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Carmelo Anthony:
Doing what LeBron won't: Schooling college opponents as a freshman.
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
DAY. TWO.
5:40 ET
The unlikely run by 15-seed ETSU to the final seconds
of its game with 2-seed Wake Forest was the
ultimate cap to a great pair of afternoon sessions
covering eight games.
There was one "real" upset (10 Auburn over 7 St. Joe's
in an OT thriller preceding the ETSU/WF game that
makes Tampa the hottest pod by far) and a pair of
9-over-8 "upsets" (Utah over Oregon, Purdue over LSU).
Two No. 1s (Kentucky, Texas) blitzed a pair of 16s and
Manhattan's dream of a 14/3 upset over Syracuse fell
short.
Heading into the night session -- and the weekend's
second-round games -- the Tournament might lack for
volume of upsets, but not for close, exciting
finishes.
5:34 ET
Down two in the final seconds, ETSU's Tim Smith -- a
hero a minute ago -- took a long 3 with Josh Howard in
his face and missed it, rather than drive (his
specialty). And that's the difference between an upset
worthy of great historical legacy and just another
close win for a top-ranked team.
5:25 ET
ETSU and Wake. ETSU's Tim
Smith just hit a 3 on a second-chance shot to tie it
up with Wake! With less than 30 seconds to play! And
I'm not sitting down anymore!
5:22 ET
Purdue just put the thumping on LSU, and finally that
game came to a merciful end.
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"IT'S JUST DAY TWO AND I'M ALREADY OUT" EDITION |
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| CONVERSATION TOPICS THAT ARE IN PLAY: |
1 Pitt's FT shooting will doom them. Just not today ...
2 Best cheer: "Let's Go Peay!" Pitino's heard it, though
3 Memo to Maryland: Stop Brett Blizzard (if you can) |
| CONVERSATION TOPICS THAT ARE SO OVER: |
1 The Mike Davis/Alabama reunion. Yawn!
2 Butler's hype: See "Creighton," "Dayton" files
3 Playing around: Weekend will weed out pretenders |
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The Boilermakers are
going to give Texas a game on Sunday, make no mistake.
5:18 ET
As someone just noted to me, "Oregon was living on
borrowed time." And when Luke Ridnour flew into
Nick Jacobson when Jacobsen was shooting a 3, that
time ran out. Jacobson hit two of three, Oregon blew
two chances at a last-second game-winner, and the Utes
advance.
5:11 ET
ETSU tied up with Wake?? With 4:30 to play?? You've
got to be kidding me. It's at this point that the 2
seed feels the throat-tickle and the 15 seed figures,
"Why not us?"
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4:58 ET
How is ETSU still in this game with Wake? A 15 keeping
up with a 2? (By the way, there's still more than 10
minutes left, which is more than enough time for Wake
to blow them off the court.) Basically, Wake has been
stunned into submission. But WF seems to be coming
alive as I type this, so we'll see where we stand in a
few minutes.
Tourney Quickie: Click here for the entire day's running commentary.
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Oregon:
From last year's Elite Eight to this year's first-round bust.
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| West regional: Who wins, best player, more |
VOTE at SportsNation
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Today on ESPN.com
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| The Daily Quickie |
| Thursday's Tournament Quickie |
| Scoreboard |
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Looking ahead to Saturday's second-round games...
Bye Bye: C. Mich (to Duke); 'Zaga (to 'Zona); UConn
(to Stanford)
Vulnerable: Marquette (vs. Mizzou); Illinois (vs. ND);
Kansas (vs. Ariz. St); Okla (vs. Cal)
Upset City: Tulsa over Wisconsin
I'll strut around Times Square in a Sam Houston State
uniform if its beats Florida ...
Don't be worried about those couple of missed
first-round picks on your bracket ...
... Worry about how many Sweet 16 teams you've lost
already ...
Who did the Quickie pick? Click here to see my bracket ...
Consider calling in sick. C'mon, it's Friday ...
Like the Tourney Quickie? You can check out a new
edition of the Daily Quickie every weekday, covering
the hottest topics in sports.
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