Final: Texas Southern 72-93 Arizona
No upset here. The 2nd seeded Wildcats easily handle the 15th seeded Tigers in the Battle of the Feline Nicknames.
And a less depressing update:
Ron Hunter and R.J. Hunter Post Game Interview #MarchMadness: https://t.co/V2MNqJj3Yt
— FanSided GIF (@FanSidedGIF) March 19, 2015
This could end up being the story of the day.
Look at what you did Iowa State
There were 11.57 million entries in @ESPNFantasy's Tournament Challenge. After just 3 games, only 86,737 (0.7%) still have perfect brackets.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 19, 2015
Texas 28-27 Butler, 16:51, 2nd half
Oh man it’s been four years since I last liveblogged March Madness, I’m a tad rusty. Where to even begin? Let’s start with Texas and Butler who are playing a close one.
Hunter checking in
There has to be some sort of serendipity involved with this handover from a RJ to a Hunter immediately after that last game.
I’m Hunter Felt, I’ll be with you this afternoon of March Madness action. If you want to contribute to the liveblog, please feel free to email me at Hunter.Felt@theguardian.com or tweet @HunterFelt.
Handing off
And with that stroke of drama, I’m going to sign off, as Hunter Felt will be taking over from here. What an amazing first four hours this tournament has proven to be. This has been RJ Rico. Thanks, RJ Hunter for doing your nickname proud.
Curry 2.0?
RJ Hunter ended up scoring 12 points in the final 42 seconds. Is he the new Stephen Curry?
Final: No3 Baylor 56-57 No14 Georgia State
Baylor misses their last-second half-court heave and No14 Georgia State has defeated the Bears. The commentators are calling this one of the greatest scenes they have ever scenes in their career, as coach Ron Hunter wheels around the court on a scooter, screaming, crying and hugging his son. “I love this guy!” Ron says pointing at his son, RJ.
Speaking of Rob Hunter, someone get this guy some Aspirin.
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Baylor 56-57 Georgia State, 0:02, second half
It’s RJ Hunter! After a wild 30 seconds that had both teams giving up turnovers and missing free throws, GSU was trailing by two, and holding the ball for the last shot. Hunter nailed a three-pointer from about five feet beyond the arc, giving his team the lead and causing his dad, the team’s coach to fall off of his stool! Two seconds left …
Baylor 56-53 Georgia State, 0:32, second half
Gigantic offensive rebound by Georgia State, who gets fouled and now at least one free throw to take.
Baylor 56-53 Georgia State, 1:07, second half
It’s GSU’s RJ Hunter with the steal and the layup! He’s hit the last nine points of the game. It looks like their star has finally awoken.
Baylor 56-51 Georgia State, 1:28, second half
Georgia State isn’t giving up just yet. A quick five points has cut the lead in half. The underdog Panthers have just used their last timeout.
Baylor 54-44 Georgia State, 3:00, second half
It’s looking like it’s almost over for the Panthers and their hopes of pulling off an upset of their own. If not for their 17 turnovers, Baylor should have put this game to bed a while ago.
Going back to my earlier point about people not switching away from halftime shows, here’s a tweet from Sports Illustrated’s Lindsay Schnell, who is in Portland, watching Arizona’s blowout over Texas Southern.
Very strange to me to watch halftime show IN area … couldn’t we show these fans another game?
— Lindsay Schnell (@Lindsay_Schnell) March 19, 2015
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SMU 5-10 UCLA, 14:38, first half
They’ve gotten started in Louisville and already UCLA is off to an early lead. A lot of people said UCLA doesn’t deserve to be in the tournament – especially without having to go through a play-in – so let’s see if the 11-seed Bruins can put those doubters to rest.
Pau is pissed
Iowa state loss really hurt my bracket!! #Upset #MarchMadness #NCAATournament
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) March 19, 2015
Baylor 49-42 Georgia State, 7:40, second half
Baylor has just gone on a 7-0 run to seemingly bring some order back in to this game, and this day. Can you imagine two 14-seeds winning back? I’m not giving up hope on the Panthers just yet.
Butler 18-10 Texas, 7:15, first half
Let’s focus our attention back to Pittsburgh for a second, where the No6 Bulldogs are taking on the No11 Longhorns. A lot of people were picking Texas as an upset pick, especially because of how tall the Texas team is and how undersized Butler is. FiveThirthyEight even said that the Longhorns are the favored team. But don’t forget that Butler has never lost to a lower-seeded team: they’re 7-0 in those situations.
