http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/mar/15/march-madness-2012-live-ncaa
6.50pm ET Kentucky (1) vs Western Kentucky (16)
7.15pm Wichita State (5) vs Virginia Commonwealth (12)
7.20pm Gonzaga (7) vs West Virginia (10)
And New Mexico will survive, although Long Beach kept it close most of the game.
New Mexico makes a big mistake fouling Casper Ware late, but Greenwood makes his free throws on the other end so it may not matter.
Long Beach is somehow still hanging on by a thread here with less than a minute to go. They’ve got three time outs to work with.
Long Beach State briefly took the lead on a thrilling dunk, but Kendall Williams answers with a three pointer, the momentum is with New Mexico now.
Long Beach has just made it a one point game.
Hunter Felt takes over and it’s New Mexico vs Long Beach State…
We take you now to the West Region where the Lobos and the 49ers are in a tough game. But New Mexico looks like they’re turning it up now…
That’s all for me today. Enjoy the rest of opening day action.
Two other games in progress…
Vanderbilt 33 – Harvard 23 (Halftime)
New Mexico 41 – Long Beach State 40 (15:07, 2nd Half)
That’s a tough loss for Asheville. They played as good as basketball game as they could have hoped for in this opening round. But in the end, Syracuse was just faster and more physical.
And it’s not just that Asheville was a strong 16-seed—Syracuse looked like a weak No. 1 today.
They foul Syracuse…but this one is over.
Cue the tears….
And Syracuse steals the ball!
That’s going to be the ballgame.
Tough one for Asheville.
Asheville wasting a lot of time here…
Chris Stephenson fouls out of the game as Syracuse steps to the line.
They sink both.
Wow, did the refs blow the call on that inbounds.
Now it’s a two-possession game with 25 seconds.
And Asheville at the line. Now they’re within 3.
Back at the other end, Syracuse makes a foolish foul.
And on the inbounds, Syracuse loses it…but the refs blow the call again! Oh that’s a BAD call.
And now Dickey fouls for Asheville.
And Jaron Lane drains another three for Asheville!
It’s a three-point game with less than a minute.
And, man, does that foolish lane violation hurt now. Lane violation? What is this, high school j.v.?
Syracuse is in no rush here. They had a perfect one-on-one situation and slowed it down. Now Asheville fouls.
Ooh…bad call. Lane violation on one of the free throws! Replay shows it wasn’t.
Dickey can’t shoot…but he can still pass. Sweet feed to Atkinson. And it’s a 4-point game with 90 seconds to play.
Asheville uses its last timeout. And they have no fouls to give. It’s gut-check time for them.
Squeaky bum time for Syracuse.
Asheville’s Stevenson cuts Syracuse’s lead to 6 with a couple of free throws. Then UNCA steals the ball…and Dickey misses a layup!
Scrapping for the ball…and the Bulldogs get it back. Again.
Two other games underway…
Harvard 17 – Vanderbilt 16, 6:33, 1st Half
New Mexico 33 – Long Beach State 29 (Halftime)
And James Sutherland drains a three for the Orange. Syracuse on an 8-0 run here. And looking like they’re ready to put this game away.
Timeout.
And Dickey keeps coming up short on every shot. (And let’s face it, nobody likes a short Dickey.)
Someone else needs to step up here for Asheville. Their defense is holding up, but they just can’t score.
This is a dangerous time for Asheville. Dickey really needs to start sinking some shots if Asheville has a chance of pulling off this upset.
But he just can’t find his stroke.
How long can Asheville rely on wild shots from angles that would scare Pythagoras?
Still, they’re going in.
These Bulldogs are playing like bulldogs…
.
Asheville is wisely slowing the tempo, taking 25 or 30 seconds off the shot clock on every possession, but it will work against them if they can’t score.
And Syracuse is answering with VERY physical play on the other end.
After a couple of free throws by ‘Cuse, UNCA answers with a strong drive to the basket.
Asheville is in no hurry now…
If Asheville can keep hitting threes, they can stay with Syracuse. But that’s a lot to ask late in the game. UNCA has to get more physical because you can feel the Orange squeezing them.
