Huge upsets occur as two 3 seeds go down

The UAB Blazers sent the Iowa State Cyclones home early with a huge upset in Louisville.  William Lee was the hero for the 14^th seeded Blazers, scoring the last four points for UAB.  The Blazers, the youngest team in the tournament,  made it the third year in a row that the 14^th seed beat the 3^rd seed along with Georgia State beating Baylor for another big upset.  UAB celebrated in front of the fans that lost their football program in December.

“ For us it was huge” We come here, not to just play games, but to actually make some noise and win some games.” Robert Brown, the senior guard said. “ To be able to do thatand win for Birmingham, win for coach Haase, it’s a great feeling.”

The Cyclones came into the game looking for a longer run than their trip to the Seet Sixteen last year, in which Iowa States leading scorer Georges Niang.  Iowa State just couldn’t beat  the scrappy team from Birmingham, losing to them 59-60. The Cyclones did have a 55-51 lead with just over three minutes before the Blazers took the lead again and won the game shooting free throws.  It’s one of Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg’s toughest losses as his players came out on a five game winning streak. Iowa State rallied from double-digits in the Big 12 Tournament and they took the title coming back to beat the Kansas Jayhawks.

“ I’m not going to make any excuses,” Hoiberg stated to a reporter. “ You’ve got to come out and play 40 minutes. … I don’t know. Maybe we should have let them get up double-digits. That’s how we play our best.”  The Cyclones last led 57-56, but William Lee hit a jumper with 24 seconds left, putting UAB up for good.on the next drive Lee hit two free throws.  With12.1 seconds left for the Blazers. UAB started celebrating their victory when Naz Long attempted, but missed a 3 pointer with 0.4 seconds left.

Robert Brown led UAB with 21 points, while Lee finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Cyclones, who play UCLA on Sunday. On the other hand, Monte Morris led Iowa State with 15 points and, Georges Niang scored 12 points.

The Cincinnati Bearcats beat Purdue 65-66 in a nail-biting overtime thriller.  Troy Caupain made a trick-shot lay up to advance the Bearcats to play Kentucky.  Farad Cobb and Caupain led Cincinnati with14 points for Cobb and 10 for Caupain.  A.J. Hammons scored 17 points and 10 rebounds for Purdue while Vince Edwards followed with 14 points.

The battered D’Angelo Russell led the Ohio State Buckeyes over VCU in overtime.  Russell scored 28 points with 10 assists and 3 rebounds to give the Buckeyes a well earned victory.  Dug Brooks scored 10 points for VCU.

The Villanova Wildcats beat Laffeyette in blow-out fashion Friday night in Pittsburgh.  Dylan Ennis led the Cats with 16 points while Ryan Arcidianno scored 14 points.   Dan Trist scored 17 points for Laffeyete, but obviously it wasn’t enough.