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NCAA Tournament: Weekend Upsets On Way To Sweet 16

Round 2 of the 2014 NCAA Tournament may have provided some tremendous upsets, but the third round this past weekend really shocked many fans around the nation. Some of the top teams in the country during the regular season fell short of expectations, as teams like Wichita State and Kansas didn’t make it out of the first weekend. 

Let’s check out the NCAA Tournament weekend upsets from the past two days.

 

11) Dayton over 3) Syracuse

Fans of the Orange could see this coming a mile away, as their team lost five of their last seven games prior to entering the tournament. That came on the heels of them winning 25 in a row to start the season. After soundly defeating Western Michigan in the second round, Syracuse was forced to take the court against an extremely underrated Dayton team.

The Flyers took a two-point lead into the half after a low-scoring initial 20 minutes. They maintained that two-point lead when Syracuse freshman Tyler Ennis cued up a three-point attempt at the top of the key with two seconds remaining. The ball bounced off the rim as Dayton earned its first trip to the Sweet 16 since 1984.

For Syracuse, this loss represented only the second time that it didn’t earn a trip to the second week of the tournament in six seasons. Dyshawn Pierre led the Flyers with 14 points and six boards, while the Orange were led by Tyler Ennis with 19 points in the losing effort.

 

7) Connecticut over 2) Villanova

Timothy T. Ludwig, USA Today: Uconn pulled off a solid NCAA Tournament weekend upset.

Timothy T. Ludwig, USA Today: Uconn pulled off a solid NCAA Tournament weekend upset.

These former Big East rivals took on one another for the first time since Connecticut joined the newly formed AAC this year. It was a matchup that pitted a favored Wildcat team against a perennial powerhouse in the form of Connecticut. Pretty much true to the rivalry of the past, this game didn’t lack drama.

After losing to Seton Hall in the Big East Tournament Final, Villanova entered the big dance as a No. 2 seed. It defeated Milwaukee by 20 in the opener before taking on a Huskies team that was coming off a  hard fought overtime win over Green Bay on Thursday.

Shabazz Napier led Connecticut with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting in just 25 minutes of play. Meanwhile, Terrence Samuel and Lasan Kromah both scored double digits off the bench.

Unfortunately for Villanova, its bench wasn’t up to task. Despite getting solid production from their top two scorers in the form of James Bell and Darrun Hilliard II, their bench combined to shoot just 2-of-10 from the field. It was in this that Connecticut pulled off the 12-point upset victory. This represents the first time since winning the national title back in 2010-2011 that Connecticut has made it out of the first weekend of play.

 

10) Stanford over 2) Kansas

Making its first appearance in the tournament since Johnny Dawkins took over the program back in 2008-2009, Stanford has made the most of its opportunity. After defeating New Mexico to open up the big dance on Friday, the Cardinal took a heavily-favored Kansas team to task on Sunday. Dwight Powell led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points as four members of the Cardinal team scored double digits.

Meanwhile, Josh Huestis absolutely shutdown super freshman Andrew Wiggins, who scored four points on 1-of-6 shooting while turning the ball over four times. Stanford had a seven point lead with just over 30 seconds remaining in this one. Kansas would then hit two three-point shots to pull to within two points with possession of the ball with 13 seconds remaining.

Conner Frankamp’s three-pointer rimmed out with five seconds remaining, enabling the Cardinals to move on to the Sweet 16 for the first time since that 2007-2008 season under Trent Johnson. The loss guaranteed that Kansas wouldn’t make it past the first weekend of the tourney since it fell to Northern Iowa in the Round of 32 back in 2009-2010.

 

8) Kentucky over 1) Wichita State

Since when is this an upset? A powerhouse from the SEC taking on a mid-major in the third round of the tournament. It was just a couple short years ago that  you wouldn’t even consider Kentucky defeating Wichita State anywhere near an upset. With that said, the Shockers were my pick to take home the championship after they finished the regular season with a perfect record.

As it relates to the Kentucky Wildcats, they weren’t expected to do a whole lot in this tournament. Relying a great deal on underclassmen, John Calipari’s squad was looking to gain some momentum heading into next season. In an interesting turn, Kentucky, as underdogs, pulled off a stirring upset over the previously undefeated Shockers.

The Harrison brothers combined for 39 points on 12-of-22 shooting as Kentucky took a two-point lead with just five seconds remaining on the clock. Coming out of a timeout, Wichita State botched its final possession in a poorly diagrammed play that saw Fred VanVleet take a desperation three from about two feet outside the three-point line.

 

Photo: Scott Rovak, USA Today

 

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