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Tonight's schedule lacks the sizzle of some other slates, with the games not as appealing. For the first portion of the evening games, consider watching #9 Iowa vs. #8 Clemson and #10 UCF vs. #7 UCLA. For the latter half of the evening, focus upon #13 Cal Baptist vs. #4 Kansas and #10 Missouri vs. #7 Miami (FL). I plan on sitting back on the couch and tuning in to all of these games in segments, hopefully adding some observations along the way. 11:48 p.m. Update: Well, I watched as much as I could of all eight games, switching at every commercial for nearly six hours. Make the jump to read my live thoughts of the final eight games of the first round.
FRIDAY EVENING SCHEDULE AND UPDATES
6:29 p.m. CT: TNT is showing Bennett Stirtz's parents. Stirtz makes one of two free throws. Iowa is up 10 before Clemson hits a three. It looks like Clemson will break 20 points this first half. Iowa's Jacob Koch follows up with a three. I remember when Koch's dad J.R. played for the Hawkeyes in the 1990s. Clemson hits another three (that's four straight makes for the Tigers). Stirtz draws another foul and will held to the foul line. He makes them both and then gets a steal, leading to a fast-break foul on Clemson. Stirtz did so much last year for Drake; this has been the same case for Iowa. Iowa leads 32-22 with one minute remaining.
7:01 p.m. CT: Iowa is up 35-25, two minutes into the second half as the TNT cameras show Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney in the stands. Candace Parker is on the call of this game. I wish she did more games. She is really smart and articulate. Stirtz misses a tough step-back jumper and the Clemson big man does a great job boxing out Iowa's Tavion Banks, who gets an over-the-back. Clemson then runs a beautiful play getting RJ Godfrey an and-one dunk. RJ Godfrey hits the free throw. Clemson is now down 6. Stirtz misses a floater off a curl. Clemson is coming with a nice dribble drive leading to a Chase Thompson layup. Iowa hasn't scored in 3:45. Iowa misses a three, gets the offensive board, but Stirtz misses another three. Clemson's Nick Davidson draws the foul. Momentum is swinging toward Clemson, which trails 35-31 at the under-16 timeout.
7:21 p.m. CT: Iowa is up 44-35 with 11:05 remaining as the TNT telecast shows ACC Commisioner Jim Phillips. Stirtz throws a loose ball off the face of Clemson's Dillon Hunter on a loose ball. That was not on purpose as he was trying to save a loose ball going out of bounds. That had to hurt. Iowa's Alvaro Folgueiras scores on dribble drive and gets the free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play. Iowa has its largest lead, 47-35. Hunter misses a forced one-handed runner. Stirtz overpenetrates and turns the ball over. Godfrey scores on a quick post up. Folgueiras follows with a beautiful dribble drive and one-hand pass to Tate Sage who scores and is fouled. That was a beautiful pass. That looked like Drake from last season. Iowa is back up 12 as Sage cannot make the free throw. Stirtz rebounds a quick Clemson three. Folgueiras is attacking the basket, drawing a foul. It looks like he might have shuffled his feet there, but the refs don't seem to call that anymore. Folgueiras makes both free throws. The Hawkeyes are up 14. Clemson gets a big three from Porter. Iowa leads 51-40. Koch extends a possession with a tip out off of a missed Folgueiras three. Iowa leads 51-40 with 7:36 remaining. All the other games are at the half so I am going to the bathroom. :-)
7:31 p.m. CT: The game is back, and I am back from the bathroom. Iowa's Koch is fouled by Clemson's Ace Buckner on a three. Is this Greg Buckner's kid? Greg Buckner played for Clemson in the mid-1990s and for a long time in the NBA. Koch hits all three free throws. Iowa is up 54-40. Davidson scores on a nice drive for Clemson. Iowa has 10 more free throw attempts (17) than Clemson (7). Koch picks up an offensive foul, pushing off while off the ball. Hunter hits a corner three on a nice drive and kick. Iowa misses a layup off of a nice back cut. Clemson responds with a corner three by Dallas Thomas. The game is down to six. Stirtz misses a three at the end of the shot clock but Iowa gets the rebound and is fouled. That was big miss for Clemson, which had a chance to get the game to one possession if it secured the defensive board. The refs are reviewing the common foul. I may be in the minority here, but I absolutely hate replay reviews in sports. They take away a lot of the momentum from live action. The officials do not change the foul call. I am not sure how that is a foul on Clemson's Dillon Hunter. He had his hands up while Iowa's Kael Combs jumped into him. That is another problem with basketball. Defensive players get slammed into with their hands up, and it is somehow a foul on the defender who has a legal right to that space. Combs makes both free throws. Iowa leads 56-48. Clemson hits another three. That was Porter. Clemson has hit six straight shots and is down five. Clemson is called for another questionable foul. Stirtz finds Cam Manyawu, who is fouled. It looked like the Clemson defender maintained verticality. Ball don't lie. Iowa misses both free throws. Clemson is on a 11-2 run. Porter forces a three, leading to an air ball. Iowa leads 56-51 with 4:15 left. Clemson intentionally fouls Manyawu. Not a bad srategy. Hack a Manyawu. He misses a third straight free throw. He makes the fourth free throw. Clemson trails 57-51. Clemson's Davidson draws a foul at the under-4 timeout (3:47 remaining).
7:48 p.m. CT - Iowa' s Koch hits a free throw. Iowas lead 59-51 with 3 minutes left. Iowa's last 10 points are from the free throw line. Clemson's Godfrey makes a nice layup. Iowa is milking the clock. Stirtz misses a desperation three but Clemson knocks the ball out of bounds. That is a killer. Shot clock resets to 20. Iowa is running down clock each possession. Clemson is challenging, but that was off the Tigers. Iowa leads 59-53 with 2:17 left. As expected, that ball was off Clemson's Davidson. Iowa inbounds and Folgueiras is fouled. Iowa is living at the three throw line (11/16 this half). Folgueiras makes both. Iowa by eight with 2:06 to go. Davidson takes a three that goes in and out. The ball is knocked out of bounds by Iowa's Banks. Davidson is fouled by Combs. Davidson makes the first and the second. Iowa leads 61-55 with 2:00 exactly. Clemson brings full-court pressure. Iowa takes the air out of the ball. Stirtz misses a floater. Buckner scores a quick layup for Clemson. 61-57 with 1:00 left. Combs makes a tough layup. Ben McCollum calls a timeout. Iowa leads 63-57 with 56 seconds left. If Iowa wins, the 9 seeds will have swept the 8 seeds this year. That is close to what I expected. I had three of the four 9s winning. I believe I picked #8 Ohio State to beat #9 TCU. Back to the game, Clemson misses a three, but the Iowa rebounder Combs is called for traveling after falling to the ground. Iowa leads 63-57 with 42.7 seconds left. Iowa is challenging. The call was actually out of bounds. It doesn't look like the Iowa rebounder Combs was out of bounds. Iowa should be getting the ball here. Yet another interminable review. :-( Iowa will get the ball, apparently, this is an inadvertent whistle ruling. (?) Where's Gene Steratore to explain? Just kidding. Iowa breaks the press and Clemson finally fouls with 27.2 seconds left. Candace Parker is right. You must foul once that ball crossed half court. Folgueiras makes both free throws. Iowa leads 65-57. Clemson's Butta Johnson hits a three with 16.7 seconds left. Iowa leads 65-60. Iowa has one field goal during the last 8 minutes yet has outscored Clemson by 14 points from the free throw line. The Hawkeyes are winning ugly. It kind of looks like Iowa football. No offense. All punting and defense. Stirtz gets trapped in the corner with 13.2 seconds and calls a timeout. Wow! Four of Iowa's five players on the court shoot 80% or above from the free throw line. Iowa finds Stirtz on the inbound. He is fouled with 10.9 seconds left. Stirtz makes both free throws. Buckner drives and has the ball knocked out of bounds. Actually, it is called a foul on Iowa. Banks has fouled out. The end of this game has been a drag. Sadly, none of the other games are too close, though UCLA is only up 8 on UCF with 10:52 remaining. Buckner makes the first free throw. He misses the second, Koch rebounds, Clemson elects not to foul.
8:10 p.m. CT - Iowa salts away this game at the free throw line and defeats Clemson 67-61. Iowa wins ugly but advances. The Hawkeyes only had 1 turnover, made 24 free throws, and had 16-chance points. Barring a historic upset, Iowa will play #1 Florida on Sunday!
6:39 p.m. CT - St. John's leads 16-2. It looks like the Panthers are overmatched against the press. UNI is 1/7 from the field. Make that 1/8. Looking at the scoreboard, Iowa is up 32-25 on Clemson at half. Zuby Ejiafor scores on a driving layup. St. John's leads 18-3. UNI got a bad draw this tournament. Did you know that Ejiafor was the Big East Scholar Athlete of the Year? Neither did I. UNI calls a timeout as the Panthers are unable to inbound against the SJU press.
