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2015 NCAA Tournament: Day 3 Winners, Losers

By Jacob Rude

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Although the day featured far less game-winners, the third day of NCAA tournament left us with so many memorable moments. And with a back-up computer after my charger bit the dust at the worst time of the year, we’re back in business to remove an amazing day of basketball.

MVP: Tony Parker. It might have been easy to forget his performance at the beginning of the day, but rumble young man rumble. Don’t tell him that he didn’t belong in the tournament as he led the UCLA Bruins into the Sweet 16 with a 28-point, 12-rebound night. In reality, the Bruins starting five had an impressive performance as they scored 88 of the 92 points in the game.

LVP: Bracketeers who predicted Villanova into the Sweet 16 and beyond. Don’t say that we didn’t tell you in our podcast on Selection Sunday that they were overrated and overseeded. The #2 in the bracket? Please. When the going got tough against a NC State team that finished in the middle of the pack in the ACC, the Wildcats folded. Don’t act surprised.

You Suck Basketball Gods Award: The basketball Gods had one job: let Ron Hunter advance. It wouldn’t have taken much. Just push them past a team from the Big East, a conference we’ve already decided was overrated. Instead, you chose to let Ryan Harrow aggravate his hamstring injury, leaving him out for the entire second half. After battling on without him for so long, the Panthers were no longer able to will their way past their opponent, which left us with this heart-wrenching clip:

You suck, basketball Gods.

Game of the Tournament (so far) – Butler and Notre Dame gave us a memorable match-up for the day’s grand finale. The back-and-forth affair so Notre Dame lead by as many as 10 and Butler by as much as six. The game came down to the final moments, when Pat Connaughton rejected a Kellen Dunham three-pointer to send the game into overtime.

In the overtime, we were treated to more great basketball, with Jerian Grant spinning, dribbling, wheeling, dealing, and finishing off the Bulldogs with a left-handed scoop shot with under 20 seconds left on the clock. The two sides, who don’t play one another despite both being involved in the Crossroads Classic, gave us a memorable match-up. No shame in losing this one, ND.

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Dennis Rodman Award: This award for best imitator of Dennis Rodman goes to Cincinnati’s Octavius Ellis. Ellis, if you recall, was ejected in the Bearcats game against Purdue for an elbow to the chin. Against Kentucky, he seemed to be doing his damnedest to get ejected. He pushed the Wildcats’ buttons, drawing a technical foul at one point. He became public enemy number one to Big Blue Nation. In the end, angering them seemed to have the wrong effect as the Kentucky front court eviscerated Cincinnati down the stretch.

On the top, Cincinnati laid no blueprint for how to beat Kentucky. They did nothing that teams like Florida or LSU hadn’t done before: slow the game down, stay physical, and knock down open shots. The Bearcats did the first two, but couldn’t do the third, finishing 2-14 from the three-point line. To beat Kentucky, you have to hit shots, and at the end of the day, UK hit more shots than them in the critical moments.

The only team who could play that defense AND hit the shots would be Arizona, which I wrote about today. Wisconsin could create enough mismatches with Frank Kaminsky that they could give UK fits, but their lack of depth is a problem, especially if their bigs get in foul trouble. Maryland and West Virginia don’t have the size nor depth to match-up with UK, and while Notre Dame COULD have enough offense, they won’t have enough defense or rebounding.

Other-Worldly Coaching Performance: Admittedly, I had to add this at the end because it was announced while I was writing. I don’t even have words for this:

I really don’t even know how to comprehend this. Brey knew all day of his mother’s death and still was able to coach not only a regular game, but an NCAA tournament game that went into overtime against one of the top teams in the country.

To think of coaching a basketball game hours after losing your mother is unfathomable to me. The fact Brey was able to not only pull it off, but win the game is all the credit to him. There’s no way not to root for Notre Dame at this point.

Next: VIDEO: D'Angelo Russell, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson Dishing Dimes

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