2010 NCAA Tournament: Day 2 recap

So today wasn't nearly as exciting as yesterday.

But as my college roommate always said, "they can't all be supermodels." Yes, we may have been lacking the buzzer beaters and the overtimes and the 30 point comebacks. This was still a day with 12 hours of basketball. Brackets were still busted. Legacies were still cemented. Lets not let a spin in a Ferrari make us forget that a 1994 Toyota Camry will still get you where you need to go, and use less gas.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, lets get on with the recap:


GAME OF THE DAY: Michigan State 70, New Mexico 67

The sad thing about this game is that the excitement of it will be marred by some questionable officiating late. Before that, this game was quite exciting. Michigan State built up a big first half lead, going into the break up 42-29. But New Mexico State can score, and they caught fire coming out of the break, hitting 10 of their first 12 shots. They took their first lead at the 11:41 mark on a three pointer from Aaron Castillo, but Michigan State would push back. A putback dunk from Raymar Morgan gave Sparty a four point lead a the two minute mark, but a three from Troy Gillenwater cut the lead to one with 22 seconds left. That's when the real craziness started.

Raymar Morgan got fouled on the ensuing inbounds, hitting the first free throw but missing the second. But Gillenwater committed a lane violation -- and he did, it was the correct call -- giving Morgan another chance, which he capitalized on pushing the lead to three. New Mexico State missed two desperation threes before the ball got knocked out of bounds off of a Spartan player with 0.3 seconds left. It looked like some time could have been put back on the clock, but the refs didn't check the timing, and New Mexico State didn't get another shot off. Kalin Lucas finished with 25 points to lead the Spartans.

They were good too

• Georgia Tech 64, Oklahoma State 59: The Yellow Jackets took control in the second half, pounding the ball into their big men inside. Perhaps the most surprising result of today's games, Tech, who usually shoots 64.2% on free throws, went 24-25 from the free throw line -- scoring their last 13 points from the charity stripe -- to seal the win. James Anderson struggled in this one, going just 3-12 from the field and 0-6 from three, including missing a tough layup with the Pokes down three in the final 20 seconds.


• Wisconsin 53, Wofford 49: In the ugliest nail-biter you will see, both the Terriers and the Badgers struggled down the stretch, blowing opportunity after opportunity to take control of this one. The game-changing play came at the two-minutes mark. Down 48-47, Jordan Taylor poked the ball away from Jamar Diggs and right into the arms of Trevon Hughes, who scored on a layup. After a Wofford free throw -- they were just 1-7 in the second half -- Wisconsin got a huge offense rebound from Keaton Nankivil before Hughes found Jon Leuer for an open 15 footer with 15 seconds left for what would prove to be the game-winner.
  

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Jamal Crawford, Xavier

Crawford was sensational in the second half today. He scored 17 of his 28 points in the second half as Xavier pulled away from Minnesota. Crawford came out gunning, as he is known to do, but didn't really get it going until the second half. The Gophers just had no answer for the Indiana transfer in transition. He beat Minnesota down the floor for a couple of acrobatic layups, scoring 11 points as Xavier turned a 30-29 deficit into a 47-39 lead.

This game was really a microcosm of Crawford as a player. I stop short of calling him a volume shooter, but Crawford is definitely the kind of player that shoots his way out of a slump. And he was off in the first half, but when Crawford gets hot he has the capability of carrying the Gophers. He showed that in the second half today. Crawford finished with 28 points, 6 assists, and 5 boards.

They were good too

• Jordan Williams, Maryland: Williams is going to be a very, very good player for Maryland, and he showed why today. Williams is not the most athletic big man, but he takes up a lot of space in the paint and can score around the rim. Greivis Vasquez was having a bit of an off-night, and the Terps needed their role players to step up. Williams was the best of the bunch, leading Maryland with 21 points and 17 boards as they beat Houston and advanced to face Michigan State.
• JaJuan Johnson, Purdue: Johnson was the difference in the second half for Purdue. Sure, his 23 points, 15 boards, and 3 blocks were nice, but just as important was the defense he helped play on Alex Franklin. Franklin had 10 points and 8 boards in the first half, but went scoreless in the second half as Purdue pulled away from Siena to advance.
• Keith Ramsey, Missouri: Mizzou won the battle of the Tigers 86-78, and Ramsey's play was a huge reason why. Averaging just 6.0 ppg and 5.7 rpg, Ramsey went off, outplaying Clemson's formidable front line and finishing with 20 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals.
  

TEAM OF THE DAY: Cornell Big Red

Cornell put together an unbelievable performance against Temple. They sliced up the vaunted Temple defense, taking control early to the tune of 68% shooting in the first half. They continued that hot shooting in the second half, going up by as much as 18 on the Owls.

I don't think people understand how impressive this performance was by Cornell. Temple is third in the country in defensive efficiency and leads the country in defensive effective FG%. There is a very valid argument to be made that the Owls are the best defensive team in the country. And Cornell lit them up. The only time this season that Temple had allowed a team to score more than 1.11 points per possession was when Kansas came into Philly and whooped the Owls 84-62, scoring 1.26 ppp. Today, Cornell scored 1.35 ppp. It was Cornell's fourth best offensive performance of the season, with the other three coming against Dartmouth, Yale and Brown. Yes, those are some advanced numbers I'm throwing at you, but just know this: Cornell's performance was unbelievable today.

They were good too

• Purdue Boilermakers: Purdue has to be given credit for what they did today as well. not many people gave Purdue a chance, not after they lost Robbie Hummel and had a pitiful performance against Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament. But the Boilermakers came out and whipped Siena in the second half, scoring the first 15 points of the second half to put away the Saints.
• Cal Bears: Cal is in the same boat as Purdue. No one gave the Pac-10 any credit this season, but the Bears put on a sterling performance against Louisville, jumping out to a 22-4 lead and never allowing the Cardinals to really mount a threat.