In case you were waiting for a sign that March Madness was well and truly underway, here it is: in the Round of 32, a 14-seed will face a No. 11 that nobody thought should even have made the tournament. Happy March, everyone.
Read on for more on two teams that won their second round games in thrilling fashion, and while you’re at it check out our preview of another round of 32 game between a couple more established programs: No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 6 Butler.
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March Madness No. 11 UCLA Bruins vs. No. 14 UAB Blazers Preview
A wackier game you will not see. After the No. 11 UCLA Bruins came out and made an impression in the first half against the No. 6 SMU Mustangs, taking a four point lead into half time, SMU came roaring back, putting together a 19-0 run in the second half that put them back in the driver’s seat.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]That’s when things got…well, March Madness-y. Bryce Alford, son of NBA coach Steve Alford, continued to shoot the three like he couldn’t remember how to miss, hitting four three pointers in the final 3:40, the last of which will stand as one of the most controversial plays of the second round. Alford, double-teamed beautifully by the Mustangs, heaved up what appeared to be an air ball, only for Yanick Moreira to touch it before it hit the rim, prompting the refs to call it goaltending and give the bucket to the Bruins.
UCLA held on for the 60-59 win, but contrary to the popular narrative this game went beyond any one single shot. SMU had two more chances at the winner following the goaltending call, and simply didn’t have an answer for Alford, who hit 9 of 13 from beyond the arc, becoming just the tenth player in NCAA tournament history to hit nine long balls in one game.
Alford was joined by Norman Powell (5/11, 19 points) as the beginning and end of UCLA’s attack, which averaged 72.0 points per game during the season.
The Bruins, who ESPN analyst Joe Lundardi called “the worst at-large pick in a decade,” will now have a chance to truly make analysts like Lunardi look foolish, when they come up against another upstart team, the Blazers. The Bruins will want to win in a more traditional fashion in this next round, and that starts with limiting their turnovers. UCLA turned it over 18 times against the Mustangs, and it nearly cost them. Against another hot-shooting team in UAB, they likely would not survive another such performance.
Happy to back the Bruins as favorites in the third round? Create a betting account now and dig into another huge slate of games as the Madness enters the weekend.
Betting on the UAB Blazers
The UAB Blazers are ready for their close up. The Blazers shut down the No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones MVP Georges Niang and collected 19 offensive rebounds to bust 95% of America’s brackets in one of the first games of the tournament.
They will need to continue dominating the offensive glass against UCLA, as the Blazers shot just 43% from the floor this season, good for 203rd in the nation. The Bruins are in fact excellent rebounders themselves, averaging 38.0 per game in the 2014-2015 season, but may not be used to the unique approach of the Blazers, who tend to jack up long twos and then crash the glass.
Though he did not seal their huge victory over Iowa State (William Lee cashed the Blazers last four points), Robert Brown will be the go-to man against the Bruins. Brown averaged 13.1 points as a junior this past season for the C-USA champions. If anyone can handle creating his own shot in the final moments of a game, it’s Brown.
That said, the Blazers don’t rely as heavily on heroes as some in this tournament, moving the ball well for an average of 14.4 assists per game. At this point, their playing on borrowed time, and caught another double-digit seed in the round of 32, so playing as a team will be key against a more talented Bruins side.