6:54 p.m. CT - St. John's is up 16, 24-8. UNI gets a nice bucket on a nifty baseline drive. That is the first basket I have seen the Panthers score tonight. Darling draws a foul but misses two free throws. Northern Iowa misses a layup but gets a turnover swarming an entry pass to Ejiafor. Darling gets in the lane and feeds Ejiafor for a layup. UNI responds with its first made three. Ejiafor answers with a three of his own and then a block. The Red Storm then gets a corner three from Sellers. The Johnnies lead 32-13 with 7:57 to go.
7:17 p.m. CT: St. John's misses a three but leads by 21 with 54 seconds left. UNI's Trey Campbell makes a layup. St. John's Ruben Prey scores on a goal tend and is fouled on the play. He misses the free throw. UNI gets a put back on a wild layup at the buzzer. St. John's leads 47-28 at the break.
8:17 p.m. CT - It's also been an hour since I have checked in on this game. St. John's is up 20 with 7:34 to go. UNI has a red-head kid at the line who is from De Perre, Wisconsin (Will Hornseth). That is where my sister lives. De Perre is just outside of Green Bay. UNI's Ben Schwieger follows up an Ejiafor block for a putback. UNI trails 64-46 with just under seven minutes left. UNI calls a timeout.
8:25 p.m. CT - CBS is going to commercial highlighting Ejiafor's all-around game tonight. St. John's leads 73-50.
8:31 p.m. CT - St. John's wins 79-53. That was a dominant opening game from the Johnnies, and it is what I wanted to see from a team I have in the Final Four!
6:59 p.m. CT - Donovan Dent banks in a layup. UCLA is doubling up UCF 26-13. The Knights' Jordan Burks responds with a three off a nice head fake. Dent misses a three and UCF jacks up a quick one. That was a bad shot, compounded by an offensive foul on UCF big man John Bol. UCLA leads 26-16 at the under-8 timeout.
7:06 p.m. CT - Dailey finishes a monster dunk on a fast break as I tune in. The Bruins lead 31-18 with 4:53 remaining after Dent misses a three. A rarity on the sideline - UCLA Head Coach Mick Cronin is quiet and not yelling at someone. Don't worry. He will find something to complain about soon enough. UCF's George Beale Jr. gets a corner three. UCF only has two threes this half. Stephen Jamerson rebounds a Dent miss and scores on a nice fadeaway. Jamerson is the kid Cronin embarrassed on television (sending him to the locker room) at Michigan State. UCLA leads 33-21 at the under-4.
7:20 p.m. CT - The telecast is going to commercial as halftime has arrived. UCLA leads 35-27 at the break.
7:43 p.m.CT - UCF's Bol is writhing in pain on the ground. He was swiped across the face by Dailey Jr. while going for a dunk. That looks like a flagrant 1, but Gene Steratore says no. I hate the rules analyst in sports. Their explanations usually go against common sense or what is apparent to the human eye. With that said, Steratore is right on this one. Dailey Jr. was following the ball and the contact to the face was incidental, though severe. Time to switch back to the Iowa game as it is in the last four minutes.
8:12 p.m. CT - Finally back to a different game after the end of Iowa-Clemson. UCLA leads 56-44 with 8:18 left. UCF misses two free throws. Dent makes a tough layup. UCLA's sophomore Trent Perry forces a UCF turnover. The Bruins lead 58-44 at the under-8 without Tyler Bilodeau playing tonight! Bilodeau is out with a knee sprain. I feel like there have been a lot of player injuries so far this tournament.
8:19 p.m. CT - Riley Kugel hits a three for UCF. The Knights trail 60-49 with 6:25 left. Perry misses a three. Kugel misses a three. Dailey Jr. throws up an air ball on a shot inside the free throw line. Kugel gets an offensive rebound and stick back. Dailey Jr. drives and forces a quick shot, which he misses. Jamerson picks up a foul and UCF will be at the line down 9 with 5:16 left. John Bol will have a one-and-one, which he bricks off the back iron. Dent forces a quick layup and misses. Bol is fouled at the rim. UCLA is really taking quick and foolish shots. The Bruins lead 60-51 with 4:42 remaining. Bol misses the first. That is an ugly shooting stroke. He misses again. The ball twists in his hands when he shoots. UCF takes Bol out of the game. UCLA hasn't scored in 3:40. Dailey Jr. cans a corner three after a great crossover and pass by Skyy Clark. UCF misses, gets a board, misses and is called for a foul. UCLA leads 63-51 with under 4 minutes to go. Dailey Jr. has 20 points tonight.
8:34 p.m. CT - Xavier Booker is at the line with 2:01 remaining. UCLA leads 65-56. Booker has 15 points in place of the injured Bilodeau, 12 of which have been scored this half. UCF's Jamichael Stillwell gets a put-back layup after a missed three. UCLA leads 66-58 with 1:49 remaining as Cronin chews out Brandon Williams following a UCF timeout. Apparently Skyy Clark is back in the game after losing a tooth. Clark loses the ball on a drive. UCF is challenging the call, which was somehow called off UCF. That was clearly off Clark, who was fouled. I have to give Clark credit. He has seemingly become a real leader for UCLA. He is a steadying presence for the Bruins. When he left Illinois just 17 games into his freshman season three years ago, he did not have the best reputation. He seems to have really matured. UCF will get the ball with 1:36 left. Dent steals a pocket pass by Fulks, who has 5 turnovers. Clark is fouled but misses the front end of a one and one. UCF's Stillwell scores on a broken play, plus the foul. Stillwell misses the free throw. UCLA's Perry calls a timeout with 58.5 seconds remaining after he was trapped in the back court. I wonder what UCF is shooting from the foul line. Every time I have seen them at the line, they have missed. Kugel nearly steals the inbounds pass and fouls Dent. UCF has nine fouls. UCF is 4/14 from the free throw line, 1/10 this second half. Dent makes the first and the second. Dent also has a career-high 6 steals. UCF's Jordan Burks scores at the rim. Perry is fouled with 50.8 seconds left. This is another slog of a finish. UCLA leads 68-62. UCLA is in the double bonus. Perry makes the first and second free throw. Kugel misses a three and a follow up layup off his own miss. Perry is fouled. That should be the game. UCF has missed 12 layups. Perry makes the first, misses the second. UCF's Burks hits a three. Timeout UCF. UCLA leads 71-65 with 28 seconds left. UCF is out of timeouts. UCF Head Coach Johnny Dawkins is rocking a nice hoodie. This game is in Philadelphia, where Dawkins played the majority of his NBA career with the 76ers. UCLA inbounds to Perry, who is fouled. Perry is getting a chance to pad his stats at the line. He has 12 points tonight and is an 87.4% free throw shooter. Perry makes the first and misses the second. UCF misses a three but gets fouled by UCLA on the board. UCLA leads 72-65 with 21.6 seconds left. Mick Cronin is M'fing another player of his as the refs review a timing error. The clock did not start. Fans are rightfully booing as yet another game is dragging to the finish. The clock will be reset to 19.6 seconds. Stillwell is at the line for two. He makes the first and misses the second. UCF gets the rebound, but Skyy Clark takes the ball. He then dribbles the ball off his leg trying to avoid a foul. UCF hits a three! What a shot by Burks! UCLA gets the ball to Perry, who is fouled again. UCLA 72, UCF 69 with 8.3 seconds left. UCF has no timeouts. Perry rattles in the first. UCLA calls a timeout with 8.3 seconds left. UCLA leads 73-69 with 8.3 seconds leading. The possession arrow points to UCF. Perry makes the second. UCF's Fulks makes a layup with 3.6 seconds left. UCF fouls Clark with 2.3 seconds left. Clark has 7 points, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 lost tooth tonight. Clark misses the first free throw. He hits the second. That will do it. UCF's Burks misses a three at the horn.
8:58 pm. CT - UCLA defeats UCF, 75-71. That was a fugly end to the game. The last two minutes took 27 minutes in real time to play out. Yuck!
7:12 p.m. CT - Purdue leads 35-30 with 2:34 remaining. C.J. Cox hits a three. Another assist for Smith. Purdue's Daniel Jacobson then blocks a Queens layup at the rim, off the Queens player. Cox follows up by getting fouled on a three-point shot. Cox makes, misses and makes his free throws. Purdue is up 10, its largest lead of the night (40-30). From what I have seen, Queens has been trying to attack Purdue at the rim. Smith gets into the lane and hits a fade away. Purdue is up 42-30 with less than a minute to go. Purdue calls a timeout.
8:15 pm. CT - Haven't checked in on this game in an hour. Queens gets a chin-up dunk but Omer Mayer responds with a three. Queens makes a layup plus the foul. Purdue leads 82-53 with 7:18 remaining.
8:27 p.m. CT - Purdue is up 98-60 with 3:16 left! Queens scores to cut the deficit to 36. Purdue's Daniel Jacobson is called for an offensive foul. Queens scores again. Purdue responds with an Omer Mayer three. Queens hits a three. 101-67 with 1:54 left. Both teams throw up missed threes. Queens gets a basket from Gus Larson. Purdue's Liam Murphy hits a three. Queens draws a foul on a dribble drive.
