The Tournament That Wasn't

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Although the NCAA Tournament has been cancelled in 2020, fear not! For in DDSCB20 there is no CoronaVIrus and no social distancing. And...DDSCB20 Tournament Maker allows the Big Dance to come alive. Sorry though, Las Vegas won't be carrying this on their sports boards, so hold on to your money.

Since only a few conference tournaments concluded before the cancellation was announced, the results of any conference tournaments that were played have been disregarded. Teams have been selected and seedings made based upon conference standings, overall records, polls and RPI…and my own whims.

Real World Mod Option #04 was used to create the association upon which Tournament Maker was based for this DDSCB20 NCAA Tournament. So each team has real-life coaches. But players for the teams are fictional, of course, rather that this season’s actual real-life players...so results may vary from what you expect.

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Eight teams fight for the final four spots in the tournament:

Play-in game for 12th seed: Memphis Tigers (21-10) vs Bradley Braves (23-11)

Bradley drew first blood and moved out to a 7 point lead after 4 minutes of play. Bradley’s hot shooting kept them with a solid lead for the first 10 minutes of the first half with SG Kyle Jones pouring in 13 points during those 10 minutes of play. But then Memphis, led by reserve PG Kris Robinson, crept back to take a 27-26 lead with 6 minutes left in the first half. But Kyle Jones continued to connect allowing the Braves to again pull away and finish the half with a 42-35 advantage. For Bradley, Jones hit 8 of 12 from the field including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc to score 20 points. Kris Robinson and SF L. Goslin both scored 9 points for Memphis.

The game was close in the 2nd half and tied at 47-47 with 12 minutes to go. Defense predominated with Memphis’ 2-3 zone giving the Braves fits. The Tigers gained a 58-54 lead with 5 minutes remaining. PG Rickie Leib hit a long 3 for Bradley with 3-1/2 minutes left to cut the lead to 58-57. Memphis’ Leighton Goslin got free for a 3 of his own a minute later and the Tigers regained their 4 point advantage. 3-pointers remained to be the shots that were going down and PG Gary Watson dropped another in with 2:09 on the close as Bradley again closed with a singe point at 61-60. SG Adarrial Johnson drove down the baseline and scored on a reverse lay-in to put Memphis on top 63-60 with 1:53 to go. Then neither team could score until Bradley’s Gary Watson sunk another 3 to tie the game at 63-63 with 10 seconds remaining. Memphis got the ball into the hands of Adarrial Johnson at the top of the key and he drove across the key and pulled up to knock down a 5 foot jumper with 4 seconds on the clock. Bradley inbounded to Kyle Jones and he drove up court and lofted up a final shot from the midcourt line. The last gasp shot nearly went in but rimmed out as the buzzer sounded.

Memphis gained the 12 seed with their exciting 65-63 victory. The difference in the game was the 2-3 zone by Memphis that forced Bradley to make 18 turnovers. The tight defense on both sides of the court in the 2nd half dropped shooting percentages for each team to under 40%. Memphis will be matched up against #5 seed BYU.

Memphis: SF Leighton Goslin-19 pts and 7 reb, SG Adarrial Johnson-14 pts.

Bradley: SG Kyle Jones-22 pts, PG Gary Watson-14 pts, C Chaz Ferguson-11 reb.

Play-in Game for 16th seed: Siena Saints (20-10) vs Prairie View Panthers (19-13)

Siena jumped out to a 7-0 lead and with 6 minutes left in the first half the Saints were ahead 31-10 as their defense was forcing Prairie View to make numerous turnovers and keeping their shooting percentage low. When the half ended the score stood at Siena-37, Prairie View-20. The Saints outshot the Panthers 48% to 33% (and 37% to 13% on 3’s), held an 18-13 rebounding advantage and a 12-9 turnover advantage. C Dean Holst and PG Johnny Griffin both scored 9 points for Siena while PF John Blakes and PG Maurice Edwards scored 5 points apiece for Prairie View.

Siena continued to outplay Prairie View in the 2nd half, opening as much as a 26 point lead before settling for a 86-67 trouncing of the Panthers. Sienna scored 30 points in the paint compared to just 12 by Prairie View. The win sends Siena up against #1 seed Kansas.

Siena: Jason Harris—22 pts, 10 reb; Dean Holst-10, 8 reb; Landry Martin-11 pts, 7 reb; Johnny Griffin-11 pts, 8 assists.