Asheville is not taking good shots and the Orange continue to out-muscle them on the boards.
Asheville is relentless here. They will not be intimidated.
After Syracuse went on an 8-1 run, Asheville answers with a big three!
They are not intimidated by this Syracuse team that is bigger and faster.
And there it is! Syracuse has finally taken the lead. They came out of the locker room clearly pumped up, playing hard and fast—beating UNCA to every loose ball.
Asheville calls a timeout to regroup. And the Orange are fired up.
Back to Pittsburgh for the second half of Syracuse and UNC-Asheville.
UNCA looks like they’re really trying to control the tempo early, keep the game slow-ish, but Syracuse won’t let them.
They have been having some moisture problems with the floor in this game. (Though not from where I’m sitting. It’s nice and dry here.)
Meanwhile…Long Beach State and New Mexico have tipped off:
UNM 11- LBSU 10
Marquette has really stepped it up here, playing a much more physical game, particularly when it comes to rebounds.
After a brief BYU surge, Marquette calls a timeout to settle down.
Marquette is stepping up the physicality here—they are not going to let Mitt Romney’s alma mater back into this game.
Orange you glad we can also talk about Syracuse?
https://twitter.com/#!/twayward/status/180386138941431808 “just when it seemed this would be a dead afternoon, the NCAA Tournament rises from the Asheville.”
This would be a huge upset—historical—if Syracuse loses to UNCA. But there is a LOT of basketball yet to play.
While Syracuse is at the half, let’s move to the West Region, where Marquette is dominating BYU.
Marquette 60 – BYU 51 13:06, 2nd half
We have another final score:
Wisconsin 73 – Montana 49 (The Badgers will face the winner of Harvard-Vanderbilt in the next round. That game tips off in 15 minutes, by the way.)
Let’s put this Syracuse game in perspective…
In the history of the NCAA Tournament, a No. 16 seed has never upset a No. 1 in the first round. And this is only the seventh time in history that a 1-seed has trailed a 16-seed at the half.
So clearly Syracuse needs to make some adjustments.
Syracuse makes a last-second shot as the half ends and gets the foul! But had the shot clock expired? Sure looked like it….
The refs take a second look…and it’s not allowed.That would have been a big lift at the end of the half for the Orange. Instead, they go into the locker room down by 4.
The scary thing for Boeheim in this first half is that UNCA is playing this well and their leading scorer, Matt Dickey, has yet to make a basket.
Also…yes, UNCA’s Keith Hornsby, who just hit a big 3, is the son of musician Bruce Hornsby.
Syracuse is trying to pick it up under the boards here and remind Asheville why they’re a No. 1 seed. It’s as if they’ve just realized they’re the bigger, stronger team.
Marquette 49 – BYU 34 (Halftime)
Wisconsin 66 – Montana 44 (3:32, 2nd Half)
We take you know to the East Region, where the No. 1 seed, Syracuse, is looking very shaky against UNC-Asheville.
The loss of Melo has really taken the Orange out of their game.
And the crowd is clearly behind the Bulldogs…
Louisville somehow let the Wildcats back in the game at the end, but it was never really in danger.
A very strong opening performance by Louisville. They got into some foul trouble…but Rick Pitino can work that out by the next round when the Cardinals will face the winner of New Mexico and Long Beach State.)
This has been a very solid opening game for Louisville. They came out strong and clearly took Davidson out of their game early.
And just as Davidson looks out of it…Louisville fouls on a three-point attempt. Why?
And Louisville continues to be solid at the line, shooting 77%.
Once again…Davidson fouls. And prays Louisville misses.
Louisville up by 8 with the ball…and all Davidson can do is foul. Rick Pitino calls a timeout.
Louisville is playing smart ball in these final minutes, giving up the two, which can’t really hurt them with this much time left on the clock. All Davidson can really do at this point is foul and make Louisville miss at the line.
Which they don’t.
A desperate three has brought Davidson to within 8 points, but it really feels like too little too late.
