NCAA Tournament Preview: Second Round


It was a tough day for the ACC in a very wacky Friday in the NCAA Tournament.  Of course, the headliner was Duke's loss to Lehigh, one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.  Something just hasn't looked right with the Blue Devils in the last three weeks or so (even before they lost Ryan Kelly), and they ran up against a team with a lot of confidence.  Austin Rivers and Seth Curry did not play well in this game, and that's a recipe for disaster.


The ACC's other victim was Virginia, which picked a bad time to turn in its worst performance of the year.  They were in the game early because Florida kept taking and missing 3s.  But the second half was a complete beatdown.  Florida State almost suffered the same fate as Duke, but survived a serious scare from St. Bonaventure.  The Bonnies were leading almost the entire game, but as they've done all season, Florida State came through with big plays at the end of a game.


N.C. State looked like a team that deserved to be in the tournament with their performance against San Diego State.  Richard Howell played his best game of the year, and the Wolfpack methodically grew their lead in the second half.  They looked like the better team.  Their rival North Carolina didn't look all that sharp but still won fairly easily against Vermont.  John Henson sat this one out.


Here's the schedule of Sunday games for the ACC teams:


#3 Georgetown vs. #11 N.C. State (12:15 p.m.)


Many people (including myself) picked Georgetown as an upset victim to Belmont in the first round.  The Hoyas dismissed that notion, scoring a pretty easy win.  Georgetown will be a tough matchup for N.C. State.  They are a disciplined team and very tough defensively.  If the Wolfpack can get more out of Scott Wood than they did in their last game, they have a good shot.


#1 North Carolina vs. #8 Creighton (5:15 p.m.)


The buzz in this game is the matchup between former high school teammates Harrison Barnes and Doug McDermott.  Both of these teams love to get out and run, and will put 80 on you in a hurry.  Creighton has the shooters to stay with North Carolina, but I have to believe that the length of the Heels will wear them down.  If the refs are calling the game tight, you could see a lot of foul trouble for the Blue Jays and an easy Tar Heel win.


#3 Florida State vs. #6 Cincinnati (9:40 p.m.)


This might be the best matchup on Sunday.  Cincinnati had a very bizarre game against Texas, in which they held the Longhorns to 17 points in the first half but had to hold off a huge comeback.  The Bearcats have shown the ability to knock off good teams, most recently in the Big East Tournament against Syracuse.  If Florida State wants to win this one, they have to play better defensively than they did against St. Bonaventure.