March Madness Day 2, Part 2

Creighton 67, Cincinnati 63
Creighton's Doug McDermott was too good (27 pts), and Creighton hit its free throws down the stretch, which was enough to knock off Cincinnati. Best moment of this game? Seeing Cincy coach Mick Cronin and Creighton coach Greg McDermott (yes, he's Doug's dad) standing side by side. McDermott could squash Cronin with a single hand. Worst moment of the game? Any moment staring at Cincinnati's jerseys.

La Salle 63, Kansas State 61
La Salle was up 18 points at halftime, and I think Kenny Smith said it best: if the underdog keeps getting to its spots and hitting its shots, then the favorite simply didn't do its homework and didn't respect the underdog.  Given that La Salle started out by raining threes, I think that's accurate. However, La Salle did its damage near halftime on layups and dunks, as Kansas State simply looked shocked.

To their credit, K-State bounced back and took the lead at 57-56 and had the lead 61-60 with 2 minutes to go. But Kansas State's offense went in the tank with 5 minutes to go and La Salle's Jerrell Wright put his team on his back, scoring their last 9 points. Kansas State had one last chance to tie or win, but ended up with one of the worst 2 point shots they could have had (it came from behind the backboard). This play served as Exhibit A for why coaches almost always call time out to set up a play with the game on the line. K-State's Bruce Weber didn't here, and he'll regret that decision for awhile.

Indiana 83, James Madison 62
This one was over almost as soon as it started. Indiana looked the part of a pre-tournament favorite to win the whole thing.

Illinois 57, Colorado 49
You've heard of games of runs, well this was a game of droughts. Illinois rolled Colorado in the first half (37-21). They then proceded to shoot 13% from the field (including 1 for their first 16 attempts) in the second half, gave up a 21-0 run to Colorado (as well as the lead). How did they win? Colorado scored 5 points in the last 9:29 of the second half, and Illinois found their stroke in time to come back and win by double digits.