8:33 p.m. CT - Purdue ends Queens season, 104-71. Braden Smith sets the all-time assists record and scores 26 points as well. The Boilermakers are hitting their stride at the right time of the year, winning the Big Ten Tournament and taking care of business tonight after having a rough ending to the regular season!
9:27 p.m. CT: Florida leads 50-21 with 2:38 remaining. Florida splits a pair of free throws. Florida scores inside again. Rueben Chinyelu. Florida forces a turnover that leads to a Thomas Haugh layup. Florida has 55 points, now 57 points after Haugh makes a layup and gets fouled. He makes the free throw. Florida has four players with double digits. Prairie View A & M has 0. Florida's Isaiah Brown gets a dunk. The Gators have 38 points in the paint. Florida leads 60-21 at the break. Boogie Fland has 13 points on 5/5 from the field. This is the most amount of points Florida has scored in the first half this season. How many points will the Gators score in this game? How much will the Gators win this game by?
10:05 p.m. CT - Florida leads 75-31 with 13:42 left. Haugh makes a tough banker. He has 14 points on 6/9 field goals. Haugh was a breakout star during last year's tourney and is starting this year's tourney on a strong note. PV A & M's Lance Williams hits two free throws. Florida is called for a moving screen. Florida forces a turnover, swarming the overwhelmed PV A & M big man Hassane Diallo. UF's Xaivian Lee misses a three, hustles down his miss and feeds Alex Condon for a layup. Condon has 13 points on 5/6. Florida leads 79-33 with 11:59 remaining.
10:16 p.m. CT - Florida hits a three and is 5/8 from deep this half. The Gators lead 87-33 with 9:21 remaining. PV A & M's Dontae Horne makes two free throws. Horne was great during the First Four game against Lehigh. Chinyelu misses a shot at the rim and then runs down Horne for the foul. That couldn't have felt good for Horne. PV A & M hits a three; Corey Dunning with the make. Florida's Alex Lloyd get an easy layup. There was no contest there. Chinyelu scores inside, and one. Florida leads 91-39 with 7:39 left. It's time for Florida Head Coach Todd Golden to get some starters out.
10:35 p.m. CT - Florida leads 102-47 with 3:24 remaining. Florida is shooting 69% from the field. At one point, this game was tied at 15! Horne misses a three. Florida gets a put back dunk. Florida is about to put in its 7'9" center, Olivier Rioux. Florida banks in a three. Olivier Rioux is in the game. He was 7 foot at 12 years old! PV A & M's Tai'Reon Joseph is fouled at the rim. Rioux helps him up. Rioux misses a left-handed layup. Wow! He has no lift. Rioux ges an offensive board off a missed three and dunks the ball. Florida's Viktor Mikic blocks a shot but hurts his back. PV A & M hits a bomb three. Florida drains another three, CJ Ingram with the dunk. PV A & M gets an alley oop dunk. Good for them.
10:42 p.m. CT - Florida wins 114-55. Pray for Iowa on Sunday! Iowa's Ben McCollum is a wonderful tactical coach, but I am not sure how the Hawkeyes will be able to keep this game close.
9:23 p.m. CT - Tre White hits two free throws. Kansas leads 10-5. Kansas is 2/15 from the field, but 6/7 from the foul line. Kansas leads 10-5. Following a Cal Baptist miss, White is fouled on a long three. The Cal Baptist fans are not happy with the foul differential so far. White has 5 points and 4 rebounds. He is 3/3 from the foul line. He is now 6/6 from the line. Cal Baptist is fouled. Kansas leads 13-5 with 11:40 remaining. Cal Baptist has four turnovers and only two made field goals.
9:50 p.m. CT - Peterson hits a lovely turn-around to give Kansas a 29-16 lead. Peterson has 8 points on 3/10 shooting. Cal Baptist has a shot blocked at the rim, but later draws a foul. Kansas has 54 NCAA Tournament appearances, this is Cal Baptist's first. Cal Baptist misses two free throws, looking like a school in its first tourney game. Peterson jacks a terrible three. Cal Baptist misses a floater. Tre White badly misses another awful/rushed three-pointer. Daniels Jr. is fouled. He is 1-for-9 from the field. He hits both free throws. He has 5 points and averages more than 23 per game. Kansas scores on a lob dunk. The Jayhawks lead 31-18. Cal Baptist misses a shot at the elbow. Peterson with a beautiful hesitation and drive to the basket for a score. Daniels misses a three. Kansas leads by 15 with 44 seconds left. This game is pretty unwatchable. Peterson hits a quick fade away. He is heating up. Cal Baptist turns the ball over as Kansas jumps the dribble. Peterson is dribbling out the clock and is fouled on the drive with 8.8 seconds left. Cal Baptist had one to give. Peterson hits a step-back three at the buzzer. Peterson takes over in the final two minutes of the half. Kansas leads 38-18 at the half.
10:25 p.m. CT - Kansas leads 44-20 with 17:06 remaining. Peterson hits a floater after a slip screen by Bidunga. Cal Baptist quickly scores. That might be the first jumper I've seen Cal Baptist hit all night. KU's Melvin Council Jr. scores without much resistance on a righty layup. Peterson throws a lob to Bidunga out of bounds. Kansas leads 48-22 with 15:51 left. Cal Baptist is really out of its league here, and Kansas isn't even playing all that great, with the exception of Peterson getting super hot at the end of the first half.
11:01 p.m. CT - Whoa! Cal Baptist is only down 66-53 with 3:33 remaining. Daniels misses the front end of a one and one though. Tre White misses a three. KU leads 66-53 with 3 minutes left. KU strips Daniels of the ball as he attacks the rim. Cal Baptist retains the ball. Daniels hits a crazy stepback three. He has 23 points. White misses a quick three. Bad shot. Daniels gets fouled driving to the basket. Kansas' 26 point lead is down to ten, 66-56. Daniels makes both free throws. 66-58 with 2:00 left. The Lancers are on a 16-2 run. Kansas is running some clock. Council misses a three. Cal Baptist scores at the rim. 66-60 with 1:10 left. Kansas hasn't scored in 4 minutes. Timeout Jayhawks. Once again, Kansas was up 26 with 16 minutes left. White misses another three at the end of the shot clock. Daniels misses a layup . Cal Baptist gets the rebound and calls a timeout with 30.9 seconds left. Good timeout as Cal Baptist couldn't find an open shot there. What a stunning ending here! I am glad I checked back in as I figured Kansas had this wrapped up! What a great experience for Cal Baptist in the Lancers' first NCAA Tournament game. Kansas has one basket in eight minutes. Daniels misses a forced shot and Council secures the rebound. He is fouled. Cal Baptist has one more foul to give. KU calls a timeout with 19.7 seconds left. Kansas runs a great inbound play leading to a White dunk. Daniels misses a three, Cal Baptists misses a floater. The ball is knocked out of bounds. Cal Baptist retains and jacks up (and misses) a three at the buzzer.
11:13 p.m. - Kansas survives a furious Cal Baptist rally, 68-60. Down 26 points early in the second half, the Lancers got the game down to 6 points in front of a raucous crowd. Peterson finishes with 28 points on 11/24 from the field, 4/11 from three. Kansas Head Coach Bill Self has a wry smile after surviving that rough ending to the game. The Jayhawks will need to be much better against St. John's on Sunday.
9:45 p.m. CT - Solo Ball misses a three off an inbounds play. UCONN retains possession as the ball goes out of bounds. Furman Head Coach Bob Richey pontificates whether to challenge but decides not to. UCONN leads 16-15 at the under-12.
9:58 p.m. CT -UCONN leads 24-19 with 8;43 remaining. Reed has 11 and 12 so far. He looks like Adama Sanogo part II. Reed scores on a nice post feed from Ball. UCONN is on an 8-0 run. Reed clears another Furman miss. Karaban misses a turnaround banker in the lane. Furman hasn't scored in more than 3 minutes until a nice lefty layup there. 26-21 UCONN with 7:01 left. Ball misses a three, UCONN secures the board, but Mullins misses a three. I haven't seen Ball hit a jumper in several weeks. He is really struggling. Furman's Cole Bowser is fouled at the rim. UCONN leads 26-21 at the under-8 with 6:34 remaining.
10:10 p.m. CT - Furman is hanging with UCONN, trailing 27-25 with 5:17 left. Mullins hits a tough floater at the end of the shot clock. There is a tie up on the Furman possession. The Paladins have the arrow. Furman's Tom House hits a three. Wilkins nearly steals the ball. Furman is down 29-28 now 31-28 after Reed scores again. He is 7/7 from the field with 16 points. Furman's Wilkins picks up a ticky tack offensive foul. That was brutal. Mullins misses a three off a Reed double. UCONN retains possession on an offensive board, and Karaban eventually scores a layup. House drills another three. House has 10 points on 3/5 from the field and 2/2 free throws. Mullins makes another floater. He has 8 points on 4/9 field goals. Wilkins blows by for a layup. Wow! You are not used to seeing UCONN give up buckets at the rim like that. Wilkins has 15 points on 6/9 from the field. Reed finally misses but he is fouled. UCONN leads 35-33 with 2:14 remaining at the under-4 timeout.
