Page 23 - ARUBA TODAY

A23
SPORTS Tuesday 20 March 2018
What. Just. Happened?! NCAAs amp up the March Madness

By GENARO C. ARMAS ing with these guys having
AP Sports Writer a huge smile on their face,
One word succinctly de- but that's not college bas-
scribes what's transpired ketball."
so far in the NCAA Tourna- WHO'S LEFT: A look at the
ment: teams and matchups for
Madness. the Sweet 16 by region.
But even that's probably South: No. 5 Kentucky vs.
underselling it. No. 9 Kansas State; No. 7
A comeback for the ages Nevada vs. No. 11 Loyola-
by Nevada. An entire re- Chicago.
gion left without a Top 4 West: No. 4 Gonzaga vs.
seed in the Sweet 16 for the No. 9 Florida State; No. 3
first time in tourney history. Michigan vs. No. 7 Texas
The 16-seed winner UMBC, A&M
falling short in its attempt to Midwest: No. 1 Kansas vs.
extend its historic run as un- No. 5 Clemson; No. 2 Duke
derdog darlings. Oh, and vs. No. 11 Syracuse
defending national cham- East: No. 1 Villanova vs. No.
pion North Carolina is out, 5 West Virginia; No. 2 Pur-
routed in its own state by due vs. No. 3 Texas Tech.
Texas A&M. CALL IT A COMEBACK: Ne-
And that was just on Sun- vada's comeback from a
day. When No. 1 seed Xavi- 22-point deficit matched
er was bounced, too. Duke's rally after beating
A memorable, zany first two
rounds — even by March Nevada guard Hallice Cooke (13) and forward Elijah Foster (12)
celebrate at the end end of the second half of a second-round
Madness standards — set game against Cincinnati, in the NCAA college basketball tour-
up what could be another nament in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, March 18, 2018. Nevada
wild two weekends in a defeated Cincinnati 75-73.
tournament where any- Associated Press
thing can become reality.
"It's what makes March Loyola-Chicago won two mous No. 1 team in the AP
Madness special and it kills thrillers to get to the Sweet poll.
the coaches because it's 16, making a social media The Retrievers' run came to
so hard and you think you star out of their 98-year-old an end on Sunday night in
have a great team," Kan- chaplain, Sister Jean. And a 50-43 loss to ninth-seeded
sas State coach Bruce We- then the telegenic nun who Kansas State, but not be-
ber said. "It's March Mad- provides her own scouting fore tattooing a lasting im-
ness and you never know reports to players got over- print on American sports,
what's going to happen." shadowed by the ultimate drawing attention from
Before the first tipoff on Cinderella team. stars of the NFL, NBA and
Thursday, many prognos- The UMBC Retrievers be- Twitch — and love from un- Syracuse players, including Marek Dolezaj (21) and Oshae Bris-
ticators had deemed this came the first No. 16 seed derdogs everywhere. sett (11), celebrate a 55-53 win over Michigan State in an NCAA
tournament one of the in the history of the men's "We put our name on the men's college basketball tournament second-round game in
map. We (gave) hope to Detroit, Sunday, March 18, 2018. Associated Press
teams that come to the
tournament with lower the happiest I've ever been
seeds," guard K.J. Maura in my life," Wolf Pack coach Maryland in the 2001 Final
said. Eric Musselman said. Four. The biggest come-
UMBC's success story con- The way reigning cham- back belongs to BYU, which
tributed to the messy, un- pion North Carolina got trailed by 25 points before
precedentedly jumbled bounced from the tour- beating Iona in the 2012
bracket in the South Re- nament in an 86-65 loss First Four.
gion, where the highest- to Texas A&M might have GLASS SLIPPERS IN SOUTH:
remaining seed is No. 5 been the top storyline on What a mess in the under-
Kentucky. It's the first time any other tournament day. dog-laden South.
in tourney history that a re- It left coach Roy Williams The top four seeds — No. 1
gional semifinal will be held with the most lopsided Virginia, No. 2 Cincinnati,
without a top 4 seed, ac- tournament loss of his Hall No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4
cording to the NCAA. of Fame career. It was also Arizona are all done.
Michigan guard Jordan Poole (2) is chased by teammates after Seventh-seeded Nevada the second straight year "You know, just obviously
making a 3-point basket at the buzzer to win an NCAA men's
college basketball tournament second-round game against added to that by matching the titleholder lost before we didn't think 16 was go-
Houston on Saturday, March 17, 2018, in Wichita, Kan. Michigan the second-biggest come- the Sweet 16. And it hap- ing to ... beat a 1," Weber
won 64-63. back in tournament history pened in UNC-friendly terri- said. "You thought it would
Associated Press to beat No. 2 seed Cincin- tory in Charlotte, North Car- be a little different situa-
nati 75-73 after trailing by olina, where the Tar Heels tion, but we just said we
most wide-open in recent tournament to beat a No. 1 22 points in the second half. hadn't lost a tourney game could write history tonight.
history. seed, defeating Virginia in "That locker room right since 1979. "I didn't picture No 9 has ever beaten a 16
It's turned into a nutty, the first round Friday night. now, I've never seen any- it ending it like this," said Wil- to go to the Sweet 16, so
once-in-a-generation kind By 20 points. Over the top thing like it in my life. It's the liams with his players sitting we wrote our own history
of ride. overall seed and the unani- happiest I've ever seen. It's nearby. "I pictured it end- tonight."q