That was amazing

Thursday was one of the greatest basketball watching days of my life. I don't remember any day that started, and ended in such dramatic fashion. This is why we love college basketball. No team was safe, no lead was safe, and everyone busted their asses to make things special. I don't know how you could watch any of the games and not marvel at the action. I love the NCAA Tournament, as you could have guessed by the previews when the team this blog is about wasn't in it, and today was every reason why. The drama, the random stars, the guys jumping on the bench, the bangwagon fans, the stunned coaches, and of course, the ONIONS. Let's recap the action of the day, shall we?

West Region

7 BYU 99 10 Florida 92 (2 OT) - One of the first games of the day was one of the best games of the day. Florida stormed back from a big deficit in the second half to take the lead, see the score tied, and go to overtime. Jimmer Fredette tied the game with 26 seconds left in regulation, and hit a pair of huge 3s in the second OT. Jimmer went off for 37. Kenny Boynton led the Gator rally, finishing with 27.

13 Murray State 66 4 Vanderbilt 65- This game was close nearly all day. Vanderbilt was able to take the lead with an Andre Walker steal that lead to 2 Jermaine Beal free throws. Murray didn't panic, worked the clock down to under 2 seconds when Danero Thomas rose and fired for the win. Thomas had 11, but Isacc Miles powered the Racers with 17-6. Vandy was paced by 13 from John Jenkins.

2 Kansas State 82 15 North Texas 62- K State jumped out by 16 at the half, and never worried. Tristan Thompson had 28 for the Mean Green, but it was no match for 17-6 assists from Denis Clemente. Curtis Kelly and Jacob Pullen had 15.

5 Butler 77 12 UTEP 59- This was a game at halftime, with UTEP leading by 6. Butler's Shelvin Mack took matters into his hands with 7 second half 3s, and 25 points total. Butler hit 18 of 28 from deep. Derrick Caracter did have 20-9 in the losing effort.

Midwest

9 Northern Iowa 69 8 UNLV 66- UNLV rallied to tie the score at 66 with an Oscar Bellfield 3 pointer with 44 seconds left. The Panthers took the clock down near 0 when they found an open Ali Farokmanesh, who stone cold nailed a triple. He had 17. Matt Shaw's 14 lead UNLV.

14 Ohio 97 3 Georgetown 83- In what was a big time stunner, Ohio dominated Georgetown. The Bobcats hit 13 triples, had a 12 point halftime lead, withstood a rally, and picked up their first NCAA win since 1975. Georgetown's loss was the biggest losing margin for a 3 seed ever, and the most points the Hoyas have given up in the NCAAs ever. Armon Bassett had 32, and his backcourt mate D.J Cooper 23-8 assists to lead the march. Georgetown got 28 from Chris Wright.

6 Tennessee 62 11 San Diego St 59- This was another game that went down the wire. Tennessee got a huge 3 by Melvin Goins to push the lead to 4 with 18 seconds left, but he fouled D.J Gay, who was shooting a 3. Gay made all 3. Wayne Chism knocked down a pair of free throws for the Vols, followed by a miss from Kawhi Leonard, who had a decent look. Gay put up 16 for the losers, Goins and JP Prince had 15, Prince 6 rebounds, for the winners.

1 Kansas 90 16 Lehigh 74- Lehigh hung in for a while, but they were no match for the talented Jayhawks. C.J McCollum did his best with 26-7, but Marcus Morris fueled a balanced attack with 26-10.

South

11 Old Dominion 51 6 Notre Dame 50- The Monarchs rallied from an early 8 point second half hole to keep this one tight. Gerald Lee hit a jumper with 1:26 for the lead, and a free throw a few seconds later to push it to 3. Tory Jackson missed a 3, Carleton Scott a put back dunk, before Luke Harangody made a lay up at the buzzer. ODU was lead by 15-9 from Frank Hassell. Ben Hansbrough had 17-6 for the Fighting Irish.

2 Villanova 73 15 Robert Morris 70 (OT)- Villanova played extremely flat, as Corey Fisher and Scottie Reynolds didn't start as a 'teaching tool' or some bs reason. Bobby Mo had an 8 point lead with 3:57 left, but Nova hit from the stripe to tie. A Karon Abraham jumper was answered by a Yarou lay up, and Nova missed a shot at the end of regulation to send it to overtime. In OT Scottie Reynolds, who was 2-15, hit a 3 with 1:15 to push the lead to 6. They got it down to 1, but couldn't get over the hump. Reynolds had 20, thanks to 15 free throws, and Abraham 23 in the losing effort.

3 Baylor 68 14 Sam Houston St 59- Sam Houston kept this one close for a while before fading in winning time. Gilberto Clavell had 23-7 for the Bearkats, while Ekpe Udoh went for 20-13-5 assists for the Bears.

10 St Mary's 80 7 Richmond 71- Omar Samhan crushed the Spiders with a 29-12 dominating performance, key in the second half, as the Gaels broke a halftime tie. The Spiders couldn't solve the d, or slow down the big man. David Gonzalvez did his best with 18-5, but it wasn't enough.

East

3 New Mexico 62 14 Montana 57- The Grizzlies made this a ball game, cutting a 14 point deficit down to 1, but that was as close as they got. New Mexico made a bunch of free throws to put this one on ice. Roman Martinez had 19-6-4 assists for the Lobos, while Brian Qvale had a big 26-13 for the losers.

9 Wake Forest 81 8 Texas 80 (OT)- Texas rallied to tie the game late in regulation, but missed a couple chances to win, when Damian James only made 1 of 2 at the line. Texas jumped out to an 8 point overtime lead, but 2 Tony Woods dunk backs and free throws helped pull the margin to 2. Ari Stewart cut the lead to 1 with 19 seconds left, and the 324th worst free throw shooting team in the country saw Gary Johnson miss 2 leading to Ish Smith netting a game winner with under 2 seconds left. Al-Farouq Aminu put up a gaudy 20-15 for Wake. J'Covan Brown had 20 for the Longhorns.

11 Washington 80 6 Marquette 78- Marquette's season of wild, close games came to the end in a wild, close game. Marquette lost a 14 point lead with 14 minutes to go, and fell behind at the 5 minute mark. The lead went back and forth before Maurice Acker hit a pair of free throws with 2:26 left. The Huskies tied the score on free throws by Venoy Overton with 2:09 left. Both teams missed shots, but Quincy Pondexter pulled home an offensive rebound with under 39 seconds left. He dribbled the clock down, and took his man to the rim for the game winning bucket. A halfcourt heave was short. Pondexter had 18-11, most in the second half, but Isaiah Thomas lead with 19-8 assists. For Marquette, Lazar Hayward had 20, and Darius Johnson-Odom 19.

1 Kentucky 100- 16 East Tennessee St 71- Kentucky dominated of course. Eric Bledsoe had 29, John Wall 17-11 assists, and Patrick Patterson 22. The Bucs got 19 from Micah Williams.