Thursday Night Thrillers!

and lucky winners

Today’s Estimated Reading Time: 3 Minutes and 45 Seconds

Happy Friday y’all, we made it! This is the Daily Breakroom, we’re here to update you on the latest in sports in just a few minutes.

There’s really no place else to take this today except to cover the Sweet 16.

Let’s tip this thing off.

🏀 Sweet 16 🏀 

We’ll see what Friday night gives us, but it might be hard for it to live up to Thursday night.

We had some thrillers, some domination, and some “lucky” winners.

3 Kansas State vs 7 Michigan State

This was the first game of the tournament to go into overtime. With the Kansas State up 82-78, Michigan State tipped in a rebound to get the game within 2 points with 52 seconds left. Now with the score 82-80 and Kansas State unable to cash in on a 3 point attempt after taking as much time as possible off of the clock. Michigan State took possession with 28 seconds left and then tied it up with a layup with 6 seconds to go and took the game into OT.

OT was a thriller as the game was a one possession game for the entirety of the extra time. With 15 seconds left and KSU up by 1, Ismael Massoud hit a 2 point jumper to extend the lead by 3. KSU had a last second cherry on top layup to win 98-93.

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo thought some of the plays were lucky finishes by Kansas State.

Sure some of them were lucky finishes with last seconds to go on the shot clock but don’t take anything away from these 18-22 year old kids who just played a helluva game.

Check out the OT jumper that gave KSU the “big” lead here.

P.S. I guess I understand what Izzo means when shots like this go in when the shot clock is expiring.

4 UCONN vs 8 Arkansas

There was pig roast on Thursday night in Las Vegas. The UCONN Huskies dominated the Arkansas Razorbacks 88-65. The Huskies came out fast with a 17-point lead in the first half. Arkansas made plenty of mistakes on offense, including terrible decisions on fast breaks that kept them from getting back into the game. While this result was due to some of the bad from Arkansas, it was also due to lots of good from UCONN. The Huskies were 57% from the field and 45% from beyond the arc. We’ll see if they can carry this strong performance into Saturday as they face Gonzaga.

4 Tennessee vs 9 FAU

Florida Atlantic made history last night with a huge 62-55 win over Tennessee. These are the teams that make you understand what the madness is all about. FAU barely scraped by Memphis in the first round, getting a last second win on a lucky break when the refs called a jump ball instead of Memphis getting a timeout. FAU was then fortunate they were facing a 16 seed in the 2nd round and played well against a tough FDU defense. Don’t take anything way from these players, FAU is now on their way to their first ever Elite 8 and will face Kansas State.

2 UCLA vs 3 Gonzaga

When it comes to UCLA and Gonzaga matchups, it feels like they just give, give, and give and all we do is take, take, and take. In 2006 we had the heartbreak of mustache man Adam Morrison. 2021 was a final four treat with a buzzer beater bank shot 3 from Gonzaga.

Somehow last night, it happened again. UCLA was up 13 at the half and kept a lead until the ‘Zags tied it up 59-59 with 9:32 to go in the game. Gonzaga went on a 13-3 run over the next 7 minutes to gain a 10 point lead. Of course, UCLA caught back up and cashed in a 3 pointer with 13 seconds left to take the 76-75 lead. With 7 seconds left, Gonzaga’s Julian Strawther hit a long three pointer to take the lead 78-76. After a final free throw Gonzaga won 79-76. Watch the final seconds go down right here.

Friday Night Action

Check out the lineup and the odds for Friday night.

Bonus Shot

Check out Rory McIlroy with a 375 yard drive that was a few feet from being a hole in one at the WGC Dell Match Play in Austin.

That’s all folks. Enjoy your Happy Hours!

Cheers

-The Daily Breakroom Team