March Madness: Results of simulated 2020 NCAA Tournament

By Brian Rauf | Mar 16, 2020

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - MARCH 30: The Virginia Cavaliers raise the trophy after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 80-75 in overtime of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional to advance to the Final Four at KFC YUM! Center on March 30, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

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DAYTON, OHIO – FEBRUARY 22: Obi Toppin #1 of the Dayton Flyers (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

East Region

First Round

(1) Dayton 62, (16) Winthrop 61
(8) Arizona 40, (9) Oklahoma 39
(4) Butler 73 (13) North Texas, 41
(5) Auburn 87, (12) Yale 86
(6) West Virginia 61, (11) Xavier 59
(3) Michigan State 84, (14) Hofstra 62
(7) Michigan 60, (10) Richmond 55
(2) Florida State 78, (15) Eastern Washington 63

No upsets in the first round of the East Region, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have some thrillers. Dayton narrowly held off a furious comeback by Winthrop (Obi Toppin finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds) while Arizona and Oklahoma played what was undoubtedly the ugliest game of the entire tournament (Arizona shot 22.4 percent from the floor, while Oklahoma shot 26.3).

Second Round

(8) Arizona 72, (1) Dayton 63
(4) Butler 86, (5) Auburn 59
(3) Michigan State 68, (6) West Virginia 57
(7) Michigan 60, (2) Florida State 51

A third 1-seed fails to make the Sweet 16! After their dreadful performance against Oklahoma, Arizona comes out firing and leads by 20 at halftime behind 20 points from Josh Green. Toppin, meanwhile, has his first real off game of the season while Dayton can’t recover from their 22 turnovers.

Michigan muscled their way past Florida State, controlling the entire game thanks to their defense and balanced offensive attack. Michigan State cruised past WVU as all five of their starters scored in double figures, setting up a rivalry showdown in the Sweet 16 between the two in-state foes.

Butler also blasted Auburn behind 21 points from Sean McDermott and 18 from Kamar Baldwin. In fact, McDermott made more three-pointers (five) than the entire Auburn team (four).

Sweet 16

(4) Butler 80, (8) Arizona 68
(7) Michigan 61, (3) Michigan State 44

In the marquee Sweet 16 matchup in the region, Michigan absolutely smothered Michigan State. Simpson limited Cassius Winston to three points and seven turnovers. The Spartans had 22 as a team, which can’t happen when you only shoot 33.3 percent from the field.

Baldwin continued his great play for Butler with a dazzling all-around game against Arizona, finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Bryce Nze also proved to be unstoppable with 24 points.

Elite Eight

(7) Michigan 59, (4) Butler 53

Michigan advances to the Final Four despite averaging 60 points per game in regional play. They got the perfect mix of hot shooting (8/14 from three) and perimeter defense (5/16 from three for Butler) to win this game. Baldwin did have 19 points for the Bulldogs, yet no one else stepped up as he was the only scorer to hit double figures.

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