Halftime: Arizona 54-33 Texas Southern
The Wildcats’ offense will clearly be something to reckon with. Good luck, Wisconsin.
Baylor 40-41 Georgia State, 13:10, second half
Georgia State has taken the lead and coach Ron Hunter is pumped up. He’s risen from the stool he’s been sitting on after tearing his Achilles’ tendon while celebrating the Panthers’ conference tournament win last week.
“@T___Rey: Ron Hunter the real MVP yall! Coaching from a stool! #GASTvsBAY #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/9qcqWL4pWf”RT On Wheels. #scootscoot
— Josh Runyan (@BleedKsuPurple) March 19, 2015
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Baylor 40-35 Georgia State, 15:00, second half
Georgia State’s star – and supposed first-round draft pick – R.J. Hunter, who averages 20 points per game, has been anonymous, having scored just two points. Last week in the Sun Belt title game he had his worst performance of the season, shooting 3-for-15. The day before that, he put up 32.
You’re not alone
Per Yahoo! Sports, 96% of brackets had UAB losing and 15% had Iowa State going all the way to the Final Four.
Arizona 42-22 Texas Southern, 3:49, first half
No15 v No2 upsets have been known to occasionally happen. Today’s game in Portland is not going to be one of them. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has put in 10 points for the Wildcats, who are shooting 67% from the field. In other words, they’re cruising.
The scene in Birmingham
Back in Birmingham, UAB fans are ecstatic – and still angry about their football-hating president.
"Fire Ray Watts" breaks out @IronCityBham pic.twitter.com/zZFLYq4gvg
— Jeffrey Matthews (@jwmatthews16) March 19, 2015
Final: No3 Iowa State 59-60 No14 UAB
And that’s it. We have our first upset. For the third consecutive year, a 14-seed has defeated a 3-seed. Moral of the story: Never doubt dragons. Or a team wearing shoes to raise money for cancer.
"As if millions of brackets suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced..." @RJRico62
— Hunter Felt (@HunterFelt) March 19, 2015
Iowa State 59-60 UAB, 0:00.4, second half
Naz long, who is a 40% three-point shooter, has a great look but misses. The ball gets tipped in, but with just 0.4 seconds left, it doesn’t look like it’s going to matter.
Iowa State 57-60 UAB, 0:07, second half
Lee crucially hits both free throws. The Cyclones need a three …
Iowa State 57-58 UAB, 0:12, second half
After each team exchanges buckets, UAB blocks a shot to force a turnover. The 14-seed Blazers have the ball, the lead and at least one free throw to take.
Iowa State 55-56 UAB, 0:51, second half
With no hesitation, UAB’s Robert Brown nails a three off of the inbounds pass.
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Iowa State 55-53 UAB, 0:53, second half
UAB’s White misses his free throw with a chance bring the game within one. Undeterred, the Blazers put together a great defensive performance to force a turnover off of a shot-clock violation.
Halftime: Baylor 33-30 Georgia State
The No14-seed Panthers are no slouches either, even though they’ve hardly gotten any input from their star shooter RJ Hunter. Surely, now that Northeastern has fallen just short, either UAB or Georgia State is about to shock the nation, right?
Iowa State 53-51 UAB, 3:13, second half
This game is proving every bit as exciting as the Notre Dame one. The UAB Blazers have taken command of the boards, out-rebounding the Cyclones 17-8 on the offensive glass. UAB has shot an astoundingly awful 2-for-16 from the three-point line yet are still very much in this.
Arizona and Texas Southern underway
The excitement of that Notre Dame game got me distracted from the fact that the day’s fourth game is underway. Pac-12 champion Arizona is off to an early and commanding lead over the 15th-seeded Tigers.
Final: No3 Notre Dame 69-65 Northeastern
Notre Dame’s Zach Auguste hits both of his free throws to put the game out of Northeastern’s reach. Game over. The No3 seed Fighting Irish have narrowly advanced.
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Notre Dame 67-65 Northeastern, 0:01.9, second half
Drama! A poor cross-court in-bounds pass sends the ball the Huskies’ way. They hold on to the ball for the final shot, but Notre Dame’s Jackson forces the steal with three seconds left. Northeastern has to foul: 1.9 seconds left.
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Notre Dame 67-65 Northeastern, 0:32, second half
The Irish couldn’t get the ball in from the baseline and have to take a time out.
Notre Dame 67-65 Northeastern, 0:32, second half
Northeastern’s David Walker misses a three-pointer, but teammate Scott Eatherton (who is on four fouls) is right there for the easy put-back. Two-point game!