Davidson is not only running out of time, they’re running out of steam. Louisville is firmly in control of this one…so we’ll head over to Wisconsin-Montana soon, where the Badgers are up by 16 in the second half.
.
Davidson just keeps launching these sad bombs from behind the three-point arc. And all the Wildcats can do on defense is foul Louisville to stop them from scoring. Except for all those free throws.
Time is really running out for Davidson.
Marquette 35- BYU 19 (6:56, 1st Half)
Wisconsin 43 – Montana 30 (16:13, 2nd Half)
Syracuse – UNC Asheville has just tipped off…
The Cardinals are just so much stronger and so much faster than Davidson. They beat the Wildcats to every ball. Even if Louisville doesn’t score, they’re still letting the time run down.
Davidson fiiiiinally hits a three. That brings it back to a 10-point game. The Wildcats still need to turn up the defense here.
Davidson can’t hit the three — not sure why they need to go for them with so much time left — but they’re not exactly hitting twos either. And they continue to be weak under the boards.
Chane Behanan has really come up big against Louisville. With plenty of time left in the second half, he already has a double-double.
But Louisville is fouling…so Pitino has to go to his bench.
The Cardinals are just getting too many second chances under the basket. Davidson has to start pulling down some rebounds if they’re going to claw their way back.
UPDATES:
Wisconsin 39 – Montana 29 (Halftime)
Marquette 22 – BYU 14 (11:37, 1st Half)
Mann continues to have a solid game for Davidson, but now they have to hold defensively. Louisville has just been too strong on the boards.
Louisville has opened up its biggest lead in this game and looks to be in control.
Thank you, Mr. Lengel…
Let’s get everyone caught up on all the games:
FINAL: Murray State 58 – Colorado State 41 (Next up for Murray State is the winner of Marquette-BYU)
FINAL: Kansas State 70 – Southern Miss 64 (K. State will meet the winner of Syracuse-UNC Asheville)
Wisconsin 39 – Montana 29 (at the half)
Marquette 18 – BYU 5 (14:15, 1st Half)
Louisville 41 – Davidson 32 (15:21 2nd Half)
Michael Solomon will now take over the liveblogging duties…
Big thanks to Kansas State for screwing up my bracket. The Wildcats move on, and will play the winner of Syracuse and NC Asheville. Apologies to Montana and Wisconsin fans, who haven’t gotten any love whatsoever. The Badgers are heading towards halftime with a 37-28 lead over the Grizzlies.
Dodson forces a three that’s off the mark, Jamar Samuels gets the rebound, and So Miss has to foul. That’s Dodson’s fifth foul, which means he’s gone. I’ll miss him, really.
Torye Pelham steals the ball and sends it down to our man Dodson who lays it in to close the gap once more. Southern Miss call for time with under a minute to play, it’s our first close finish of the tournament-that kind of makes me excited.
Pretty reverse layup from Kansa State guard Angel Rodriguez who was able to find room to move in the paint. A bit more breathing room for the Wildcats heading into a timeout.
There’s Darnell Dodson again, in the middle of everything–he steals, he dunks, he’ll make you dinner. We have a three point game here. Buckle up.
LaShay Page is the high man for the Golden Eagles with 15. His team are down five by just five with under four minutes remaining after Darnell Dodson’s rebound turns into two points.
Rodney McGruder is the top scorer in this game, he has 30 as the Wildcats start to finally take control of this game. It doesn’t help that So. Miss has missed 10 of their last 11 shots.
It’s a bit more comfortable now for Louisville, mostly thanks to The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, sometimes known as the Davidson Wildcats. Let’s move over to Kansas State and Southern Miss.
It’s now official, Murray State 58 Colorado State 41. They will play the winner of Marquette vs. BYU match-up.
Louisville are careless with the basketball, but since Davidson can’t hit their three’s they aren’t taking advantage here. Then Russ Smith comes back for the Cards and burys a three, making it a seven point game. Davidson should be kicking themselves.
Update, they are under way in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where #13 seeded Montana are taking on the fourth seed Wisconsin. The Badgers are up 17-11 in the first half.
Southern Miss and Kansas State are tied at 51 with 7:47 left in the second half.
