March Madness 2021 – Best moments and greatest plays of the NCAA tournament

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March Madness is a story of disruptions in 2021. We are on the second day of the round of 32 and it is anyone’s guess who will fall today.

Sunday saw the ongoing Cinderella stories of both Loyola Chicago and Oral Roberts. The 8-seed Ramblers beat Illinois in a 71-58 victory, dropping Sister Jean’s prayers for the Illini to shoot below 30% of the 3-point line.

Fifteenth-seeded Oral Roberts started the tournament and upset Ohio State, holding out on Sunday for an 81-78 victory over Florida by seven seeds. Oral Roberts has won their games with a combined six points, and the Golden Eagles will face Arkansas by three seeds in their first Sweet 16 since 1974.

Those weren’t the only disruptions that took place on Sunday. No. 11-seed Syracuse looked like some of Jim Boeheim’s best teams in defeating 3-seed West Virginia, and 12-seed Oregon State, after already beating an orange team in 5-seed Tennessee, again did so against 4-seed Oklahoma State.

Goodbye to Drew Timme’s mustache?

No. 1 seed Gonzaga had an outstanding performance from sophomore forward Drew Timme in his victory over 8-seed Oklahoma. Timme dropped 30 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and added 4 assists for good measure. After the match, he was told his mother said he should shave his mustache if the Bulldogs won – which was news to him, it turned out.

The emotional goodbye to Luka Garza

Second-placed Iowa was eliminated by Oregon on Monday, but that was not due to a lack of effort from Luka Garza. The Hawkeyes center scored 36 of his team’s 80 points, adding nine rebounds for good measure. After the game, the senior reflected in an emotional press conference about his last game representing Iowa.

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Iowa senior Luka Garza gets emotional when he checks out as Hawkeye for the last time.

Anything more impressive about the Garza line? Oregon made sure to earn those points – the Ducks contested 16 of his 20 shots.

The slipper – umm, basketball shoe – doesn’t fit

Remember Zion Williamson cut so hard that his shoe fell apart in a 2019 Duke-North Carolina game? Something similar happened with Ben Vander Plas from Ohio in the second round.

The 6-foot-8 junior stepped through his sole and needed a new pair of shoes halfway through the Bobcats’ match against Creighton, fifth seed.

Geaux Joe

Joe Burrow led the LSU football team to the 2019 national championship. Not finished cheering his school on, he sits down to watch eighth-seeded Tigers try to upset Michigan for the best.

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