March Madness Day 2, Part 1

Cincinnati 65 - Texas 59
A Rick Barnes team came out flat in the tournament? I'm shocked. I've said it before, Barnes is a terrific recruiter, but not much of an in-game coach. Talent is enough to get a team to the tournament, but not enough to win enough to make a Final Four (or overcome a disadvantage in talent).

North Carolina State 79 - San Diego State 65
NC State simply destroyed San Diego State on the boards. NC State was bigger, and they took full advantage. Too often with SDSU got a stop, NC State got another chance and used it to keep San Diego State at bay.

Creighton 58 - Alabama 57
A close game! And better yet, a buzzer beater! This one came down to the little things, and Creighton did them better than Alabama. Alabama didn't do themsevles any favors with how they handled the last few seconds. Up one, Creighton used it's last non-bonus foul with 4.7 seconds left, giving Alabama the ball at midcourt with 1 timeout left. Alabama elected not to take it, but after inbounding the ball the players looked confused so their coach called time out with 2.6 seconds left. This left the with little time to get off a shot, and their three pointer was short, handing Creighton the game. After the game Alabama's coach said they were assuming Creighton would play a man-to-man defense and called a play based on that, then Creightion came out in a zone. I'm not sure calling the time out with 2.6 seconds was the right play (I think it was too late by that point), but it's a fair issue, and kudos to Creighton for doing well to get Alabama out of rhythm on their last possession with the foul and then the defensive switch.

Florida 71 - Virginia 49
Florida totaled Virginia despite shooting just 4/23 on 3-pointers. The 3 ball is an integral part of Billy Donovan's game (learned from Rick Pitino - play at a fast pace and take a lot of threes). That's a terrible sign for Virginia (I know, who cares, they lost). But if Florida was able to roll Virginia without any help from that facet of their game, then what was Virginia doing out there?