Thursday, March 19, 2020

Midwest Region: Round One

1. Kansas vs. 16. Siena - Siena dispatched Robert Morris in Dayton but were not match for the Jayhawks who were methodical in a 77-44 win over the Saints. Udoka Azubuike went for 20 and grabbed 18 rebounds.

8. Colorado vs. 9. Marquette- Markus Howard dropped 47 points on Colorado as the Golden Eagles survived Colorado in overtime, 86-84. Howard iced the game in overtime making 8 free throws.

5. Auburn vs. 12. Richmond- Richmond beat Texas in the play-in game but couldn’t handle Auburn’s athleticism in this game. Auburn was a popular upset pick as a 5-seed but survived a tough Spiders team, 61-58. The Spiders had a chance at the buzzer but a Jacob Gilyard 3 spun out as the clock ran out.

4. Ohio State vs. 13 Stephen F. Austin - The inconsistent Buckeyes picked a bad day for one of their erratic performances getting run off the court by the Lumberjacks. The Southland Champs who lead the nation in forcing turnovers, turned over Ohio State 19 times and won 74-67.

6. West Virginia vs. 11. NC State- West Virginia cleaned up on the glass and were too physical for the Wolfpack who were one of the last non-bye teams to make the tournament. West Virginia, under seeded because of a late season swoon, flashed signs of the team they were earlier in the year winning this rock fight 58-54

3. Kentucky vs. 14. Belmont- Kentucky fans had to sweat this one a bit more than they originally hoped when the bracket was revealed, holding off a feisty Belmont team, 68-62. Belmont lead by 5 at half and Kentucky’s biggest lead came with about a minute left.

7. Houston vs. 10. Indiana - The Kelvin Sampson bowl wasn’t much of a game as Indiana fell behind by 20 early on and despite getting within 8 with about 10 minutes left, they could never overcome their poor start as the Cougars pulled away, winning 81-66. Houston who finished 14th in KenPom, ahead of a few teams in this region, looked like a threat to win the whole region.

2. Villanova vs. 15. Boston- Villanova came out and took care of business in a clinical dissection of Boston, 93-60.

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