Issue # 8.3.2 “Love Conquers All” (3/25)

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ST PETER’S DOES IT, ACC ROLLS IN
Mia Culpa lead by 13, clinches at least 4th; 33 still alive

3.5 HOUR LONG DRIVE GOLETA TO HOME, CA (smt) – In the city of brother love, #4E-UCLA had a three-point lead under 2 minutes and UNC clanked a bad shot but a hustle play to save the ball created a UNC three-point opportunity by Caleb Love (who had a jaw-dropping 27 points in the 2nd half – UCLA had 35 total in the 2nd half) to tie and later allowed another offensive rebound that UNC tipped in to go up by 5.  UNC hit their free throws to win 73-66, outscoring the Bruins 12-2 to end the game.  The west coast is toasted, once again.  UCLA played well committing just 6 turnovers but it was two hustle plays that doomed them.  I also blame the telecast using UCLA in ugly yellow background for the scoreline.

#15E-St Peter’s played well and didn’t panic when #3E-Purdue went up 56-52 and went on a 9-1 run, hit 19/21 free throws, and their defense made Purdue miss their first 10 threes of the 2nd half in winning 67-64.  In a rare one possession game, Purdue actually had a very decent look to tie as the buzzer-beater just missed.  St Peter’s is the first team to win twice as double-digit underdogs and becomes the first 13/14/15/16 seed to make the Elite 8.

Issue # 4.2.1 “UNC Unchokes Itself” (3/19)

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AN ELBOW NEARLY DOOMED UNC
Tarheel Blue Balls goes 6-2 to lead by 2

DISAPPOINTED SELLOUT CROWD FOR LAvORL AT DIGNITY HEALTH SPORTS PARK, CA (smt) – Where to even start?  #8E-UNC was cruising with a 25-point lead (67-42) when with 10:08 left, UNC’s Brady Manek’s (26 pts) elbow landed on a #1E-Baylor player’s face and the refs decided to call a flagrant-2 and eject him from the match giving Baylor, at the time, a couple of meaningless free throws.  The Bears made 1 of 2 but that turned into a quick 11-0 run and eventually outscored UNC 38-13 in ten minutes to tie the game at 80 with 15.8 seconds left (a head scratcher long 3-pt attempt by UNC on the last play exemplified all that went wrong for UNC).  Ten turnovers, three late missed free throws, taking just ten shots (the did make 4 of them), another technical foul, and seemingly always dribbling into a corner against Baylor’s press was ten minutes UNC wanted to forget.  Luckily, in overtime, they were like goldfish and outscored the Bears 13-6 to win 93-86 to advance to their 30th Sweet 16.  Baylor exploited inconsistent refs with their aggressive press which caused UNC fits (plus poor decision making).  In overtime, UNC got the benefit of calls as Baylor just ran out of gas while having 3 players foul out.

#1MW-Kansas scored the last 6 points in holding off #9MW-Creighton by 7.  #11S-Michigan, who some thought should have been in the First Four went on a 14-4 run late to overcome a 6-point deficit to #3S-Tennessee to win by 8.  #4MW-Providence, who most thought was over-seeded, walloped #12MW-Richmond by 28 to make its first Sweet 16 since ’97.  #4E-UCLA broke open the game after #5E-St. Mary’s got within one five minutes into the second half to make its 5th Sweet 16 in 9 years.  A collision course with Gonzaga looms but first two of the biggest programs will face off as 11-time champion UCLA will face 6-time champion UNC.

Issue # 1.0.1 “Back to Normal?” (3/13)

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Sunday, March 13, 2022  **HELP support Ukrainian refugees via International Rescue Committee (deadline Tue 4:00 pm PDT **)

BLUE BLOODS BACK, ZAGS #1 OVERALL AGAIN
Our 27th pool is as normal as it gets – same fee, same rules, same heartbreak

NO SCHOOL MASK MANDATE AS OF MARCH 12, CA (smt) – After a year where we didn’t see any blue bloods in the top 8 seeds (with  Duke, Indiana, and Kentucky not even qualifying and only Kansas seeded 7 or better) with the likes of Illinois, Baylor, Houston, Alabama, and Iowa breaking through, this year the blue bloods are out for vengeance with #2W-Duke, #1MW-Kansas, and #2E-Kentucky among the favorites to win it all with #4E-UCLA, #8E-UNC, and #12bE-Indiana also joining the fun.  No longer confined to a single city and partial crowds, the NCAA returns to normal with full capacity crowds across 14 cities and optional masking (though testing before travel is still required).  Just one game (VCU had to forfeit against Oregon) was a no-contest and produced a first-time winner in Baylor.

