Tracking the Madness: 2nd Session Superlatives
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Cal-Maryland. With both teams struggling to hit shots in the first half, it wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing game of the day, but it was competitive throughout. Both teams shot the ball better in the second half, but Maryland pulled away in the final minutes thanks to some timely threes and Cal turnovers. Speaking of, Cal, which lives and dies by the three, was stone cold all game. They made just seven from beyond the arc.↵↵(Honorable mention here goes to Purdue-Northern Iowa. The Boilermakers led the entire game, although the Panthers got it within four with less than a minute left.) ↵
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↵Man: Greivis Vasquez. When Vasquez scores 20 points, the Terps win. It’s really that simple. Today he had 27 to lead all scorers in the second session. He ran into some early foul trouble and was forced to sit in the first half. But he put the team on his back in the second, as he is prone to do. It was vintage Greivis, as was his mocking of the crowd by giving them the “shush” signal after scoring a big basket late in the game. If I wasn’t a Maryland fan, I’d hate that guy. ↵
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↵CBS Coverage Highlight: CBS did their damnedest to spice up an upset-free first round of pure un-drama. Greg Gumbel, for example, broke in during the first half of UConn-Chattanooga by saying, "the Mocs aren't going down without a fight, ripping off a 7-1 run against UConn!" Flip over to the oh-so-dramatic upset in the making! UConn is up by 14 points and pouring gas on the flaming Mocs. In the second half, we were fully expect Gumbel to hype the blowouts with statements like, "They're still dribbling!" and, "The lower seeded team has not begun crying openly on the floor!" Unfortunately, that never happened. Presumably because Gumbel was napping. ↵
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↵Bracket Status: Stable condition. With the total lack of excitement in the second session, the heartbeat is faint, but healthy. No real upsets (MD over Cal doesn’t count -- the majority of people picked the Terps) is really giving the Highliter quite the work out. ↵
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↵Implications: Maryland’s win sets up a second round match-up against Memphis on Saturday. This morning, no one thought the Terps would have a chance against the Tigers. But after watching Memphis struggle against Northridge, you have to think that maybe, just maybe, the Terps could pull it off. I believe they call this “false hope.”↵
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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
