Whether your team played today, play tomorrow, or maybe they didn't make it at all. The Thursday and Friday in March which kick off the best 20 days of basketball each and every year is the best days of the year. In this article, we are going to discuss the winners, the losers, and some of the tournament MVPs thus far in the tournament after just 16 games are called final.
The Winner!
McNeese Cowboys:
Picking a single winner out of all of these games was rather easy today. I don't know if that will be the case tomorrow or not, but with the bracket going mostly chalk on day one, it was easy to pick the 12/5 upset as the day's winner.
While the McNeese Cowboys were a trendy pick as we locked the brackets and kicked off March, Will Wade and the McNeese squad had never won a tournament game in school history. There were also worries that with the news that Coach Wade was going to accept a position as the new Head Coach of NC State. It is safe to say that Coach Wade put that to rest after the Cowboys started hot and never took their foot off the gas. The Clemson Tigers had the 2nd worse 1st half of any team since the expanded March Madness tournament scoring just 13 points and being down 18 at the half.
The Cowboys locked in on the defensive side of the basket, forcing the issue and turning good defense into offense. Clemson shot 36% from the floor and 30% from 3. It should be noted that before the last 3.5 minutes of the game, Clemson was 4/25 from the 3-point arc before hitting 5 straight 3-point baskets to end the game coming up just short of the comeback of the century.
Brandon Murray came off the bench for Will Wade today and none was more important as he had 21 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds for the Cowboys. After averaging 7 points and less than 1 rebound and 1.1 assists this season, Murray sent the Cowboys to the second round over #5 Clemson.
The Loser!
Utah State:
Coming into this game, I heard nothing but hate from Utah State fans when I told them that Utah State should be clearly on the bubble-headed into March Madness Selection Sunday. Not only has the MWC not proven to be a successful conference in March, but looking at the Aggies, there wasn't anything that stood out that made them "that good" and standing out to be a team to be afraid of as we headed into March.
The Aggies came into this game as the 10-seed vs UCLA but they were a favorite in this game. While they were a short spread of only 2.5 points, that means nothing once you get into March. The Bruins came into the game and dominated from start to finish in this one and exposed the MWC again in March.
The Aggie's defense ranked #236 nationally in eFG% allowing their opponents to sink approximately 53% of their shots each and every night. The Bruins were no exception to that in tonight's game. They hit 42% from 3 and 49% from 2 in the 25-point rout of the Aggies. Something else of note in this game was the fact that something the Aggies typically do well on the court, just simply couldn't get started. The Aggies typically hit 35% of their shots from behind the arc which is good for a top 100 team in the country but tonight they hit just 4 of their 31 attempted 3's.
Tournament MVP:
Chaz Lanier:
When I was doing my team breakdowns earlier in the week, I talked at length about Chaz Lanier. Lanier is another one of those transfers that Rick Barnes found at the low-major level, which brought them to the high-major level in the SEC and turned them into pro talent. Last season, Lanier was playing at the University of North Florida before transferring to Tennessee.
Lanier was nothing short of amazing this season averaging 17/4/1 for the Volunteers and leading them to the SEC Tournament Final. Lanier is averaging those stats of 45/40/75 splits this season. In the first-round game vs Wofford, no one was more important than Lanier. In 35 minutes, he scored 29 points shooting 50% from the floor and an amazing 47% from 3.
Lanier is a senior this season but no one is going to be more important down the stretch for Rick Barnes and Volunteers fans if they want to get over the March hump and into the finals.
Bennett Stirtz:
Coming into the season, the Drake Bulldogs were being led by head coach Ben McCollum who was one of the winningest coaches at the D2 level before getting the call-up from Drake College to make the jump to D1. Coach McCollum came into the summer with a very small contingent of Drake players from last season, a majority of his team came from his previous school.
Daniel Abreu, Mitch Mascari, Isaiah Jackson, and Bennett Stirtz all transferred from Northwest Missouri St. While all of these guys played a key part in the success of Drake and coach Ben McCollum, none were more important than Bennett Stirtz. After transferring up from Northwest Missouri State, Stirtz won the MVC Player of the Year award by averaging 19.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.7 assists for the 30-3 Drake Bulldogs.
On the outside, Bennett just looks like another guy who played at the D2 level after high school because he enjoyed basketball and before this season practically every team in the country didn't even have this guy on their radar. On the inside, Bennett is a guy who simply loves basketball and will do whatever it takes for his team to be successful. As seen by his stats this season, he takes the lead in scoring but will also dish the rock if he sees his teammate open.
Drake won their first tournament game since 1971 on the back of Stirtz who had 21 points shooting 73% from the field and going 3/3 from behind the arc. Stirtz hit some of the most important shots for Drake late when Missouri went on a run to cut the lead to just 2 before the Bulldogs extended the lead and kept the Tigers at bay. At the end of this season, you should not be surprised to hear Stirtz name in the recruiting portal. Practically every team that needs a dominant guard will be in on Stirtz considering he still has 2 years of eligibility.
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