The UCLA Bruins failed in the First Four. But for that, the St. Peter’s. Bonaventura Bonnies and the Brooklyn Highlanders ecstasy.
Radford (16) – LIU Brooklyn (16)71:61
Topscorer: Ed Poplite, Caleb Tanner (13) – Jashaun Agoston (16)
The man of the evening was Freshman-Guard Carlik Jones, who used the most important game of his career to date to play Career Highs in Rebounds (11) and Assists (7) – a good time to start the First Four. The fact that it was by no means gourmet basketball delivered by the Highlanders was of no concern to them in the end. Finally they are allowed to fly to March Madness and meet No. 1-Seed Villanova on Thursday.
What Radford benefited from was the fact that they always managed to generate runs at the right time. They took advantage of the Blackbirds’ dry spell in the second half to set themselves apart: 12 minutes before the end, a three-point gap turned into a 9-point lead. Radford did not surrender these.
UCLA (11) – St. Bonaventure (11)58:65
Top scorer: Aaron Holiday (20) – Courtney Stockard (20)
For 48 years the Bonnies had to wait for a win at the NCAA Tournament before they threw the famous Bruins out a little bit surprisingly. Head coach Mark Schmidt jumped over the court like a child after the final buzzer and waved his arms uncontrollably.
“It just can’t get any better,”he shouted into the microphones after the game. Schmidt was once again able to draw on Courtney Stockard, who recovered from his thigh injury in time and won the match with 26 points. He was on the court for the full 40 minutes. The Bonnies now meet Florida (#6) in the East Region.
For the Bruins, defeat is something like a super-GAU – they have never been “deported”into the First Four in their history. They’ve reached the Final Four 18 times, but they can’t buy anything from this tradition.
North Carolina Central (16) – Texas Southern (16) -: – (Wed, 23.40 hrs)
Arizona State (11) – Syracuse (11) -: – (Thursday, 2.10 a. m.)