Notre Dame 67-61 Northeastern, 1:10, second half
Up by just four, Jerian Grant gets a steal and takes it all the way for a slam dunk. Lead now back to six.
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Baylor 19-16 Georgia State, 8:10, first half
Georgia State is on a 10-3 run against 3-seed Baylor and have started to settle in to this game after giving up five turnovers in their first seven trips down the floor.
Notre Dame 65-59 Northeastern, 2:40, second half
Notre Dame’s No11 is down on the floor after taking a hand to the face from a Northeastern player while going for a rebound that the Huskies were about to gather. There’s a big uproar from the crowd, but there was no way that that was intentional. Instead, a personal foul is given and, crucially, the Irish get the ball.
Georgia State’s biggest fan
With Georgia State hanging on against Baylor, make sure to check our rankings of all 68 NCAA tourney teams by coolest alumnus.
When Jeb Bush met Ludacris: http://t.co/ilZ9qLcCQX pic.twitter.com/HuiQ0jMlYj
— The Hill (@thehill) March 19, 2015
Iowa State 34-33 UAB, 13:44, second half
Back in Pittsburgh, UAB is not messing around. The No14-seeded Blazers are 203rd in the nation in field-goal percentage (.403) and are actually shooting even worse than that (.333) today. Still, Iowa State is also struggling to hit their shots – they’re shooting (.361) and have given up 10 turnovers.
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Notre Dame 60-49 Northeastern, 6:30, second half
Notre Dame continues to play a strong second half and have pushed their lead back to double digits. Auguste has really taken control of this game, having scored 23 already, including a slam dunk right now. Star shooter Jerian Grant has added 13 to the Irish tally.
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Baylor 16-6 Georgia State, 14:10, first half
Georgia State has a ton of storylines to keep track of. Kevin Ware – yes, that Kevin Ware – has returned to the tournament, no longer with Louisville. GSU’s star player junior RJ Hunter is also the coach’s son and is likely to declare for the NBA after this season. GSU’s other star is Ryan Harrow, who was a former starter for Kentucky was a late scratch from today’s game. Which is a huge blow. With Harrow gone, GSU will be even more dependent on Hunter. Essentially, this game is Hunter v Gathers.
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Baylor 4-2 Georgia State, 17:46, first half
And now is when this job just got tough. No3 Baylor and No14 Georgia State have just gotten started in Jacksonville, so now we have three games to monitor at once.
Baylor is a strong 3-seed and is led by Rico Gathers, who averages 11.6 rebounds per game, most among players in the tournament. He also might have the best name in the field. The only other people I’d put in the running are Purdue’s Basil Smotherman and N.C. State’s Staats Battle. Does anybody have other favorites?
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Notre Dame 46-41 Northeastern, 14:00, second half
Notre Dame’s Zach Auguste could have easily been called for an offensive foul, but instead the call goes the other way and he completes a three-point play for his 15th, 16th and 17th points of the game. Huge call.
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Based on a Tru story
With the ISU-UAB game at the break, Clark Kellogg, Seth Davis and the other talking heads are chatting away during the halftime show. I have to wonder, though, how many people actually watch it when they could just as easily change the channel and watch Notre Dame. Surely at least 50% of viewers switch away, right? Or are we all just that lazy that we don’t want to click “jump” on the remote? Or maybe it’s that we’re afraid we’ll never be able to find TruTV again.
#MarchMadness aka that time of year when everyone is asking where to find TRU TV on the channel guide...
— Trenni Kusnierek (@trenni) March 19, 2015
Notre Dame 43-32 Northeastern, 16:40, second half
The Irish have come out of their locker room with a fury and taken a double-digit lead now. Zach Auguste now has 14 points and is shooting 6-for-8 from the field.
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Halftime: Iowa State 31-28 UAB
The Big 12 champion Cyclones hold a narrow lead against the Blazers. Luckily for ISU fans, their star Georges Niang should finally be back on the floor after missing the final 10 minutes of the half because of foul trouble.
Notre Dame 33-27 Northeastern, 18:59, second half
We’re back in Pittsburgh and Notre Dame’s Zach Auguste has already picked up his third foul. He’s still on the floor though and just scored two more points to raise his total for the game to 10.
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Preach, Verne
During the ISU game, legendary announcer Verne Lundquist has voiced his displeasure with the current conference alignments: “I don’t understand how you can have a Big 12 with 10 teams and a Big Ten with 12 teams.” His color commentator’s response? “It’s all about marketing.”