Prairie View: Shawn Bland-14 pts; Kyle Wells-11 pts; Bob Montgomery-11 pts.

Play-in Game for 16th seed: North Carolina Central Eagles (18-13) vs Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans (21-10)

After 4 minutes of play, Arkansas-Little Rock had opened an 11-2 lead. NC Central made a couple of runs to draw within a point at two points in the half and trailed 37-33 when the halftime buzzer sounded. The Trojans were led by SG Damon Solverson’s 14 points. For the Eagles, SG Tom Saunders hit for 9 points while reserve guard Mike SIngleterry added 7 points.

The Trojans drew away and established a 51-40 lead with 12-1/2 minutes left in the game. Their lead grew to 16 points before a late run by the Eagles cut the lead to 4. The final score was 73-68 as Arkansas-Little Rock, who will now advance to take on #1 seed Gonzaga, held on to edge NC Central.

Arkansas-Little Rock: SG Damon Solverson-20 pts; C Ben Johnson-14 pts, 7 reb; PF Terrell Whitehead-11 pts, 9 reb, 3 assists, 4 steals.

North Carolina Central: SG Tom Saunders-14 pts, 6 assists; G Mike SIngleterry-12 pts, 4 reb, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks.

Play-in Game for 12th seed: Arizona State Sun Devils (20-11) vs North Carolina State Wolfpack (20-12)

The first half was a barn-burner the entire way with 13 lead changes. Arizona State outshot NC State 52% to 37% but the Wolfpack had just 2 turnovers and hit 4 more 3-pointers than the Sun Devils. The half ended with Arizona State ahead 42-40. C Grant Dooley hit 6 of his 7 shots to score 12 for the Sun Devils. For NC State SG Duez Slade dropped in 14 points.

It took 3-1/2 minutes for NC State to score in the 2nd half but at that point Arizona St. was only ahead 46-42. The Sun Devils then gradually began pulling away by controlling the boards and maintaining a tight defense. Arizona State led 64-48 midway with 8 minutes remaining. NC State was never able to recover and fell 82-66 to the Sun Devils. Arizona State hit 45% of their FG attempts compared to just 30% by NC State. The Sun Devils got to the line twice as much as the Wolfpack and scored 10 more points on free throws. Arizona State dominated the boards 48-37. The Sun Devils will now be matched up with #5 seed Wisconsin.

Arizona State: PF James Lewis-15 pts, C Grant Dooley-14 pts, 12 reb; SG Clay Frahm-13 pts, 4 reb, 6 assists.

North Carolina State: SG Duez Slade-16 pts; SF Kyle Selden-10 pts, 8 reb; PF Shawnelle Rohwer-11 pts, 7 reb.

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Coming Attractions:


The brackets!

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Midwest Bracket

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West Bracket

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South Bracket

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East Bracket

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Day 1 approacheth

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Midwest Region Round 1 (part 1 of 4)

#1 seed Kansas Jayhawks (28-3) vs #16 seed Siena Saints (21-10)

Siena took a surprising 17-9 lead after 6 minutes of play. But Coach __ called a time out and must have lit a fire under his players as they scored 12 unanswered points. The Jayhawks then continued to expand their lead and opened a 10 point advantage with 4-1/2 minutes remaining in the half. By the time expired ending the half, Siena trailed 55-42. Kansas knocked down 61% of their shots while Siena hit just 43% of theirs. Leading the scoring for the Jayhawks was reserve guard Shaun Wright with 11 points in just 5 minutes of play. C Dean Holst topped the Saints scoring with 8 points.

In the 2nd half the talent of Kansas continued to devour the Saints’ defense and with 12 minutes remaining in the game, the Jayhawks led 75-54. Then with 2-1/2 minutes to go, Kansas held a 101-71 lead. Kansas hit 59% of their FG attempts (and 44% of their 3P attempts) while holding an 18-7 turnover advantage.

