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Seattle, WA –The first round of the NCAA Tournament in Seattle tipped off this afternoon with matchups betweenNo. 5-seed Memphis vs. No. 12-seed Colorado State followed by No.4-seed Maryland vs. No. 13-seed Grand Canyon. Colorado State and Maryland advanced and will face each other on Saturday afternoon.
In the opening game Colorado State pulled off the upset, outscoring Memphis by 13 points in the second half to get the 78-71 victory. The Rams won with solid three -point shooting from Kyan Evans, who hit 6-of-9 from deep, while leading the winners with 23 points. Jalen Lake connected on 3-of-7 3’s and added 12 points. Dain Dainja dominated inside for Memphis and finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
The two highest rated players of the game, Nique Clifford of Colorado State and PJ Haggerty of Memphis were not at their best. Clifford scored 14 points on 3-of-13 shooting, missing all six three 3-point attempts. He played a solid floor game though with eight rebounds, six assists and no turnovers. Haggerty shot only 7-of 23 (18 points) and missed his first seven three-point attempts before making one in the last minute. Colby Rogers took up the slack for Memphis scoring 18 points and hitting 4-of-7 three-pointers. Colorado State rebounded better in the second half, cutting Memphis’s edge on the boards to 41-34.
Memphis got off to a good start and led the Rams at halftime 36-31. Dainja dominated inside, scoring 15 first half points and grabbing five rebounds. Colorado State stayed close with solid outside shooting from Evans (12 points on 3-of-4 3’s) and Lake (2-of-3 3’s). Memphis outrebounded Colorado State 24-13 including 8-4 on the offensive glass. They also dominated the paint with a 20-8 margin. The Rams’ Clifford of only had three points on 1-of-5 shooting, missing his three 3-point attempts. Haggerty shot only 3-of 10 (7 points) but did pull down six rebounds. Rogers helped Memphis out with 12 first half points, hitting 2-of-3 three-pointers.
In the second game Maryland dominated and coasted to an 81-49 win over Grand Canyon. The Terrapins used their size advantage to dominate the boards. They had a 43-33 rebounding advantage with Derik Queen pulling down 15 rebounds and Julian Reese grabbing nine. Maryland dominated the paint to the tune of a 40-14 scoring advantage. Resse led Maryland in scoring with 18 points while Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 16 and Queen contributed 12 points. Tyon Grant-Foster had one of his best games of the year, leading Grand Canyon with 23 points, making 3-of7 3’s. Maryland connected on 7-of-16 3’s compared to 5-of-23 for the Lopes.
After a slow start Maryland came out strong and took a 20-point first half lead. Grant-Foster (16 first half points) hit a last-second three-pointer to cut the Terrapins lead to 42-28 at the break. Reese was tough inside for Maryland, ending the half with 12 points and six rebounds. Gillespie connected on two 3’s and had 11 points at the break. Maryland had a first half 24-6 edge in points in the paint and a +6 rebounding advantage.
This article was written by Carl Berman, Managing Partner ofr NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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