#1W-Gonzaga repeated as the #1 overall seed (5th time as a 1 seed, third straight (would’ve been 4 if ’20 wasn’t cancelled)) with S-Arizona (who was ineligible last year due to a self-ban), Kansas, and E-Baylor also netting #1 seeds.  This was only the 2nd time two #1 seeds heralded from the Western USA (’00 with Zona and Stanford) and all four are not in the Eastern Time Zone (btw, Happy Daylight Savings).  The Big 12 got two #1 seeds for the first time since ’03 (OK and TX).  The three local teams were spread across regions with #7-USC in the Midwest and #15-Cal State Fullerton in the West.

Bubble team #11E-Virginia Tech not only played spoiler denying Coach K a 16th ACC title in his final year but also likely knocked Oklahoma to last out, by winning 13 of its last 15 games, including 4 in 4 days in the ACC tourney.  #12MW-Richmond’s upset of #10W-Davidson today knocked Dayton out of the tourney (who could have played on their home floor in the First Four).  But somehow #11S-Michigan not only snuck in but avoided the First Four.

Issue # 12.5.1 “Buzzer Beater Bank” (4/3)

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TOP TWO TEAMS WIN; ONE EASILY AND ONE IN OT
Pac Attack or MizzouTgr11 2 will win the pool; 10 fighting for last 4 spots

FAMILY PICNIC, CA (smt) – Having just played double-digit seeds, #2MW-Houston ran into a buzz saw in #1S-Baylor and saw their 8-6 lead quickly disappear as the Bears had 10-0 and 11-0 runs in the first half.  Baylor ended the half up 45-20 and never let the Cougars get closer than 16 in a 78-59 rout for their first final appearance in 73 yeas (’48). 

In the nightcap, #11E-UCLA played nearly flawless but #1W-Gonzaga pulled out the victory on a long buzzer beater bank three in overtime, winning their 35th straight game, 93-90.  In the instant classic, UCLA shot 57.6% and Gonzaga 58.7% and committed just 10 turnovers each in the 183 point epic battle that essentially was a one score game the whole second half and overtime (Zags briefly by 7 in 2nd half and 5 in OT) and featured 15 ties and 19 lead changes.  UCLA played out the end of the 2nd half (no timeout) and got a whistle with one second left but it was a charge, not a block… it would’ve been more unlucky had the basket went in (nullifying a buzzer beater) or had it been UCLA’s 7th foul (it was their 6th) that would’ve sent the Zags to the line for the win.  So to overtime, UCLA’s third of the tourney.  If there was one thing to fault UCLA for, it was missing the front end of a one-and-one down by 4 two minutes into OT.  Ouch.  UCLA once again played out the end and this time Johnny Juzang (29 pts) put in his own miss with 3.3 seconds left to tie it at 90 after being down by 5.  Taking UCLA’s playbook, the Bulldogs also played out (no timeout) and saw three dribbles and a 42-foot running jump shot by Jalen Suggs magically banked in at the buzzer.

Issue # 11.4.3 “Our Pool Has an Efficacy of 66.4%” (4/1)