Siva is called for an offensive foul after the Southern Conference player of the year, Jake Cohen, hits a jumper for Davidson. Louisville’s lockerroom is going to be loud at half-time. To early to start talking upset, but Davidson are hanging in there depite shooting badly.
Nathan Hughes https://twitter.com/#!/njbh86/status/180354244333940736: “Murray State are, IMO, definitely goin to Final Four and are sleepers to win it all. Been saying so all week.”
They will win today without their main man Canaan firing on all cylinders, so there is definitely upside for the Racers.
Louisville’s defense is extremely tight, but a patient Davidson break it down, moving the ball well, into the hands of Clint Mann who slams it home, prompting a Cardinals timeout.
Kyle Kuric is Louisville’s leading scorer, he takes a feed from Siva and converts a jumper. He has nearly half of the Cardinals points here. Meanwhile Murray State are about to become the first team through to the next round as their second half domination continues. Southern Miss is up 45-42 with nearly eight minutes gone by in the second half. It’s an 8/9 game, but most thought that the Wildcats were two athletic for S. Miss. and they are more than holding their own.
Standout junior guard Peyton Siva is banged up, and thus, has been dissapointing this season, but he turned it on in the Big East final somewhat dramatically. His performance will be the key to any Louiville run in the tournament. Meanwhile, the Cards Gorgui Dieng grabs a board and hits a little jumper to put them on top by one. He is definitely the best Senegalese player on the floor right now.
Louisville suprised many by winning the Big East Championshipo at the Garden last week. The skinny with them is that injuries have kept them from performing at full speed, but as they get healthier, Rick Pitino says a New York Giants typ run is possible. Meanwhile, tiny Davidson, a North Carolina school of around 2000 students, are keeping up with the Jones’ for now. Sophmore forward De’Mon Brooks is their man, averaging 16 ppg.
With Colorado State getting pummeled in the second half, let’s move to Portland, where #4 seeded Louisville are taking on the #13th seed Davidson.
More points off turnovers for the Racers. Jesse Carr’s long pass is intercepted by Zay Jackson, who says thank you very much and pops a three. This is getting out of hand here.
Have you all filled in your brackets? Made your predictions? Care to share?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/user/ShakerFox below the line has his:
“My final four are.
UK
Buckeyes
Missouri
North Carolina.
UK to be National Champs.”
How about 13 boards for Hornung! CBS says his career high is 17. Meanwhile Edward Daniel’s hard work in the paint pays off fopr Murray State, his layup puts the Racers up by eight. Turnovers are killing the Rams here.
Meanwhile, they are at the half in the East, in Pittsburgh, where Kansas State is up 30-27 over Southern Miss.
Hornung puts it in from inside, where would they be without him? It’s the Rams first points of the half.
So far Miles’ team is getting run in the 2nd half, a 7-0 run for the Racers and their defense is tight. Meanwhile Donte Pool got an elbow in the face from Wes Eikmeier, a flagrant foul. Time out on the floor, a break that could help Colorado State catch their breath.
CBS reminds us that Coach Miles is a tweeter: https://twitter.com/#!/CoachMiles/status/180342879804334080 “Win the half, we’ll win the game.”
Watson is blocked by Irving as he drives down the lane but picks up the foul and converts the foul shots. Southern Miss is up.
As we bounce around the nation to the east, Southern Miss, a team that hasn’t been in the tourney in 21 years is hanging with Kansas State, a tough defensive club. Neil Watson has eight points, his latest, a three from the left side of the arc. The Golden Eagles are balanced offensively, and Watson is a good example of their getting help from all parts of the roster.
These teams have picked up the pace in the final three minutes of the half. Jesse Carr has the big bucket, another Rams three-ball to give the Rams the lead heading into the locker room. Tim Miles, Colorado State’s head coach will be thrilled with his team–if they can trim the turnovers and keep up their perimeter play, we’ll have an upset in the first game.
Meanwhile, the second game is underway: Southern Miss (9) vs. Kansas State (8), who are up by two early on.
