March Madness is finally here folks! And with that the first four games. These pre tournament games determine whether or not four teams get into the actual tournament – they are essentially play in games. If you win you get in the tournament’s first round and if you lose you don’t make it in. These games were created because of the rule that if a team successfully wins their division championship, they immediately get a bid to be in the NCAA tournament. With the creation of new divisions, that enabled more than the original 64 teams into the tournament, meaning new games needed to be created so that bad teams that won their division had their shot. So, the first four. And just like March Madness, these games do not disappoint in their “madness”.
Indiana and Wyoming
Starting with the first game, the ranked 12 Indiana Hoosiers and the ranked 12 Wyoming Cowboys went at it in a relatively low scoring 66-58 opener for the tournament. Indiana, coming out on top, was able to score 30 in the first half and 36 in the second half, outscoring Wyoming’s 25 in the first and 33 in the second. Both offenses struggled, however, Wyoming had the statistically better shooting day, Indiana shooting 41.9% from the field, and Wyoming 43.5%. Indiana was 2/13 from the three point line while Wyoming was 6/19. The major difference however came with the turnovers, which most likely caused Wyoming the game, having an astronomical 19, in comparison to the 8 from Indiana. As Indiana moves on from Wyoming, they will face the fifth ranked St. Marys.
Texas Southern and Texas A&M-CC
The second game, between the 16th ranked Texas Southern Tigers and the 16th ranked Texas A&M-CC Islanders, ended with Texas Southern on top, 76-67. The Tigers won, shooting 41.8% from the field and 30.8% from beyond the arc, while the Islanders shot 37.3% from the field and 38.1% from the three point line. The kicker in this game in comparison to the last was the immense amount of free throws taken by the Tigers. They went 26/35, a whopping near third of the total points they scored overall. The Tigers will be facing the #1 ranked Kansas Jayhawks in the first round.
Bryant and Wright State
Two 16 seeds, Bryant and Wright State had a shootout in the third game with the Wright State Raiders rolling past the Bryant Bulldogs with a final score of 93-82. The term “shootout” should be taken very literally in this game as there were a combined 232 total shot attempts during the 40 minute game. Bryant went 31/71 from the field and Wright State went 29/61. The winner of this game really came down to the 3-point shooting as Bryant shot 24 threes and only made a depressing 4 of them, while Wright State shot 21 and made 9. Wright St. will go on to face Arizona in the first round.
Rutgers and Notre Dame
Finally, defining March Madness for what it truly is, the 11th ranked Notre Dame Irish took on the 11th ranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights in a stunning double overtime bout. The final score of this crazy bout left the Fighting Irish moving on as they scored 89 points, only two more than Rutgers at 87. These two teams both shot with very high accuracy from the field, the Irish with 51.4% of their shots drained while Rutgers stayed close up with a 50.7%. Rutgers shot better from the three however, shooting 40.7% while Notre Dame shot 31.6%. Rutgers shot themselves in the foot this game by giving Notre Dame 13 turnovers, compared to the 5 Notre Dame gave to Rutgers.
