March Madness, the Division 1 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college basketball tournament started in 1939, quickly became a main source of entertainment around the United States. Men’s March Madness started this year on March 19.
One of the first games was five-seed University of Wisconsin Madison losing to 12-seed High Point University with a final score 83-82. With 11.7 seconds left, High Point was trailing by one point until seventh-year power forward senior Chase Johnson took the winning layup, making school history as High Point’s first time past the first round.
Also in the first round of the tournament, on March 20, seven-seed Kentucky won against ten-seed Santa Clara in a close game that went into overtime. Senior shooting guard Otega Oweh scored a buzzer beater three-pointer to send the game into overtime where they eventually beat Santa Clara.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) played University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in the round of 32. VCU trailed by 19 points in the first half, but were able to bring the game to overtime where they eventually beat UNC 82-78.
In the second round, three-seed Gonzaga University took on 11-seed University of Texas at Austin in a close game with Gonzaga leading for most of the first half until the final seconds. However, in the second half, Texas took charge and upset Gonzaga, securing the win when forward Camden Heide scored a three-pointer in the final 14 seconds.
In the Sweet 16, one-seed Florida Atlantic University lost to nine-seed University of Iowa by just one point with a final score 73-72. The game, hosted in Tampa Fla., and they were the winning team from March Madness last year. Florida ended up falling to Iowa in the final seconds of the game. Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras scored a game winning three-pointer, bringing them to the Elite Eight.
Duke made it to the Elite Eight and played against University of Connecticut (UConn) who was five for 23 in three-point shots in the first half, but Brylon Miller scored a three-point buzzer beater in the final seconds of the game after they forced a turnover from Duke star forward Cameron Boozer.
UConn went on to beat University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; the game was tight until the final two minutes when UConn took control and won. Going into the final, UConn was looking to win their third championship in four years; the last team to do this was University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) who won 10 Championships in 12 years 1964-1975. The University of Michigan beat the University of Arizona by 18 points and also advanced to the championship game.
UConn fell to Michigan in the National Championship 69-63, adding the first trophy for the Michigan Men’s Basketball program in 37 years. Michigan was led by star point guard Elliot Cadeau, a junior from New Jersey scoring 19 total points. Cadeau is a transfer from UNC and has made a huge march at Michigan. The game started slow for Michigan with them only leading by four at halftime but in the second half they pulled away. This was the only game this tournament where Michigan did not win by 10 points, showing that UConns defense was the focal point of their team. Michigan also went 25/28 from the three point line.
March Madness concluded this year with Michigan’s win over UConn finishing the 87th tournament. of March Madness. The college competition has remained a well anticipated event and this year’s bracket breaking upsets, dramatic three point shots, intense overtimes and many great buzzer beaters continue to bring a rise in game attendance and views.
