GREENSBORO, N.C. -- There were 16 NCAA tournament games Thursday.
Eleven were decided by double-digits.
(Yawn)
I hope what's on tap is more interesting.
Otherwise, I'm turning my full attention to the NIT.
Here's a recap of Thursday's NCAA tournament action ...
Story of the day: Jim Calhoun missed Connecticut's 103-47 victory over Chattanooga and spent Thursday night in a Philadelphia-area hospital for precautionary reasons. It remains unclear whether the Hall of Famer will return to the sideline in time for Saturday's game against Texas A&M, although Calhoun is expected to be released from the hospital at some point Friday morning.
Game of the day: Eric Maynor had the ball in the final seconds against one of college basketball's storied programs, and stop me if you've heard this one before. Two years ago in a similar situation, Maynor hit a late jumper to help VCU beat Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament. This time, it was UCLA on defense, and because UCLA played better defense, Maynor never got a clean look. Instead, he forced a shot at the buzzer that missed badly, allowing UCLA to escape with a 65-64 win .
Upset of the day: I'm not even sure it was an upset, because pretty much everybody I know predicted it to happen. Still, a No. 12 seed (Western Kentucky) beat a No. 5 seed (Illinois) by a 76-72 margin, and now first-year WKU coach Ken McDonald is just one win away from becoming the hottest young coach in America, which would translate into a nice pay raise, at the very least.
Predictable star: Marcus Thornton took 15 shots, made 10 and finished with 30 points in LSU's 75-71 win over Butler . The SEC Player of the Year took over, but only in spurts, getting most of his points in succession, either late in the first half or towards the middle of the second. Next up is a showdown with North Carolina in North Carolina. It'll match the SEC champions against the ACC champions, the SEC Player of the Year against the ACC Player of the Year (assuming Roy Williams allows Ty Lawson to play).
Unpredictable star: Roburt Sallie entered the NCAA tournament with 39 made 3-pointers, meaning he basically sank one every game. And then came this game against Cal State-Northridge, a game in which Sallie shot 15 3-pointers, made 10, and finished with 35 points to help Memphis advance with an 81-70 victory that wasn't safe until the final minutes.
-- Three random notes --
1. Oliver Purnell fell to 0-5 all-time in the NCAA tournament thanks to Clemson's 62-59 loss to Michigan . He's now lost once with Old Dominion, twice with Dayton and twice with Clemson. He lost despite having the higher-seeded team last season and this season.
2. Washington barely had to deal with Mississippi State's Jarvis Varnado in a 71-58 win over the SEC tournament champions . The nation's leading shot blocker played just six minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. He finished with five blocks in 23 minutes.
3. One of the stories coming out of Selection Sunday was that only four non-BCS schools received at-large bids. After one day of the NCAA tournament, two of those teams are already gone because Texas A&M eliminated BYU and LSU eliminated Butler. Dayton and Xavier (at-larges from the Atlantic 10) play Friday.
Closing statement: Tyler Hansbrough became the ACC's all-time leading scorer in North Carolina's 101-58 win over Radford. It was another monumental accomplishment for the four-time All-American, but that doesn't mean his teammates couldn't clown him, just a little.
"I'm just glad he broke the record on a free throw," said UNC's Bobby Frasor. "I think that's pretty fitting."
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