Posted by Mark Schlabach
Here are some thoughts from Thursday's evening first-round games in the NCAA tournament:
1. Are we going to go through an entire day of opening-round games without a major upset? No. 2 seed-Memphis survived a big scare from Cal State-Northridge, before pulling away 81-70 in the West Region in Kansas City. No. 3-seed Villanova trailed No. 14-seed American by 10 points at the half, but then out-scored the Eagles 49-26 in the second for an 80-67 win in the East Region in Philadelphia.
South Region No. 4 seed Gonzaga seemed to be in trouble against No. 13-seed Akron, too, but the Bulldogs eventually pulled away for a 77-64 victory in Portland. The Bulldogs used a 31-6 run to put the Zips away.
There are two more major upset possibilities late Thursday night. No. 11-seed Virginia Commonwealth should give No. 6-seed UCLA all it can handle in an East Region first-round game in Philadelphia. No. 12-seed Western Kentucky also might have a chance to knock off No. 5-seed Illinois in a South Region first-round game in Portland.
2. Give American U., a Patriot League school in Washington, D.C., some credit. The Eagles faced the Wildcats in their hometown of Philly and had them on the ropes for much of the game. American attempted a whopping 30 3-point attempts and only five foul shots (Villanova went 26-for-29 at the foul line). American guard Garrison Carr scored 22 points and went 6-for-14 on 3-pointers.
Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunnigham each scored 25 points for Villanova, shooting a combined 18-for-26.
3. Texas senior guard A.J. Abrams found his shooting touch again in the No. 7-seed Longhorns' 76-62 victory over No. 10-seed Minnesota in Greensboro, N.C., on Thursday night.
Abrams, who had scored 10 points or fewer in four of his past six games, went 9-for-19 from the floor and scored 26 against the Gophers. He shot 8-for-15 on 3-pointers, his highest total from beyond the arch this season. At one point in the second half, Abrams made three 3-pointers in less than a minute to help Texas pull away for good.
Texas also got 18 points and nine rebounds from Damion James, and 17 points and 11 rebounds from Dexter Pittman.
The Longhorns advanced to play the winner of Thursday night's game between No. 2-seed Duke and No. 15-seed Binghamton in Saturday's second round.
4. Another NCAA tournament, another disappointing first-round exit for Clemson. The No. 7-seed Tigers lost to No. 10-seed Michigan 62-59 in a South Region first-round game in Kansas City on Thursday night. The Tigers were upset by No. 12-seed Villanova in the first round in Tampa, Fla., last year. Clemson has lost in the first round in four of its last five NCAA appearances.
Guard Manny Harris led the Wolverines with 23 points, six assists and seven rebounds. Michigan held Clemson to 32.8-percent shooting from the floor, including 5-for-22 on 3-pointers.
Thursday night's loss to the Wolverines probably shouldn't have been a surprise. Clemson had lost four of its past five games, including an 86-81 defeat against Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament in Atlanta last week.
