Good Friday Madness in Tampa heats things up

Anyone who caught yesterday’s action down in St. Petersburgh not only got to see riveting games but a bit of history as well on Good Friday. Well, maybe not when it came to higher seeds.

It was the first time ever that all four lower seeds at a site prevailed in the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Div. I tournament. It all started in dramatic style with 12th seed Western Kentucky needing a Ty Rogers 26-foot buzzer beater to upend No.5 Drake 101-99 in overtime.

As detailed in a previous entry yesterday, just an amazing shot which concluded a crazy game which saw higher seeded Drake mount a furious rally from 18 down with eight minutes left in regulation just to get the game to OT.

They continued to perform well in the extra session but couldn’t shake their lower seeded foes as each team went bucket for bucket. One could tell that it might just come down to that final shot before the buzzer. Unfortunately for Drake, that was the case after Jonathan Cox’s couple of free throws put his school ahead by one 99-98 with only 5.7 seconds left.

After using their final timeout to setup the play, leading scorer Tyrone Brazelton took a Rogers pass and raced up court. The 33-point high scorer later admitted the play was designed for him but during it made a perfect bounce pass to an open Rogers, who fired from 26 nailing it as the buzzer sounded.

What an ending!

“I think what you just saw out there is why this is the greatest show on earth,” Western Kentucky coach Darrin Horn later acknowledged to the AP.

Who could argue?

“We tried to slow down the ballhandler as much as possible,” Drake point guard Adam Emmenecker explained after finishing with 11 points, six rebounds and a remarkable 14 assists all in a losing effort.

“I thought we played pretty good defense. He pitched the ball back to a guy shooting from 26 feet or whatever it was. He just stepped up and made a big play … not much else we could have done.”

Emmenecker’s analysis was right on the mark as his team did D up on that final dramatic play. Rogers made a very difficult shot from just a couple of feet in bounds. Kudos to him.

It was a pretty fitting conclusion for a game which featured a tournament game record 30 three-pointers and a combined 70 attempts from beyond the arc.

The next surprise was 13th seeded San Diego also requiring OT before getting a last second jumper from De’Jon Jackson to edge No.4 Connecticut 70-69.

Considering that they led for a good chunk once Jim Calhoun’s Big East club lost their best player A.J. Price to a serious injury, San Diego was fortunate to escape with the biggest win in its history. To their credit, the Huskies fought back from a double digit deficit to get the game to OT in large part because SD missed a few key free throws which would’ve erased any doubt.

Instead, Uconn on the leadership of Jerome Dyson (14 pts incl. tying freebies) and Jeff Adrien (double double- 18 and 12) found themselves with a second life to possibly not become the first Calhoun-coached Huskie team to lose in the opening round.

It certainly looked like they would escape when they squeaked ahead by one with under 10 seconds to play. But San Diego burned their last two timeouts to get the ball on the right sideline with under five ticks left.

Even without star players Brandon Johnson and Gyno Pomare on the floor due to fouling out, they pulled it out thanks to a very difficult step back from Jackson to give them the game-winner with 1.2 seconds remaining.

There was no Tate George on Uconn this time as their inbounds was easily intercepted by the hero Jackson, who flung the ball up as teammates celebrated their big upset.

The next upset was one which the 13th seeded Siena Saints expected to win. And win they did rather easily, leading from start to finish in crushing No.4 Vanderbilt 83-62 on the strength of Kenny Hasbrouck’s 30 and running mate Tay Fisher’s 19 on a perfect six-of-six from downtown.

“I really don’t consider it an upset,” the not overly satisfied Fisher later indicated. “I have confidence in my team and I knew we could hang with anybody in the country.”

“Actually, we wanted to be the first upset of the day,” Hasbrouck noted of the upset frenzy in Tampa after a solid 9-of-14 showing along with sinking all 10 from the charity stripe.

Siena became the first team from the MEAC to advance since Manhattan in 2004 when they defeated Florida.

If it wasn’t a big surprise to them, maybe the final upset of the night was one to many interested observers with a select amount having their brackets busted by maybe the final at large bubble team from the Big East in Villanova.

Jay Wright’s 12th seeded Wildcats showed plenty of bounceback ability in climbing back from an 18-point first half hole to knock off No.5 Clemson 75-69 in the final historic game of an upset minded night.

A lot of people including myself liked the Tigers to go pretty far into the tournament due to how well they played in the ACC against one of Big Dance favorites North Carolina even beating them once.

However, despite building an 18-point first half lead, Clemson wilted against a relentless ‘Nova team which played tremendously thanks to the backcourt of Scottie Reynolds and freshman Corey Fisher, who combined for 38 which included six treys. Reynolds torched the Tigers by nailing four-of-five.

They also got some support from former Lincoln Railsplitter Antonio Pena, who contributed 12 points and six boards.

The difference was Villanova’s tenacity on D forcing Clemson into poor shots. The Tigers in particular didn’t show much discipline airmailing 24 of 33 three-point field goal attempts. On most nights, that just won’t work. Especially in March.

By comparison, Villanova connected on an efficient seven of 13 from downtown. They also were the more aggressive team getting to the line 29 times and making a good percentage (24-of-29, 82.8 Pct.). Their ACC opponents clanged nine of 23 free throw attempts finishing at 60.9 percent.

Sometimes, basic fundamentals are the difference between winning and losing. At any level, they’re essential. That’s why Villanova advanced to a second round match-up against No.13 San Diego with a Sweet 16 berth on the line.

They also were able to overcome a technical foul on Wright, who disagreed with a call which gave Clemson hope allowing them to comeback from seven down to tie with under two minutes left.

“I deserved it,” Wright admitted. “It’s like you tell the players all the time, ‘You’ve got to forget about it,’ But in the back of my mind, I’m hoping it doesn’t cost us.”

The Wildcats made the Tigers pay at the line converting 9-of-10 in the final 97 seconds to once again advance as a lower seed. Since 1979, no school has won more tournament games as a lower seed than Villanova.

But on Sunday, they’ll be the higher seed when they battle San Diego. So it should be interesting.

Regardless, it concluded an amazing Friday night which won’t soon be forgotten.

“I’m sure this is going to be talked about,” Wright added. “It’s incredible what happened here today.”