10:20 p.m. CT - There is a tie up. UCONN retains possession and leads 38-33 with under a minute to go. Braylon Mullins walks in for an easy layup. House deflects a UCONN fast break out of bounds after a sloppy turnover by the Paladins. Hurley calls a timeout with 14.8 left. UCONN will get the last shot of the half. The Huskies are 1/14 from three this half! Mullins jacks a quick shot and misses. Furman makes UCONN pay with a Charles Johnston three at the buzzer. What a bad shot by Mullins, with the long rebound propeling Furman into a three that Johnston ran into. UCONN leads 40-36 at the half. UCONN is a far cry from what they were two and three seasons ago. The Huskies may survive this game but don't look right, especially at the guard position.
10:44 p.m. CT - The second half is starting. UCONN missed its last 13 threes in the first half. Solo Ball has missed his last seven shots. This is the best shot for an upset tonight. UCONN is without Jaylin Stewart and Silas Demary tonight after his ankle injury against St. John's in the Big East Tournament final. Karaban scores on a lefty layup to start the half. Great offense by UCONN there. Wilkins misses a difficult three. Karaban drives again but is called for a travel. Furman's Tom House draws a foul on Mullins on a strong attack. He makes both free throws. UCONN is running great offense here, getting the ball inside to Reed, who is fouled on the entry pass. Ball hits a big three off a nice curl. As much as Dan Hurley is a jerk, he runs a beautiful offense. Wilkins attacks and throws up a lob to Cooper Bowser for the slam. That is the second time this has happened tonight. This UCONN team has its share of defensive lapses. Karaban hits a three off a great inbounds play. UCONN turns over Wilkins, with the Huskies feeding Karaban for a layup. Timeout Furman. UCONN leads 50-40 with 17:54 remaining.
11:32 P.M. CT - UCONN leads 72-65 with 3:59 remaining. The Paladins haven's cored in nearly three minutes. Wilkins misses a three. Reed grabs his 21st board. Furman has 23 boards, Reed 21. UCONN feeds Reed in the post who is fouled. UCONN has 42 points in the paint tonight. UCONN will be in the bonus on the next Furman foul. Karaban feeds to Reed who misses the ball at the rim, gets the loose ball, and feeds to Malachi Smith, who is fouled on a drive to the hoop. Smith hits the first free throw and misses the second. Reed gets the board. He could have put that up but pulls it back out. Smart. Jayden Ross misses a three and Reed gets another board. UCONN has 16 offensive boars. Karaban misses a three. Reed gets another rebound. He has 25 rebounds, 10 offensive. Karaban hits a three. UCONN is up 11 after that possession, which drained 1:45 of the clock. Wilkins misses, Thomas misses and Reed rebounds again. That's 26. Mullins misses a floater, Reed gets another offensive board. Reed has 29 points and 27 rebounds. He hits the first free throw. He makes the second. Reed is 12/15 from the field. He has 31 and 27. According to the telecast Ohio State's Jerry Lucas once had a 30/30 game in the 1961 NcAA Tournament. UCONN leads 78-65 with 1:04 left. Tom House is fouled on a drive. He makes the first and the second. 78-67 with 1:04 left. UCONN breaks the press and Mullins is fouled. UCONN has outrebounded Furman by 21 boards. UCONN does not have Reed in for the rebound. He is back at half court. Mullins makes the first and the second. Wilkins is fouled at the rim by UCONN's Ross. Wilkins has 18 points. This freshman will likely be poached by a bigger program in the portal. Wilkins misses the first, makes the second. Furman is down 80-68 and pressing with 51.7 seconds left. Wilkins fouls Ball. Ball makes the first and the second. Ball only has 9 points tonight. Ball and Mullins were 1/14 from three combined (that has to be a big concern for the Huskies moving forward). Reed steals the ball from House, but is called for a questionable foul. That is his first foul tonight. House misses the first, makes the second. Reed has the first 30 and 25 game in the NCAA Tournament since Houston's Elvin Hayes in 1968. Furman calls off the dogs, thankfully. The Paladins played UCONN very tough. The Huskies take a shot clock violation. Wilkins makes a layup. UCONN has 30 wins.
11:45 p.m. CT - UCONN beats Furman, 82-71, behind Tarris Reed Jr.'s incredible performance (31 points and 27 boards). Don't be deceived by the score as this game was much closer. Dan Hurley is right in the post-game interview: Furman was way better than a #15 seed!
9:40 p.m. CT- Mizzou's Jacob Crews misses a three but retains possession. Miami leads 23-17 with 5:55 remaining. Mizzou's Shawn Phillips throws up a brick. Great gang rebounding by Miami (FL). Miami has 11 offensive boards to just three for Missouri. Washington gets fouled late in the shot clock on a drive. Tru is true on the first free throw. He hits back iron on the second shot. Mizzou hasn't scored for more than 3 minutes. Missouri star Mark Mitchell misses a three and doesn't have a field goal or point. Missouri has missed its last seven shots. Miami (FL) is challenging an out-of-bounds call, which means it's time to find a new game.
9:47 p.m. CT - The refs reverse the call, giving the ball to Miami (FL). The Hurricanes get an immediate dunk. Missouri misses another three leading to a Miami break and a foul on the Tigers. Miami FL leads 26-17 with 3:58 left. Missouri seems lucky to be down only 9 points.
10:04 p.m. CT - Mizzou has come back here. The Tigers' immensely tall Trent Pierce misses a half-hook at the buzzer. Miami leads 27-26 at the break.
10:28 p.m. CT - Shawn Philips swats a Miami dunk attack at the rim but then fumbles the ball out of bounds on the ensuing possession. Miami is fouled at the rim and leads 31-30 with 18:08 left in the second half. Ernest Udeh Jr. makes the first free throw but badly short arms the second. Mizzou responds with a nice high low from Mitchell to Phillips for a monster two-handed slam. Malik Reneau scores to silence the loud Mizzou crowd. Mitchell stumbles on a drive and Miami's Shelton Henderson is fouled on a fast break. That looked like a clean swipe. Ball don't lie. Henderson misses the first free throw and the second. Miami leads 34-32 but is just 4 of 12 from the foul line. Mitchell with another bad turnover. Miami blitzed him on the drive and he threw the ball way over the head of a cutting teammate. Mitchell averages 18 a game but has been bad tonight and the only other time I saw him this year, against Illinois. Tre Donaldson replies with a silencing three for the Hurricanes. This is truly a road game for Miami (FL). Mizzou is fouled on a drive. The Canes lead 37-32 with 15:50 remaining.
10:53 p.m. CT - Mizzou is on a quick 6-0 run to tie the game at 49. The Tigers hit a three, forced a steal and fed to Jayden Stone for an and-one plus the free throw. Stone has 21. The game is tied at 49. Miami misses a three as Mizzou's Pierce is fouled hard on a serious attack of the rim. He was ready to tear down the rim there. The refs are reviewing this foul. Henderson with a hard foul but he was going for and got ball at first. Pierce makes the first free throw and Mizzou leads for the first time since it was 2-0. Pierce hits the second. Missouri leads 51-49, after an 8-0 run in the last 50 seconds. Tre Donaldson responds with a silencer of a three. Mark Mitchell misses a tough, contested layup. Reneau misses a short shot, and Mitchell finally scratches with a big three. Timeout Miami. Missouri leads 54-52 with 7:39 remaining.
11:17 p.m. CT - Miami (FL) leads 68-62 with 2:43 remaining. While watching a crazy ending to Cal Baptist - Kansas, Miami (FL) has responded to a Mizzou run. Reneau banks in a shot and gets fouled. He is flexing. Reneau completes the three point play. The Hurricanes have made their last 7 free throws after starting 4/12. Missouri misses. Miami runs offense up 9 and Donaldson buries a three off a ridiculous crossover. Miami leads 74-62 with 1:29 remaining. Timeout Missouri. What an impressive effort from Miami. This has been a home game for Missouri. The Tigers are out of timeouts. Crews misses a three out of the timeout. Miami clears the board. Pierce fouls Reneau with 1:11 left. Reneau makes the first free throw, misses the second. Mitchell is fouled at the rim following a quick penetration into the lane. Mitchell makes both free throws. Miami leads 75-64 with 56.3 seconds left. Mizzou fouls. This might be a very long minute of fouling, though the game is effectively over. Robinson II fouls out. Reneau is at the line again and hits one of two again. He has 24 points. Pierce misses a three. Henderson rebounds and is fouled. Henderson misses the first, rattles in the second. Pierce makes a layup. 77-66 with 37.8 seconds left. Mizzou fouls again. It's time to stop fouling here if Miami makes both of these. This game is over. Washington misses the first free throw, hits the second. Stone misses a floater, and Washington is fouled with 27.2 seconds left. Washington makes the first and the second. 80-66. Crews misses a three, Henderson rebounds and this game is over!
11:28 p.m. CT - Miami (FL) silences Missouri, 80-66. That was an impressive win for the Hurricanes in front of a pro-Missouri crowd. What a first win in the NCAA Tournament for Jai Lucas. This Miami team will have another road game on Sunday against Purdue. If the Hurricanes show this poise, Miami can give Purdue a real game. Once again, one word for that! IMPRESSIVE!
