2010 NCAA Tournament: Day 4 recap

So we are now officially done with the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

And boy, if you didn't already love this event, than you do now or you have no soul.

Thursday was insane with the number of close games we had. Friday was, well, a bit boring in comparison. Saturday saw one of the greatest upsets in recent history.

Sunday?

Sunday was par for the tourney course. We had a buzzer beater, a 12 seed make the Sweet 16, and a couple of hectic finishes to cap the night. All in all, it was a great first weekend.

Here is what you missed on Sunday:


GAME OF THE DAY: Michigan State 85, Maryland 83

The Spartans were in complete of control of this game. The Spartans had their way with the Terps in the first half, scoring almost at will as they headed into the break up 48-39. And despite losing reigning Big Ten player of the year Kalin Lucas to what looks to be a torn achilles late in the first half, they were able to extend that lead to as much as 16. A large reason for that was the play of Durrell Summers, who scored 14 points in the first eight minutes of the second half.

But Maryland would come back. The Terps were down 14 at the four minute mark. A Korie Lucious layup put Sparty up 80-71 with 2:09 left on the clock. That's when Greivis Vasquez took over. Maryland threw on a press, and started forcing MSU turnovers, and Vasquez capitalized. He scored on an and-one layup, hitting the free throw. He made a steal and found Sean Mosley cutting for a layup. After a Cliff Tucker steal, Vasquez drilled a three of an inbounds to cut the lead to 80-79. After another Spartan turnover, Vasquez hit a short pullup to give the Terps the lead. Draymond Green answered with a 17 foot jumper to give Michigan State the lead back, setting up this:



They were good too

• Purdue 63, Texas A&M 61 OT: The Aggies looked to be in pretty firm control of this game. They outplayed Purdue in the first half, taking a 32-25 lead into the break. A&M pushed that lead to a 40-29 early in the first half, but Chris Kramer would have seven points and an assist in a 17-2 Purdue run that gave them a 46-42 lead. The rest of regulation would go back and forth, with both teams missing a couple of opportunities to win. In the overtime, the two teams traded baskets before Brian Davis missed a layup with 19 seconds left. Kramer answered with a driving layup at the other end, and BJ Holmes missed a three at the buzzer as Purdue advanced.
• Xavier 71, Pitt 68: The Muskies were in complete control of this one, taking a 50-37 lead midway through the second half. But Pitt would respond with a 12-0 run, and while they never took the lead, they hit a bunch of late threes which, combined with two missed free throws from Dante Jackson, gave the Panthers the ball with a chance to tie. Ashton Gibbs missed a contested three, but the ball went out of bounds with 0.4 seconds left. Brad Wanamaker got a really good look to tie with at the buzzer, but he short armed the shot and Xavier advanced to the Sweet 16.
  

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Chris Kramer, Purdue

Everyone had written off the Boilermakers when they were embarrassed in the Big Ten tournament by Minnesota without Robbie Hummel. Apparently, no one told Purdue they were supposed to lose, as they have now won two games and advanced to the Sweet 16. Today, in an overtime win against Texas A&M, Kramer was Purdue's MVP.

Kramer made up for Hummel's production today. He had 17 points, 6 boards, and 3 steals. But Kramer's performance was so much more than his numbers. The senior locked up A&M's Donald Sloan, who finished with just 11 points on 4-17 shooting, seven below his season average. He had seven points and an assist, sparking a 17-2 Purdue run that allowed the Boilers to overcome an 11 point deficit. He also scored the game winning basket, driving by A&M's Nathan Walkup for a layup with 4.9 seconds left.

They were good too

• Greivis Vasquez, Maryland: I don't normally put players on losing teams in this list, but Vasquez's performance is the exception. He finished with 26 points, 8 assists, and 4 boards, scoring 10 of the last 12 Terp points -- and assisting on the other basket -- as they overcame a huge deficit. Vasquez also hit two would-have-been game-winners in the final minute. Its a shame that his career has to end like this.
• Wesley Johnson, Syracuse: Johnson's injured hand seems to be just fine as he was as aggressive as he has been in months. Johnson finished with 31 points and 14 boards, hitting 11-16 from the field and 4-6 from deep as he led the Orange to an 87-65 win over Gonzaga.
• Jordan Crawford, Xavier: For the second straight game, Crawford carried the Musketeers. Tonight, he scored 27 points and added 6 boards to help the Muskies build a lead as big as 13 points before holding on for a 71-68 win against Pitt.
  
• Da'Sean Butler, West Virginia: Butler carried the Eers to a 68-59 win over Missouri with 28 points and 8 boards.
  
• Evan Turner, Ohio State: Turner had 24 points, 9 boards, and 9 assists, logging 40 mnutes as the Buckeyes held on to beat Georgia Tech 75-66. To be fair, Turner also had 9 turnovers.
  

TEAM OF THE DAY: Cornell Big Red

After Cornell dismantled Temple, I struggled to come up with words to describe how well they played offensively. Imagine my problem now, after the Big Red were even more impressive in their whooping of Wisconsin. 87 points -- the second most Wisconsin has given up this season, and the most in regulation by far -- in just 62 possessions. That is almost a point and a half everytime they touch the ball. Take a second and think about how impressive that is, especially considering how good Wisconsin is defensively.

The Ivy League had not won an NCAA Tournament game since 1998, and now the Big Red are on their way to the Sweet 16 where they get a chance to take on the current tournament favorite, Kentucky, in a de facto home game. Yeah, it was a good day to be from Ithaca.

They were good too

• Purdue Boilermakers: We've touched on this already, but Purdue responded to their multitude of critics across the intrawebs by coming back from 11 down to knock off Texas A&M and advance to the Sweet 16. Anyone outside of West Lafayette predict that before this tournament started?