Some people considered March Madness so far to be a little underwhelming with the lack of upsets and nothing that will break a ton of brackets.
Something similar to UMBC’s massive upset last year and Loyola’s amazing run. Sunday provided with teams punching their tickets to the next round and one game that has the entire College Basketball fanbase buzzing all around.
Duke vs. UCF Was A Top 3 Game of the Decade
There was the obvious storyline of Projected #1 Overall Pick Zion vs. 7’6 Tacko Fall. But there was more coming into this game that made this game so much more powerful.
Since becoming the coach, Johnny Dawkins has turned around a program and sent them to the NCAA’s for the first time since 2004 when they were in the Atlantic Sun. Dawkins was an assistant at Duke for 10 years and has known Coach K for a very long time.
The son of coach Dawkins, Aubrey, spent years and years around Coach K and the town of Durham. Dawkins ended up having the game of his life with 32 Points on 12-18 shooting. Unfortunately, the last shot he took was the one he’ll never forget.
Emotions would run high from then on out as Coach K would pay his respects to both BJ Taylor and Aubrey Dawkins after the game as they as well as Tacko Fall played an incredible game and created one of the craziest games of this past decade.
The most significant thing that was taken away from this game as that Duke is beatable with elite guard play and a shot blocking big down low. If you’re favorite team has that and is still in the tournament, there’s a legitimate chance.
Oregon’s Hot Streak Continues
The same team that gave up 89 points to Texas Southern earlier this season is advancing to the sweet sixteen after a win over upset-minded UC Irvine. Oregon hasn’t lost a game in over a month and is looking to make the improbable upset of taking out #1 Virginia in their next contest.
Payton Pritchard is playing insane at the moment and Kenny Wooten is continuing to show the insane amount of athleticitism that he possesses.
Oregon shot an insane 52% from 3 point range and connected on 13 of them. UVA has an elite defense, but the way Oregon has been playing, this could be a very low scoring game.
Considering where Oregon was at just a month ago, it’s a miracle that they are in the tournament, let alone challenging the #1 seed for a spot in the Elite 8. The job Dana Altman has done over this last month has been truly incredible and he deserves more credit for the job he has done for a team that was NIT bound.
Houston looks like a serious threat to upset Kentucky
Considering how they were looked at prior to the beginning of the tournament, the AAC has outperformed expectations and the top team in the conference is the lone one left.
Cincinnati gave up a lead to Iowa, but hung around with one of the better Big 10 teams. UCF went wire to wire with the best team in the country and was a roll away from the massive upset. It’s Houston that has had an easy path, but gets immensely tougher with Kentucky.
Houston isn’t a very tall team, but have guard play that is the same, if not better, then Kentucky’s. Corey Davis Jr. and Armoni Brooks should be a great challenge for Ashtan Hagans and Tyler Herro. Herro struggled in his last game against Wofford in which he only went 2-11 from the field.
F Reid Travis should play well with the lack of height down low and should create space to hit some mid-range jumpers as well. If Kentucky shoots like they did against Wofford (40% from the field), then Houston is beating the Wildcats.
Image Credit: https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/mens-basketball/article228353004.html
