Gonzaga’s Matt Bouldin scored a game-high 17 points in pacing the No. 8 Bulldogs to a 67-60 victory over No. 9 Florida State.
Bouldin, a graduate of ThunderRidge High School, scored 14 points in the second half added eight rebounds at Buffalo, N.Y.
Find a of the ‘Zags opening win.
Power conference:
The Big 12 Conference continued to roll through the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday, with Missouri and Texas A&M both winning. No. 7 Oklahoma State, though, fell to in an upset to No. 10 Georgia Tech.
The only other Big 12 team to lose is No. 8 Texas, which fell to ninth-seed Wake Forest in overtime on Thursday.
Through the first round, the Big 12 is 5-2.
Games keep on rolling: For live updates, scores, gamecasts and bracket updates for the afternoon games,
Coaching tree: Minnesota coach Tubby Smith says he’s not going anywhere, according to The Associated Press. A report that Smith is close to taking over at Auburn is “just talk,” and he’s looking forward to returning to Minnesota.
Citing unidentified sources, reported today that Auburn is “close” to hiring Smith. Auburn fired Jeff Lebo a week ago after his fourth losing season in six years. Smith is well-known in the SEC, having won a national title at Kentucky and also coached at Georgia.
Smith brushed off the rumors after Minnesota’s 65-54 loss to Xavier in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
No. 12 winner no shock: Back in the saddle after a long lunch meeting. No surprise to see that Cornell dominated Temple, winnings 78-65. Lots of folks think is the best team to come out of the Ivy League in more than a decade.
Xavier pulled away from Minnesota in the second half, winning 65-54. Jordan Crawford scored 17 of his 28 points in the second half. The Musketeers are in the second round for the fourth straight year.
Lights out: “Tannim” posts that he went 14-for-16 on Monday. Dang, that’s pretty good! He sounds like he knows what he’s talking about. He says that a Cornell victory over Temple wouldn’t be an upset at all, saying Cornell is “vastly under-seeded.” Cornell is up 10 with 13 minutes left in the game.
Minny denying: The Golden Gophers have already blocked 11 Xavier shots, and it’s early in the second half. The NCAA Tournament record is 14 by Kentucky in 1998 — a team coached by current Minnesota coach Tubb Smith.
Tough it out: Minnesota and Xavier are locked in a very physical, tight game. This one’s going down to the wire.
Golden Gophers are coached by Tubby Smith. Wondering where he got the nickname? He was born Orlando Smith on June 30, 1951 in Scotland, Maryland. He was the sixth 16 children born to sharecroppers Guffrie and Parthenia Smith. He had to share a galvanized steel washtub with his siblings, and young Orlando stayed in that tub as long as possible. Pretty soon, everybody called him “Tubby.” Smith has said that the last person to call him Orlando was a 10th-grade teacher who didn’t allow nicknames.
Upset special: With 8 minutes left in the first half, No. 12 Cornell (a popular upset pick) leads No. 5 Temple by six. This is a game to keep tabs on.
Eers rally. Second-seeded West Virginia was frigid in the early going, missing its first 11 shots from the field, but they have regained the lead over Morgan State. Prediction: The Mountaineers will run away with this one.
History lesson:
Before the second day of 2010 March Madness heats up, here’s a little history lesson.
Think that the term “March Madness” was conjured up by Dick Vitale, Brent Musburger, Billy Packer or some behind-the-scenes gopher at CBS Sports? Think again.
The term has been around since 1939 when it first described the Illinois State High School Basketball Tournament. The famous phrase is credited to a man named H.V. Porter. Want to know more? Check out the article at .
Now, back to the 21st Century.
I don’t know how your bracket looks this morning, but mine is just fine, thank you very much. I went 12-4 and currently rank third in The Post’s office pool. Not bad for a former baseball writer, and better than my bosses, who shall remain nameless.
I correctly picked Murray State’s upset over Vanderbilt, Old Dominion’s upset of Notre Dame and St. Mary’s (mild) upset of Richmond.
I sure didn’t see Georgetown falling to Ohio. Did you? Did anybody?
All in all, Thursday was a tough day for the Big East. Three teams lost and Villanova needed overtime to beat Robert Morris.
I don’t know what madness today brings. I don’t see as many big upsets brewing, although I do have Missouri beating Clemson in a mini-upset.
The games resume shortly. Join the conversation by posting your thoughts, rants and opinions throughout the day.
