March Madness is upon us.
The first day of the NCAA Tournament we like to call, March Madness, is in the books and it is as advertised. Plenty of good games are on today as teams battle it out to reach the coveted National Championship game. We take a look at the results and react to the stars of the first set of games.
Results:
(Denotes seeding in the tournament)
Bold = Upset game
West Region:
(12) Princeton – 58 vs. (5) Notre Dame 60
(16) South Dakota St. 46 vs. (1) Gonzaga 66
(13) Bucknell 80 vs. (4) West Virginia 86
(9) Vanderbilt 66 vs. (8) Northwestern 68
(11) Xavier 76 vs. (6) Maryland 65
(10) VCU 77 vs. (7) St. Mary’s 85
(14) Florida Gulf Coast 80 vs. (3) Florida St. 86
(15) North Dakota 82 vs. (2) Arizona 100
East Region:
(12) UNC Wilmington 71 vs. (5) Virginia 76
(13) Eastern Tennessee St. 65 vs. (4) Florida 80
(16) Mt. St. Mary’s 56 vs. (1) Villanova 76
(9) Virginia Tech 74 vs. (8) Wisconsin 84
South Region:
(13) Winthrop 64 vs. (4) Butler 76
(12) Middle Tennessee 81 vs (5) Minnesota 72
Midwest Region:
(13) Vermont 70 vs. (4) Purdue 80
(12) Nevada 73 vs. (5) Iowa State 84
Stars of Day 1:
Nana Foulland – C, Bucknell
Stats: 18 points/7 rebounds/3 blocks
Bucknell surprised the nation in their first game against a tough West Virginia squad. A large part of that surprise was courtesy of Bucknell’s big man, Nana Foulland. Foulland was dominating the interior on both ends of the floor, finishing easy baskets and protecting the rim for the Bison. While this came in a losing effort, Foulland deserves recognition for a solid performance that almost brought down 4th seeded West Virginia.
London Perrantes and Marial Shayok- G, Virginia
Stats: 24 points (9/14 FG’s) – Perrantes / 23 points (8/14 FG’s) – Shayok
Perrantes and Shayok provided the scoring load for a struggling Virginia offense. The two combined for 17 of the 26 Cavalier FG’s and 47 out of the 76 total points. Virginia didn’t play well in this game, as UNC Wilmington gave Virginia everything they could handle and then some. If it weren’t for these two guards, Virginia might have been sent home early at the hands of a very talented Wilmington team.
Jonathan Isaac – SF, Florida State
Stats: 17 points/10 rebounds/5 assists/2 steals/3 blocks
Talk about stuffing the stat sheet. Isaac is one of the top prospects in the NBA draft, and a game like this would certainly help his draft stock rise. Florida State was seen by some as a team that has a chance to get upset by a team like Florida Gulf Coast. Isaac controlled the game on both ends of the floor, hitting his shots while setting the tone defensively. The star SF is the key for FSU should they go deep into the tournament.
Has your bracket been busted?
Day one of the tournament saw two upset games. Xavier (11th seed) took down 6th seeded Maryland and 12th seeded Middle Tennessee over 5th seeded Minnesota. Surely a lot of fans had Maryland winning, as well as Minnesota, which means your bracket is busted! No one gets a perfect bracket anyway so might as well get it busted as early as the first round of the tournament right? Oh, March Madness, may you stay mad for all of college basketball eternity.
*Featured Image credits go to @marchmadness*