An Unexpected Trip Up + Slam Dunks and Loose Balls

If this was Sesame Street, we’d have you spell along with us, but it ain’t. So we’ll just give you the word of the day!

Word Of The Day: FRIDAY

That’s right, folks, it’s Friday, and hopefully, it’s a payday for you because some teams weren't cashing checks in their conference tournaments last night.

We’ll run through some upsets, look at some people who are upset, and cover a few more scores.

Shall we?

NCAA Upsets

🏀 The Duke Blue Devils had an unexpected trip up last night as they lost to North Carolina State 74-69 in the ACC quarterfinals. Kyle Filipowski had 28 points and 14 rebounds but was frustrated in the 2nd half as D.J. Burns from NC State was relentless with pressure. Duke trailed the entire 2nd half, but they did have a chance with 30 seconds left to take the lead, but squandered it. Let’s see if Duke can recover their season or if it will be out in the first round of NCAAs.

🏀 Providence is trying to squeeze their way into an NCAA bid and so far they’re off to a great start. They upset #8 Creighton in the Big East quarterfinals 78-73. Devin Carter helped the team live for another game with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

🏀 More drama is coming out of the Big East quarterfinals. Anything can happen at MSG in March and of course we had an OT game. This probably won’t be the last of the series either. #10 Marquette had a little scare as Villanova forced them overtime. No worries for Marquette as they controlled the extra time, but still a scare nonetheless. Hopefully they can get Tyler Kolek back in the lineup soon.

🏀 Check out the full scoreboard here.

NBA Stats and Scores

🏀 The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to win big games in the West. The Thunder took down the Mavs 126-119 last night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with 31 points. Kyrie led the Mavs with 36 points and 12 assists. The Mavs were without Luka Doncic in this one, as he tweaked his hamstring the other night.

🏀 The Clippers get a win after what felt like they lost 12 in a row, but in fact, they were just on a 2-loss streak. Paul George dropped 28, and Kawhi had 27 in a 126-111 win over the Bulls

🏀 The Knicks won in Portland, and Jalen Brunson tore it up with 45 points. 15 of those points came from free throws, where he was 15-17.

🏀 The Celtics got a big win against the Phoenix Suns. Jaylen Brown had another high-scoring night with 37 points, and Jayson Tatum added 26 in the 127-112 win.

🏀 Giannis scored 32 for the Bucks last night as they beat the Sixers 114-105. I’m actually surprised the Sixers were able to score in the triple digits.

A Little Drama On The PGA Tour

Of course, we had a little drama in one of the biggest tournaments of the year, and Rory McIlroy was involved. Rory hit a tee shot on hole 7, and it went into the water. Viktor Hovland and Jordan Speith weren’t fully convinced that Rory had his drop correct. Got a few minutes to spare and want to see the boys patrol their playing partners? Check this out. They ended up figuring it out, Rory dropped, made double bogey but also had a greatr day on the course and was at the top of the leaderboard after day 1.

That slam dunk we mentioned in the intro? That wasn’t a basketball reference. Ryan Fox hit a hole-in-one on the infamous #17 that has the island green!

⛳️ Golfers are bringing their best stuff this weekend and that’s why you’ll see Scottie, Rory, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick and some other notable names at the top of the leaderbaord.

📺️ Keep streaming the action on ESPN+ and tune into the Golf Channel from 1-7 pm today. We got more awesome groups teeing it up throughout the entire day. For more info on tee times, click here.

What Else Is On Tonight?

NBA

🏀 Phoenix Suns @ Charlotte Hornets, 7 pm ET on NBA TV

🏀 Atlanta Hawks @ Utah Jazz, 9:30 pm ET on NBA TV

College Basketball

🏀 Mississsipp State vs #5 Tennesse, 1 pm ET on ESPN, SEC Quarterfinals

🏀 #15 South Carolina vs. #12 Auburn, 3:30 pm ET on ESPN, SEC Quarterfinals

🏀 St. John’s vs. #2 UConn, 5:30 pm ET on FOX, Big East Semifinals

🏀 #25 Texas Tech vs #1 Houston, 7 pm ET on ESPN2, Big 12 Semifinals

🏀 Pitt vs #4 UNC, 7 pm ET on ESPN, ACC Semifinals

🏀 Providence vs. #10 Marquette, 8 pm ET on FS1, Big East Semifinals

🏀 #14 Baylor vs #7 Iowa State, 9:30 pm ET on ESPN

NHL

🏒 LA Kings @ Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 pm ET on NHL Network

That’s all for today. Enjoy your Friday and please get to a happy hour and watch some basketball!

-The Daily Breakroom