NCAA Tournament Day 3 – South Region

A five point lead going into halftime, Florida pulled away in the second half led by senior Scottie Wilbekin’s 21 point performance. Florida’s offense really clicked for the first time in the tourney today, and the energy they promised to bring was led by Wilbekin. Patric Young struggled from the field (3-11 shooting,) but with Pitt’s defense focused on stopping him, Wilbekin was able to dominate off the dribble drive. Young ended with seven points, and eight boards. Pittsburgh’s draft prospect, Lamar Patterson struggled in what turned out to be his last collegiate game, also going 3-11 from the field, also only scoring eight and eight rebounds. Florida looked like the #1 seed they were supposed to be, and they will hope to keep their momentum going into their Sweet Sixteen matchup against the winner of Steven F Austin and UCLA.

Dayton held a one point lead with mere seconds to go, and Tyler Ennis pulled up for a mid-range two instead of driving to the hoop, which he had done with ease throughout the game. After the miss, Dayton got fouled, making one of two free throws. Ennis got the ball with the chance to win or tie — but missed. Just like that, we have our Cinderella in the Sweet Sixteen. Dayton simply outplayed a Syracuse team that has struggled as of late, going 2-5 in the last seven games before the tournament, and could not connect from deep the entire game missing all ten of their attempted threes. Potential lottery pick Ennis, despite missing chances to win the game twice, played fairly well scoring 19 but on 7-21 shooting. Jerami Grant fouled out in the closing seconds and greatly struggled throughout the game, only scoring four points. CJ Fair performed well however, scoring 14 with 10 boards. Syracuse’s defense may have been solid, but couldn’t stop Dayton late and the offense never clicked as Syracuse abruptly saw an end to their season that started with 25 straight wins. Dayton was helped by great games from Dyshawn Pierre, Jordan Sibert, and Vee Sanford (who made the game-winner against OSU, I called that win!). The Flyers will continue their magical run against the winner of Stanford/Kansas.