- Game #25: (9) Iowa vs. (8) Clemson
6:29 p.m. CT: TNT is showing Bennett Stirtz's parents. Stirtz makes one of two free throws. Iowa is up 10 before Clemson hits a three. It looks like Clemson will break 20 points this first half. Iowa's Jacob Koch follows up with a three. I remember when Koch's dad J.R. played for the Hawkeyes in the 1990s. Clemson hits another three (that's four straight makes for the Tigers). Stirtz draws another foul and will held to the foul line. He makes them both and then gets a steal, leading to a fast-break foul on Clemson. Stirtz did so much last year for Drake; this has been the same case for Iowa. Iowa leads 32-22 with one minute remaining.
7:01 p.m. CT: Iowa is up 35-25, two minutes into the second half as the TNT cameras show Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney in the stands. Candace Parker is on the call of this game. I wish she did more games. She is really smart and articulate. Stirtz misses a tough step-back jumper and the Clemson big man does a great job boxing out Iowa's Tavion Banks, who gets an over-the-back. Clemson then runs a beautiful play getting RJ Godfrey an and-one dunk. RJ Godfrey hits the free throw. Clemson is now down 6. Stirtz misses a floater off a curl. Clemson is coming with a nice dribble drive leading to a Chase Thompson layup. Iowa hasn't scored in 3:45. Iowa misses a three, gets the offensive board, but Stirtz misses another three. Clemson's Nick Davidson draws the foul. Momentum is swinging toward Clemson, which trails 35-31 at the under-16 timeout.
7:21 p.m. CT: Iowa is up 44-35 with 11:05 remaining as the TNT telecast shows ACC Commisioner Jim Phillips. Stirtz throws a loose ball off the face of Clemson's Dillon Hunter on a loose ball. That was not on purpose as he was trying to save a loose ball going out of bounds. That had to hurt. Iowa's Alvaro Folgueiras scores on dribble drive and gets the free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play. Iowa has its largest lead, 47-35. Hunter misses a forced one-handed runner. Stirtz overpenetrates and turns the ball over. Godfrey scores on a quick post up. Folgueiras follows with a beautiful dribble drive and one-hand pass to Tate Sage who scores and is fouled. That was a beautiful pass. That looked like Drake from last season. Iowa is back up 12 as Sage cannot make the free throw. Stirtz rebounds a quick Clemson three. Folgueiras is attacking the basket, drawing a foul. It looks like he might have shuffled his feet there, but the refs don't seem to call that anymore. Folgueiras makes both free throws. The Hawkeyes are up 14. Clemson gets a big three from Porter. Iowa leads 51-40. Koch extends a possession with a tip out off of a missed Folgueiras three. Iowa leads 51-40 with 7:36 remaining. All the other games are at the half so I am going to the bathroom. :-)
7:31 p.m. CT: The game is back, and I am back from the bathroom. Iowa's Koch is fouled by Clemson's Ace Buckner on a three. Is this Greg Buckner's kid? Greg Buckner played for Clemson in the mid-1990s and for a long time in the NBA. Koch hits all three free throws. Iowa is up 54-40. Davidson scores on a nice drive for Clemson. Iowa has 10 more free throw attempts (17) than Clemson (7). Koch picks up an offensive foul, pushing off while off the ball. Hunter hits a corner three on a nice drive and kick. Iowa misses a layup off of a nice back cut. Clemson responds with a corner three by Dallas Thomas. The game is down to six. Stirtz misses a three at the end of the shot clock but Iowa gets the rebound and is fouled. That was big miss for Clemson, which had a chance to get the game to one possession if it secured the defensive board. The refs are reviewing the common foul. I may be in the minority here, but I absolutely hate replay reviews in sports. They take away a lot of the momentum from live action. The officials do not change the foul call. I am not sure how that is a foul on Clemson's Dillon Hunter. He had his hands up while Iowa's Kael Combs jumped into him. That is another problem with basketball. Defensive players get slammed into with their hands up, and it is somehow a foul on the defender who has a legal right to that space. Combs makes both free throws. Iowa leads 56-48. Clemson hits another three. That was Porter. Clemson has hit six straight shots and is down five. Clemson is called for another questionable foul. Stirtz finds Cam Manyawu, who is fouled. It looked like the Clemson defender maintained verticality. Ball don't lie. Iowa misses both free throws. Clemson is on a 11-2 run. Porter forces a three, leading to an air ball. Iowa leads 56-51 with 4:15 left. Clemson intentionally fouls Manyawu. Not a bad srategy. Hack a Manyawu. He misses a third straight free throw. He makes the fourth free throw. Clemson trails 57-51. Clemson's Davidson draws a foul at the under-4 timeout (3:47 remaining).
7:48 p.m. CT - Iowa' s Koch hits a free throw. Iowas lead 59-51 with 3 minutes left. Iowa's last 10 points are from the free throw line. Clemson's Godfrey makes a nice layup. Iowa is milking the clock. Stirtz misses a desperation three but Clemson knocks the ball out of bounds. That is a killer. Shot clock resets to 20. Iowa is running down clock each possession. Clemson is challenging, but that was off the Tigers. Iowa leads 59-53 with 2:17 left. As expected, that ball was off Clemson's Davidson. Iowa inbounds and Folgueiras is fouled. Iowa is living at the three throw line (11/16 this half). Folgueiras makes both. Iowa by eight with 2:06 to go. Davidson takes a three that goes in and out. The ball is knocked out of bounds by Iowa's Banks. Davidson is fouled by Combs. Davidson makes the first and the second. Iowa leads 61-55 with 2:00 exactly. Clemson brings full-court pressure. Iowa takes the air out of the ball. Stirtz misses a floater. Buckner scores a quick layup for Clemson. 61-57 with 1:00 left. Combs makes a tough layup. Ben McCollum calls a timeout. Iowa leads 63-57 with 56 seconds left. If Iowa wins, the 9 seeds will have swept the 8 seeds this year. That is close to what I expected. I had three of the four 9s winning. I believe I picked #8 Ohio State to beat #9 TCU. Back to the game, Clemson misses a three, but the Iowa rebounder Combs is called for traveling after falling to the ground. Iowa leads 63-57 with 42.7 seconds left. Iowa is challenging. The call was actually out of bounds. It doesn't look like the Iowa rebounder Combs was out of bounds. Iowa should be getting the ball here. Yet another interminable review. :-( Iowa will get the ball, apparently, this is an inadvertent whistle ruling. (?) Where's Gene Steratore to explain? Just kidding. Iowa breaks the press and Clemson finally fouls with 27.2 seconds left. Candace Parker is right. You must foul once that ball crossed half court. Folgueiras makes both free throws. Iowa leads 65-57. Clemson's Butta Johnson hits a three with 16.7 seconds left. Iowa leads 65-60. Iowa has one field goal during the last 8 minutes yet has outscored Clemson by 14 points from the free throw line. The Hawkeyes are winning ugly. It kind of looks like Iowa football. No offense. All punting and defense. Stirtz gets trapped in the corner with 13.2 seconds and calls a timeout. Wow! Four of Iowa's five players on the court shoot 80% or above from the free throw line. Iowa finds Stirtz on the inbound. He is fouled with 10.9 seconds left. Stirtz makes both free throws. Buckner drives and has the ball knocked out of bounds. Actually, it is called a foul on Iowa. Banks has fouled out. The end of this game has been a drag. Sadly, none of the other games are too close, though UCLA is only up 8 on UCF with 10:52 remaining. Buckner makes the first free throw. He misses the second, Koch rebounds, Clemson elects not to foul.
8:10 p.m. CT - Iowa salts away this game at the free throw line and defeats Clemson 67-61. Iowa wins ugly but advances. The Hawkeyes only had 1 turnover, made 24 free throws, and had 16-chance points. Barring a historic upset, Iowa will play #1 Florida on Sunday!
- Game #26: (12) UNI vs. (5) St. John's
6:39 p.m. CT - St. John's leads 16-2. It looks like the Panthers are overmatched against the press. UNI is 1/7 from the field. Make that 1/8. Looking at the scoreboard, Iowa is up 32-25 on Clemson at half. Zuby Ejiafor scores on a driving layup. St. John's leads 18-3. UNI got a bad draw this tournament. Did you know that Ejiafor was the Big East Scholar Athlete of the Year? Neither did I. UNI calls a timeout as the Panthers are unable to inbound against the SJU press.
6:54 p.m. CT - St. John's is up 16, 24-8. UNI gets a nice bucket on a nifty baseline drive. That is the first basket I have seen the Panthers score tonight. Darling draws a foul but misses two free throws. Northern Iowa misses a layup but gets a turnover swarming an entry pass to Ejiafor. Darling gets in the lane and feeds Ejiafor for a layup. UNI responds with its first made three. Ejiafor answers with a three of his own and then a block. The Red Storm then gets a corner three from Sellers. The Johnnies lead 32-13 with 7:57 to go.
