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Madness. Only madness can explain the shocking and inexplicable results of the opening day of the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. It's confusing enough having two regionals come down to the top two seeds, but we're somehow a mere three days from knowing who's in the final four and Villanova and Kansas are both still playing? After my circle of snark on Twitter unanimously picked them both to fail to get out of the first weekend? Hmph.
Angel Rodriguez saw his college career end in... unfortunate fashion, as Villanova routed the Hurricanes. Oklahoma, Kansas, and Oregon also easily moved on to the Elite Eight on what might well be one of the most anticlimactic Sweet Sixteen days in NCAA history; the two O-schools both won by 14, and those were the close games.
Another not-close game was #2 Augustana taking down Western Oregon in the NCAA Division II Final Four, waltzing to a 19-point win. But top-seeded Lincoln Memorial had a huge fight on their hands and an unanswerable problem to deal with. West Liberty senior Seger Bonifant exploded for 44 points, the highest scoring output in a D-II semifinal since 1971, and LMU had to fight all the way to the buzzer to send West Liberty home. The game was tied at 93 with a couple of minutes left when Bonifant put the Hilltoppers up by a pair. Gerel Simmons, who led LMU with 35, answered with a three; Bonifant made a pair from the stripe to regain the lead again. Then Simmons answered again -- twice, with a two-pointer and then a three to put the Railsplitters up by four. They held on as the rest of the game was decided at the line.
So someone is winning their first-ever NCAA Division II men's basketball title, as neither LMU nor Augie has even so much as reached the title game before. They're off tonight; the championship game is on CBS Saturday afternoon prior to Elite Eight action.
The CIT semifinals are now set as NJIT won a close one against UT-Arlington. The Highlanders, those lovable vagabonds who until this season were Division I's only remaining independent, now become the first team ever to reach the CIT semifinals in back-to-back seasons. Sunday, they'll make the grueling trek across the Hudson River to take on Columbia; after that, Cal-Irvine visits Coastal Carolina. Both games will be on CBSSN, and it's a shame they'll be up against the second half of the Elite Eight because that's actually one hell of a nifty four-team mid-major tournament there.
NCAA DIVISION I MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT | ||
ROUND | RESULT | HIGH SCORER |
SOUTH SF | (2) Villanova 92, (3) Miami (FL) 69 | Sheldon McClellan (MIA), 26 |
WEST SF | (2) Oklahoma 77, (3) Texas A&M 63 | Jordan Woodard (OKLA), 22 |
SOUTH SF | (1) Kansas 79, (5) Maryland 63 | Perry Ellis (KU), 27 |
WEST SF | (1) Oregon 82, (4) Duke 68 | Brandon Ingram (DUKE), 24 |
COLLEGEINSIDER.COM TOURNAMENT | ||
ROUND | RESULT | HIGH SCORER |
QF | New Jersey Tech 63, Texas-Arlington 60 |
Ky Howard (NJIT), 14 Drew Charles (UTA), 14 |
NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT | ||
ROUND | RESULT | HIGH SCORER |
SF | (SE1) Lincoln Memorial 103, (A2) West Liberty 102 | Seger Bonifant (WLU), 44 |
SF | (C1) Augustana (SD) 74, (W1) Western Oregon 55 | Casey Schilling (AUSD), 17 Tanner Omlid (WOU), 17 |
Today's Men's Schedule
The second half of the Sweet Sixteen is unopposed, at least by any other men's action. Iowa State will attempt to become the third Big 12 team in the Elite Eight and, in the process, extend the ACC's sudden losing streak to four. That streak could stretch all the way to seven by the end of the night if disaster strikes, as each game on tonight's schedule features an ACC squad. By seed they're favored in all four games, but only barely in two of them. In a late game, Gonzaga will try to extend their not-really-Cinderella run to yet another Elite Eight.
NCAA DIVISION I MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT | ||||||
ROUND | TIME (CT) | TEAM | - | TEAM | LOCATION | NETWORK |
MIDWEST SF | 6:10pm | (4) Iowa State | (1) Virginia | Chicago IL | CBS | |
EAST SF | 6:37pm | (7) Wisconsin | (6) Notre Dame | Philadelphia PA | TBS | |
MIDWEST SF | 8:40pm | (11) Gonzaga | (10) Syracuse | Chicago IL | CBS | |
EAST SF | 9:07pm | (5) Indiana | (1) North Carolina | Philadelphia PA | TBS |
Thursday's Women's Results
Only three games last night, all in the WNIT, but as a result we now know everything about the WNIT quarterfinals except for South Dakota's opponent, which will be determined tonight (see below). That game will be at South Dakota on Sunday regardless of the winner. The Coyotes survived a serious scare against Northern Iowa, which held the Yotes to almost exactly half of their scoring output from their second-round tilt with Minnesota.
The other three quarterfinals are all slated for Monday; Hofstra travels to Dunk City, Temple visits Michigan, and UTEP hosts Oregon.
WOMEN'S NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT | ||
ROUND | RESULT | HIGH SCORER |
R3 | Temple 75, Ohio 61 | Feyonda Fitzgerald (TEMP), 22 |
R3 | South Dakota 51, Northern Iowa 50 | Jen Keitel (UNI), 19 |
R3 | Texas-El Paso 79, Texas Christian 71 | Starr Breedlove (UTEP), 21 |
Today's Women's Schedule
In addition to the aforementioned final game of the WNIT's third round, the NCAA women begin their Sweet Sixteen. The marquee matchup, and it's not even a close decision, is Notre Dame-Stanford.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT | ||||||
ROUND | TIME (CT) | TEAM | - | TEAM | LOCATION | NETWORK |
SXF SF | 6:00pm | (4) Syracuse | (1) South Carolina | Sioux Falls SD | ESPN | |
LEX SF | 6:00pm | (7) Washington | (3) Kentucky | Lexington KY | ESPN2 | |
SXF SF | 8:00pm | (4) Stanford | (1) Notre Dame | Sioux Falls SD | ESPN | |
LEX SF | 8:00pm | (7) Tennessee | (3) Ohio State | Lexington KY | ESPN2 | |
WOMEN'S NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT | ||||||
ROUND | TIME (CT) | TEAM | - | TEAM | LOCATION | NETWORK |
R3 | 7:00pm | Western Kentucky | at | Saint Louis | Saint Louis MO | A-10 Digital |
Programming note: There will be a separate Slate this morning, in about an hour or so.