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2021 NCAA FINAL FOUR @ Indianapolis, Indiana 8th Final Four (’80 (Market Square Arena); ’91, ’97, ’00, ’06 (RCA Dome); ’10, ’15 (Lucas Oil Stadium)) Hosted by Indiana U.-Purdue U. Indianapolis (IUPUI) (Horizon League) Lucas Oil Stadium – Unity & Equality Floor
First Semifinal	Second Semifinal
#1-South Hinkle Fieldhouse Bankers Fieldhouse Lucas Oil Sta (South)	#2-Midwest Bankers Fieldhouse Hinkle Fieldhouse Lucas Oil Sta (North)	#1-West Hinkle Fieldhouse Bankers Fieldhouse Lucas Oil Sta (North)	#11-East Bankers Fieldhouse Hinkle Fieldhouse Lucas Oil Sta (South)
Baylor University Bears (26-2)	University of Houston Cougars (28-3)	Gonzaga University Bulldogs (30-0)	University of California, Los Angeles Bruins (22-9)
Big 12 Conference – Regular Season Champs Waco, Texas 3rd Final Four (’48, ’50) def #16 Hartford 79-55 #9 Wisconsin 76-63 #5 Villanova 62-51 #3 Arkansas 81-72	American Athletic Conference (2nd Place) – Tourney Champs Houston, Texas 6th Final Four (’67, ’68, ’82, ’83, ’84) def #15 Cleveland St 87-56 #10 Rutgers 63-60 #11 Syracuse 62-46 #12 Oregon St 67-61	West Coast Conference – Regular Season and Tourney Champs Spokane, Washington 2nd Final Four (’17) def #16a Norfolk St 98-55 #8 Oklahoma 87-71 #5 Creighton 83-65 #6 USC 85-66	Pac 12 (4th Place) Los Angeles, California 19th Final Four (’62, ’64, ’65, ’67, ’68, ’69, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’80, ’95, ’06, ’07, ’08) def #11a Michigan St 86-80 (OT) #6 BYU 73-62 #14 Abilene Christian 67-47 #2 Alabama 88-78 (OT) #1 Michigan 51-49

11-TIME CHAMP WITH 3 SEEKING THEIR FIRST TITLE
At least $248 will be donated to CDP; over $1,731 donated over 11 years

DIGNITY HEALTH SPORTS PARK, CARSON, CA (smt) – If you saw the largest bracket on the JW Marriott in downtown Indy, you would not see a lot of familiar names.  The tournament didn’t feature Blue Bloods such as Duke, Kentucky, and Indiana with UNC making it as an #8 seed and Kansas joining after having to quit their Big 12 tournament due to COVID-19 after struggling the first half of the year.  UNC lost in the first round and Kansas in the second.  That left UCLA.  The 11-time national champions lost their last four games and squeaked into the First Four game against a wanna-be Blue Blood, Michigan St.  The Bruins rallied from five down with 90 seconds left to force overtime to beat the Spartans, allowed a 3-pointer with less than a second left to Alabama and then routing them in overtime 23-13, and then survived three open three attempts by another Michigan team to hold on to defeat the Wolverines in the Elite 8.

Issue # 10.4.2 “West Coast Bias” (3/30)

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ZAGS RUN OVER USC; UCLA SURVIVES AGAIN
Pac Attack still leads and is guaranteed 5th; record 27 still alive to win money

FREE KRISPY KREME, GARDENA, CA (smt) – #1W-Gonzaga somehow got 10 more shots than #6W-USC eight minutes into the game (5 Trojan turnovers in the first 6 minutes) en route to a 25-8 lead and never let USC get closer than 13 the rest of the way en route to a 85-66 rout.  It was the Bulldogs’ second Final Four (’17) and their 34th straight victory, the last 27 by double digits. 

In the second game, #11E-UCLA used an 18-8 run to end the first half and then blew a 9-point lead before holding on for dear life three times in a 51-49 victory over #1E-Michigan.  One thing with UCLA, if you’re the opponent, you’ll get good looks for threes late – Alabama hit a game-tying three with less than a second left in the last game and Michigan had three good looks in the final seconds.  Trailing by just one and having the last possession, Michigan still decided to shoot a three which was air-balled with 12 seconds left.  Then trailing by just two thanks to a missed free throw, Michigan missed another wide open three with a few seconds left (the Bruins player kept running leaving the open three).  Then, thanks to a review that put 0.5 seconds back on the clock, a great drawn up play set up Michigan for another open three that just banked and missed at the buzzer.

