NCAA Round-up, March 17 – Florida Gators, Connecticut Huskies, Brigham Young Cougars win (part 1)
Florida Gators 79 – UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 51
Erving Walker led the Florida Gators to surpass the 15-seeded UC Santa Barbara Gauchos by 79-51 in the Southeast region on Thursday night. Walker tallied 18 points while his teammate Chandler Parsons made a double-double by counting 10 points and 10 assists,
he also had seven caroms.
The Gators started piling up the points and quickly stretched it to a double-digit lead 10-1, they avail 11 out of their first 15 attempts and guided the rest of the way. The Gators were on top of the Gauchos in almost every department of the game. This
proved to be the most uneven game of the tournament on the first day.
The Gators never looked out of touch as they put up a pre-season show and proved themselves No. 2 seed.
Orlando Johnson scored 21 points and remained the major contributor from the Gauchos.
Connecticut Huskies, UConn 81 - Bucknell Bison 52
Kemba Walker marshalled the No. 3 seed Connecticut Huskies, UConn to sail past 14th-seeded Bucknell Bison 81-52, on Thursday night at Verizon Centre, Washington DC. Walker made 18 points, eight boards and provided 12 assists to reach his career-high.
Roscoe Smith who had played back to back five games showed no signs of tiredness in Thursday’s game. His team won five games in a strip to grab the Big East tournament last week. Smith hit 17 points for the Huskies in this game.
The Huskies led the Connecticut by 17 points in the first half. The Huskies came out charged after the break and raised the difference to 32 points in early five minutes of the second half. The Huskies end up winning the game by 29 points.
With this victory the Huskies led their coach Jim Calhoun to his 850th profession victory. Walker made a school milestone for an NCAA tournament with his 12 assists.
The Bison who are the winners of Patriot League, had a 10-game winning streak and on a 19-1 roll, before coming to this game. But they proved to be a wall of sand in front of the Connecticut, as they got knocked out in all the sections.
Mike Muscala scored 14 points and four boards for the Bison and remained the top scorer of the side.
Brigham Young Cougars 74 - Wofford Terriers 66
On Thursday night at Pepsi Centre, Jimmer Fredette lived up to his expectations, as he scored 32 points to boost the 3rd-seeded Brigham Young Cougars to a 74-66 conquest over the No. 14 Wofford Terriers.
The Terriers restricted Fredette during most part of the first half and led by 25-21, with 5 minutes residual. But Fredette made two free throws and one beyond the arc in a 9-0 run to brought the Cougars ahead of the Terriers. The first half lead boosted
the Cougars to take command and finished the game proceedings in their favour, as they never gave up the lead.
The Wofford tried almost everything but failed to held Fredette back. The leading scorer managed to get open spots time to time; he smacked 25 shots and made 12 throws from the paint to led the Cougars glide towards their 31st victory, which is a school
record.
This was Terriers’ second appearance of NCAA in a straight line, forward Noah Dahlman chipped in with 22 points for the Terriers.
Morehead State Eagles 62 - Louisville Cardinals 61
Terrance Hill scored a career-high 23 points, as the 13th-seeded Morehead State Eagles distressed No. 4 Louisville Cardinals by 62-61 at Denver. This was the first upset of the NCAA tournament.
Demonte Harper dragged the Eagles back on top with his game winner three-point shot, just seven seconds before the game ends. The Cardinals had a chance to win it, even after Harper’s three-pointer, but their guard Mike Marra led them down when he got blocked
by Kenneth Faried, and the Eagles took the cake away from the Cardinals.
This was Eagles first victory in NCAA tournament after 26 years. Faried added 12 points and 17 boards for the Eagles.
Guard Chris Smith scored 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and steal one for the Cardinals, who had lost both the games played so far.
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