First Four Day 1 Recap
UNC Asheville vs Arkansas Little-Rock
UNC Asheville led for 51 seconds in regulation. However, they only needed the lead in overtime, where they got it, thanks to the aid of one player.
Matt Dickey drained a 3 from the corner to send the first ever First Four game into overtime, where the Bulldogs survived Arkansas Little-Rock 81-77. They will play top-seeded Pitt at 12:10 PM PT on Thursday.
A Solomon Bozeman layup gave Arkansas Little-Rock a 27-16 lead, but a 13-2 run by Asheville made it 29-29. Late in the first half, a Jaron Lane dunk gave UNC Asheville the lead. But it wouldn't last long, for Arkansas Little-Rock led by 4 at the half and extended the lead to 9 early in half 2.
The star player for UNC Asheville only had 6 points and the Dawgs' were only losing by 7. So Dickey decided to start taking more shots, and he did. The shots started falling, and the Trojan lead started to fade away.
Dickey got 5 points in a span of 46 seconds, then he added another point to that with a free throw. With 5 minutes left and Asheville trailing by 7, Dickey made a layup then converted a 3 point play to bring his point total to 17 in just 4:10.
With 24 seconds left and the Bulldogs down by 3, Asheville went to J.P Primm. With 19 seconds left he failed to convert, but D.J Cunningham got the rebound. He dished it out to Dickey, who made a fadeaway 3 from the corner to tie the game.
In overtime, and with UNC Asheville down 77-76, J.P Primm got fouled. He drained 2 free throws, then another one, before making a great steal that helped seal the game. Asheville won 81-77 and opened the tournament with a bang.
How the Second First Four Game was Won
The Clemson Tigers might not have done the best job late in the first half and early in the second half, but overall, if you look at the stats you can tell that Clemson had dominated UAB.
First off, the passing. Clemson racked up 17 total assists, compared to UAB's 10. Star point guard Aaron Johnson had 7 of the teams assists, and he left with 6 minutes to go. Clemson got much better shots, and they shot better than 50%, while UAB shot around 37 percent.
Also, the turnovers. UAB had 8 more turnovers because of bad passes, and it led to lots of Clemson points. If Clemson turned it over 11 times, and UAB none, imagine the game it could have been. The Blazers needed to be careful with the basketball, and they weren't.
Clemson ended the first day well with this win and the ability to take advantage of UAB mistakes. The Tigers kick off the real 1st round of the NCAA Tournament at 9:15 AM PT against 5th seeded West Virginia.
First Four games tomorrow
3:30 PM Pt
16 UTSA
16 Alabama State
11 USC
11 VCU
UNC Asheville led for 51 seconds in regulation. However, they only needed the lead in overtime, where they got it, thanks to the aid of one player.
Matt Dickey drained a 3 from the corner to send the first ever First Four game into overtime, where the Bulldogs survived Arkansas Little-Rock 81-77. They will play top-seeded Pitt at 12:10 PM PT on Thursday.
A Solomon Bozeman layup gave Arkansas Little-Rock a 27-16 lead, but a 13-2 run by Asheville made it 29-29. Late in the first half, a Jaron Lane dunk gave UNC Asheville the lead. But it wouldn't last long, for Arkansas Little-Rock led by 4 at the half and extended the lead to 9 early in half 2.
The star player for UNC Asheville only had 6 points and the Dawgs' were only losing by 7. So Dickey decided to start taking more shots, and he did. The shots started falling, and the Trojan lead started to fade away.
Dickey got 5 points in a span of 46 seconds, then he added another point to that with a free throw. With 5 minutes left and Asheville trailing by 7, Dickey made a layup then converted a 3 point play to bring his point total to 17 in just 4:10.
With 24 seconds left and the Bulldogs down by 3, Asheville went to J.P Primm. With 19 seconds left he failed to convert, but D.J Cunningham got the rebound. He dished it out to Dickey, who made a fadeaway 3 from the corner to tie the game.
In overtime, and with UNC Asheville down 77-76, J.P Primm got fouled. He drained 2 free throws, then another one, before making a great steal that helped seal the game. Asheville won 81-77 and opened the tournament with a bang.
How the Second First Four Game was Won
The Clemson Tigers might not have done the best job late in the first half and early in the second half, but overall, if you look at the stats you can tell that Clemson had dominated UAB.
First off, the passing. Clemson racked up 17 total assists, compared to UAB's 10. Star point guard Aaron Johnson had 7 of the teams assists, and he left with 6 minutes to go. Clemson got much better shots, and they shot better than 50%, while UAB shot around 37 percent.
Also, the turnovers. UAB had 8 more turnovers because of bad passes, and it led to lots of Clemson points. If Clemson turned it over 11 times, and UAB none, imagine the game it could have been. The Blazers needed to be careful with the basketball, and they weren't.
Clemson ended the first day well with this win and the ability to take advantage of UAB mistakes. The Tigers kick off the real 1st round of the NCAA Tournament at 9:15 AM PT against 5th seeded West Virginia.
First Four games tomorrow
3:30 PM Pt
16 UTSA
16 Alabama State
11 USC
11 VCU
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