Issue # 8.3.2 “Bruins & Trojans Joined at the Hip” (3/28)

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UCLA ROUTS (IN OVERTIME), USC BEATS OREGON
License to ILL holds on to 3-pt lead while only 12 can win pool

RELAXING AT HOME, CA (smt) – The Pac 12 continues to roll on as #11E-UCLA, without its leading scorer who fouled out with 2:27 left in regulation, upset #2E-Alabama in overtime, thanks to the Tide missing 14 of 25 free throws including two with 6 seconds left.  UCLA scored 23 points in overtime after scoring just 25 in the 2nd half.  Alabama trailed 40-29 at the half and made adjustments to roar back to tie it at 40 but then regressed back to long threes and individual efforts again for some reason.  After taking a 58-56 lead, Alabama missed four of their next six free throws, any one make and Bama’s Alex Reese’s near long 3-point buzzer beater (0.4 seconds left) would have been to win instead of a tie.  Or with tighter and shorter shorts.  A big call reversal with 1:54 left that gave the ball back to UCLA after a dribble went off the foot of UCLA but grazed the long shorts of Alabama.  The Bruins will be joined by their cross-town rivals as #6W-USC (10/17 from three-point range) easily won the first battle of Pac 12 teams in the tournament, defeating #7W-Oregon 82-68.

Meanwhile, #1W-Gonzaga shot 60.7% in the first half to torch #5W-Creigthon and #1E-Michigan stifled #4E-Florida St.  The Pac 12’s three teams (at seeds #6, #11, and #12) ties their record in ’01 (USC, Stanford, Arizona).  The ACC has no teams in the Elite 8 for the first time since ’14.  With the extended break (5 days vs 3-4) plus staying in the same city the whole time (vs flying back home), teams came out sluggish and forced the top seeds to pick it up in the second half.

Issue # 5.2.2 “The Pac 12, Yes, That Pac 12, Dominates” (3/22)

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THREE TRADITIONAL PAC 12 TEAMS CRUSH OPPONENT
BamaG jumps to 1st but 6 others have better chance to win the pool

EL SEGUNDO,CA (smt) – Traditional Pac 10 teams #7W-Oregon, #11E-UCLA, and #6W-USC ran all over their opponents while added Pac 12 team (along with Utah) #5E-Colorado got beat handily by #4E-Florida St.  The Pac 12 got four of its 5 teams in the Sweet 16 while the mighty Big Ten (9 teams before First Four) is just left with #1E-Michigan, who had to turn a 5-point second half deficit into a comfortable victory.  Oregon (finally playing after winning the first round by forfeit) broke a 46-46 tie by scoring the last 10 points of the half and never let up against #2W-Iowa, UCLA scored 18 straight points and led by as many as 26 in their win over #14-Abilene Christian, and in a game you had to see to believe, USC scored the last 11 points of the first half and then built as much as a 35-point lead over Oral Rob…, oh wait, over Norfolk St, oh wait, it was #3W-Kansas.  Kansas who had never lost a tournament game by more than 18, got routed by 34.  It was such a shock, the timekeeper left and didn’t even run down the last 3.8 seconds, leaving it to the refs to call mercy and end the game.

Issue # 3.1.2 “Pac 12 Perfect” (3/20)

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DIFFERENT OHIO PREVAILS, FIRST UNCONTESTED
License to ILL is 1 of 3 to go 14-2 to lead pool with 52 points

TORRANCE TAX TIME, CA (smt)- With huge pressure in the final seconds, #13W-Ohio not only hit the front end of the one-and-one, but both free throws twice as those four points were the margin in a 62-58 upset over defending champion #4W-Virginia.  The Cavs, who only flew into Indianapolis yesterday (just in time to take the two COVID-19 tests) led by 7 but were then outscored 14-2.  #14E-Abilene Christian, who was only was eligible for the tourney in ’18 and made it in ’19, forced 23 #3E-Texas turnovers and hit two free throws with two seconds left to prevail 53-52.  Texas was the first Big 12 team to lose (Big 12 went 6-1) had an early second-half 9 point lead but then were outscored 18-4.  While the Big 12 had a blemish, the Pac 12 ended the 1st Round a perfect 5-0 (6-0 if you include the First Four).  #11E-UCLA led wire-to-wire to upset #6E-BYU (I guess the NCAA won’t have to switch Sat/Sun games now), and of course, their 73 points had to be one higher than their cross-town rival #6W-USC, who won easily as well.

The big news though was that #10W-VCU had to withdraw from the tourney due to multiple positive tests and gave #7W-Oregon a free pass to the 2nd Round.  It gave 128 entries who picked the Ducks a stress-free evening.  Along with the disappointment, VCU does not know how early they can send the players back home to their families yet.

