by PointGuard » Fri Mar 13, 2020 10:40 pm
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.
Dynasty Threads:
Fedora-CB;Town Crier-CB;FIve Friends/Foes-CB;Media Perspective-CB;Whatever It Takes-CB;Who's Bret Vandergard-CB;Gym Rat-CB;Repairman-CB;S.Mastroani-TPG;V.Stevenson-TPG