7:17 p.m. CT: St. John's misses a three but leads by 21 with 54 seconds left. UNI's Trey Campbell makes a layup. St. John's Ruben Prey scores on a goal tend and is fouled on the play. He misses the free throw. UNI gets a put back on a wild layup at the buzzer. St. John's leads 47-28 at the break.
8:17 p.m. CT - It's also been an hour since I have checked in on this game. St. John's is up 20 with 7:34 to go. UNI has a red-head kid at the line who is from De Perre, Wisconsin (Will Hornseth). That is where my sister lives. De Perre is just outside of Green Bay. UNI's Ben Schwieger follows up an Ejiafor block for a putback. UNI trails 64-46 with just under seven minutes left. UNI calls a timeout.
8:25 p.m. CT - CBS is going to commercial highlighting Ejiafor's all-around game tonight. St. John's leads 73-50.
8:31 p.m. CT - St. John's wins 79-53. That was a dominant opening game from the Johnnies, and it is what I wanted to see from a team I have in the Final Four!
- Game #27: (10) UCF vs. (7) UCLA
6:59 p.m. CT - Donovan Dent banks in a layup. UCLA is doubling up UCF 26-13. The Knights' Jordan Burks responds with a three off a nice head fake. Dent misses a three and UCF jacks up a quick one. That was a bad shot, compounded by an offensive foul on UCF big man John Bol. UCLA leads 26-16 at the under-8 timeout.
7:06 p.m. CT - Dailey finishes a monster dunk on a fast break as I tune in. The Bruins lead 31-18 with 4:53 remaining after Dent misses a three. A rarity on the sideline - UCLA Head Coach Mick Cronin is quiet and not yelling at someone. Don't worry. He will find something to complain about soon enough. UCF's George Beale Jr. gets a corner three. UCF only has two threes this half. Stephen Jamerson rebounds a Dent miss and scores on a nice fadeaway. Jamerson is the kid Cronin embarrassed on television (sending him to the locker room) at Michigan State. UCLA leads 33-21 at the under-4.
7:20 p.m. CT - The telecast is going to commercial as halftime has arrived. UCLA leads 35-27 at the break.
7:43 p.m.CT - UCF's Bol is writhing in pain on the ground. He was swiped across the face by Dailey Jr. while going for a dunk. That looks like a flagrant 1, but Gene Steratore says no. I hate the rules analyst in sports. Their explanations usually go against common sense or what is apparent to the human eye. With that said, Steratore is right on this one. Dailey Jr. was following the ball and the contact to the face was incidental, though severe. Time to switch back to the Iowa game as it is in the last four minutes.
8:12 p.m. CT - Finally back to a different game after the end of Iowa-Clemson. UCLA leads 56-44 with 8:18 left. UCF misses two free throws. Dent makes a tough layup. UCLA's sophomore Trent Perry forces a UCF turnover. The Bruins lead 58-44 at the under-8 without Tyler Bilodeau playing tonight! Bilodeau is out with a knee sprain. I feel like there have been a lot of player injuries so far this tournament.
8:19 p.m. CT - Riley Kugel hits a three for UCF. The Knights trail 60-49 with 6:25 left. Perry misses a three. Kugel misses a three. Dailey Jr. throws up an air ball on a shot inside the free throw line. Kugel gets an offensive rebound and stick back. Dailey Jr. drives and forces a quick shot, which he misses. Jamerson picks up a foul and UCF will be at the line down 9 with 5:16 left. John Bol will have a one-and-one, which he bricks off the back iron. Dent forces a quick layup and misses. Bol is fouled at the rim. UCLA is really taking quick and foolish shots. The Bruins lead 60-51 with 4:42 remaining. Bol misses the first. That is an ugly shooting stroke. He misses again. The ball twists in his hands when he shoots. UCF takes Bol out of the game. UCLA hasn't scored in 3:40. Dailey Jr. cans a corner three after a great crossover and pass by Skyy Clark. UCF misses, gets a board, misses and is called for a foul. UCLA leads 63-51 with under 4 minutes to go. Dailey Jr. has 20 points tonight.
8:34 p.m. CT - Xavier Booker is at the line with 2:01 remaining. UCLA leads 65-56. Booker has 15 points in place of the injured Bilodeau, 12 of which have been scored this half. UCF's Jamichael Stillwell gets a put-back layup after a missed three. UCLA leads 66-58 with 1:49 remaining as Cronin chews out Brandon Williams following a UCF timeout. Apparently Skyy Clark is back in the game after losing a tooth. Clark loses the ball on a drive. UCF is challenging the call, which was somehow called off UCF. That was clearly off Clark, who was fouled. I have to give Clark credit. He has seemingly become a real leader for UCLA. He is a steadying presence for the Bruins. When he left Illinois just 17 games into his freshman season three years ago, he did not have the best reputation. He seems to have really matured. UCF will get the ball with 1:36 left. Dent steals a pocket pass by Fulks, who has 5 turnovers. Clark is fouled but misses the front end of a one and one. UCF's Stillwell scores on a broken play, plus the foul. Stillwell misses the free throw. UCLA's Perry calls a timeout with 58.5 seconds remaining after he was trapped in the back court. I wonder what UCF is shooting from the foul line. Every time I have seen them at the line, they have missed. Kugel nearly steals the inbounds pass and fouls Dent. UCF has nine fouls. UCF is 4/14 from the free throw line, 1/10 this second half. Dent makes the first and the second. Dent also has a career-high 6 steals. UCF's Jordan Burks scores at the rim. Perry is fouled with 50.8 seconds left. This is another slog of a finish. UCLA leads 68-62. UCLA is in the double bonus. Perry makes the first and second free throw. Kugel misses a three and a follow up layup off his own miss. Perry is fouled. That should be the game. UCF has missed 12 layups. Perry makes the first, misses the second. UCF's Burks hits a three. Timeout UCF. UCLA leads 71-65 with 28 seconds left. UCF is out of timeouts. UCF Head Coach Johnny Dawkins is rocking a nice hoodie. This game is in Philadelphia, where Dawkins played the majority of his NBA career with the 76ers. UCLA inbounds to Perry, who is fouled. Perry is getting a chance to pad his stats at the line. He has 12 points tonight and is an 87.4% free throw shooter. Perry makes the first and misses the second. UCF misses a three but gets fouled by UCLA on the board. UCLA leads 72-65 with 21.6 seconds left. Mick Cronin is M'fing another player of his as the refs review a timing error. The clock did not start. Fans are rightfully booing as yet another game is dragging to the finish. The clock will be reset to 19.6 seconds. Stillwell is at the line for two. He makes the first and misses the second. UCF gets the rebound, but Skyy Clark takes the ball. He then dribbles the ball off his leg trying to avoid a foul. UCF hits a three! What a shot by Burks! UCLA gets the ball to Perry, who is fouled again. UCLA 72, UCF 69 with 8.3 seconds left. UCF has no timeouts. Perry rattles in the first. UCLA calls a timeout with 8.3 seconds left. UCLA leads 73-69 with 8.3 seconds leading. The possession arrow points to UCF. Perry makes the second. UCF's Fulks makes a layup with 3.6 seconds left. UCF fouls Clark with 2.3 seconds left. Clark has 7 points, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 lost tooth tonight. Clark misses the first free throw. He hits the second. That will do it. UCF's Burks misses a three at the horn.
8:58 pm. CT - UCLA defeats UCF, 75-71. That was a fugly end to the game. The last two minutes took 27 minutes in real time to play out. Yuck!
- Game #28: (15) Queens (NC) vs. (2) Purdue
7:12 p.m. CT - Purdue leads 35-30 with 2:34 remaining. C.J. Cox hits a three. Another assist for Smith. Purdue's Daniel Jacobson then blocks a Queens layup at the rim, off the Queens player. Cox follows up by getting fouled on a three-point shot. Cox makes, misses and makes his free throws. Purdue is up 10, its largest lead of the night (40-30). From what I have seen, Queens has been trying to attack Purdue at the rim. Smith gets into the lane and hits a fade away. Purdue is up 42-30 with less than a minute to go. Purdue calls a timeout.
8:15 pm. CT - Haven't checked in on this game in an hour. Queens gets a chin-up dunk but Omer Mayer responds with a three. Queens makes a layup plus the foul. Purdue leads 82-53 with 7:18 remaining.
8:27 p.m. CT - Purdue is up 98-60 with 3:16 left! Queens scores to cut the deficit to 36. Purdue's Daniel Jacobson is called for an offensive foul. Queens scores again. Purdue responds with an Omer Mayer three. Queens hits a three. 101-67 with 1:54 left. Both teams throw up missed threes. Queens gets a basket from Gus Larson. Purdue's Liam Murphy hits a three. Queens draws a foul on a dribble drive.
8:33 p.m. CT - Purdue ends Queens season, 104-71. Braden Smith sets the all-time assists record and scores 26 points as well. The Boilermakers are hitting their stride at the right time of the year, winning the Big Ten Tournament and taking care of business tonight after having a rough ending to the regular season!
