North Carolina Asheville took a heck of a shot at it. Vanderbilt proved it can’t always be counted on for it. But Virginia Commonwealth? The Rams all but guaranteed it — an NCAA tournament upset.
The VCU public-relations department took out an ad in Monday’s Washington Post preview section promising “VCU Back to Bust Your Bracket,” and the players made good on it with a 62-59 win over fifth-seeded Wichita State on Thursday night.
The mid-major that streaked from the First Four to Final Four last year provided the day’s first upset after the higher seeds won the first nine games of the day.
Now the Huskies, who are banned from the 2013 tournament for substandard academic progress barring an appeal, have to wonder if Jim Calhoun has coached his last game. Calhoun missed 11 games this season, including eight following spine surgery, and with his 70th birthday coming in May, he could decide his run is over after 26 years and three national titles at UConn.
Behind Atlanta native Chris Allen’s 20 points Iowa State advanced to play top-seeded Kentucky on Saturday.
The VCU Rams, who have won 18 of their past 19 games, answered back-to-back Wichita State 3-pointers with one from Bradford Burgess with 1:31 left. Darius Theus then gave VCU a 3-point cushion with a runner with 18.2 seconds left. Wichita State center Garrett Stutz missed a scrambling 3-pointer at the buzzer, preventing the Shockers from any designs on becoming this year’s VCU.
As for the real VCU, four starters graduated from last year’s Final Four team, but coach Shaka Smart is back. And the combination of pressure defense he preaches, not to mention poise he instills in his players, paid off.
“We have different guys doing different things than last year's team," Burgess said. "We want to make our own mark on this year's tournament."
The No. 12 seed was good for an upset in the round of 64 for the 22nd time in the past 24 NCAA tournaments. VCU was the only No. 12 seed of three who played Thursday to survive after both Vanderbilt and New Mexico advanced over No. 12 seeds.
The No. 5-seed Commodores, who had lost their first game in each of their past three trips to the NCAA tournament, beat Harvard 69-60 in the brainiac matchup to turn their SEC championship run into some NCAA momentum.
Both No. 1 seeds advanced Thursday, but in much different ways. The No. 1 overall seed, Kentucky, coasted over Western Kentucky 81-66. But No. 1-seed Syracuse, the third overall seed, flirted with becoming a historical footnote.
A No. 1 seed has never lost to a No. 16 seed since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. But upstart No. 16-seed UNC Asheville gave the brackets a rattle Thursday before succumbing to Syracuse 72-65. Western Kentucky’s loss dropped No. 16 seeds to 0-110.
UNC Asheville was only the 12th No. 16 seed — and first since 1997 — to come within single digits.
The Big South champion Bulldogs, who had played the likes of N.C. State, North Carolina, Connecticut and Tennessee during the regular season, were not fazed by Syracuse, much less without having to contend with ineligible 7-footer Fab Melo. The Bulldogs led by as many as seven points, were tied with the Orange with 6:34 left, and were down by only three points with 38.2 seconds remaining before a call against them turned the tide.
Instead of getting what looked to be a turnover on a ball off Syracuse’s Kris Joseph out of bounds, the officials ruled it was Syracuse’s ball. If anything, it was likely a foul on Bulldog Jaron Lane that wasn’t called. That play and a controversial lane violation against UNC Asheville helped the Orange, who made their final six free throws, escape.
“I don’t think luck had anything to do with this game today,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “And I think the better team won.”
The Orange advanced to play Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Bulldogs leading scorer Matt Dickey went 1-for-13 from the floor and finished the game on the bench in tears. The senior guard who averages 16.5 points scored his only field goal with 55 seconds to go in the first half and finished with five points.
“The excitement of the game was crazy,” Dickey said. “It was March Madness at its finest. It was awesome. We’ll cherish this moment and the opportunity that we had, but we’ll always look back at this moment and say we should have won or could have won. But that’s not enough.”
Murray State coach Steve Prohm, who played high school basketball at Northwest Whitfield High School, led the No. 6-seed Racers to their first NCAA tournament win since 1988, with room to spare.
The first-year coach shed his coat before the game even started to sport a blue gingham shirt and blue tie, but the way the Racers handled themselves, he might not have needed to dress down.
Even with star Isaiah Canaan having an off shooting game (4-for-13 from the floor) and Donte Poole likely suffering a broken nose, the Racers played stout defense and overcame a 24-23 halftime deficit to double-up on Colorado State in the second half 35-17.
With the 58-41 win, Murray State got some validation for its romp through the regular season, while losing once. After going undefeated for the first 23 games of the season, the Racers (31-1) didn’t need the NCAA tournament to make their case as a mid-major to be reckoned with, but it didn’t hurt.
“I thought our toughness level was tremendous,” said Prohm, whose mentor and former boss, Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy, watched in person Thursday afternoon.
Playing in Louisville, just 228 miles from their west Kentucky campus, the Racers advanced to face Marquette-BYU on Saturday. Without Jimmer Fredette, BYU wasn’t much of a match for Marquette in an 88-68 loss.
Davidson traveled some 2,700 miles to Portland to play in its first NCAA tournament since Stephen Curry helped them advance to the Elite Eight in 2008. But the Wildcats were no match for Big East champion Louisville, especially on an off shooting night from 3-point range (4-for-19).
The Wildcats, one of five North Carolina teams in the tournament, were the first to go out. No. 4 seed Louisville will play No. 5 seed New Mexico on Saturday, 75-68 winners over No. 12 Long Beach State.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
