NCAA Tournament- Round 1 Recap

2010 NCAA Tournament

Round One (March 18):

(11) Old Dominion Monarchs VS. (6) Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The first round started off great when the number 11 Old Dominion Monarchs upset the number 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 51-50. Frank Hassell scored 15 points had 9 rebounds and 2 assists for Old Dominion, while Ben Hansbrough scored 17 points had 6 rebounds and 3 assists for the Irish but this was not enough to give them a victory.

(7) Brigham Young Cougars VS. (10) Florida Gators
The number 7 Brigham Young Cougars defeated the number 10 Florida Gators in a tight game that went into double over time but in the end Brigham Young came out on top 99-92. The Cougars had an outstanding performance by Jimmer Fredette who scored 37 points had 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block he played great on both ends of the court and was much of the reason for the victory over the Gators.

(2) Villanova Wildcats VS. (15) Robert Morris Colonials
Another great game was the number 2 Villanova Wildcats against the number 15 Robert Morris Colonials this was a very exciting game as the Wildcats got a big scare by the Colonials. This game went into overtime as Robert Morris were playing a great game and the Wildcats played very poor but the Wildcats prevailed in the end of the first overtime 73-70. The Colonials deserve much credit as they played a great game against the Wildcats but in the end it just was not enough to make it to the second round.

(13) Murray State Racers VS. (4) Vanderbilt Commodores
Another great game came when the number 13 Murray State Racers defeated the number 4 Vanderbilt Commodores 66-65. The game ended on a buzzer beater by Danero Thomas, he was third option in the play set up by head coach Billy Kennedy, they wanted to get the ball to Isacc Miles who is the star of this team. He had scored 17 points but Thomas became the hero when he hit the 15-footer at the buzzer to win the game.

(10) Saint Mary's Gaels VS. (7) Richmond Spiders
The number 10 Saint Mary's Gaels upset the number 7 Richmond Spiders 80-71. The star for Saint Mary's was Omar Samhan; Omar had 29 points and 12 rebounds he was very successful against the Spiders even though he fell into foul trouble.

(11) Washington Huskies VS. (6) Marquette Golden Eagles
Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas lead the number 11 Washington Huskies to victory over Lazar Hayward and Darius Johnson-Odom with the number 6 Marquette Golden Eagles. This was a great game with a lot of athletic and talented players but four stand out Tomas scored 19 points he had 3 rebounds, 8 assists, and a steal for the Huskies his teammate Quincy Pondexter also had a great game scoring 18 points he had 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in this upset over the Golden Eagles. Although Marquette lost in the first round they have talented players who had great games. Hayward scored 20 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, and a block his teammate Darius Johnson-Odom also performed well scoring 19 points,3 rebounds, and 5 assists but even though these two players had great games it was not enough to beat Washington.

(3) Georgetown Hoyas VS. (14) Ohio Bobcats
This game was exciting but at the same time it was very disappointing, the number 3 Hoyas were defeated by the number 14 Bobcats. This outcome should not be so surprising as the Bobcats have many athletic and talented players including Armon Bassett and D.J. Cooper who are a great duo.They scored a combined 55 points in this 97-83 victory for the Bobcats. Together they also had 6 rebounds, 11 assists, and 3 steals as the Hoyas were not able to deal with these two on either side of the court. This was one of the bigger upsets in the tournament even though from this game you can see the Bobcats had a very talented team.

