2011 NCAA Tournament: The nightcap!

Round two of blogging for yours truly tonight, and I’m going to do it a bit, ‘live blog’ style. So each of my posts will be in the present tense and I’ll be talking about things as it happens, even though you’ll be reading it afterward…Here we go:

UCLA-78 Michigan St.-76: Need Michigan State to go far for my bracket to do anything, but I don’t care at this point. It’s been a great tournament so far. I think Izzo is a great tournament coach so I picked Michigan State for the final four out of this bracket. Didn’t think about Ben Howland being a great coach as well. Winner of this one will play Florida who looked HOT tonight. Michigan State falls 10-3 early in the game, making me look really dumb in bragging about them. Izzo wanted this game fast paced and he’s getting it. Nine point lead for the Bruins with a little under 10 left. Nothing from the Michigan St. camp so far. UCLA is up early 31-17 and I’m turning it to the Zags and Johnnies game. Michigan State goes down 18 at the half 42-24. Believe it or not Michigan St. is slowly easing back into the game. 15 minutes left to play and they are only down 13. Michigan State is just terrible to watch, now falling back down by 21. I don’t even want to watch this one anymore. You can see the final at the top. There goes one final four pick. Thanks Izzo. Okay I lied, I checked back in with the game and guess what? Within 10 right now but I’m sure they will find a way to lose by more, plus there is only 2:46 left. Not enough time for the Spartans. 25-9 run the last I heard to bring it 73-66. UCLA just turned the ball over with a minute to go and Michigan State with a three. It’s 76-72. Michigan State has a chance to cut it to two but misses the front end of a double bonus. 77-73 with UCLA at the line, misses. 28.8 left and Michigan St with the ball, almost throws it away. Misses a three…Fouls, UCLA misses both! MICHIGAN ST HITS A THREE! 4.4 seconds left and it’s a one point game! UCLA has to call a time out, can’t inbounds the ball. Still 4.4 seconds remaining. UCLA is on the line, makes one misses on..Lucas walks and that’s the game. Would have been game of the tournament if Izzo started his team’s comeback a little sooner.

Gonzaga-86 St.Johns-71: I took Gonzaga in this one because I figured St.Johns aren’t proven away from Madison Square Garden and I think the Zags fans will be there in full force. I also think the altitude will factor in with the St.John’s team as well stamina wise. These teams are coming out like two prize fighters exchanging blows. 14-12 with 15 minutes left to play and they are still going at it. This one should be a great game down to the wire. Zaga is up 10 on St.Johns with 1:26 left in the half. Interesting stat, Gonzaga has won 11 of the last 11 conference tournaments. Only UCLA has done that. Gonzaga in control in what is a boring game after a good one early; St.Johns just isn’t the same team away from MSG.

Cincinnati-78 Missouri-63: This game I will probably be watching less than the other two but it is really an intriguing matchup. I decided to choose Cincinnati in that game because I heard the Tigers were imploding, but they are a deep team and can press well. We will see what happens. Yancy Gates is the player to watch for Cincinnati. Missouri jumps out early but Cincy is hitting some big time shots. Now Cincy with a seven nothing run to tie it back up, two really good games going on right now. The Bearcats have now made their way to the arena and started playing, up 23-21 with eight to go, frantic pace early in this game. Cincy has seven different players with a field goal right now, that’s nuts. It’s after half time. I’ve forgotten about this game until now. Cincy big man nails a three to push the lead to 15 with about four minutes left. Looks like this game is over.

KSU-73 Utah St-68: So this game has been underway a while and I haven’t even looked at it, my bad. I picked Kansas St. for playing like a final four team every now and then and then sometimes playing like an NIT team. I’m hoping Pullen gets hot. By the way, K-State has some NICE uniforms on and I think Reggie Miller is calling this game, which makes it even better. Eight minutes on the clock and K-state leads it. Half time is 33-22 Kansas St. and comes out of the half looking to push that score a little more. Utah State opens the half with a 6-0 run. A lot of emotion in the building right now, more than any game thus far from a fan stands point. After half time, I’ve been watching the Michigan State game but wow. Utah State is trying their best to get back in the game. With 3:45 left its Utah only trailing by six. Kansas St has led by double digits most of the game, but it’s shaping up to be a good one. 7-0 run by Utah State, they get a turnover and now K-State gets it back. 10 point game with one minute to go. Utah.St three cuts it to seven.

Final thoughts: What a first day! My goodness. We start the day off with a ton of buzzer beaters. Temple, Kentucky, Morehead St., Butler all won in the last seconds on the clock. Michigan State almost capped the comeback of the century and only fell two points short. Florida came out with a chip on their shoulder and destroyed their opponent while Pitt struggled against their 16 seed. It’s been madness for sure and tomorrow will be even better!

Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans