Friday Night Recaps: Tampa Madness

Recaps of the Friday night games you missed while drinking......

Siena 83 Vanderbilt 62

To think, you all laughed at the picture of Dickie V’s asking if Cinderella was in Tampa. Mr. Vitale’s picture may have proved nightmare fueling, but that paper was damn accurate in saying that Cinderella was in Tampa. Siena became the third consecutive double-digit seed to win in Tampa following a complete ass-whopping of Vanderbilt. Despite the fact that 90% of people picked this upset, you’re not going to find anyone outside of the greater Albany area that saw a 20- point win coming. Kenny Hasbrouck scored 30 points and Tay Fisher scored 19 on six threes for the Saints.

Villanova 75 Clemson 69

More Tampa madness! Nova made it four double-digits wins in four tries as the Cats came from 18 down for the victory over Clemson. Coming off an impressive finish to the ACC season, the Tigers reverted back to their old chokin’ selves, shooting 25% in the second half (2-16 from behind the arc) while allowing Scottie Reynolds to score 14 points in the second half to fuel the upset. Most likely the last at-large selected into the field and regarded as the least likely Philly team to pull off a first round upset, the Wildcats are now incredibly just a victory over Siena from the Sweet 16.

Arkansas 86 Indiana 72

The Indiana career of the Eric Gordon goes out with a fizzle. Gordon finished with eight points while the entire state of Illinois cheers (not like they had a team to root for anyway). A Final Four dark horse in February, the Hoosiers turbulent season ends with three straight losses and Dan Dakich already in the unemployment line. Sonny Weems scored a career-high 31 points for the Razorbacks, who won a tourney game for the first time since 1999.

North Carolina 113 Mount. Saint Mary’s 74

Heels waste no time fooling around with the Mount, scoring 60 points in the first half and finishing with a ridiculous 113 point total. Four of the Carolina’s five starters scored over 15 points. Poor Michael Campbell, the Carolina sophomore was the Heel not to score in the game.

Mississippi State 76 Oregon 69

In continuing with tonight’s theme of horrid second-half shooting, the Ducks shot 25% in the second half and went to 2 for 21 on threes en route to blowing a 13-point second half lead to Miss State. Charles Rhodes was phenomenal for the Bulldogs, scoring 34 points to spearhead the second-half rally. Oregon also wore those horrible florescent uniforms that you can’t read the last names on, leaving all previously neutral fans rooting for the Bulldogs.

Oklahoma 72 Saint Joseph’s 64

In the first half, it appeared as if the Hawks left their defense back on City Avenue, as the Sooners hit everything they shot to build a quick 19 -point lead in the first half. The Hawks would make it game late, cutting the lead to four with under 3:00 minutes to play; there was too much Blake Griffin and unlikely hero David Godbold (25 points) to overcome.

Memphis 87 Texas-Arlington 63

Tigers sleepwalk through a 24-point victory over a Texas-Arlington squad that played hard and hung around all game long. Yawn. Anyone else think that Memphis might be entering a world of pain when they go up against Mississippi State’s defense?

Louisville 79 Boise State 61

No trick plays here, Cardinals dominate from the start and were never seriously threatened all game. Even with David Padgett only scoring nine points while riddled with foul trouble, Earl Clark came off the bench to lead the Cards with 15 points and seven rebounds.