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NCAA Tournament: The “First Two” of the “First Four”

By Chris Godfrey

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If you’ve been following me on Twitter (@DaLifeOfGodfrey), you’re probably aware of the fact that this recap of today’s First Four action is coming on the heels of a bountiful harvest of six pints of Guinness and a heaping plate of corned beef (Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all, and a special shout out to the poor souls who have to edit this). With the night finally over, I’m now left with nothing more than my thoughts, as I tried to rationalize the early exit of two of my most certain NCAA Tournament picks. Relive the night with me, and try not to smell like alcohol by the end of it. 

Manhattan Lays an Egg…

The Manhattan Jaspers came into the tournament with a legitimate gripe about being a 16-seed. The MAAC conference has exhibited a history of sending quality teams to the tournament field, and even sent Iona to the Dance as an at-large team as recently as 2012. It seemed pretty safe to say that the Jaspers would be set to roll a Hampton team that was entering the tournament with a losing record and minus their best player. Unfortunately, no one accounted for the Madness. Somehow, the Pirates were able to stymie Manhattan’s offense and out work them for buckets when they were on the offensive end. The team that beat Iona in the MAAC Championship game wasn’t even present for this contest.

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The result is an unexpected date between Hampton and Kentucky, and the best part is that the Pirates aren’t even aware that they haven’t a single chance in hell. In his postgame interview, Hampton star performer Quinton Chievous actually had the gall to mention upsetting the Wildcats! It may be the most irrational statement of the 21st century — but then again, we don’t call it March Madness for nothing (don’t read too much into that sentence, Hampton is going to lose by 80).

I took a nap to prepare for the second game of tonight’s doubleheader, so I missed 38 minutes of the opener. Considering the two teams were only playing for the right to get maimed by Kentucky, I didn’t feel like I was missing much. I was also fool-hearted in my certainty of Manhattan victory. Unfortunately, I was wide awake for the next game and ready to write checks that my liver wasn’t so willing to cash.

An Ole Miss Comeback Ruins the #ChaseFischerDrinkingGame

I stuck around my apartment long enough to see Chase Fischer score the first eight points for BYU against Ole Miss. Operating as a slave to my own shortsightedness, the game was already over in my eyes, as evidenced by this early game Twitter gem.

At this particular point in time, I figured that we were settling in to see a route. So, being the visionary that I fancy myself to be, I decided to up the stakes for the evening.

It seemed like a safe proposition…except for the fact that I had no idea that Fischer had drained two more threes while I was walking to the bar (giving him four in the early stages of the first half). I started to put two and two together around the time I sent out this tweet…

After Fischer nailed that 28-footer, I was starting to have flashbacks to his performance in Maui, when he knocked down 10 triples in a single game against Chaminade. At this point, I acknowledge that Chase Fischer could kill me. With much work ahead of me, I ordered a plate of corned beef and cabbage, and started putting away beers.

After the second pint, I think the establishment was concerned about my safety (considering the entire bar was now aware of my pact and rooting for Fischer to shoot every time he touched the ball). So, they made an excuse about running out of pints and starting serving me out of a slightly smaller glass. God bless these good people.

At this point, Ole Miss was starting to make their comeback, but I’d be lying if I said I was concerned. It’s also hard to lie when you make a time stamped comment about not being concerned…

While I was busy guzzling beers, the Rebels were flipping the complexion of the game by forcing turnovers and using their athleticism to make plays at the rim. Also, Stefan Moody, the rebels best player, was starting to heat up in a major way.

By this point, the Ole Miss surge was starting to become a major issue for the Cougars. The weight of blowing a big lead in the NCAA Tournament was starting to wear on them, and their offensive flow looked disjointed at best. At this point, it was clear that BYU looked prone to lose the game, but there was still another matter at hand.

When Fischer nailed this shot, he was wrestling back the lead after Ole Miss had seized it with their furious charge. Amazingly the #ChaseFischerDrinkingGame went from sideshow entertainment to the only thing that was keeping the Cougars alive. Well, Tyler Haws and his 33 points played a role as well. However, at this point, it was almost too late. Stefan Moody was already well into the process of completing an out-of-body experience. Most importantly, he had help. Someone named M.J. Rhett was having the game of his life, flying around the rim and finishing at the basket (he finished with 20 points, just over 13 more than his season average). Still, Fischer and the Cougars were not done.

In case you were wondering, my tweets stopped including photographic evidence of the pints because the camera on my phone defied my demands to take pictures due to low battery life. Those last two pints are on the honors system — but you have my word.

When Fischer let this one go, the Cougs were actually down five. The made three-pointer cut the lead to two (87-85) with 1:26 left, but BYU couldn’t get a single key stop down the stretch. The next two possessions ended in easy Rebel baskets, and at that point, the Cougars were playing the fouling game. The game was essentially over.

It was a sad way for one of the nation’s most entertaining teams to end their season, but it highlighted one of the team’s fatal flaws. When the threes stop falling consistently, BYU immediately becomes a team searching for answers. Against Ole Miss, they found no such thing, except for a team with a talent capable of matching Tyler Haws’ big time production. In the end, it was the Rebels’ Stef Moody who stood tall over both Fischer and Haws, setting up a date between Ole Miss and Xavier in the first round.

Seeing BYU lose in a game where both Fischer and Haws played so well will continue to be one of the major surprises in this tournament…unless Kentucky loses or something like that.

Next: 2015 NCAA Tournament: Midwest Region Preview

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