College Basketball: How NCAA Tournament Might Have Played Out -- Day 2
The men's NCAA basketball tournament would be in its second day today, Wednesday, March 18, with two more preliminary-round games in Dayton, Ohio. Those two games as well as the two preliminary-round games scheduled for Day 1 on Tuesday and the remaining 63 games of March Madness won't take place this year because of concerns about the novel coronavirus.
So we decided to provide a substitute, a scenario of how the tournament might have played out, starting with Tuesday's two preliminary-round games. Today (Wednesday), we offer a narrative of how the final two "First Four" games might have gone.
We used the bracketology and pairings projected by Jerry Palm at CBSSports.com, partly because he predicted that seven Pac-12 teams would be in the tournament.
That means Siena will face Prairie View A&M in one game on Wednesday and Richmond will play Wichita State in the other.
Granted, this is not as exciting as the real March Madness, but it's something to keep you occupied for a few minutes.
Day 2, Game 1
No. 16 seed Siena (20-10) vs. No. 16 seed Prairie View A&M (19-13)
***Siena's Jalen Pickett (22) was the MAAC player of the year
Photo by David Butler II - USA TODAY Sports
Preview: The Siena Saints are on a roll, having won 10 straight games. They won the regular-season Metro Atlantic Athletic Association title before the conference tournament was halted. Siena guard Jalen Pickett, who averaged 15.3 points and 6.0 assists, was the MAAC player of the year. The Saints have not been to the NCAA tournament since 2010, but they pulled off upsets in 2009 (beat No. 8 seed Ohio State), 2008 (beat No. 4 seed Vanderbilt) and 1989 (beat No. 3 seed Stanford).
The Prairie View Panthers won the regular-season Southwestern Athletic Conference title, and they played a tougher nonconference schedule than Siena. Prairie View nearly beat Cal in Berkeley on November 18, as the Panthers held a five-point lead with eight minutes remaining before Cal pulled out a 54-50 victory. Panthers forward Devonte Patterson was the SWAC player of the year after averaging 15.8 points and 6.4 rebounds. The Panthers failed to win a game in either of their previous NCAA tournament appearances, but they came close last season, losing to Fairleigh Dickinson 82-76.
***Cal coach Mark Fox talks about the close win over Prairie View A&M
The Game: Prairie View seems more comfortable in the postseason atmosphere, probably because many of its players played in last year's preliminary-round loss to Fairleigh Dickinson. The Panthers take a 33-25 halftime lead, as Gerard Andrus, who scored 32 points in Prairie View's final game of the season, against Alabama A&M, has 12 points in the first half.
Siena makes a push in the second half as it begins to control the boards. Manny Camper, who averaged 10.4 rebounds, scores six points on put-backs during a 12-2 Saints run that puts them ahead by three points with eight minutes left.
Siena maintains a small lead until the closing minutes, but with 1:10 left, Pickett's one weakness is exposed. He is just a 68.9 percent free-throw shooter, and he misses the first of a one-and-one with 70 seconds left. Patterson makes him pay with a short-range bucket to close the Prairie View deficit to one point with 44 seconds to go. Pickett is fouled again, and makes one of two foul shots in the double bonus, putting the Saints ahead by two with 18 seconds left. .
Prairie View coach Bryon Smith has spearheaded the Panthers' rise in the SWAC in his three seaons as head coach, and he decides to go for the win in the closing seconds. Even though the Panthers are a mediocre three-point shooting team, making just 30.3 percent for the season, he draws up play to get either Antoine Lister or Chancellor Ellis a long-range shot. Ellis, who made his only two three-point attempts in the final regular-season game, gets the ball in the corner and fires from just beyond the arc. The ball swishes through with 3.4 seconds left, giving the Panthers the lead.
Siena, which has no timeouts left, hurries the ball upcourt, but Andrus' halfcourt shot falls well short, and Prairie View celebrates its first-ever NCAA tournament win.
Final score: Prairie View 65, Siena 64
Day 2, Game 2
No. 11 Richmond (24-7) vs. No. 11 Wichita State (23-8)
***Blake Francis (1) is Richmond's leading scorer
Photo by Nicole Sweet - USA TODAY Sports
Preview: Richmond finished second to Dayton in the Atlantic 10 regular season, and the Spiders won nine of their final 10 games. Richmond had a 10-point neutral-court win over Wisconsin, which wound up tied for first in the Big Ten, and they lost to Dayton by six points on the road in their only game against the Flyers. Guard Jacob Gilyard is not the team's top scorer but he was named to the first-team all-conference squad as well as being named A-10 defensive player of the year. The last time the Spiders were in the Big Dance was 2011, when, as a No. 12 seed, they upset fifth-seeded Vanderbilt on their way to a berth in the Sweet 16. Richmond's biggest postseason win came in 1991 when the 15th-seeded Spiders shocked second-seeded Syracuse 73-69.
Wichita State finished fourth in the American Athletic Conference, and the Shockers basically won the games they were supposed to win and lost the ones they were expected to lose. They started 15-1 and were ranked 16th, but they leveled off after that. As usual Wichita State under Gregg Marshall depends on balanced scoring, and no player averages more than 11.3 points. Jaime Echenique, a 6-foot-11 center, was named to the seond-team all-conference team. The Shockers shocked everyone by reaching the Final Four as a No. 9 seed in 2013, but they were seeded fourth in 2018 when they lost in the first round to 13th-seeded Marshall.
The Game: Richmond's Blake Francis scored at least 18 points in each of the Spiders' last five games, and he stayed hot against Wichita State. He had 12 points in the first half, which ended with Richmond holding a seven-point lead.
Gregg Marshall teams don't beat themselves and the Shokers slowly worked their way back into the game. Erik Stevenson is the wild card for the Shockers, because he has had some big offensive games, but has produced virtually nothing in others. He gets hot in the second half against Richmond, scoring 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, and his bucket at the 9:51 mark ties the game.
The hero turns out to be Richamond guard Nick Sherod. He made 13-of-21 three-point shots over the final four games, and he nailed two big three-balls in the closing minutes against Wichita State. He three with two minutes left tied the game, and another long-range shot by Sherod put the Spiders ahead by three with 1:15 to go. He then makes all four of his free throws in the final minute to close out the win.
Final score: Richmond 69, Wihita State State 63
On Thursday, we start the real madness, with 16 first-round games. The first Thursday and Friday of the NCAA tournament are the best television-watching days of the year.
