There was nothing extraordinary in Friday’s recap. Wisconsin and Illinois had close calls, but survived.
Two 11-seeds and a 10 snuck through, but that’s to be expected. The only real surprise was the total ease with which #11 Notre Dame handled #6 Alabama. Maybe it was motivated by revenge for those curb-stompings on the gridiron. Notre Dame has very little inside game with their four-guard offense, but shot 63% from three-point range, led by 7-for-9 by Cormac Ryan.
Illinois should have lost to Chattanooga. Chattanooga jumped off to a 20-6 lead, and led during the entire game except the last 46 seconds, then took back the lead with 12 seconds to go. After Illinois sunk two free throws to take back a one-point lead, the Choo-Choos missed two opportunities to sink the game winner, thanks to a critical block and then an important rebound by a determined Illinois forward. That was not a fun game to watch. Neither team could put the ball in the hole. The Choo-Choos (actually the Mocs) shot only 32%. Their starters shot 15-for-51, and the team made only one field goal in the game’s final 7:50. Illinois also finished with a FG% in the 30s, including 3-for-17 from outside their calling area. You knew there wasn’t much hope from three-point territory because these guys couldn’t even make free throws – both team’s percentages were in the 50s from the charity stripe.