#8 ARKANSAS vs #9 SETON HALL
The best game of the day, so far (unless you are a Tar Heel fan). The Razorbacks seemed to be in control for much of the first half, while 6'10'' senior Moses Kingsley, dominated inside. He especially did so when Seton Hall's Angel Delgado was on the bench with two fouls.
The game had stretches of great defense for Seton Hall. Angel Delgado's play was inspired. He seemed to pick up cheap fouls on the defensive end of the floor, but stayed aggressive on the offensive end. Around the 9 minute mark in the 2nd half Delgado picked up his 3rd foul, on a cheap call, and immediately went down the floor, fought through contact, and created an and-one opportunity. The next possession Delgado fought through what looked like an obvious Kingsley foul (no call), making another bucket. For the third possession in a row, the Pirates feed Delgado again. He's fouled. He makes both free throws. It's 68-62 with 6:30 to play, at this point.
Moses Kingsley led the Arkansas comeback and Seton Hall made some big mistakes in the final minute that helped the Razorbacks clinch the victory. Two big turnovers hurt SHU along with a flagrant foul called on Desi Rodriguez with 18.3 left on the clock.
ARKANSAS 77 SETON HALL 71
#1 UNC vs #16 TEXAS SOUTHERN
There was no doubt to how this one would turn out after the first 5:30. Texas Southern had the lead twice in those first few minutes, but UNC's talent took over. They were too long at the defensive end for the Tigers and too talented on the offensive end. In a 6:36 stretch in the 1st half the Tar Heels went on a 22-4 run. The Heels played near-perfect basketball for the first 10:30, with Theo Pinson picking up the team's first foul at 9:28.
At 5:29 I wrote, "If Berry gets going, it's going to get very ugly." It got ugly, despite Berry never finding his groove and visiting the locker room with a turned ankle. He did give the crowd and his teammates a thrill by burying a three at the halftime buzzer.
It was a day for Justin Jackson. A half, anyway. In a four-minute stretch of the first half... separate from the run mentioned earlier... the Heels went on a 14-0 run that included 4 three-pointers from Jackson.
The game was so lopsided in the 2nd half, most of the attention was on how much the pine-riders could score. The sparse crowd still in attendance the last three minutes erupted when Kanler Coker made a reverse layup for just his 2nd basket of the season. He finished with a season high 4 points.
UNC 103 TEXAS SOUTHERN 64
Following the games, arena staff had to rush to replace part of the floor. One of the boards broke under the awesome expectations the Tar Heels carry after last year's last-second loss to Villanova in the title game. That's my theory anyway.