Airball on a little hook in the post from the Racers Ivan Aska, then a seventh turnover by Colorado State. Points are at a premium right now.
Colorado State looked like they might be rolled over for a moment there, but they’ve locked it down defensively, and have a certain poise. The Rams are out rebounding the Racers, and outshooting them from three-point-land–they’ve got to be happy about where they are right now.
Daniel getting more involved, drawing a foul in the paint, but misses both free throws. Hornung with another board, that’s nine! He’s strong, must be related to a famous football player or something.
Edward Daniel has the best hair on the floor, and a decent array of moves in the low post. He puts the Racers up three.
Boom! Here come Murray State, with a mix of permiter shooting and penetration. Canaan got on the board with a three, and then Stacy Wilson followed with another long ball. Zay Jackson managed to get by that animal Hornung and just like that the Racers are up. You can see how dangerous they are now.
Hornung is causing problems for Murray State, he has seven rebounds already and is a presence in he middle. Meanwhile, Poole has all but one of Murray State’s points.
Murray State lost exactly one game this year and are 30-1. Naturally they come in with some expectations. Last time they were in the tourney, the Racers were within a bucket of upending Butler, a team that went on to the Final Four. Isaiah Canaan was talking a lot over the past few days about how important it is to him to make up for the dissapointment of two years ago when he was a freshman.
Both of these teams shoot well, and have started out hot from the perimeter. Pool hit a three and then Wes Eikmeier, Colorado State’s leading scorer hit a three ball himself. Time out on the floor.
Pierce Hornung is the big man for the Rams, he has the first four points and a board–he is 6’5 but plays bigger.
This is a game that’s all about guard play. Junior Isaiah Canaan is the headliner for Murray St. Donte Pool is also a standout.
Welcome to one of the best days of sports there is – it’s finally NCAA Tourney time, and today, no less than 32 teams will take to the floor looking to advance, writes David Lengel. This is the start of hours and hours and hours of continuous live basketball coverage, so, if you haven’t already, fill out your bracket and follow the games along with us. What we love about the tournament is the unpredictability, and chances are, by about midnight on the east coast, your bracket will have a few hiccups, I know mine will.
Here is the March Madness day one schedule:
Murray State vs. Colorado State, 12:15 p.m. EST
Kansas State vs. Southern Miss, 12:40 p.m. EST
Louisville vs. Davidson, 1:40 p.m. EST
Wisconsin vs. Montana, 2:10 p.m. EST
Marquette vs. BYU, 2:45 p.m. EST
Syracuse vs. UNC Asheville, 3:20 p.m. EST
New Mexico vs. Long Beach St., 4:20 p.m. EST
Vanderbilt vs. Harvard, 4:40 p.m. EST
Kentucky vs. Western Kentucky, 6:50 p.m. EST
Wichita State vs. VCU, 7:15 p.m. EST
Gonzaga vs. West Virginia, 7:20 p.m. EST
Baylor vs. South Dakota State, 7:27 p.m. EST
Iowa State vs. Connecticut, 9:20 p.m. EST
Indiana vs. New Mexico State, 9:20 p.m. EST
Ohio State vs. Loyola Maryland, 9:50 p.m. EST
UNLV vs. Colorado, 9:57 p.m. EST
Everybody has their bracket tendencies. I can’t help myself when it comes to Ivy League teams, I have to pick them, even if I know they’ll go out in the first round. Actually, Harvard are pretty talented, and of course, they have Jeremy Lin’s aura following them around. Maybe this is the year that pick doesn’t destroy my bracket. How about you? Send us all your predictions, thoughts, recipes and bank account numbers–a tremendous day of basketball beckons!
Email us at mailto:GuardianUSsportslive@gmail.com or post a comment below or you can contact us via Twitter. The liveblogging duties will be shared by the Guardian US sports team, starting off with David Lengel, who can be found on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/LengelDavid
Enough already with this, first up, the Racers of Murray State, sixth seed in the west face the Colorado State Rams, an 11th seed.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010
Published via the http://www.guardian.co.uk/open-platform/news-feed-wordpress-plugin http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/the-guardian-news-feed/ for WordPress.