Biggest disappointments from the NCAA tournament’s first weekend

The NCAA tournament has provided college basketball fans with some thrilling moments in high-leverage situations. However, certain participants did not perform up to standard with everything on the line. We’ll take a look at who wishes they could have a second chance at the NCAA tournament’s first weekend. Statistics are sourced from Sports Reference.

With yet another roster chock-full of future NBA talent, the Wildcats entered the tournament with as much ability as anyone in the field. However, they were stunned by Oakland University in their first game. Kentucky has not advanced past the second round of the tournament since 2019, and has not made a Final Four since 2015.

Reed Sheppard is projected to go in the top five of the NBA Draft according to NBA Draft net, but his performance left a lot to be desired against Oakland. The Kentucky guard’s performance was deemed a clunker by USA Today, as he finished with three points on 1-5 shooting. It was a stunning no-show from a player who saved Kentucky multiple times during the season.

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In addition to their struggles on offense, Kentucky also conceded 10 three-pointers to Oakland guard Jack Gohlke. The latter had an incredible performance, draining long range threes on the move. Still, it is disappointing for Kentucky fans that the Wildcats were unable to slow him down at all after he got hot from distance.

The Arizona Wildcats were able to get past the Dayton Flyers in the second round of the tournament, but head coach Tommy Lloyd will need to look at film displaying their struggles against the press. Arizona turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, and didn’t seem comfortable bringing the ball up the floor.

Many in the media thought Kansas would lose in the first round to a motivated Samford squad. CBS’ Seth Davis predicted as much, as chronicled by the Topeka Capital Journal. Samford was right there at the very end, but got the short end of a play that was called a foul. A.J. Staton-McCray appeared to get all-ball on the block attempt, but the referees saw it differently.

Oakland was locked into another tight affair in the second round, this time with North Carolina State. They were not able to defeat the Wolfpack, but they got the benefit of a call in overtime that could’ve helped deliver them a victory. The Detroit News commented that a backcourt violation should have been called against Oakland after Trey Townsend tipped the ball past halfcourt.

Dalton Knecht and the Tennessee Volunteers feature a potent shooting lineup, but that proficiency was not on display against the Texas Longhorns. Fortunately for Tennessee, they overcame a 1-21 performance from downtown to advance to the Sweet 16. Knecht was 1-8 from three point land, but still finished with 18 points thanks to his performance at the free throw line.

Sports Illustrated and former Texas Longhorns star Kevin Durant have lauded the shot-making ability of guard Max Abmas throughout the season. However, he took a difficult shot with 10 seconds to go that didn’t hit the rim. This all but sealed the victory for Tennessee, and it’s reasonable to think that the Longhorns could’ve gotten a better attempt off in that situation.

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The Oregon Ducks and Creighton Blue Jays played a double overtime thriller in the second round. Center N’Faly Dante had a tremendous game, logging 28 points and 20 rebounds. However, Oregon stunningly inbounded the ball to him late in the second half, when he is only a 60% free throw shooter from the line. Dante missed the front end of the one and one, giving Creighton life.

Jermaine Couisnard was sensational in Oregon’s two tournament games. He scored 40 points in the first round contest, and followed that up with a 32-point performance against Creighton. Bleacher Report wrote about how the Ducks’ guard wowed the crowd, and it’s disappointing that fans won’t get to watch him play as the tournament continues on.

The Baylor Bears have been guard-oriented teams in the last few years, and this season was no different. Freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter needed to play well for the Bears to advance, but he struggled at the free throw line in their round two game against Clemson. He went 5-10 from the charity stripe. The Waco Tribune Herald reports that Walter might leave college for the NBA this spring.

Grand Canyon and Alabama squared off in a wild second round contest, full of energy on the court and in the stands. The Arizona Republic called it a “war”, while Awful Announcing quoted TNT analyst Charles Barkley calling Grand Canyon’s performance “the dumbest game of basketball he thinks he has ever seen.” There were a lot of contested shots taken.

It was always going to be an uphill battle for Northwestern to hang in with the mighty University of Connecticut during the second round. Northwestern guard Boo Buie had a rough go of it on Sunday, shooting 2-15. Despite the disappointing ending to his college career, Buie received a ton of love from coach Chris Collins and the team’s faithful fans.

The Houston Cougars seemed to be in full control of their second round game against Texas A&M with two minutes left…and then all of a sudden, they weren’t. The Aggies made a furious comeback to tie the game at the buzzer. The Cougars buckled down in overtime to hold on to the win. The Houston Chronicle aptly called it an “escape.”

Houston was helped out immensely by a poor shooting night from Aggies guard Wade Taylor. He went 5-26 from the field, and put up some difficult attempts at the end of the game from deep. Taylor has made a habit of being a volume shooter and scorer, but Texas A&M may have found a cleaner look had patience been exercised.

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