The Scorecard: Yale shocks Auburn in a day of upsets. Plus, Purdue’s Zach Edey, Iowa State’s Audi Crooks stand out as top shooters
No. 13 Yale upsets No. 4 Auburn in another massive bracket buster
Another 4-seed bites the dust. Similar to Kentucky’s downfall on Thursday, Auburn faced a hot 3-point shooter. Yale’s John Poulakidas made six 3-pointers and 28 total points, and he had help from a much-needed defensive play in the last few seconds of the game. Samson Aletan made a key blocked shot to help the Bulldogs send Auburn packing in a first-round exit. Yale will face No. 5 San Diego State next.
The men’s bracket is full of upsets, actually. No. 12 James Madison stunned No. 5 Wisconsin in a 72-61 upset, then No. 12 Grand Canyon defeated No. 5 St. Mary’s, 75-66. No. 9 Northwestern took down No. 8 Florida Atlantic, and No. 9 Texas A&M sent No. 8 Nebraska packing.
No. 10 Colorado is rolling. The Buffaloes took down Boise State in the First Four, only to repeat the process and take down No. 7 Florida in a high-scoring affair, 102-100. Colorado will face No. 2 Marquette on Saturday.
Upsets aside, No. 1 Purdue steamrolled No. 16 Grambling State to power the Boilermakers into the second round. Purdue’s victory was thanks to the 7-foot-4 Zach Edey, who scored 30 points and had 21 rebounds, something that hasn’t been done in the tournament since 1995.
In terms of brackets: there are zero perfect brackets remaining, as reported by the NCAA and Yahoo! Sports.
Fewer upsets in the women’s bracket, but they still brought the action
A freshman made a statement today, that Iowa is big enough for two hot-shooters. No. 7 Iowa State defeated No. 10 Maryland behind Audi Crooks. She’s not 7-foot-4 like Edey, but 6-foot-3 was more than enough as she banked 40 points and 12 rebounds to bring Iowa State back from a 20-point deficit. Oh, and she’s only a freshman.
But a lot was to be expected in the women’s bracket…No. 1 South Carolina obliterated No. 16 Presbyterian, 91-39 and No. 3 LSU defeated No. 14 Rice, 70-60.
If the border isn’t enough, South Carolina facing North Carolina this early in the tournament would have divided the two states even further. Here’s what head coach Dawn Staley had to say about the matchup.
Angel Reese and LSU will face No. 11 Middle Tennessee. Middle Tennessee was the one and only upset in the women’s bracket today, sending No. 6 Louisville home in a close 71-69 win.
