NCAA Tournament: Second Round Standouts
The second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament had not only one major upset but several.
Day one was not as intense nor upsetting if you get my drift, but as for Day two, we saw a few things we haven’t seen in quite sometime.
In fact, in the case of two number 2 seeds falling in the same day, well that has never happened in the history of the Tournament.
With each big win, came a big player producing big plays in their teams Second Round success. In most cases on Friday, several of the names and teams who won were not necessarily on the national radar. They will be now. And to add their 15 minutes of fame their small-time recruits will have continue carrying their small-town schools.
Here are several names of some “Second Round Standouts” who lead their teams to victories. Whether they were part of a major upset or a win that was not so surprising.
ROYCE WHITE F IOWA STATE
White does everything but handout Gatorade at timeouts for the Cyclones. He continued to show his outstanding point-forward abilities, (now in front of the entire nation) while proving to Connecticut and the Huskies Head Coach Jim Calhoun he was untouchable.
Head Coach Fred Hoiberg depends alot on Royce as he played a team high 38 minutes. The 6’8″ Minnesota transfer would also lead the team with 13 rebounds, pour in 15 points, add 2 assists with one block while only turning the ball over once the entire game.
RODNEY MCGRUDER G KANSAS STATE
This 6’4″ Washington D.C. native put on quite a performance, being that it was only the third time in his college career he scored 30 or more points. He finished with that number exactly(30) in points on 11 of 16 shooting from the field and hitting six of his eight free throws.
Fortunately for Head Coach Frank Martin his two-guard(McGruder) had a breakout scoring performance because the Wildcats needed just about every bucket in their 70-64 win over Southern Mississippi.
JAE CROWDER F MARQUETTE
This double-double machine continues to be the all-around glue guy that the Golden Eagles and Head Coach Buzz Williams need if they plan on going to New Orleans.
In Jae’s first match-up of the tournament against BYU, they seemed to not have any kind of answer to him dominating every aspect of the game. He finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds, both game highs. To go along with his 35 minutes played he handed out 4 assists with only one turnover and also came up with 4 steals.
TU HOLLOWAY G XAVIER
After being part of one of the most distasteful and disgraceful events in the history of Regular Season Mens College Basketball, Tu made it even worse with his after game comments.
Since then he hasn’t really been heard from, until now. Holloway came out in the second half of their game against Notre Dame and was determined to grind out a win. He would end up with 25 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and one steal. His high shot off the glass with 21 seconds left would seal the #10 Musketeers 67-63 upset of the #7 Fighting Irish.
C.J. MCCOLLUM G LEHIGH
The 6’3″ guard from Canton, Ohio seemed more than up for the task in taking on the two seed Duke Blue Devils in their home state. It seemed that Coach K and his plethora of guards, had no idea that the Mountain Hawks had a guy coming in who is averaging over 20 points a game and can fill it up.
There was times during the game were McCollum would look about 5 speeds faster than any Blue Devil. In all honesty he really looked like a man among boys. He played a game high 39 minutes finishing with 30 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds as one of the smaller guards always on the court.
DRAYMOND GREEN F MICHIGAN STATE
Arguably the most valuable player to his team in the entire tournament, this man straight put on a show.
Green was not too much tested in any matter by the 16 seed LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds. He would finish this 2012 second round game with his second straight NCAA Tournament game producing a triple-double. Combined that with his team high 35 minutes played in the game, Green pretty much did it all. 24 points, 10 assists, and 12 rebounds helped lead the Spartans to an 89-67 victory.
KYLE O’QUINN C NORFOLK STATE
The number 15 seed Spartans from Norfolk State were more than 20 point underdogs against the number 2 seed the Missouri Tigers.
I guess the 6’10” Senior Center from Jamaica New York didn’t get the memo. He went 10 of 16 from the field, and 5 of 9 from the line accounting for a game high 26 points. The 14 rebounds O’Quinn had were more than the combined total of every Missouri front-court player who entered the game. 86-84, Norfolk State wins and it would be the second of two major 15 seeds upsetting 2 seeds in the same day. We don’t see it for ten years and then it comes on a day it was surely unexpected, and it happens twice!
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