5.) Rhode Island clamps down on Creighton
When Creighton lost point guard Maurice Watson to injury earlier this season, expectations were shifted for the Bluejays. Still though, with strong performances from Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas down the stretch, Creighton was capable of making noise in the tournament.
Rhode Island answered the call and smothered the Bluejays, limiting a high-powered offense to bad shots and tough passes.
Creighton entered the NCAA Tournament with the third-best field goal shooting percentage, but the Rams’ defense stifled the Bluejays, holding them to under 40 percent from the field. Creighton leading scorer Marcus Foster shot just 6-for-19, and a measly 1-for-7 from outside the arc.
Dillon Brooks and the Oregon Ducks will need to find an answer against that stingy Rhode Island defense on Sunday.
6.) Wichita State answered the bell
After an entire week of hearing about how the Shockers deserved a better seed, Wichita State defeated seventh-seeded Dayton in a game that was tight throughout all 40 minutes.
Even though the Shockers shot only 37 percent, they grinded out a win with defense in the second half. Freshman guard Landry Shamet led Wichita State with 13 points in the win.
Now the committee’s odd seeding error leaves the entire South Region needing to deal with a particularly feisty Wichita State team as a 10 seed. Kentucky now faces a motivated and hungry Shockers team on Sunday, and will need to come to play in order to knock off Wichita State.
7.) The Pac-12 is perfect
East Coast biases are being proven wrong game after game. Including the First Four, the Pac-12 has won all five games it has played. USC won twice this week, including the impressive upset of SMU.
Oregon did not look to be missing a starter and contributor, despite the season-ending injury of Chris Boucher in the conference tournament. The Ducks never allowed Iona to even stay close, with Tyler Dorsey leading the scoring in the big Oregon win. Arizona’s size and strength were simply too tough for a puny North Dakota team. UCLA outpaced a sluggish Kent State squad.
The Pac-12 was believed to be good at the top, but iffy in the middle and bottom. It’s possible that as March wanes, we learn just how good the teams from out West really have been this season.
8.) Michigan State wins big
Every year, the crop of 8-9 and 7-10 games all look like close games, but one will be a surprising blowout. Even with two evenly matched resumes, for whatever reason, whether match-up problems or an effort gap, one team simply dismantles the other.
This season, Michigan State smoked Miami.
No coach in college basketball history has won more games as the lower-seeded team than Tom Izzo. Maybe just being a nine beating an eight wasn’t enough for Sparty, because Michigan State did more than just top Miami.
The Spartans started slowly and then burst into turbo speed for the game’s final 30 minutes. Miles Bridges was everywhere, defending and dunking. Izzo’s guards, who have been up and down all season, were on point with the ball and in transition. Defensively, the Spartans forced Miami into ugly isolation play and the Canes couldn’t find a rhythm.
Kansas can’t be happy to see Izzo and his March magic waiting for a second-round match-up on Sunday. Bridges is among the only players capable of playing above the rim with Josh Jackson, and Nick Ward will give the Kansas frontcourt fits. Frank Mason and Devonte Graham will need to be precise in their attack of Michigan State’s guards for Kansas to collect the win.
Shane McNichol covers college basketball for Larry Brown Sports. He also blogs about college basketball and the NBA at Palestra Back and has contributed to Rush The Court, ESPN.com, and USA Today Sports Weekly. Follow him on Twitter @OnTheShaneTrain.
