Mascot March Madness: The road to the Final Four

Over a week has passed and it’s time for the Sweet 16 and Eight Eight rounds of MASCOT MARCH MADNESS! If you’re new, you can catch up with the previous round here.

With that being said here’s the updated bracket!

LET’S GET TO THE HIGHLIGHTS!

This game starts out as a defensive battle! A defensive battle involving Virginia? I, for one, am shocked. Both teams ran the offense through their center early on and Arkansas started out 6-6 from the field thanks to easy shots like this...

and this!

Virginia hung tough in the second half. Tying up the score at 15. The game went back and forth with the lead never being more than 4 for either side.Virginia’s guards caught fire from deep near the end, hitting the game-tying 3

And the go-ahead 3 on the next possession.

The Razorbacks tried to tie the ballgame up but turned the ball over. Too little, too late. GG.

Virginia 25 Arkansas 20

Keeping up with the theme of defense, Kentucky and Texas could not stop blocking each other in the first half!

NO EASY BUCKETS

EVER.

*2nd Half starts*

MORE BLOCKS

Kentucky would get the lead to 15-8

Texas would try to come back but hero ball.

and missed free throws became their undoing.

Kentucky 17 Texas 13

After putting up 40 on Alabama in the sweet 16, the Wildcats showed that they could play the defensive game as well. Texas just wasn’t able to get into much of a rhythm offensively.

After Gonzaga’s utter thrashing of Tennessee, it was clear that this Kansas game would be different. Nevertheless, the balanced Bulldogs offense continued as scheduled.

And the defense was there. However, so was Kansas.

Kansas’ offense came to life in the second half, however, as they were able to get some easy buckets down low.

and in transition.

Luckily for the Bulldogs, Gonzaga fought back with some quick offense to cause Overtime at 20-20.

In a back and forth OT, Kansas had a chance to go back on top but.

.....

The Jayhawks made too many mistakes down the stretch. Gonzaga advances!

Gonzaga 32 Kansas 27

Two high-powered offenses finally meet in a matchup that I think will be absolute fire. Let’s get to the highlights!

The Spartans got off to a sloppy start. Only hitting twos basket in the first 3 minutes of the game!

But using their athleticism and speed they were able to get off some tough shots.

and some easy transition opportunities.

As this game got closer, the Wildcats weren’t going away quietly. Their center continued his dominance in the tournament.

Michigan State didn‘t have an answer for him on defense, but they were able to counter by playing smart offense to get beautiful dunks. We had a close one with under a minute to go!

Michigan State with a chance for the winnnnnnnnn.

THIS. IS. SPARTA. ARIZONA HAS TO WORK WITH SOMETHING QUICK.

IT COUNTS AND THE FOUL! MICHIGAN STATE GETS IT’S HEARTS RIPPED OUT.

Both teams caught some early sweet 16 jitters and started the game off cold. That is, until Villanova’s shooting guard #4 caught fire early with 2 threes!

Florida would come alive and get into their rhythm. We have a game folks!

Florida held a 14-13 lead at the half and they have had plenty of chances to go ahead in this game, but Villanova was able to stay in it thanks to Florida fouling a 3-point shooter. TWICE

Florida still seemed in control of this game for the most part even though the score didn’t indicate it. Especially with highlight plays like THIS.

Not to mention this big time rejection late in the game!

Villanova tried to stage a late-game comeback but the Gators weren’t having it.

Florida 31 Villanova 24

Last game, Missouri barely got past Oklahoma thanks to missed layups.

Can they keep up their luck against the Hurricanes?

Missouri starts out the game trucking and gets out to an early 7-2 lead, but Miami wasn’t going to just keel over. Especially with the power in their frontcourt.

Missouri was feeling in the first half. They were able to spread the offense around and get some buckets in transition.

However, their defense had its share of breakdowns and gave up the lead late. Missouri has to take Miami to the 1-and-1. They foul the center who has a shot to make it a two or three point game and...

HE MISSED. MISSOURI HAS A CHANCE TO TAKE THE LEAD AND ADVANCE TO THE ELITE EIGHT! TIME TO RUN A PLAY.

MIAMI’S SHOT IS NO GOOD. MISSOURI ADVANCES! This is Missouri’s second close call. Can they be the team of destiny?

Missouri 25 Miami 24

RIVALRY MASCOT GAME.

These teams don’t like each other and in the first half it seemed like neither team liked offense either. It took two minutes to score the first bucket of the game.

Cincinnati had to get creative with their offense...

... while Xavier didn’t hit a field goal for the entire half. Yup, they scored 3 points. Total.

Xavier somehow looked just as bad in the second half as this Cincinnati team defense was ALL OVER THE PLACE.

Xavier just couldn’t get it going all game. It was an absolutely sad showing by them.

Yikes.

Cincinnati 22 Xavier 8

The Tigers got out to a fast start with some prime transition buckets.

Purdue seems to be having a tough time matching the Tigers aggressive play and their offense was trash in the first half. Purdue was able to make it interesting in the 2nd.

But 7 points was as close as they were going to get to the Tigers.

Clemson 21 Purdue 14

ON TO THE ELITE EIGHT

Virginia’s defense was stifling early on. As they only held Texas to 4 points in the first half.

JUST LOOK AT THIS DEFENSE!

THIS IS WILD!

To make matters worse for the Longhorns, their Center went down with an injury.

Texas tried to ramp up the defensive pressure but it was too little too late. UVA is in the Final Four! At least the mascots are!

UVA 20 Texas 11!

This is a matchup between top tier centers. It was power moves only at the start of the game. WEIGHT ROOM!

Arizona had the advantage down low in the first half and were able to use that to open up their offense!

Gonzaga hung tough and was able to tie the game at 13 thanks to this dunk.

But Arizona struck that down quickly with a 5-0 run

Gonzaga has the ball left down 2 and under 30 seconds...

AND THEY FOUL? WHAT IS HAPPENING!

WHATTTTTTTT WOOOOOOWWWWWWW

Gonzaga 25 Arizona 22. WHAT JUST HAPPENED

Two really fun offenses meet up and they did not disappoint.

Missouri got out to an early lead but Florida was able to salvage that a little bit at the end with this DEEP 3!

The second half? Not so much

Luckily for Florida, they were able to hit this go-ahead three with 32.6 seconds left!

Missouri with a chance to answer...

WHAT A CROSSOVER! MIZZOU TAKES THE LEAD! FLORIDA HAS A CHANCE TO ANSWER

SO CLOSEEEEEE. Florida has to use up all their fouls before the game is over.

BUT IT’S TOO LATE! MISSOURI ADVANCES!

Both teams struggle on offense as the halftime score is 6-6. WHO WANTS IT MORE!

In thet second half Clemson came out strong and the Power Forward decided to DUNK ON 3 PEOPLE!

The Bearcats had a chance.

But they literally THROW IT AWAY!

Clemson 18 Cincinnati 13

THIS IS MARCH/APRIL/WHENEVER YOU’RE READING THIS!