Iowa State 26-25 UAB, 3:10, first half
Robert Brown has scored 10 for UAB, who trail by one, with Niang still on the bench. If the Blazers could pull off a shocker today, it wouldn’t be their first big upset. In 2004, Mike Anderson’s Blazers were the tournament darlings – and Sports Illustrated cover boys – after taking down top-ranked Kentucky in the second round.
Halftime: Notre Dame 31-27 Northeastern
Despite the fact that Jerian Grant has carried has sharp-shooting ways to Pittsburgh – he’s shooting 4-for-5 – the Irish are struggling to put the Huskies away. Northeastern has been strong in the paint and have gotten six points from four separate players. It’s hard to believe that Northeastern actually had eight turnovers in that first half.
Iowa State 16-16 UAB, 9:10, first half
Sorry for doubting you so early, Blazer Nation! UAB have rallied back from their abysmal start and have now tied the game. Meanwhile, ISU’s Georges Niang is on the bench with two fouls.
Side note: The entire UAB team is wearing two different colored shoes today, one green, one white or gray. Evidently it’s to raise money for pediatric cancer. More on that here.
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Notre Dame 22-22 Northeastern, 4:41, first half
Right when I thought Notre Dame had survived their scare, Northeastern has hung tough, with forward Reggie Spencer coming off the bench to contribute six points for the CAA champs. It should be mentioned that the Irish have performed pretty abysmally in the tournament the past five years, going 1-5 since 2010. Then again, this is supposed to be their best team in years, and they were my pick to reach the Elite Eight this year.
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Iowa State 10-2 UAB, 15:33, first half
It was fun while it lasted, UAB. Less than five minutes into the game, they’re already down by eight to Iowa State. ISU’s star forward Georges Niang has five of those points for the Cyclones. Niang is clearly eager to return to the Big Dance after breaking his foot during the first game of last year’s tournament, forcing the No3 Cyclones to go the rest of the way without him. (They ended up making the Sweet 16.)
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Notre Dame 16-10 Northeastern, 9:00, first half
After getting a couple of steals and completing a three-point play, the Irish are suddenly on another 7-0 run and now lead by six.
Over in Louisville ...
... No3 Iowa State and No14 UAB are about to get their game started. If you’re looking for an underdog to really get behind today, look no further than UAB. A couple of months ago UAB president Ray Watts unexpectedly decided to shut down the football team, a move that angered so many people that even the faculty voted that they had no confidence in his leadership. Watts is still in charge – I’m expecting some “Fire Ray Watts” chants today – but finally Blazers fans have something to cheer for, now that their basketball team won the C-USA Tournament last week despite finishing only in fourth place in conference play.
Just how much do UAB fans hate their school’s president?
Ray Watts, by the end of this day, I hope you know how much we all DESPISE your very being. You are not one of us. You are not UAB. #freeuab
— Sarah Holsombeck (@sarahholsombeck) March 19, 2015
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A question for our UK readers
Ben in London wants to see his Iowa State Cyclones – who are minutes from tipping off against UAB – but hasn’t found any TV options. Anyone know of any?
Notre Dame 9-11 Northeastern, 11:51, first half
Despite only shooting 3-for-10 from the field so far, Northeastern is off to a great start, getting Notre Dame forward Zach Auguste to commit two early fouls and forcing him to the bench.
Northeastern hanging tough early
The Huskies’ big man Scott Eatherton has scored four quick points to tie it at 7. We haven’t seen much of Notre Dame’s star Jerian Grant, who was the MVP of the ACC tournament and was second in the voting for ACC Player of the Year. Grant sat out half of last season for academic reasons but, as his coach said, “he needed the wake-up call”. Grant is a fifth-year senior and has averaged about 17 points per game this season.
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Notre Dame 7-3 Northeastern, 16:40, first half
Notre Dame’s Pat Connaughton sinks a wide-open three, and just like that the Irish have gone on a 7-0 run.
And we’re off!
Northeastern controls the tip, misses the first shot but gets the offensive rebound and nails a three-pointer. At the team’s selection show party this weekend, Northeastern coach said “We’ve got a little magic left in us.” Let’s see if his words prove prophetic.
Be in touch
Of course, as this is a live blog, we love to hear from our readers. Whether you have a question or notice something we’ve missed, we’ll be sure to feature some of them in this space. Just put a comment in the box on the bottom of the page, or send me a tweet @RJRico62.
