2015 NCAA Tournament: Day One Winners and Losers
By Jacob Rude
Day one of the 2015 NCAA tournament was as exciting as any day in recent memory, maybe all-time. We review the wild, wild day, Vines included!
MVP – We can’t choose anyone but R.J. Hunter, can we? Sure, he was nearly invisible for the first ~37 minutes, but the Georgia State Panthers don’t win without his 12 points in the final 2:30 minutes, including the ballsiest shot of the tournament (yes, I’m already calling it).
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LVP – Easy. Octavius Ellis of Cincinnati, who was ejected for a flagrant foul/upper cut to the chin of A.J. Hammons of Purdue. It goes without saying that there’s no room in the game for this. Hopefully he’ll be suspended for his next game and will learn from this mistake. He nearly cost his team a victory when a loss could have ended their season.
Play of the Day – Well, I’m not including Hunter’s game-winner since it’s the run-away game winner. Second place on the day actually came from a losing team, but added to the complete bonkers nature of today’s games.
With his team down 63-61 and just under 1:20 left, Siyani Chambers of Harvard used a screen, rose up from beyond the arc, hoisted a three, absorbed the contact and the foul, and sent the Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville into hysteria with his four-point play.
Unfortunately for Harvard fans and neutral fans alike, Justin Jackson of UNC scored the final four points and the Tar Heels squeaked by. Way to ruin everything, Tar Heels.
Honorable mentions: The dazzling display that Demetrius Jackson of Notre Dame put on in the first game of the day. I’m still dizzy.
Also, Troy Caupain gets a shout-out for his game-tying lay-up as time expired in regulation, sending the his Cincinnati Bearcats into overtime against the Purdue Boilermakers.
Dunk of the Day – There were as many dunks today as there were close games, but the winner is Trey Lyles takes the cake in a game you probably didn’t watch as the Kentucky Wildcats blew out the Hampton Pirates
Honorable mentions: I’m not going to list names, just take a look:
Controversy of the Day – Yes, I had to create a category to talk about the UCLA-SMU ending. My original opinion was that it was a goaltend, that the ball hit the rim, and that the ball was above the cylinder. After replays, I’ll rule it as inconclusive. It depends on the angle you watch, the replays, and the definition you watch it in.
What we can decide is that the refs didn’t have the luxury of replays. They couldn’t review it or they would have (refs love reviewing anything they can). The refs had to make a split-second decision on a bang-bang play and they may have gotten it wrong.
The other inarguable things is that Yanick Moreira shouldn’t have jumped up for the ball and probably should have let it fall before grabbing it. Similarly, though, he doesn’t have the benefit of hindsight in the moment, and you can’t fault him too much. Especially when you read quotes like this, which make you feel sick:
Ugh. Sad. Yanick Moreira, who goal tended for SMU: "It's all my fault." Breaks down.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) March 19, 2015
Choke Artist Award – We have co-winners for this one! First, we have the Purdue Boilermakers, who led by seven points with 48 seconds left, yet lost in overtime. Their final three possessions featured a turnover, two made A.J. Hammons free throws, a missed free-throw by Jon Octeus, and 1-2 free throws from Octeus before Caupain’s lay-up to tie the game. CLUTCH!
But wait, there’s more! LSU led by 12 points, 60-48, with 10:25 seconds left following a Jarrell Martin jumper. They would not make another field goal. A Tim Quarterman free throw with 3:59 left was the final points they would score on the day, as NC State won the game on a BeeJay Anya hook shot.
Who choked harder? My biased vote (as an IU alumni) is to Purdue. Let us know who you think down below!
Insult to Injury Award – One more Purdue jab.
Yes, you are allowed to mock me if IU loses tomorrow.
Ankle-Breaker of the Day – D’Angelo Russell put his defender on skates. Shame that he couldn’t finish it off, but when you destroy a man’s ankles that badly, the result of the shot is irrelevant.
All-Points Bulletin Award – I’ll finish on a serious note by asking if anyone has seen Georges Niang. For those that watched the Iowa State – UAB game, you’ll notice a complete lack of presence from Niang, who was supposed to be the difference-maker. Instead, he went 4-15 from the field, missed the game-winning shot late, and was a non-factor. Shame, but if you see him, let him know his team lost.