NCAA College Basketball Tournament - round of 16, day 1

NCAA College Basketball Tournament - round of 16, day 1

Notre Dame defeated Wichita State 81-70. Although the Irish had a much stronger seed (3 versus 7), Wichita was actually favored by the oddsmakers in that game. The game didn't really seem close, although Wichita held a 38-37 lead at one time. Notre Dame galloped off to a 20-7 lead, then later shot the lights out to go up by 19 after Wichita took that momentary lead.

West Virginia was not ready for prime time. By the time they reached 20 points, more than three minutes of the second half had expired. The Mountaineers shot 13% on threes, 28% on twos and 58% on free throws. Kentucky stole the ball from them seven times and blocked seven of their shots. Final score 78-39. At this point, undefeated Kentucky is looking like an invulnerable juggernaut. Nobody has come close to them since their scare against LSU on February 10th (they were down 58-45 at one point in that game). The Fightin' Irish are gonna need their shillelaghs to beat these guys.

Xavier couldn't pull the upset on Arizona, but they should be thrilled with their performance in this game and in the tournament in general. While all the experts were whining about UCLA getting into the tourney, I was looking at Xavier and wondering how they got a sixth seed. They finished sixth out of 10 teams in the Big East, and lost a game to three of the teams that finished below them! They also lost during the year to other teams with losing records, like Long Beach State and Auburn. They played well in the tournament, however, and were still in the Arizona game with 40 seconds left - they had the ball and were down by only four. They took four more shots after that point, but couldn't get any of them to fall.

Our Badgers played their usual game - asleep until the final minutes, when they decided to wake up and play. They must have the alarm clock set for 7:00. They were down 60-56 in this one before eking out a 79-72 victory. North Carolina played them dead even except at the charity stripe, where the Badgers were nearly automatic at 20-for-23 while the Tar Heels struggled their way to 12-for-18. Those points decided the game, because each team made exactly 26 field goals and North Carolina held a slight edge (8 to 7) from beyond the arc. The Badgers were competent, but mere competence ain't gonna challenge Kentucky. It may not get past Arizona.