The result was:

Kansas-109 (C Richard Williams-18 pts, 2 stl, 3blk; SG Shaun Wright-13 pts; PF Scott Bullock-12 pts; SF Ron Lawson-11 pts; SF Leon Martin-10 pts, 8 reb)
Siena-75 (SF Jason Harris-18 pts, 7 reb; C Dean Holst-10 pts)

#2 seed San Diego State Aztecs (30-2) vs #15 seed Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash (22-10)

San Diego State scored on their first three possessions take a 6-2 lead with SG Isaac Haston scoring 5 of those points. The first 4 minutes of the game became a contest between the two SG’s with Haston scoring 7 of the Aztecs 8 points and his counterpart on the Red Flash, SG Aaron Hahn scoring all 5 of St, Francis’ points. With 13-1/2 minutes left in the first half, Hahn sunk a 3 to give St. Francis its first lead at 14-13. But the Aztecs responded by scoring the next 7 points. Even though San Diego State kept going ahead by 3-6 points the Red Flash just as often reeled them back in. At the break, San Diego State led 45-43 with both teams hitting over 50% of their shots. But St. Francis had 10 turnovers whereas the Aztecs had just 6. Leading the scoring for San Diego St. was SG Isaac Hahn with 13 points. SG Aaron Hahn topped the scoring for Saint Francis with 11 points.

The Aztecs again kept pulling ahead by 5-9 points in the 2nd half, but St. Francis continually struck back to keep San Diego State from breaking open the game. With 7:14 remaining, San Diego State took their first double digit lead at 77-67. Even though the lead by the Aztecs grew to 13, St. Francis made a late run to cut the lead to 82-76 with 1:22 on the clock. But the Red Flash then couldn’t convert their FG attempts and were forced to foul so that the Aztecs were able to prevail. San Diego State held a 19-12 turnover advantage and scored 14 more points than St. Francis at the charity line.

San Diego State-85 (SG Isaac Haston-17 pts, SF Jay Cobb-16 pts, 6 reb; C Corey Porter-13 pts, 5 reb; PG Jarvis Brown-12 pts, SG Tarise Johnson-5 pts, 12 reb)
St. Francis (PA)-76 (PG Cliff Ostler-15 pts, 4 assists; AG Aaron Hahn-12 pts, PF Antwaan Brown-9 pts, 5 reb, 3 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks)

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Midwest Regional--Round 1 (part 2 of 4)


#3 seed Duke Blue Devils (25-6) vs #14 seed Merrimack Warriors (19-11)

Both teams’ defenses predominated in the early minutes of the game. During the first 8 minutes of play the lead shifted back and forth and only a few points separated the teams. But midway through the half Duke began opening a lead and with 8:18 to go before intermission, Duke was on top 28-17. With 6 minutes to go Merrimack trailed 34-17 and the rout was on. When the buzzer sounded, Duke led 53-31. The Blue Devils outshot the Warriors 56% to 39% and held a 10-3 turnover advantage. In the first half Duke was paced by SG Billy Horton’s 13 points and reserve guard Ben Scott’s 12 points and 4 assists. PG Joe Harris hit for 10 points for Merrimack.

Four minutes into the 2nd half, Duke led by 32 points. The game was basically over at that point. Duke went on to trounce the Warriors as the Blue Devils took advantage of Merrimack’s 2-3 zone to connect on sixteen 3-pointers.

Duke-86 (SG Billy Horton-19 pts, 7 reb, 5 assists; SF Renaldo Miller-17 pts, 5 reb, 4 blocks; PG Ben Scott-15 pts, 4 assists; SF Tyson Anderson-13 pts, 6 reb; PG Jeffrey Gardiner-11 pts, 8 assists)
Merrimack-55 (PG Joe Harris-13 pts; SF Troy Flint-10 pts)

#4 seed Seton Hall Pirates (21-9) vs #13 seed Colgate Raiders (25-9)

Colgate maintained a small lead throughout much of the first 10 minutes. The lead then flip-flopped for the next 5 minutes after which Seton Hall gained a small advantage. The half ended with the Pirates holding a 41-35 advantage. PG Sean Lee came off the bench to score 10 points in 11 minutes of play for Seton Hall while SF Kenyon Eisley led Colgate offensively with 10 points.

Seton Hall built a 10 point lead and held it throughout most of the 2nd half. Then the Pirates pulled away in the final 8 minutes to expand their lead to as much as 19 points. Seton Hall’s win was based upon their 36-23 rebounding advantage, a 34-8 points in the paint advantage, and a 15-4 second chance points advantage.

Seton Hall-81 (PF Greg Asbury-19 pts, 9 reb, 2 steals, 2 blocks; PG Sean Lee-16 pts; C Damian Kennard-14 pts, 5 reb; C Scott Arnold-13 pts, 7 reb)
Colgate-65 (C Brett Whaley-13 pts; SF Kenyon Eisley-10 pts)