- Game #29: (16) Prairie View vs. (1) Florida
9:27 p.m. CT: Florida leads 50-21 with 2:38 remaining. Florida splits a pair of free throws. Florida scores inside again. Rueben Chinyelu. Florida forces a turnover that leads to a Thomas Haugh layup. Florida has 55 points, now 57 points after Haugh makes a layup and gets fouled. He makes the free throw. Florida has four players with double digits. Prairie View A & M has 0. Florida's Isaiah Brown gets a dunk. The Gators have 38 points in the paint. Florida leads 60-21 at the break. Boogie Fland has 13 points on 5/5 from the field. This is the most amount of points Florida has scored in the first half this season. How many points will the Gators score in this game? How much will the Gators win this game by?
10:05 p.m. CT - Florida leads 75-31 with 13:42 left. Haugh makes a tough banker. He has 14 points on 6/9 field goals. Haugh was a breakout star during last year's tourney and is starting this year's tourney on a strong note. PV A & M's Lance Williams hits two free throws. Florida is called for a moving screen. Florida forces a turnover, swarming the overwhelmed PV A & M big man Hassane Diallo. UF's Xaivian Lee misses a three, hustles down his miss and feeds Alex Condon for a layup. Condon has 13 points on 5/6. Florida leads 79-33 with 11:59 remaining.
10:16 p.m. CT - Florida hits a three and is 5/8 from deep this half. The Gators lead 87-33 with 9:21 remaining. PV A & M's Dontae Horne makes two free throws. Horne was great during the First Four game against Lehigh. Chinyelu misses a shot at the rim and then runs down Horne for the foul. That couldn't have felt good for Horne. PV A & M hits a three; Corey Dunning with the make. Florida's Alex Lloyd get an easy layup. There was no contest there. Chinyelu scores inside, and one. Florida leads 91-39 with 7:39 left. It's time for Florida Head Coach Todd Golden to get some starters out.
10:35 p.m. CT - Florida leads 102-47 with 3:24 remaining. Florida is shooting 69% from the field. At one point, this game was tied at 15! Horne misses a three. Florida gets a put back dunk. Florida is about to put in its 7'9" center, Olivier Rioux. Florida banks in a three. Olivier Rioux is in the game. He was 7 foot at 12 years old! PV A & M's Tai'Reon Joseph is fouled at the rim. Rioux helps him up. Rioux misses a left-handed layup. Wow! He has no lift. Rioux ges an offensive board off a missed three and dunks the ball. Florida's Viktor Mikic blocks a shot but hurts his back. PV A & M hits a bomb three. Florida drains another three, CJ Ingram with the dunk. PV A & M gets an alley oop dunk. Good for them.
10:42 p.m. CT - Florida wins 114-55. Pray for Iowa on Sunday! Iowa's Ben McCollum is a wonderful tactical coach, but I am not sure how the Hawkeyes will be able to keep this game close.
- Game #30: (13) Cal Baptist vs. (4) Kansas
9:23 p.m. CT - Tre White hits two free throws. Kansas leads 10-5. Kansas is 2/15 from the field, but 6/7 from the foul line. Kansas leads 10-5. Following a Cal Baptist miss, White is fouled on a long three. The Cal Baptist fans are not happy with the foul differential so far. White has 5 points and 4 rebounds. He is 3/3 from the foul line. He is now 6/6 from the line. Cal Baptist is fouled. Kansas leads 13-5 with 11:40 remaining. Cal Baptist has four turnovers and only two made field goals.
9:50 p.m. CT - Peterson hits a lovely turn-around to give Kansas a 29-16 lead. Peterson has 8 points on 3/10 shooting. Cal Baptist has a shot blocked at the rim, but later draws a foul. Kansas has 54 NCAA Tournament appearances, this is Cal Baptist's first. Cal Baptist misses two free throws, looking like a school in its first tourney game. Peterson jacks a terrible three. Cal Baptist misses a floater. Tre White badly misses another awful/rushed three-pointer. Daniels Jr. is fouled. He is 1-for-9 from the field. He hits both free throws. He has 5 points and averages more than 23 per game. Kansas scores on a lob dunk. The Jayhawks lead 31-18. Cal Baptist misses a shot at the elbow. Peterson with a beautiful hesitation and drive to the basket for a score. Daniels misses a three. Kansas leads by 15 with 44 seconds left. This game is pretty unwatchable. Peterson hits a quick fade away. He is heating up. Cal Baptist turns the ball over as Kansas jumps the dribble. Peterson is dribbling out the clock and is fouled on the drive with 8.8 seconds left. Cal Baptist had one to give. Peterson hits a step-back three at the buzzer. Peterson takes over in the final two minutes of the half. Kansas leads 38-18 at the half.
10:25 p.m. CT - Kansas leads 44-20 with 17:06 remaining. Peterson hits a floater after a slip screen by Bidunga. Cal Baptist quickly scores. That might be the first jumper I've seen Cal Baptist hit all night. KU's Melvin Council Jr. scores without much resistance on a righty layup. Peterson throws a lob to Bidunga out of bounds. Kansas leads 48-22 with 15:51 left. Cal Baptist is really out of its league here, and Kansas isn't even playing all that great, with the exception of Peterson getting super hot at the end of the first half.
11:01 p.m. CT - Whoa! Cal Baptist is only down 66-53 with 3:33 remaining. Daniels misses the front end of a one and one though. Tre White misses a three. KU leads 66-53 with 3 minutes left. KU strips Daniels of the ball as he attacks the rim. Cal Baptist retains the ball. Daniels hits a crazy stepback three. He has 23 points. White misses a quick three. Bad shot. Daniels gets fouled driving to the basket. Kansas' 26 point lead is down to ten, 66-56. Daniels makes both free throws. 66-58 with 2:00 left. The Lancers are on a 16-2 run. Kansas is running some clock. Council misses a three. Cal Baptist scores at the rim. 66-60 with 1:10 left. Kansas hasn't scored in 4 minutes. Timeout Jayhawks. Once again, Kansas was up 26 with 16 minutes left. White misses another three at the end of the shot clock. Daniels misses a layup . Cal Baptist gets the rebound and calls a timeout with 30.9 seconds left. Good timeout as Cal Baptist couldn't find an open shot there. What a stunning ending here! I am glad I checked back in as I figured Kansas had this wrapped up! What a great experience for Cal Baptist in the Lancers' first NCAA Tournament game. Kansas has one basket in eight minutes. Daniels misses a forced shot and Council secures the rebound. He is fouled. Cal Baptist has one more foul to give. KU calls a timeout with 19.7 seconds left. Kansas runs a great inbound play leading to a White dunk. Daniels misses a three, Cal Baptists misses a floater. The ball is knocked out of bounds. Cal Baptist retains and jacks up (and misses) a three at the buzzer.
11:13 p.m. - Kansas survives a furious Cal Baptist rally, 68-60. Down 26 points early in the second half, the Lancers got the game down to 6 points in front of a raucous crowd. Peterson finishes with 28 points on 11/24 from the field, 4/11 from three. Kansas Head Coach Bill Self has a wry smile after surviving that rough ending to the game. The Jayhawks will need to be much better against St. John's on Sunday.
- Game #31: (15) Furman vs. (2) UCONN
9:45 p.m. CT - Solo Ball misses a three off an inbounds play. UCONN retains possession as the ball goes out of bounds. Furman Head Coach Bob Richey pontificates whether to challenge but decides not to. UCONN leads 16-15 at the under-12.
9:58 p.m. CT -UCONN leads 24-19 with 8;43 remaining. Reed has 11 and 12 so far. He looks like Adama Sanogo part II. Reed scores on a nice post feed from Ball. UCONN is on an 8-0 run. Reed clears another Furman miss. Karaban misses a turnaround banker in the lane. Furman hasn't scored in more than 3 minutes until a nice lefty layup there. 26-21 UCONN with 7:01 left. Ball misses a three, UCONN secures the board, but Mullins misses a three. I haven't seen Ball hit a jumper in several weeks. He is really struggling. Furman's Cole Bowser is fouled at the rim. UCONN leads 26-21 at the under-8 with 6:34 remaining.
10:10 p.m. CT - Furman is hanging with UCONN, trailing 27-25 with 5:17 left. Mullins hits a tough floater at the end of the shot clock. There is a tie up on the Furman possession. The Paladins have the arrow. Furman's Tom House hits a three. Wilkins nearly steals the ball. Furman is down 29-28 now 31-28 after Reed scores again. He is 7/7 from the field with 16 points. Furman's Wilkins picks up a ticky tack offensive foul. That was brutal. Mullins misses a three off a Reed double. UCONN retains possession on an offensive board, and Karaban eventually scores a layup. House drills another three. House has 10 points on 3/5 from the field and 2/2 free throws. Mullins makes another floater. He has 8 points on 4/9 field goals. Wilkins blows by for a layup. Wow! You are not used to seeing UCONN give up buckets at the rim like that. Wilkins has 15 points on 6/9 from the field. Reed finally misses but he is fouled. UCONN leads 35-33 with 2:14 remaining at the under-4 timeout.
