Mythical March Madness: Thursday Early Games from Eugene and Philly

The first results from our Mythical March Madness sees the top seeds get by as expected and a very mild upset out West.

USA Today Sports Images - David Kohl

Here is a look at the early results of the first day of the Mythical March Madness as play gets started in Philadelphia at The Palestra and in Eugene, Ore. at McArthur Court. 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. 

#1-Dayton 89  #16-Hartford 49

As expected the top-seed Dayton Flyers made short work of first round opponent Hartford in winning their first round game in Mythical March Madness 89-to-49. 

The Flyers came out and went on a 24-3 run to start the game as Obi Toppin had 10 of his game high 26 points in the early run. Jalen Crutcher had six points in the run for the Flyers. The only points for Hartford came from graduate transfer Traci Carter, who knocked down a three-pointer. Carter, who had played at both LaSalle and before that Marquette before finishing his college eligibility at Hartford was playing back at home in Philadelphia on The Palestra floor that he had played on previously. 

Toppin, one of the best players in the country had 11 rebounds to go with his 26 points. Crutcher finished with 16 points. Ryan Mikesell, a graduate transfer for Dayton, had 15 points and Ibi Watson off the bench had 15 points as well to complete the double digit scorers for the Flyers. 

Dayton moves to the second round at 30-2 on the season for head coach Anthony Grant. The Hartford Hawks finish the season at 18-16.

#8-Florida 73  #9-Penn State 56

Usually the match-up with the eight and nine seeds is an exciting game, but the Florida Gators came out fast and took a double-digit lead on Penn State in the first four minutes and never looked back in earning a date on Saturday with top seed Dayton. The Gators disposed of the Nittany Lions 73-56 and the contest was really never in doubt. Florida used their quickness advantage to get the lead and control the contest. 

Keyontae Johnson and Noah Locke were the catalyst as they combined to hit 9-of-12 three pointers in the game, and as a team, the Gators were a sizzling 14-of-21 from beyond the arch. Johnson had 21 points and Locke had 14 points in the game. Coming off the bench 6-10 freshman Omar Payne of Montverde Academy had 13 points and six rebounds in the game. 

Curtis Jones and Myles Dread both came off the bench to help Penn State as they combined for 28 points, half of what the Nittany Lions scored. Jones, a former Oklahoma State Cowboy, had 15 of those points. 

Senior Lamar Stevens, who came in just seven points from becoming the Penn State all-time leading scorer was hounded the entire game. He did score 10 points to become the all-time leader for the Nittany Lions. 

Penn State finishes the season 21-12 and Florida is now 20-12.

#1-Gonzaga  91  #16-North Carolina Central  57

Top seed in the West Gonzaga won their opening game as expected over North Carolina Central, but the Zags leading scorer was just a little unexpected as 6-10 freshman Drew Timme out of Richardson Pearce High School near Dallas, Texas pushed in his career third best point total this season of 19  points along with seven rebounds to pace Gonzaga to a 91-57 win over the North Carolina Central Eagles. The empty building seemed to have little impact on the freshman forward. 

Timme came into the game at the first media time out and scored the next six points for Mark Few's team including a rebound off a Corey Kispert shot that Timme rebounded and went right back with a slam dunk. That burst put some distance between Gonzaga and North Carolina Central and it was never that close again. The Zags shot just over 50 percent for the game and the Eagles could only muster 32 percent from the field and were 2-of-15 from three-point-range. 

Filip Petrusev finished with 16 points and nine rebounds for Gonzaga. Oklahoma State fans will find interest in that Petrusev, a sophomore, and freshman Killian Tillie from France originally both finished high school at Montverde Academy in Florida where Cowboys top 2019 signee and freshman for next season Cade Cunningham currently goes to school. Tillie had 15 points for the Bulldogs in the win. Point guard Ryan Wooldridge has six points and seven assists in the contest. 

Gonzaga goes to 32-2 for the season, while Levelle Moton sees his Eagles finish the season at 18-14.

#9-Iowa 76  #8-LSU 75

Iowa City hometown hero Connor McCaffery, son of head coach Fran McCaffery, didn't make the game winning shot, but he navigated the Hawkeyes to the game winning situation with no time outs left for his father and the Iowa staff to make the plans. That's why having a head coach on the floor or the son of a head coach can mean so much. For Iowa it meant a 76-75 first round Mythical March Madness win and now a date to play top seed Gonzaga. 

LSU trailing 74-72 with 41 second left came out of a time out and worked the ball around the perimeter of the court inside McArthur Court on the Oregon campus. No crowds, no band, no cheerleaders, but the tension could still be felt as the Tigers Javonte Smart passed the ball to the left baseline and Marlon Taylor. The 6-6, senior threw up a three that swept through the cords of the net and put LSU up 75-74. Taylor finished the game leading LSU in scoring with 26 points. 

McCaffery took the inbounds pass from Joe Wieskamp and headed down the floor as the clock went to single digits as he dribbled past midcourt with Mays of LSU on his inside hip. McCaffery stalled just inside the three point arch on the right side and threw a bullet pass through the paint to Luke Garza. 

The pass was maybe the pass of the year as it almost froze he Tigers defense and Garza jumped up and the 6-11 junior just dumped the ball into the basket. LSU in bounded the ball with just under two seconds left and got off a shot just past midcourt, but Emmitt Williams prayer was unanswered. Iowa won it 76-75.

Garza had 18 points and McCaffery, who scored 12 points had a team high eight assists. The biggest lead in the game was a first half seven-point lead for the Hawkeyes, so it stayed within two scores almost the entire 40 minutes. Bakari Evelyn, a 6-2, senior that previously played at both Nebraska and Valparaiso had 20 points off the bench to lead Iowa. 

Oddly enough, as both teams played such a close game, they walked off the floor with the same record 21-11, but it is Iowa that moves on.