Greg Monroe

Meanwhile, scouts are flocking to the little-known CollegeInsiders.com tournament to see Marshall's 7-0 freshman Hassan Whiteside, an unknown at the start of the season ... as Coach Donnie Jones locks his phenom down, bringing him off the bench and playing him short minutes in the hope of keeping him next season. In other words, the situation is fluid, as usual: 1.  

This is a month when we're obsessed with the varieties of terminology, such as brackets, underdogs and upsets. This is a month when teams experience crestfallen defeats or blissful wins, expected to draw much attention or regards, simply for ignoring the chances of an underdog busting brackets in the early stages of the NCAA Tournament. By now, we should be used to the agony and euphoria that materializes in March, a month all basketball lords' falls in love with embracing a tournament that creates a ridd  

At their best, the Georgetown Hoyas are the antithesis of madness. When a game is all frenetic action and emotion, they are methodical and precise. But at their worst, that deliberateness becomes a liability, and coolness turns to lethargy.

You can’t wait and expect the other team to go in a slump   -Greg Monroe

 

The opening day of the first round of the NCAA tournament shocked the Big East -- three teams lost and another won in overtime, thrilled double-digit seeds -- three of them won and wore out fans with three games going overtime, including BYU's 99-92 double-overtime win against Florida. Second-seeded Villanova, which beat Robert Morris 73-70 in overtime, was the only team from the Big East, which tied its own record with eight teams in the field, to win as Georgetown, Marquette and Notre Dame all lost.  

Ish Smith had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Wake Forest, which held a 58-54 lead over Texas with 7 minutes to play. Kansas hit five straight shots from the field to take a 68-53 lead over Lehigh with 7:52 left. San Diego State scored eight straight points to take a 45-44 lead over Tennessee with 9 1/2 minutes to play.  

Just over two decades ago, top-seeded Georgetown avoided N.C.A.A. tournament infamy here by escaping with a 1-point victory against No. 16 Princeton. It is a signature could-have-been moment in N.C.A.A. tournament history , as the No. 1-seeded Hoyas trailed in the final minute and were an Alonzo Mourning blocked shot from defeat. Brian Snyder/Reuters Georgetown's Greg Monroe chased a loose ball.  

Armon Bassett scored 32 points to lead the Bobcats to a convincing 97-83 win Thursday night over the third-seeded Hoyas in the first round of Midwest Regional. In early March, no one expected Ohio (22-14) to be in this position. The team had just finished a 7-9 season in MAC play and entered the conference tournament as the ninth seed.  

Scottie Reynolds didn't start Villanova's first NCAA tournament game of his senior season. But he sure did finish. After getting benched to start the game because of what Villanova coach Jay Wright called a "teaching moment," Reynolds hit a clutch 3-pointer and then two foul shots with 9.1 seconds left in overtime to help No. 2 Villanova escape with a 73-70 victory over No. 15 Robert Morris in a first-round South Regional game at the Dunkin Donuts Center.  

For any of those that missed it, what a first day of the NCAA Tournament. 4 total overtimes happened in the 16 games. 7 upsets (according to rankings) including 5 double-digit teams making it into the second round, 2nd most in NCAA history for the first day - seemingly every game came down to the wire. Below are the scores and a few notes of the games, and go ahead and add your own favorite moments to today's amazing schedule. BYU and Florida played in the longest game, BYU winning it 99-92 in 2OT, than