March Madness Takeaways: UNC gets huge upset, Murray State cashes ticket

It’s the final Saturday of regular-season games in the 2021-22 NCAA Basketball season. However, you can argue that March Madness has already started. At least five conferences have already started their respective tournaments, with one program officially going to the Big Dance, but more on them later.

There were several big matchups on Saturday to watch for, including the highly anticipated final regular-season game for Coach K and Duke, against rival North Carolin of all opponents. We also had some pivotal games involving bubble teams that had opportunities to either improve their resumes or slide back even further on the projected Bracketology seed lines.

This piece is the start of “5 main takeaways” from each day for “Championship Week”, all the way through Selection Sunday. This specific one will be a mix of conference tournament games and regular-season action.

Honorable Mention – The epic 4-overtime battle in the Southland

In the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament, there are three teams that have clearly separated themselves from the rest in Nicholls State, Southeast Louisiana, and New Orleans. Teams like Houston Baptist and McNeese State were a combined 9-17 in league play heading into Saturday’s matchup but it turned into a Game of the Year candidate.

Both teams shot well all game and ended up playing 20 more minutes (4 OTs) in a game that ended with a 149-144 victory for Houston Baptist. Darius Lee, who averaged 16.9 ppg and 7.8 rpg heading into the game, ended up with a career-high 52 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Huskies. Trae English had 27 off the bench for the Cowboys, one of seven players in double figures for them.

The Southland will have its second tournament of the season (Southeast Louisiana won January’s tip-off tournament) but the winner of this one will get the automatic ticket to the NCAA Tournament, joining a program already in there from the Ohio Valley.