TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -First Drake, then Connecticut. Vanderbilt and Clemson, too.
If you’re looking for Upset City, then Tampa’s the place for buzzer-beaters and bracket-busters in the NCAA tournament.
Western Kentucky’s Ty Rogers and San Diego’s De’Jon Jackson made the shots of their lives Friday, sending their teams into the second round of the West Regional.
Siena pulled off a shocker in the Midwest before Villanova made it a historic clean sweep – four teams seeded 12th or lower winning first-round games at the same site.
A pair of No. 4 seed and two No. 5s are headed home.
“It’s incredible. I’m sure this is going to be talked about. They’re going to have some name for this,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said after his Wildcats capped an upset-filled day with a 75-69 victory over Clemson.
Sunday’s second matchup: 12th-seeded Villanova vs. No. 13 Siena in the Midwest Region, followed by 12th-seed Western Kentucky against No. 13 San Diego in the West Region.
“It’s got to be the Tampa Turmoil or something,” Wright said. “It’s incredible what happened here today.”
All of the upsets were keyed by clutch shooting performances.
First, Western Kentucky knocked off Drake 101-99 in overtime with Rogers making a desperation 26-footer at the buzzer. Then, Jackson hit a long jumper with 1.2 seconds left in overtime to oust UConn 70-69.
Siena kept it going in the night session, leading from the start and sending Vanderbilt home, 83-62.
Villanova made it 4-for-4, erasing an 18-point deficit thanks mostly to Scottie Reynolds’ timely shooting in a 75-69 victory.
It was the perfect ending for a zany day in Tampa, the first site in NCAA history to have four 12 or lower seeds win. In fact, no other place had even had two in one day.
“It’s crazy,” said Vanderbilt center A.J. Ogilvy, an Australian making his tournament debut. “It’s why it’s called madness.”
San Diego 70, Connecticut 69 OT, West Region
Gyno Pomare had 22 points and Brandon Johnson added 18, however both fouled out and were not on the floor when Jackson’s pull-up jumper gave the Toreros their first victory in four trips to the NCAA tournament.
UConn (24-9) played most of the game without leading scorer A.J. Price, who suffered a knee injury midway through the opening half and did not return. The Huskies overcame an 11-point second-half deficit and led 69-68 after Jerome Dyson made two free throws with 10.4 seconds left in overtime.
Jeff Adrien had 18 points and 12 rebounds for UConn. Dyson scored 14 and Hasheem Thabeet finished with 14 points, six rebounds and four blocks.
UConn hadn’t lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament since 1979 and never during Jim Calhoun’s 22 seasons.
Siena 83, Vanderbilt 62, Midwest Region
Kenny Hasbrouck scored 30 points and Tay Fisher added 19 on 6-for-6 shooting from 3-point range to add to their school’s NCAA tournament legacy. The Saints never trailed, becoming the first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference team to reach the second round since Manhattan in 2004.
Until now, Siena’s program was best-known for a first-round upset of Stanford in 1989 – a 14 seed over a 3. This one might have been just as shocking, considering it came against an SEC team in Vanderbilt that reached the round of 16 last year and had aspirations of doing at least that much this year.
A.J. Ogilvy scored 18 points for Vanderbilt (26-8), which got 13 from SEC player of the year Shan Foster – who became the 22nd player in SEC history to eclipse 2,000 points – and 10 from Ross Neltner.
Villanova 75, Clemson 69, Midwest Region
Villanova, which has more wins as a lower-seeded team in the tournament than any program since 1979, trailed by 18 with five minutes remaining in the first half and didn’t take its first lead until Reynolds banked in a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats ahead 50-49 with just under 12 minutes to go.
Reynolds finished with 21 points and freshman Corey Fisher added 17 for Villanova, which made nine of 10 free throws in the final 2:25 to stay in front.
K.C. Rivers led Clemson (24-10) with 15 points. Demontez Stitt scored 14 and Terrence Oglesby added 11, however the Tigers were only 9-for-33 shooting 3-pointers, with Oglesby missing seven of eight attempts.
Add A Comment
THIS IS NOT A GAMBLING SITE – If you think you have a gambling problem click here.
Disclaimer: This site is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Individual users are responsible for the laws regarding accessing gambling information from their jurisdictions. Many countries around the world prohibit gambling, please check the laws in your location. Any use of this information that may violate any federal, state, local or international law is strictly prohibited.
Copyright: The information contained on TheSpread.com website is protected by international copyright and may not be reproduced, or redistributed in any way without expressed written consent.
About: TheSpread.com is the largest sports betting news site in the United States. We provide point spread news, odds, statistics and information to over 175 countries around the world each year. Our coverage includes all North American College and Professional Sports as well as entertainment, political and proposition wagering news.
©1999-2023 TheSpread.com