10:20 p.m. CT - There is a tie up. UCONN retains possession and leads 38-33 with under a minute to go. Braylon Mullins walks in for an easy layup. House deflects a UCONN fast break out of bounds after a sloppy turnover by the Paladins. Hurley calls a timeout with 14.8 left. UCONN will get the last shot of the half. The Huskies are 1/14 from three this half! Mullins jacks a quick shot and misses. Furman makes UCONN pay with a Charles Johnston three at the buzzer. What a bad shot by Mullins, with the long rebound propeling Furman into a three that Johnston ran into. UCONN leads 40-36 at the half. UCONN is a far cry from what they were two and three seasons ago. The Huskies may survive this game but don't look right, especially at the guard position.
10:44 p.m. CT - The second half is starting. UCONN missed its last 13 threes in the first half. Solo Ball has missed his last seven shots. This is the best shot for an upset tonight. UCONN is without Jaylin Stewart and Silas Demary tonight after his ankle injury against St. John's in the Big East Tournament final. Karaban scores on a lefty layup to start the half. Great offense by UCONN there. Wilkins misses a difficult three. Karaban drives again but is called for a travel. Furman's Tom House draws a foul on Mullins on a strong attack. He makes both free throws. UCONN is running great offense here, getting the ball inside to Reed, who is fouled on the entry pass. Ball hits a big three off a nice curl. As much as Dan Hurley is a jerk, he runs a beautiful offense. Wilkins attacks and throws up a lob to Cooper Bowser for the slam. That is the second time this has happened tonight. This UCONN team has its share of defensive lapses. Karaban hits a three off a great inbounds play. UCONN turns over Wilkins, with the Huskies feeding Karaban for a layup. Timeout Furman. UCONN leads 50-40 with 17:54 remaining.
11:32 P.M. CT - UCONN leads 72-65 with 3:59 remaining. The Paladins haven's cored in nearly three minutes. Wilkins misses a three. Reed grabs his 21st board. Furman has 23 boards, Reed 21. UCONN feeds Reed in the post who is fouled. UCONN has 42 points in the paint tonight. UCONN will be in the bonus on the next Furman foul. Karaban feeds to Reed who misses the ball at the rim, gets the loose ball, and feeds to Malachi Smith, who is fouled on a drive to the hoop. Smith hits the first free throw and misses the second. Reed gets the board. He could have put that up but pulls it back out. Smart. Jayden Ross misses a three and Reed gets another board. UCONN has 16 offensive boars. Karaban misses a three. Reed gets another rebound. He has 25 rebounds, 10 offensive. Karaban hits a three. UCONN is up 11 after that possession, which drained 1:45 of the clock. Wilkins misses, Thomas misses and Reed rebounds again. That's 26. Mullins misses a floater, Reed gets another offensive board. Reed has 29 points and 27 rebounds. He hits the first free throw. He makes the second. Reed is 12/15 from the field. He has 31 and 27. According to the telecast Ohio State's Jerry Lucas once had a 30/30 game in the 1961 NcAA Tournament. UCONN leads 78-65 with 1:04 left. Tom House is fouled on a drive. He makes the first and the second. 78-67 with 1:04 left. UCONN breaks the press and Mullins is fouled. UCONN has outrebounded Furman by 21 boards. UCONN does not have Reed in for the rebound. He is back at half court. Mullins makes the first and the second. Wilkins is fouled at the rim by UCONN's Ross. Wilkins has 18 points. This freshman will likely be poached by a bigger program in the portal. Wilkins misses the first, makes the second. Furman is down 80-68 and pressing with 51.7 seconds left. Wilkins fouls Ball. Ball makes the first and the second. Ball only has 9 points tonight. Ball and Mullins were 1/14 from three combined (that has to be a big concern for the Huskies moving forward). Reed steals the ball from House, but is called for a questionable foul. That is his first foul tonight. House misses the first, makes the second. Reed has the first 30 and 25 game in the NCAA Tournament since Houston's Elvin Hayes in 1968. Furman calls off the dogs, thankfully. The Paladins played UCONN very tough. The Huskies take a shot clock violation. Wilkins makes a layup. UCONN has 30 wins.
11:45 p.m. CT - UCONN beats Furman, 82-71, behind Tarris Reed Jr.'s incredible performance (31 points and 27 boards). Don't be deceived by the score as this game was much closer. Dan Hurley is right in the post-game interview: Furman was way better than a #15 seed!
- Game #32: (10) Missouri vs. (7) Miami (FL)
9:40 p.m. CT- Mizzou's Jacob Crews misses a three but retains possession. Miami leads 23-17 with 5:55 remaining. Mizzou's Shawn Phillips throws up a brick. Great gang rebounding by Miami (FL). Miami has 11 offensive boards to just three for Missouri. Washington gets fouled late in the shot clock on a drive. Tru is true on the first free throw. He hits back iron on the second shot. Mizzou hasn't scored for more than 3 minutes. Missouri star Mark Mitchell misses a three and doesn't have a field goal or point. Missouri has missed its last seven shots. Miami (FL) is challenging an out-of-bounds call, which means it's time to find a new game.
9:47 p.m. CT - The refs reverse the call, giving the ball to Miami (FL). The Hurricanes get an immediate dunk. Missouri misses another three leading to a Miami break and a foul on the Tigers. Miami FL leads 26-17 with 3:58 left. Missouri seems lucky to be down only 9 points.
10:04 p.m. CT - Mizzou has come back here. The Tigers' immensely tall Trent Pierce misses a half-hook at the buzzer. Miami leads 27-26 at the break.
10:28 p.m. CT - Shawn Philips swats a Miami dunk attack at the rim but then fumbles the ball out of bounds on the ensuing possession. Miami is fouled at the rim and leads 31-30 with 18:08 left in the second half. Ernest Udeh Jr. makes the first free throw but badly short arms the second. Mizzou responds with a nice high low from Mitchell to Phillips for a monster two-handed slam. Malik Reneau scores to silence the loud Mizzou crowd. Mitchell stumbles on a drive and Miami's Shelton Henderson is fouled on a fast break. That looked like a clean swipe. Ball don't lie. Henderson misses the first free throw and the second. Miami leads 34-32 but is just 4 of 12 from the foul line. Mitchell with another bad turnover. Miami blitzed him on the drive and he threw the ball way over the head of a cutting teammate. Mitchell averages 18 a game but has been bad tonight and the only other time I saw him this year, against Illinois. Tre Donaldson replies with a silencing three for the Hurricanes. This is truly a road game for Miami (FL). Mizzou is fouled on a drive. The Canes lead 37-32 with 15:50 remaining.
10:53 p.m. CT - Mizzou is on a quick 6-0 run to tie the game at 49. The Tigers hit a three, forced a steal and fed to Jayden Stone for an and-one plus the free throw. Stone has 21. The game is tied at 49. Miami misses a three as Mizzou's Pierce is fouled hard on a serious attack of the rim. He was ready to tear down the rim there. The refs are reviewing this foul. Henderson with a hard foul but he was going for and got ball at first. Pierce makes the first free throw and Mizzou leads for the first time since it was 2-0. Pierce hits the second. Missouri leads 51-49, after an 8-0 run in the last 50 seconds. Tre Donaldson responds with a silencer of a three. Mark Mitchell misses a tough, contested layup. Reneau misses a short shot, and Mitchell finally scratches with a big three. Timeout Miami. Missouri leads 54-52 with 7:39 remaining.
11:17 p.m. CT - Miami (FL) leads 68-62 with 2:43 remaining. While watching a crazy ending to Cal Baptist - Kansas, Miami (FL) has responded to a Mizzou run. Reneau banks in a shot and gets fouled. He is flexing. Reneau completes the three point play. The Hurricanes have made their last 7 free throws after starting 4/12. Missouri misses. Miami runs offense up 9 and Donaldson buries a three off a ridiculous crossover. Miami leads 74-62 with 1:29 remaining. Timeout Missouri. What an impressive effort from Miami. This has been a home game for Missouri. The Tigers are out of timeouts. Crews misses a three out of the timeout. Miami clears the board. Pierce fouls Reneau with 1:11 left. Reneau makes the first free throw, misses the second. Mitchell is fouled at the rim following a quick penetration into the lane. Mitchell makes both free throws. Miami leads 75-64 with 56.3 seconds left. Mizzou fouls. This might be a very long minute of fouling, though the game is effectively over. Robinson II fouls out. Reneau is at the line again and hits one of two again. He has 24 points. Pierce misses a three. Henderson rebounds and is fouled. Henderson misses the first, rattles in the second. Pierce makes a layup. 77-66 with 37.8 seconds left. Mizzou fouls again. It's time to stop fouling here if Miami makes both of these. This game is over. Washington misses the first free throw, hits the second. Stone misses a floater, and Washington is fouled with 27.2 seconds left. Washington makes the first and the second. 80-66. Crews misses a three, Henderson rebounds and this game is over!
11:28 p.m. CT - Miami (FL) silences Missouri, 80-66. That was an impressive win for the Hurricanes in front of a pro-Missouri crowd. What a first win in the NCAA Tournament for Jai Lucas. This Miami team will have another road game on Sunday against Purdue. If the Hurricanes show this poise, Miami can give Purdue a real game. Once again, one word for that! IMPRESSIVE!
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