Madness Begins

For the win… just short. #11aW-Wichita St’s buzzer beater shot hit the front of the rim (but why a 3 point if down by 1?) giving #11bW-Drake its 26th win, tying #1W-Gonzaga. Wichita St blew a second-half 12 point lead, a theme for the night. #16bE-Texas Southern rallied from a second-half 10 point deficit to win by 8. #11bE-UCLA rallied from a second-half 11 point deficit (down by 14 in the first half and by 6 with under 4 minutes left) to shock #11aE-Michigan St in overtime. #16aW-Norfolk St blew a second half 19-point lead but… rallied from their own 6-point deficit to squeak out a one-point win over #16bW-Appalachian St (who missed their first 19 3-point attempts (0/18 3PT but 8/8 FT in first half)). Norfolk St snapped a 3-game MEAC losing streak in the First Four (previous 3 lost by NC A&T) as the MEAC improves to 4-7. UCLA escaped from losing back-to-back First Four games. A great way to start after not having a March Madness game in the past 710 days.

We have 129 entries thus far which is close to our record-breaking pace in 2017 (178) but will likely fall between 155 and 170 entries. We typically have around 100 people and we are at 77, so hopefully at least 23 more before the 9 am PDT deadline.

In the 11th HWCI First Four for Charity contest (17 entries), Mike M anticipated close games for each (by 1 point) to win with a 3-1 record and low 14 point differential. Four were 3-1 and four were 0-4 (Eric F last with 50 pt diff). This was the third time no one went 4-0 (10 contests, last year was just pick the champ). Mike W actually picked two game exactly (Norfolk St by 1 and UCLA by 6) to finish 2nd (20 pt diff). 6 picked Texas Southern, 5 picked Drake, 7 picked Norfolk St, and 6 picked UCLA. All underdogs (by our picks) won.

IEEE & Rutgers

IEEE, the largest professional engineering society in the world with more than 400,000 members, is headquartered in Piscataway, New Jersey. So at times, when we have IEEE-related meetings, in order for as many staff to help us, we stay in New Brunswick, New Jersey several miles away. Here, is the home of Rutgers University within walking distance from the Hyatt Hotel we have our meetings at. It’s a pretty campus with old classic buildings.

Well, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights may have just secured their first tourney appearance since 1991 guaranteeing that every year of our pool has seen at least one new team. Rutgers’ overtime road win over fellow bubble team Purdue gave them a key 2nd road victory (yes, just 2), a better than .500 Big Ten record (11-9), and their first 20-win season since 1983 to go along with their top 35 NET. Their at-large bid moved from probable First In/Out to just “In”.

Meanwhile, a pair of late 3s provided drama as Utah St secured a berth by beating #5 San Diego St. and USC stunned UCLA by two in their rivalry game. SDSU won their first 26 games before ending the season 4-2. Utah St was likely out but are now in the tourney, meaning one less at-large berth available (since SDSU will get one). UCLA had a chance for the share of the Pac-12 title but fell short, and with their 70s NET and some really bad losses, will need a good showing in the conf tourney to solidify their spot in the First Four In rather than First Four Out. USC is likely in with the win.

Our 26th HWCI NCAA Pool begins next Sunday (yikes, just lost an hour right now… it’s 3 am)!

The Year Was 1995

1995. Before Javascript which helped run the online web entry from 1999-2013. Before finalfour.net debuted in 1996. Before DVDs. Before the Spice Girls. Before the Star Wars Special Editions. Our first pool was run by telephone by the HW-UCLA folks (including co-admin David (The Mighty Mobelfakta) and coercing unsuspecting victims like myself (Silver Fabone) to pony up $10 for a sport I didn’t watch. We got 12 entries that first year. And they assigned nicknames which was sometimes unflattering :-).

Congrats to Fullerton!

