Sports

March Madness 2021 – Best moments and biggest plays from the NCAA tournament

March 22, 2021
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March Madness, heavy on the madness. The 2021 NCAA tournament has reached the round of 32. That’s right, we’re only one round into the tournament and we’ve lost the reigning national champion (Virginia), a No. 2 seed (Ohio State), a No. 3 seed (Texas) and two No. 4 seeds (Purdue, Virginia).

The Pac-12 is undefeated. The Big 12 is 6-1 and the ACC is a miserable 2-5.

And Sunday saw the end of No. 1 seed Illinois, which lost 71-58 to Loyola Chicago.

To paraphrase The Rock, “Finally Sister Jean has come back to the Sweet 16.” The team’s 101-year-old chaplain offered up this analytics-heavy prayer before the game:

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Loyola Chicago has not beaten a top-2 seed in the tournament since seeding began in 1979. It knocked off just one top-3 seed on its Final Four run in 2018 (3rd-seeded Tennessee).

The win came with a heavy dose of Cameron Krutwig and Lucas Williamson.

Krutwig, who finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds, is the third Missouri Valley player with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in an NCAA tournament game since assists became official in 1984. The others: Bradley’s Hersey Hawkins in 1988 and Tulsa’s Shea Seals in 1994.

Williamson added 14 points.

Loyola Chicago is the sixth team to reach the Sweet 16 in consecutive NCAA tournament appearances as an 8 or lower seed since seeding began in 1979. Gonzaga is the only other non-major conference team to do this, doing so in three straight years from 1999 to 2001, all as a double-digit seed. But, when Loyola gets in, it wins. The program is 15-5 all time in the NCAA tournament, tying Duke for the best tournament winning percentage (.750).

Social media erupted after the upset.

RGIII and J.J. Watt ‘face off’

On Friday, Arizona Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt (a Wisconsin alum) steadily trolled his wife (a North Carolina grad) during the Badgers’ first-round win over the Tar Heels.

Watt was ready to go again Sunday with Wisconsin facing No. 1 seed Baylor in the Round of 32, tweeting at former NFL QB Robert Griffin III and reality TV star Chip Gaines, both Baylor graduates. Sunday’s fun did not go as well for Watt.

Baylor punched a ticket to the Sweet 16 with a 76-63 win over Wisconsin.


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