(8) Texas Longhorns VS. (9) Wake Forest Demon Deacons
These two teams were closely ranked as they should have been because they played an extremely close game that went to overtime where the number 9 Demon Deacons beat the number 8 Texas Longhorns. Ishmael Smith won the game for Wake Forest when he shot a 17-footer with 1.3 seconds left in overtime which lead to the defeat of the Texas Longhorns. Smith scored 19 points, he had 12 rebounds, and seven assists. Jordan Hamilton for the Longhorns could not lead his team to victory but he had a great game scoring 19 points, getting 6 rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

(8) UNLV Rebels VS. (9) Northern Iowa Panthers
This like the Texas vs. Wake Forest game was closely ranked and it turned out a very close game as the number 9 Panthers beat the number 8 Rebels. The Panthers won the game 69-66. With 4.9 seconds left on the clock the game was tied and the ball was in the hands of the Panthers star player Ali Farokhmanesh, he found himself wide open from behind the arch and he took the shot and it fell giving the Panthers a three point lead which they were able to keep for the next couple of seconds. Ali had a great game scoring 17 points; he also had 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

The first day of the 2010 NCAA tournament was filled with crazy games from big upsets to buzzer beaters and decisive shots with little time left. The other games that took place on March 18 were not insignificant but they had less of an effect as these 9 games did but they were still great games. Number 3 Baylor knocked off the number 14 Sam Houston State 68-59. The number 2 Kansas State defeated the number 15 North Texas 82-62. The number 5 Butler beat the number 12 UTEP 77-59. The number 1 Kentucky dominated the number 16 East Tennessee State 100-71. The number 1 Kansas rolled on past the number 16 Lehigh 90-74. The number 6 Tennessee just barely beat the number 11 San Diego State 62-59. Finally the number 3 New Mexico beat the number 14 Montana in a close game 62-57.

Round one (March 19):

(5) Temple Owls VS. (12) Cornell Big Red
In this match up the number 12 Cornell were able to defeat the number 5 Temple by a margin of 13; the score was 78-65. From this result people could say this is an upset or that these teams’ rankings are not so good, Cornell’s performance in this tournament shows that they should have been ranked a little bit higher then they were. This was a big win for Cornell as it brought them to the second round and it was the first win in the tournament by an Ivy League school since 1998. Louis Dale was the hero for the Big Red scoring 21 points, and getting a rebound, 7 assists, and a steal.

(7) Clemson Tigers VS. (10) Missouri Tigers
This was another great game of the first round as the number 10 Missouri upset the number 7 Clemson 86-78. Both Kim English and teammate Keith Ramsey scored 20 points. But the reason why Missouri won was mainly due to the great defense, they are quick and smart on defense and they were able to force 20 turnovers. The player who shined most for Clemson was Demontez Stitt who scored 21 points; he had 3 rebounds, and 2 assists, but it was not enough as the Clemson Tigers were defeated in the first round by the Missouri Tigers.

(5) Michigan State Spartans VS. (12) New Mexico State Aggies
This was a great game that had a tight ending but the upset did not happen. In the end the number 5 Spartans were able to fight off the number 12 Aggies by a score of 70-67. Kalin Lucas played a great game he showed how important he is to this team by scoring 25 points, getting 2 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal as he lead the Spartans into the second round in this very close game.

(7) Oklahoma State Cowboys VS. (10) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
The number 10 Yellow Jackets were able to stun the number 7 Cowboys in a 64-59 victory. Derrick Favors had a good night for the Yellow Jackets he scored 12 points, had 9 rebounds, and a block. Keiton Page had a good game for the Cowboys he scored 13 points, 4 assists, and a block in the loss to the Yellow Jackets.

These were the more significant games on March 19.The less significant are listed. The other games were number 2 West Virginia beat number 15 Morgan State 77-50. Number 8 Gonzaga beat number 9 Florida State 67-60. Number 6 Xavier beat number 11 Minnesota 65-54. Number 3 Pittsburgh beat number 14 Oakland 89-66. Number 4 Wisconsin beat number 13 Wofford 53-49. Number 5 Texas A&M beat number 12 Utah State 69-53. Number 1 Duke beat number 16 AR-Pine Bluff 73-44. Number 1 Syracuse beat number 16 Vermont 79- 56. Number 8 California beat number 9 Louisville 77-62. Number 2 Ohio State beat number 15 UC Santa Barbara 68-51. Number 4 Maryland beat number 13 Houston 89-77. And Number 4 Purdue survived the first round without Hummel as they beat the Saints 72-64.