajectory can change within the fashionable period. The age when athletic administrators had been keen to attend three, 4 and 5 years for brand new coaches to settle in is sort of definitely gone.
4. This model of Texas could make a deep run
Texas head coach Sean Miller appears on in opposition to the BYU Cougars. (Photograph by Soobum Im/Getty Photographs)
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From now till the pattern now not holds true, one specific stat will proceed to make the rounds in school basketball circles as followers throughout the nation fill out their brackets. Essentially the most up to date model appears like this: Twenty-two of the final 23 nationwide champions have completed the season ranked among the many high 25 nationally in each offensive and defensive effectivity. The lone outlier? A UConn crew from 2014 that, improbably, gained the entire thing as a 7-seed behind star guard Shabazz Napier.
A few of the extra attention-grabbing teams to think about in a event setting are those who navigated their total pre-March Insanity season with wildly lopsided metrics. Which brings us to 11-seed Texas, a crew that arrived on the SEC Match with an offense ranked sixteenth nationally and a protection that checked in 119th, in accordance with Torvik. Not precisely the balanced recipe that, within the twenty first century, tends to provide nationwide champions.
However in the event you fast-forward a number of weeks, the circumstances surrounding the Longhorns out of the blue appear fairly totally different. Again-to-back wins over fellow No. 11 seed NC State within the First 4 and No. 6 BYU within the Spherical of 64 have painted head coach Sean Miller’s crew in a far totally different gentle. All of the sudden, Texas’ protection, which held the Wolfpack to 66 factors and the Cougars to 71 factors, now ranks thirteenth nationally because the NCAA Match started.
“I feel the final couple of video games, from a defensive perspective, is about nearly as good as we have performed all yr,” Miller mentioned in his postgame information convention after defeating BYU on Thursday evening. “Whenever you join the protection with the offense that we have performed, you’ve got a crew that is definitely harmful. That is what I might name us proper now.”
Miller is totally right. His groups have at all times performed high-level offense throughout prior teaching stints at Xavier (twice) and Arizona, with this yr’s Texas squad following proper alongside. The Longhorns have 4 gamers averaging no less than 13 factors per sport coming into Saturday’s matchup with No. 3 Gonzaga, and so they draw extra free throws than all however two groups within the nation: Dayton and New Orleans.
If the protection holds agency, Texas can grasp with nearly anybody.
4½. What’s subsequent?
Listed here are a number of storylines to look at over the weekend as we transfer into the Spherical of 32:
No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 4 Nebraska (Saturday) — Whichever crew emerges victorious on Saturday shall be working in rarified air. The Cornhuskers had by no means gained an NCAA Match sport previous to hammering No. 13 Troy within the opening spherical. The Commodores haven’t reached the Candy 16 since 2007 and can be in search of the primary Elite Eight look in class historical past.
No. 10 Texas A&M vs. No. 2 Houston (Saturday) — It is a fascinating distinction in kinds with regards to tempo. The Aggies make use of a busy, up-tempo model of basketball underneath McMillan that operates at a charge of 70.2 possessions per 40 minutes, which ranks thirty ninth nationally. The Cougars are much more methodical and deliberate underneath head coach Kelvin Sampson, taking part in a median of 63.4 possessions per 40 minutes, which ranks among the many 15 slowest groups within the nation.
No. 9 Utah State vs. No. 1 Arizona (Sunday) — Analytically talking, Utah State has a superb résumé for a mid-major program. The Aggies rank twenty seventh nationally in offensive effectivity, forty third in defensive effectivity and thirty first in Wins Above Bubble. However previous to Friday’s win over Villanova, they’d solely performed two video games in opposition to groups on this yr’s NCAA Match: a win over VCU and a loss to South Florida. Now, Arizona presents what’s by far the hardest problem of the season for a crew that — no less than on paper — ought to acquit itself fairly effectively.
No. 5 Texas Tech vs. No. 4 Alabama (Sunday) — A enjoyable sport between two high-flying offenses initiatives as a battle of the supporting casts now that each groups are working with out key contributors. Texas Tech misplaced first-team All-American energy ahead JT Toppin (21.8 factors, 10.8 rebounds per sport) to a torn ACL on Feb. 17. Alabama entered the NCAA Match with out guard Aden Holloway (16.8 factors per sport) following his arrest earlier this week on a felony drug cost.
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