March is here and in full effect as usual brackets have been busted. The action was alive and well within the South region as it was chaos. Here is a quick sum of what took place in the South Thursday.
(8) Maryland 67 (9) West Virginia 65
To kick off action and the first game of the tournament the Terps in Willard's first season take down Bob Huggins and move onto the round of 32. Once down (16-4) early in the game stormed back to be up two at halftime. Johnson for West Virginia had 27 points but it wouldn't be enough, Maryland advances.
(1) Alabama 96 vs (16) Texas A&M CC 75
The next game in the South and meeting Maryland will be Brandon Miller and Alamba as they handled business. The Tide would have five players in double figures as they cruise to a 21 point victory in round one.
(13) Furman 68 (4) Virginia 67
In the first big upset numbers wise on the day came with a familiar team to fall. Virginia once again gets knocked off a lot earlier than most thought. This time it is No.13 seed Furman and their late game heroics that power them to advance and send Tony Bennett home. Jalen Swanson led the way with 19 points for Furman.
(5) SDSU 63 (12) Charleston 57
Many people picked this to be the main course 12 vs 5 upset but that would not end up being the case. The teams did not shooting well as 42% from the Aztecs were the better of the two team percentages. The teams only went a combined (9-40) from behind the arc. San Diego State moves on and live another day.
(7) Missouri 76 (10) Utah State 65
The Mountain West overall struggles continued as Mizzou was able to get the better of Utah State. The Aggies hung around while they could but in the end the Tigers kept hitting the shots needed to propel them by Utah State. Led by D'Moi Hodge with a game high 23 points and (5-10) from deep.
(15) Princeton 59 (2) Arizona 55
The bracket buster of the opening day came with a shocker to most. The IVY league coming in strong as the Tigers of Princeton once down (35-47) with a little under 12 minutes left storm to a 24-8 run to claim the biggest upset to this point!