Here come the Huskies
Northeastern managed to bounce back from an 11-21 campaign last year to finally get another shot at the Big Dance. Unfortunately for Huskies fans, they have to play one of the hottest teams in the country. No one wants to face Notre Dame right now, whose ACC tournament win included victories over Duke and North Carolina. Tasked with facing the Irish in front of a surely pro-Green crowd in Pittsburgh, this is going to be a really tough ask.
Also, who knew?
NCAA etiquette: Pep band of higher seed plays national anthem and Notre Dame does the honors here. Tip vs. Northeastern coming up.
— Erik Brady (@ByErikBrady) March 19, 2015
Not much longer now
We’re about five minutes away from tip-off between Notre Dame and Northeastern. The last time the Huskies were in the NCAA Tournament in 1991, UNC’s Rick Fox was wearing short shorts and stomping all over the underdogs from Boston. Fox has of course long since graduated, retired from the NBA and is now guest-starring in bad sitcoms.
Three’s company
The first three games today will all be No3 v No14 matchups: Notre Dame-Northeastern, Iowa State-UAB and Baylor-Georgia State.
No14 seeds obviously have a pretty poor record in the tournament (18-102, 15%) – as seen in our interactive history of March Madness upsets – but a 3-seed has fallen in each of the past two tournaments, so let’s see if the streak continues.
Fasten your seatbelts
It’s time to make those last-minute changes to your brackets because one of the greatest days on the sports calendar is finally here. Over the next 12-plus hours, we have 16 men’s basketball games to watch and agonize over. While a few will be blowouts (sorry, Hampton, that you had to be the one paired with Kentucky), some will surely feature buzzer-beaters and celebrations that you won’t soon forget. A personal favorite: No15 Hampton’s win over No2 Iowa State in 2001, which left the Pirates’ coach kicking his legs out in utter ecstasy. (Maybe there is hope, Hampton fans!)
If past years are any indication, less than 0.5% of brackets will be perfect by the end of the night, so don’t feel bad if you make some wrong picks. Rather than wallow in our collective futility to predict basketball games, let’s get ready for the Madness to begin.
Here’s a full list of today’s games (ET), as well as their US television listings:
- No3 Notre Dame v No14 Northeastern, 12:15 p.m., CBS
- No3 Iowa State v No14 UAB, 12:40 p.m., TruTV
- No3 Baylor v No14 Georgia State, 1:40 p.m., TBS
- No2 Arizona v No15 Texas Southern, 2:10 p.m., TNT
- No6 Butler v No11 Texas, approx. 2:45 p.m., CBS
- No6 SMU v No11 UCLA, approx. 3:10 p.m., TruTV
- No6 Xavier v No11 Ole Miss, approx. 4:10 p.m., TBS
- No7 VCU v No10 Ohio State, approx. 4:40 p.m., TNT
- No1 Villanova v No16 Lafayette, 6:50 p.m., TBS
- No8 Cincinnati v No9 Purdue, 7:10 p.m., CBS
- No4 North Carolina v No13 Harvard, 7:20 p.m., TNT
- No5 Utah v No12 Stephen F. Austin, 7:27 p.m., TruTV
- No8 N.C. State v No9 LSU, approx. 9:20 p.m., TBS
- No1 Kentucky v No16 Hampton, approx. 9:40 p.m., CBS
- No5 Arkansas v No12 Wofford, approx. 9:50 p.m., TNT
- No4 Georgetown v No13 E. Washington, approx. 9:57 p.m., TruTV
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RJ will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s something on Maryland’s Varun Ram - one of the few Indian-American players in major college basketball:
Before he made the basketball team at Maryland as a walk-on, before his short time playing for Division III Trinity College and his year at prep school, before playing high-school ball and on the AAU circuit, Varun Ram was an ordinary kid who grew up watching his state school, Maryland, compete in NCAA tournaments.
Now Ram will play in one.
“I’m so excited, man. It’s been four years [of college] and I haven’t gotten to play in a tournament yet,” Ram told the Guardian, as he stood outside the visiting locker room after a game earlier this month. “It’s all about winning the next game. In the moment I probably won’t enjoy it as much … But I think I’m going to look back at it when it’s over and take a deep breath and try to take it all in.”
He had jogged back into the hallway from the icy parking lot where he’d been thanking some family friends who came to see him play a road game at Rutgers. The 5ft 9in point guard has been interviewed plenty of times while playing for the Terrapins, so he was accustomed to the out-of-the-blue media request. But just as March Madness brings the occasional team Cinderella story into the national spotlight, so too does it sometimes bring out some offbeat stories like Ram’s, one of the very few players of Indian descent to play college basketball for a power conference team.
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