Cinderella is dead

Put the glass shoe away, or the slipper, or whatever it is because there ain’t gonna be no Cinderella this year.

We’re going to look at the games that happened on Saturday and Sunday, and we’ll spend a little more time on the close ones rather than the blowouts.

We’ll mix in some other sports, just in case you’re a weirdo who doesn’t like non-stop college basketball.

Let’s go.

March Madness

I need to start by saying something that might be controversial. I think I like Saturday and Sunday better than Thursday and Friday…. sort of.

The best thing about the first two days is the big upsets… It’s all about seeing Kentucky lose and Oakland win, but there are so many games on TV that you feel like you’re going crazy. And somehow, there will be four games on TV, and you’ll be at halftime in all of them.

Saturday and Sunday just seem a little more manageable. It’s just an IV drip of basketball, and the only problem was that the dosing was a little off this year, as the underdogs just weren’t strong enough.

Round 2 Close Games

🏀 1 seed Houston took down 9 seed Texas A&M in OT. I’m very glad that Houston got a 100-95 win because this was a very soft game that refs were calling, and both teams had multiple players foul out. It would be terrible for Houston to lose this and have every reason to blame the refs. I don’t want to discredit A&M, though, and they were trailing 82-71 with 89 seconds left in the game, and Andersson Garcia hit the buzzer-beater 3 to send it to OT. It was a great OT session too, but Houston would hold strong and finish this one out.

🏀 12 seed Grand Canyon put up their best fight over 4 seed Alabama but it wasn’t enough. Things were close with 4 minutes to go as Bama was up 62-61, and Grand Canyon wouldn’t score for the rest of the game. Alabama no doubt looked like the more prepared team down the stretch, and the run ended for GCU, with the final score being Bama 72 and GCU 61.

🏀 2-seed Marquette just squeaked by 10-seed Colorado after Colorado just squeaked into the tournament. The final score last night was 81-77, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Marquette had a quick 10-point lead early in the game yesterday, and it looked like they could just run by Colorado whenever they wanted. The 2nd half was a different story for UC, though, and Marquette had to tight it up and make big plays down the stretch. Marquette is happy to have Tyler Kolek back, as he scored 21 points. Marquette is heading to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013.

🏀 This might have been one of everyone’s favorite weekend games. 11 seed NC State vs 14 seed Oakland. This one got sent to OT, but Oakland’s wild run would be shut down after NC State had a 9-0 run in extra time. When it comes to Cinderella stories, this is where they end for Oakland and possibly begin for NC State, being that NC State is an 11 seed and the next worst seed to make it to the Sweet 16 is a 6 seed.

🏀 If there ever was a game for the 7 seed Texas Longhorns to win and make it to the Sweet 16, it was their matchup aginst 2 seed Tennessee on Saturday. This is what March is made of. Tennessee played a terrible game in my eyes. They shot 33% from field goal and 12% from three, and Texas still couldn’t capitalize. Tennessee beat up Texas on the glass and got multiple 2nd chances on offense, and we’re able to keep just enough distance throughout the game. Final score: Tennessee 62, Texas 58.

🏀 We even had a double OT game on Saturday where 3 seed Creighton could outlast 11 seed Oregon. Saturday seems like it was so long ago! Oregon had an opportunity to win the game in regulation, but Jermaine Couisnard missed a tough layup attempt as time ran out, and then at the end of OT 1, Couisnard hit a 3 to send it to OT #2! This dude could ball. Here’s the problem, and everybody knows it. The last thing you want to do is to give the better team more time to beat you because, eventually, they will. That’s exactly what happened as Creighton outscored Oregon 15-2 in the second OT.

🏀 13-seed Yale upset 4-seed Auburn the other day, but they couldn’t upset 5-seed San Diego State last night! SDSU crushed Yale 85-57, and the real reason we're even bringing this game to your attention is that we now have a rematch of last year’s National Championship game. San Diego State will be facing UConn in the Sweet 16 in Boston on Thursday!

Other Round 2 Scores

🏀 #1 UNC 85 | #9 Michigan State 69

🏀#2 Arizona 78 | #7 Dayton 68

🏀#2 Iowa State 67 | #7 Washington State 56

🏀#3 Illinois 89 | #11 Duquesne 63

🏀#5 Gonzaga 89 | #4 Kansas 68

🏀#1 Purdue 106 | #8 Utah State 67

🏀 #1 UConn 75 | #9 Northwestern 58

🏀#4 Duke 93 | #12 James Madison 55

🏀#6 Clemson 72 | #3 Baylor 64

NBA Stats and Scores

🏀 The Lakers had a high-scoring affair against the Pacers last night. Anthony Davis scored 36 points, and LeBron scored 26, outlasting the Pacers by 150-145. Pascal Siakam had 36 for Indiana.

🏀 Giannis had 30 points and 19 rebounds in a Bucks win over OKC. Final score was 118-93.

🏀 Zion scored 36 points last night in a win over Detroit.

🏀 The Clippers lost to the 76ers last night. Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris both scored 24 for Philly. Cameron Payne also scored 23 for the 76ers.

NHL Playoff Race

The NHL season is winding down, with most teams having about 11 regular-season games left to go. In the Eastern Conference, the Columbus Blue Jackets have been eliminated from the playoffs, and Anaheim, Chicago, and San Jose have been eliminated from the West.

If we ended the season today, the playoff picture would look like this:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

1. Florida Panthers (97 pts)

2. Boston Bruins (97 pts)

3. Toronto Maple Leafs (89 pts)

Metro

1. New York Rangers (98 pts)

2. Carolina Hurricanes (97 pts)

3. Philadelphia Flyers (81 pts)

Wild Card

1. Tampa Bay Lightning (85 pts)

2. Washington Capitals (79 pts)

Western Conference

Central

1. Colorado Avalanche (97 pts)

2. Dallas Stars (97 pts)

3. Winnipeg Jets (93 pts)

Pacific

1. Vancouver Canucks (98 pts)

2. Edmonton Oilers (88 pts)

3. LA Kings (85 pts)

Wild Card

1. Nashville Predators (88 pts)

2. Vegas Golden Knights (83 pts)

……

Over the next few days, a few teams will risk being eliminated. In the East, Montreal, Ottawa, and Pittsburgh would practically need to win every one of their last 12 games and would need Washington and Tampa to crap the bed and get 0 points over the next few weeks. The situation is similar for Arizona and Seattle, although these teams are closer to the wild card than the Eastern teams. Still, if you’re at the bottom of your division, you need miracles on ice to be able to get into the playoffs.

Peter Malnati Wins On The PGA Tour

Paint his name into the record books because Pete Malnati just won another PGA Tour at the VALSPAR Championship. All jokes aside, Malnati was two strokes behind the lead entering the final round and went four under on Sunday. It’s his second win on the PGA Tour, and his last win was in 2015 at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Malnati gets $1.5 million for the win, and what’s even better is he has secured a spot in the Masters this year, and he’s guaranteed to be on tour for the entire year next year!

What To Watch Tonight

Women’s College Basketball Tournament

🏀 2nd round games, check out the full schedule here.

NHL

🏒 Vegas Golden Knights @ St. Louis Blues, 8 pm ET on NHL Network

NBA

🏀 Boston @ Atlanta, 7:30 pm ET on NBA TV

🏀Philadelphia @ Sacramento, 10 pm ET on NBA Tv

Lots of info to cover today! Enjoy your Monday and we’ll be back with you tomorrow.

-The Daily Breakroom