Sports

March Madness 2021 – Biggest moments and best plays from the men’s NCAA tournament

March 20, 2021
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The day is finally here. March Madness has begun. There has not been the upset-filled, drama-packed, bracket-busting, 12-hours-on-the-couch first day of the tournament in two years. The 2021 NCAA tournament begins in earnest today after Thursday’s First Four action.

Texas Southern, Drake, Norfolk State and UCLA survived. No. 1 seeds Illinois and Baylor play Friday, as does Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham, one of the top NBA draft prospects.

Huge upset in Golden Eagles-Buckeyes

15-seed Oral Roberts came to play against 2-seed Ohio State. Though the Golden Eagles hadn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 1974, they managed to do so in spectacular fashion in 2021, forcing overtime and then pulling away against the powerhouse Buckeyes. Ohio State had an opportunity to tie it up in the waning seconds of overtime, but couldn’t make it happen.

When Butler Blue met Sister Jean

Butler Blue IV, the Butler mascot, has already become an unofficial ambassador for the NCAA tournament in Indianapolis.

Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the 101-year-old chaplain for Loyola-Chicago’s basketball team, is a March Madness icon and international celebrity after Loyola’s Final Four run in 2018. It was announced this week that she would travel with the team to its tournament opener against Georgia Tech.

These members of college hoops royalty met Friday.

Later, Sister Jean showed up in her usual spot to root on her favorite squad.

Here’s some of the best action from Friday:

OT for Hokies-Gators

Virginia Tech blew a 10-point lead to Florida before rallying back and forcing overtime with a clutch 3-pointer from Nahiem Alleyne. Colin Castleton had a huge game for the Gators with 19 points and a huge block near the end of regulation. Anthony Duruji’s huge overtime dunk then set the tone for the Gators, who held on to win 75-70. There were huge plays at the end:

Alleyne’s 30 points were a Virginia Tech single-game NCAA tournament record.

Florida shot 56.5% from the field, its best mark in an NCAA tournament game since 2013, and its third-best mark in an NCAA tournament game in the past 25 years.

Send it in, Kofi

Illinois, a No. 1 seed, cruised to a 78-49 win over Drexel, to open its tournament run.


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