NCAA Tournament: Midwest Madness

Over the tournament weekend there were many upsets and close games. Tournament favorite Kentucky, however, has dominated the Midwest region in its first 2 games, winning each game by more than 10 points. The other high seeds in that region haven’t been able to handle their business as easily.

The Midwest region is said to be the easiest region in the tournament and the most obvious to predict who will come out of that region and to the Final Four has had some interesting results.

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With all the big upsets occurring in the round of 64 in the other regions, the Midwest was relatively quiet without any form of upset occurring in this round. However, the same cannot be said about the round of 32; out of the 4 games in this region 2 of them were upsets. Number 2 seed Kansas lost to in-state rival 7 seed Wichita State; and a strong 4 seeded Maryland team couldn’t handle the suffocating defense of 5 seeded West Virginia.

Of all the upsets to occur, Wichita State was a team that I, along with many 0ther people believed, were under seeded and got robbed by the committee. Wichita State is a very skilled team led by many strong veteran players Ron Baker, Tekele Cotton, and Fred VanVleet. Seeing them beat the weakest 2 seed in the tournament wasn’t all that surprising.

The upset that shocked me the most was Maryland losing to West Virginia. Personally, I had Maryland going quite far because of their impressive 1st season in the Big10 and their sensational freshman point guard Melo Trimble. Maryland had many impressive regular season wins including a win against #1 seed in the West region Wisconsin. I wasn’t even sure if West Virginia would get by Buffalo in the 1st round. West Virginia has been very inconsistent in the Big 12 Conference, whom throughout the tournament has been revealed as being overrated as many of the upsets, which happened to their high seeded teams. Maryland on the other hand made the tournament this year for the 1st time since 2010. This year seemed to have a lot of promise for the Turgeon coached Terrapins team.

Dec 30, 2014; East Lansing, MI, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Melo Trimble (2) brings the ball up court against the Michigan State Spartans during the 1st half of a game at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Before playing West Virginia, Maryland had played a close game against Valparaiso, which was decided by a brilliant coaching strategy by coach Turgeon to put in senior guard Varun Ram on defense. Ram who doesn’t play many minutes was able to get a steal in the final seconds of the game to seal the win.

In the game against West Virginia, Maryland in my opinion was the more skilled and talented of the two teams and in some points was able to get onto significant runs. West Virginia’s full court pressure, double teams, and suffocating defense didn’t seem to be working in the 1st half as Maryland constantly exploited it with fast break scores and dunks led by point guard Melo Trimble and his great ball handling abilities. But no matter what Maryland did to get ahead, West Virginia found a way to claw their way back into the game. By the 2nd half, Maryland began to crack under the pressure of West Virginia’s full court press. Midway through the 2nd half Maryland lost its best ball handler and scorer Melo Trimble to a head injury. With the loss of its only consistent ball handler, the game ended with Maryland committing 21 turnovers and losing the game.

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This puts West Virginia against the tournament favorite Kentucky in the sweet 16. The question is does West Virginia stand a chance against this powerhouse of a team. Personally, I don’t think there is anyone in this region that can come close to stopping Kentucky from reaching the final 4. But this is the NCAA tournament and anything can happen. Although West Virginia is a much smaller team than Kentucky they are quicker off the dribble, they lead the league in steals and forced turnovers and can cause Kentucky guards, who aren’t known for their great ball handling, a lot of problems.

Mar 19, 2015; Louisville, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard

Tyler Ulis

(3) handles the ball during the first half against the Hampton Pirates in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KFC Yum! Center. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

West Virginia also has a very underrated beast in Devin Williams dominating the paint. If everything falls perfectly for West Virginia, and Kentucky plays a bad game, West Virginia may be able to pull off the greatest upset of this college basketball season.

Fun Fact: When Kentucky was a 1 seed in 2010 they played West Virginia in the elite 8 and lost. This Kentucky team wasn’t full of scrubs either they had John Wall and Demarcus Cousins on this squad 2 future NBA all stars.

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