Well, with UCLA and USC doing well in the Pac 12 tournament, they should be in. But they will be joined by local Cal State Fullerton who beat the other local team, UC Irvine, in the Big West Tournament Final to make the tourney for the 3rd time and first time since 2008.  With the brackets coming out tomorrow, expect our website to be up very late Sunday or early Monday.  As usual, all the rules remain the same ($10/entry, max 3 entries, deadline 9 am PDT Thursday).  Spread the word to your friends and family and let’s see if we can top the 178 entries we got last year.  Feel free to follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

Issue # 8.3.2 “Ball’s Out & Buzzer Beater”

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Friday, March 24, 2017 

CERRITOS APT/LONG BEACH, CA (smt)- Was just about to write all four teams winning by double-digits and then #4E-Florida decided to change things up.  Up by 12 with 4 and a half minutes left, #8E-Wisconsin battled back with some help from the Gators.  Florida missed four shots, two free throws, and committed two turnovers, and failed to foul while up by 3 leading to Zak Showalter’s off-balance running three-pointer to tie the game at 72 with 2 seconds left.  With our first overtime of the tourney, the momentum continued with the Badgers building a 5-point led with a minute left.  But it was the Badgers’ turn to help out, missing two free throws, committing a dumb early foul, Khalil Iverson mis-timing a breakaway dunk that was partially blocked, and inexplicably allowing Florida to run the down the court with four seconds to give Chris Chiozza an open look, albeit a stop-jump floater, buzzer-beating three-pointer to stun Wisconsin, 84-83.  Crazy.

#1S-North Carolina, #7E-South Carolina, and #2S-Kentucky easily won in double-digits.  In the latter, the most-annoying dad of Lonzo Ball must have been a distraction as #3S-UCLA’s Ball was held to 10 points and four turnovers while Kentucky freshman De’aaron Fox scored a tourney-record 39 points for a freshman.  In a touch of non-class, Ball actually declared for the NBA draft while in the locker room.

There is now a crazy five-way tie for first with King Kobra, Dboyz17, Hrosen2, Thai Spice, and SlumDawg at 108 points.  Alternative Picks (18th-Tied, 102), Biggie’s Back (12th-T, 103), ChasCroix1(78th-T, 92) and En Fuego (56th-T, 95) went 3-1 while 8 went 0-4.

16 lost UCLA as their champ and 27 more lost them in their Final Four.  Alley Loop (71st-T, 93) lost Read the rest of this entry »

Issue # 5.2.2 “Finish Strong”

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Sunday, March 19, 2017 

LATE RALLIES AND HEART PROVIDE DRAMA
King Kobra remains in the lead by 4 points as 45 entries are eliminated

CERRITOS APT (smt)- No single play to discuss today (i.e., no dumb foul, no dumb flagrant-1, no dumb technical), just pure basketball drama.  #1S-UNC and #3MW-Oregon went on a doughnut run with the Tar Heels rallying from 5 down with 2:56 left to score the last 12 points and the Ducks rallying from 4 down with 2:01 left to score the last 7 points to knock off hopefuls #8S-Arkansas and #11MW-Rhode Island, respectively.

Other teams turned it on as well with #3S-UCLA down by one finishing the game on a 33-20 run in the last 13:32, #7MW-Michigan down by two finishing the game on a 24-18 run in the last 9:16, #1MW-Kansas up by one finishing the game on a 36-17 run in the last 12:00, #3E-Baylor down two finishing the game on a 17-11 run in the last 4:42 (a sequence that began with Manu Lecomte scoring 8 points in 45 seconds), and #8E-South Carolina down two finishing on a 42-33 run in the last 12:03. #2S-Kentucky narrowly won the ’14 rematch vs. #10S-Wichita St taking a tie game with 12:15 left and holding on to a three-point win thanks to two gutsy blocks on the final two Shocker possessions.  On the last one, it looked like the Wichita St. player could’ve leaned in to draw a foul on the three-point shot but didn’t.

Comeback kids #11E-USC never trailed by their magic number of 10 (just 9) and took the lead with under 5 minutes to go but couldn’t hold on against Baylor.  #11MW-Rhode Island played well but scored just 26 points in the second half allowing Oregon to rally.  Playing in their home state, South Carolina scored 65 points in the second half against #2E-Duke.

King Kobra increased the lead to four points (96) over Hrosen2 and EEChick1400.  Five went 7-1 for the day with only 9ers in’18 (7th-Tied, 88) getting at least five right the previous day.  Ten went 12-4 for the round.  On the flip side, Read the rest of this entry »