Thursday late games Roundup

Usually having a Thursday off work doesn't do me much good. But I was lucky enough to have the opening Thursday of March Madness off work, and plan on taking full advantage. I will watch every single game, and give whatever reactions are necessary to capture the day in basketball. Here's what went down in the final eight games of the day.

Best Game
The second set of games were better than the first eight, but not by much. The game of the day has to go to Wichita State vs. Virginia Commonwealth. In one of the more highly anticipated mid-major games of the night, the Rams completed the first upset of the day by responding to a Wichita State rally and hitting shots late to win the game. VCU has made its mark on the defensive end this year, and that was no different in this game. Wichita State, the defending NIT Champs, came out cold and had trouble dealing with VCU's pressure in the first half. The Shockers staged a late rally, but VCU responded, and viewers were treated to a couple minutes of pressure-packed, back-and-forth basketball. In the end, VCU made its shots in the final two minutes than Wichita could muster. As a result, Shaka Smart and the Rams have picked up where they left off in the NCAAs last year. Wichita State looked like the type of experience-laden, athletic and deep team that could give Kentucky trouble in the South Region. But that is no longer an option.
Honorable mention to Colorado's win over UNLV, in which the Buffaloes built a 20-point lead in the second half on the strength of some unbelievable shooting, and then managed to hold off the Runnin' Rebels' furious rally, bringing the lead as low as two at one point.

Biggest Disappointment
Connecticut. This is really a season-long award for the Huskies, but it was personified in the defending champs' loss to Iowa State. How a team can have all those future-NBA players and be so bad is beyond me. But UConn manages to pull it off. Jeremy Lamb is an unbelievable player, but he disappears. Andre Drummond is supposed to be the second best center prospect in college basketball, but he does nothing. UConn was without its coach for much of the season, but that is not even close to an excuse for falling behind Iowa State by 22 points in the first half. Sure, Connecticut made a run in the second to make things closer, but they were worn out at the end and fell apart. They never should have been in the position to need a comeback that significant.

Trending Topics
Defense wins Championships? Since the beginning of the day, we've seen several high-octane offenses stifled, and the teams possessing those offenses. Davidson, Wichita State and UNLV all had among the highest-scoring offenses in the country, and were very smooth in their fast-paced style of play. But Louisville, VCU and Colorado shut those teams down for the most part, allowing only the offenses to ignite only in brief spurts. In addition, BYU's defensive adjustments made the difference against Iona in the first four, when the Gaels had previously put on one of the great offensive displays ever, and Murray State was down one to Colorado State at halftime, but picked it up significantly on the defensive end, and held the Rams to just 16 second half points en route to an impressive win. Will the defenses continue to dominate? Here's to hoping that Notre Dame's defense does the trick against Xavier, and Vermont's is successful against North Carolina (ha).

Looking forward to Round 3
Ohio State beat Loyola Maryland by 19, but was not especially impressive. Loyola was vastly undersized, and had to navigate the game with every starter in foul trouble for most of the game. Still, the Greyhounds stuck around for an inordinate amount of time. On the other hand, Gonzaga looked great against West Virginia. The Zags opened up a 20-point lead in what felt like no time, and held onto it. It was Deshaun Thomas and Jared Sullinger who dominated the game against Loyola, and they won't likely be able to expose Gonzaga on the interior. Elias Harris and Robert Sacre are big enough to contend with Thomas and Sullinger. If the Buckeyes don't play better defense, they may be exiting early.