March Madness Live-Blog: Friday

Andrew Nogay

Web Content Contributor

This is the second day of the NCAA tournament, and I am live-blogging it, as I did yesterday. Shyam is with me again, ready to give in his input on all matters small and microscopic. On paper, the games today should be as exciting as the ones yesterday, so that’s exciting.

11:30: The first game of the day is Kansas-New Mexico State. Honestly, I think that New Mexico State would be closer if their players could actually catch passes.

11:38: NMST made a conscious decision early in this game to give up all the alley-oops. Interesting strategy, let’s see if it works out for them.

11:53: Michigan State-Georgia just started. Tom Izzo seems like the kind of guy that would spend three hours trying to buy shower curtains, but then decide that the ones he currently has work fine.

12:06: There are few commercials I despise as much as those Kate Upton/Game of War spots. Get it guys? If you play Game of War, KATE UPTON WILL PLAY IT WITH YOU!!! Ugh. Also, Shyam wants Target to stop trying to make Target fashion a thing. I agree.

12:51: Kansas is only up 12. Bill Self reaches into his inner R. Lee Ermey…

1:01: Georgia just completed a four-point possession, tightening up their game against Michigan State. The Kansas game is a blowout, Northern Iowa and Wyoming started a little bit ago as well; that game is on pace to demolish the over in the over/under. These are two of the best defensive teams in the country, so the 110 point over/under seemed reasonable. Right now, they’re on pace for nearly 160 combined points.

1:12: Georgia pulled within two, then Michigan State goes on a mini-run to get back in control of the game, because they’re Michigan State. All they do is crush the dreams of inferior teams.

1:19: Charles Mann-son just hit two free throws for UGA.

1:37: West Virginia’s press is causing Buffalo to go into the basketball equivalent of the fetal position. Right now, they’re on pace for more than 30 turnovers.

1:51: UGA’s sudden flurry puts them down four with 30 seconds left. This is interesting now…

1:54: UGA cut it down to three with 20 seconds left, but then Michigan State hit their free throws and Charles Mann (son) missed a key layup. At least it was a more exciting game than the Kansas blowout.

2:11: A frustrating trend we’ve noticed: players missing easy layups that the could just dunk. Where’s Victor Oladipo when you need him?

2:24: Northern Iowa-Wyoming just hit the over! It’s now 55-46, with eight minutes left

2:46: Fred Van Fleet had 19 points in the first half for Wichita State. To make sure he composes himself for the second half, he watches Massive Attack music videos in the locker room. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

3:17: Every time Buffalo has the opportunity to gain the momentum against West Virginia, they turn the ball over or miss a layup. It’s pretty annoying. There hasn’t been a really close game so far.

3:26: The clash of uniform colors in the Louisville-UC Irvine game is disruptive. Both uniforms are white and black with stripes! Can’t Louisville put on their red jerseys at halftime? Or now?

3:28: Buffalo ties it! WVU’s foul trouble is catching up with them. One can only press for so long.

3:39: West Virginia pulled that game out of their butts. They could barely hit a layup, but make the contested 23-footer to put them up five with 30 seconds. They’re such an enigma.

4:02: A couple of games are coming down to it Wichita State is holding on against Indiana (for now), and Virginia is trying not to get upset by Belmont. Louisville-UC Irvine is close as well, but that one’s early in it’s run. These have been a fun batch of games over the last hour or so.

4:10: An iffy foul call has Indiana only down two with 30 seconds left. Will Tom Cream’s dream scheme come into effect, or become lean? I bet he wishes he had Zach LaVine.

4:23: Belmont put up a valiant effort, but right now it looks like Virginia’s going to survive. Remember that one year we had two 2-15 upsets within the span of a few hours? Yeah, that was awesome.

4:53: The 7-6 dude from UC Irvine just pulled the slowest post move I’ve ever seen. It took so long, the crowd started cheering him on to start his move.

4:56: We just heard that Kevin Durant is out indefinitely. It’s not college basketball related, but that is a blow for the Thunder and the NBA as a whole. I wonder what the Based God’s reaction to that is?

5:04: UC Irvine finally gets the lead back, then the Cardinals come back with an and-1 over Mamadou Ndiaye (the 7-6 guy). Just think, that guy is legitimately two feet taller than Nate Robinson or Tom Cruise.

5:13: Some dude from UC Irvine takes Montrezl Harrell off the dribble, they’re up two with under a minute now! I can barely take this intensity.

5:15: Anteaters all day son.

5:17: Anteater ball, down two with under ten seconds left. Game-tying hook shot by a 7-6 guy? Why not try?

5:21: UC Irvine doesn’t even get a shot off. Like I said yesterday, that’s a huge pet peeve of mine. That’s on the UC Irvine coach.

6:02: Hey now! Valparaiso just hit a three to tie their game against Maryland with six minutes left! Also, Maryland has a player with bleached blonde hair. That’s pretty cool.

6:26: I wonder if the Maryland coach has to explain every little detail to Jake Layman?

6:31: Maryland escapes through a good defensive at the end. Melo Trimble stays alive, and so does the hope of America.

7:32: The neon colors in the Oklahoma State-Oregon game is distractingly enjoyable. What can I say, I like pretty colors and stuff.

7:43: Robbert Morris is only down by 10 against Duke? Is this real life?

7:46: Duke is up by 18 now, it is real life.

7:53: OSU was down by four with seven seconds, pump faked a three, then missed a contested mid-range shot. It wasn’t…the best shot they could’ve gotten.

10:27: Steve Fisher and Hal Holbrook could probably switch places and nobody would notice.

11:23: Scoochie Smith, the guard for Dayton, is my spirit animal. Too cool.

11:52: Doug Gottlieb doesn’t have any biases, he’s just angry all the time. He’s usually right though. It’s a justified anger, Uma Thurman in Kill Bill.

12:25: Dayton won, my final four dream is alive! I believe. Onto Saturday…