The third day of the NCAA tournament had a mix of emotions. There was the storylines from the first day including the dominating Kentucky Wildcats dominating, everyones cinderella story, the Georgia State Panthers trying to find another miracle and the UCLA Bruins proving the doubters wrong. While the second day of the tournament wasn’t that exciting, the third day presented us with big upset when the number 1 seed Villanova Wildcats went down to the NC State Wolfpack.
SOUTH REGION 11 UCLA Bruins Defeat 14 UAB Blazers, 92-75
UCLA Bruins certainly have done their best to quiet their doubters, the same ones who said they didn’t deserve to be in the field of 68 became the first team to advance to a regional semifinal and play in the Sweet 16. Tony Parker led the Bruins with a career-high 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help UCLA advance to its second straight Sweet 16. Kevon Looney had 10 points and 11 rebounds for UCLA, Bryce Alford had 22 points, Norman Powell 15 and Isaac Hamilton 13.
Robert Brown led the Blazers with 25 points and William Lee added 10.
MIDWEST REGION 1 Kentucky Wildcats defeat 8 Cincinnati Bearcats 64-51
Kentucky shot just 37 percent on the day and was outrebounded 45-38 by the Bearcats and struggled in the first half, only leading 31-24. In true Kentucky fashion, they shaped up and pulled off the win led by Aaron Harrison who scored 13 points, Trey Lyles added 11 with 11 rebounds and the Wildcats outworked Cincinnati for the victory. Willie Cauley-Stein also had nine points and one huge posterizing dunk.
Troy Caupain had 13 points, Shaq Thomas 10 and Octavius Ellis had nine with 10 rebounds for Cincinnati.
WEST REGION 2 Arizona Wildcats defeat 10 Ohio State Buckeyes 73-58
Gabe York made five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points, T.J. McConnell had 19 points, six assists, six rebounds and five steals to lead the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 for the third straight year. Freshman phenom Stanley Johnson struggled from the field as he shot 1-12 and scored only four points.
The Buckeyes gave the Wildcats a tough even with standout freshman and future NBA lottery pick D’Angelo Russell struggling on the night. Russell scored only nine points, shooting 3 of 19 from the field after going for 28 points in Ohio State’s overtime win over VCU in the Buckeyes tournament opener.
WEST REGION 6 Xavier Musketeers defeat 14 Georgia State Panthers 75-67
All the attention was on the Georgia State Panthers bench because of Ron Hunter, the coach’s torn Achilles tendon, and the now famous rolling chair he used to work the sidelines and fall out of in the NCAA Tournament.
Xavier ended cinderella’s fairytale thanks to 2 bench players, Jalen Reynolds and Myles Davis who combined for 38 points. The X-men did require an almost perfect game, shooting 81 percent in the second half, making 13 of 16 shots. The Musketeers were even better from the foul line, making 22 of 25 good for 88 percent for the game. Reynolds dominated inside for Xavier, making 8 of 9 shots, scoring 21 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. Dee Davis scored 15 points, shot 3-3 from the field but shot 8-9 from the free throw line. Myles Davis scored 17 on the day.
R.J. Hunter was outstanding again for the Panthers scoring 20 points but the junior faces a decision on whether to declare himself eligible for the NBA or return for another season to play for his father. Hunter didn’t get enough scoring from his teammates, including 2 big name transfers. Kevin Ware, the former Louisville star, made two shots on the day and former Kentucky Wildcat, Ryan Harrow came off the bench after missing Georgia State’s opener because of a sore hamstring, to hit two 3-pointers to score 6 points.
EAST REGION 8 NC State Wolfpack defeat 1 Villanova Wildcats 71-68
The upset of the day was presented to us by the ACC, the conference that continues to roll in the NCAA tournament. Trevor Lacey led them with 17 points and Cat Barber had 13 but Abdul-Malik Abu had 13 points, 12 rebounds and Lennard Freeman has 11 points with 12 rebounds as the inside duo absolutely destroyed the Wildcats inside.
Darrun Hilliard scored 27 points for Villanova and JayVaughn Pinkston scored 13 points for Nova. The Wildcats saw a 16-game winning streak end and have not reached the Sweet 16 since 2009.
WEST REGION 4 North Carolina Tar Heels defeat 5 Arkansas Razorbacks 87-78
Marcus Paige scored 22 points, including 20 in the second half, to lead the Tar Heels to the Sweet 16 for the first time in three years. Freshman Justin Jackson scored 16 points on the day and J.P. Tokoto dropped 13 points while Nate Britt came off the bench to score 10 points.
Michael Qualls led Arkansas with 27 points and 10 rebounds and SEC player of the year Bobby Portis finished with 18 points and 14 boards.
Tar Heels starting big man Kennedy Meeks sprained his left knee and will be re-evaluated when the team gets back to Chapel Hill.
SOUTH REGION 5 Utah Utes defeat 4 Georgetown Hoyas 75-64
Brandon Taylor scored 14 points and Delon Wright added 12 to lead the Utes over the Hoyas to earn the team’s first Sweet 16 berth in a decade. Jakob Poeltl scored 12 points, Jordan Loveridge scored 10 points and Dakari Tucker came off the bench to score 11.
L.J. Peak led Georgetown with 18 points, Isaac Copeland scored 14 points, D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored 12 and Jabril Trawick had 10 points.
MIDWEST REGION 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeat 6 Butler Bulldogs 67-64 in overtime.
Steve Vasturia scored a caree-high 20 points and Jerian Grant scored 16 points to lead Notre Dame to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003. Demetrius Jackson added 13 points, and Zach Auguste had seven points and 13 rebounds for the Irish, who beat the Bulldogs for the first time in 26 years.
Roosevelt Jones played through an injured left knee to score 23 points for Butler and Andrew Chrabascz dropped 20 points as they were the only 2 Bulldogs to score in double figures.
The play of the game was this Pat Connaughton block saved that the day for the Irish and helped Notre Dame live to fight another day.
