Mythical March Madness: First Half of Friday's Games From Lawrence
Publisher's Note: This is our go at Mythical March Madness. The tournament and results are determined using all-time odds for each seed in the tournament for each round of advancement. The roll of dice with rolls of six or below representing the higher-seeded team and rolls of seven or greater representing the lower-seeded team determine results. If the game is written up as close, then the roll of the dice went to the eighth, ninth, or tenth roll. If it is written up as a blowout, then it was decided early.
I’ve got the left side of the bracket, so we’re going to be starting off with our Kansas Regional at the Allen Fieldhouse. The first match up of the day was between the No. 1 seed Kansas and No. 16 Hampton.
No. 1 Kansas 85 – No. 16 Hampton 53
Kansas came into the game as heavy favorites as they’re playing at home as the No. 1 seed and they didn’t disappoint. The Jayhawks steamrolled the Hampton Pirates 85-53.
Big 12 Player of the Year Udoka Azubuike dominated the paint as he posted 26 points and 14 rebounds, while point guard Devon Dotson posted 24 points on 63% shooting from the field.
On the other side of the stat sheet, it was Hampton’s leading scorer Jermaine Marrow who led the way for the Pirates. The senior out of Newport News, VA posted 18 points with four assists, three rebounds and two turnovers.
Working our way down the bracket, the next match up is the always exciting 8-9 game.
No. 8 Purdue 75 – No. 9 East Tennessee State 76
Of the 16 games on the left side of the bracket, this game proved to be one of the best and most exciting. Purdue jumped out to an early 24-6 lead before E. Tenn St went on a little run of their own shortly before halftime. The Boilermakers led 36-30 at the break and went on a quick 12-0 run to start the second half.
Trailing 48-30, ETSU started to find their rhythm and with seven minutes left to go in the game, tied it up at 61.
With less than 30 seconds left in the game, Purdue guard Jahaad Proctor was fouled and sent to the line where he both free throws to put the Boilermakers up 75-70. ETSU guard Isaiah Tisdale hit a quick three that was followed up with the last timeout for ETSU. Purdue forward Evan Boudreax inbounds the ball, but Tisdale gets the steal and nails a 3-point shot just as the buzzer sounds to go up76-75.
After a review of the play, the referees confirm that Tisdale got the shot off sending ETSU to a second-round match up with Regional host Kansas.
Isaiah Tisdale finished the game with 19 points, seven assists and one steal, while former Oklahoma State forward Lucas N’Guessan finished with 12 points, all in the paint, with six rebounds and two blocked shots for ETSU.
No. 5 Arizona 64 – No. 12 Cincinnati 56
While Arizona ended up winning 64-56, the game wasn’t as close as the final result. The Bearcats scored nine points in the final minute of the game during scrub time. Arizona freshman guard Nico Mannion went off for Arizona finishing with a double-double with 22 points and 10 assists.
As for the Bearcats, they were led by redshirt senior forward Tre Scott who finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.
No. 4 Maryland 73 – No. 13 New Mexico State 68
Another exciting game in the first half of the Kansas Regional as Maryland had to get things done in overtime to advance to the next round against Arizona.
It was sophomore guard Aaron Wiggins who led the way for Maryland off the bench. Wiggins went off for a career-high 21 points, 15 of which came from beyond the 3-point line. He also finished with nine rebounds and three assists.
As for New Mexico State, it was senior guard Trevelin Queen who led the way. Queen finished with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists and steals apiece.
For the second round on Sunday, No. 1 Kansas will face No. 9 East Tennessee State and No. 5 Arizona will face No. 4 Maryland.
