Upset Stomachs Abound On Day One
It should come as little surprise that the Technorati NCAA Tournament feature lives up to its title on the very first full day of action. Hearts were broken left and right, and more could be on the horizon.
The teams that wind up seeded seventh through 10th are typically evenly matched to the point that the lower seeds winning those games is not considered a massive surprise. The teams seeded 11th or lower have generally not lost often, although the lone anomaly lies in the fact that at least on 13 seed has won a first round game in 22 of the last 25 tournaments.
Last year eight double-digit seeds won in the first round, but only one advanced to the second round (12 seed Arizona over 13 seed Cleveland State). Could that trend be ramping up even more this year?
In a nutshell, yes. There were 16 games played today, 14 involving teams seeded 10th or lower. Only five of those double-digit seeds trailed by more than two points at halftime, and they finished the day with a 5-8* record.
The surprises started with the very first game of the day, where No. 15 seed Robert Morris led by six at halftime and pushed Villanova to overtime before losing by three points. It continued with No. 11 seed Old Dominion holding Notre Dame's Luke Harangody to four points in pulling of a 51-50 victory.
12th-seeded UTEP looked like they would continue the early surprises by taking a 33-27 halftime lead in their game against Butler, but the Bulldogs dominated the second half, setting a new record for three-pointers made (12) in a first round game in a solid 77-58 win.
Fortunately, Murray State lived up to the hype UTEP couldn't as a trendy upset pick, using their athleticism to hang with Vanderbilt all game and then pull out a 66-65 win with a three at the buzzer. Two more close games found No. 10 seed Saint Mary's and No. 11 seed Washington advancing, but perhaps the biggest surprises came from a couple of transfers.
Continued on the next page
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