Mega March Madness Marathon: 1:00 PM-2:00 PM

1:03     Well, it took about six minutes to get the last installment up on the Internet, tagged, labeled, captioned, and all that.  I figure someone else will be nice enough to edit it and add a good action photo of one of the teams playing.  I have basketball to watch!

1:04     Kansas has stretched their lead to 41-24.  Since a No. 1 seed has never lost a first round game in the men’s tournament, I can’t say I’m shocked.

1:04     It has happened in the women’s tournament though.  Did you know that?  Even more impressive because it happened in an away game, not on a neutral court.

1:05     I know you’re curious.  Harvard’s ladies won at Stanford.  There you go.  Couldn’t tell you the year though.

1:05     Okay, okay, I hear you screaming “Back to the men’s games!”  Don’t get so uptight!

1:05     Quote of the day so far: “I’ll tell you what, Georgia is as hot as their uniforms.”—play-by-play guy Craig Bolerjack.

1:06     Bulldogs by nine at the break.  Official alert: Possible upset brewing.

1:07     Michigan State must have played pretty well while I was away.  Their lead’s up to eleven.  And that’s why we have the highlight montage.  Looks like freshman Kalin Lucas is coming through for the green and white. 

1:08     Temple’s shooting 22 percent from the field.  I have NO idea why they’re down double digits.

1:10     Subway commercial.  I knew Jared had lost a lot of weight by eating Subway, but 245 pounds?  Wow.

1:11     I’m not hungry anymore.

1:11     Temple finally stops the bleeding.  Ryan Brooks hits a jumper to cut the Spartan lead to 10.

1:12     I love the fact that Temple’s leading scorer (20 ppg) is named Dionte Christmas.

1:13     Ryan Brooks again.  This guy averages eight points a game off the bench.  He’s got eight so far...and it’s a good thing for the Owls, because that means they’re only down nine.

1:14     Ryan Brooks again (no, this is not a duplicate post).  Brooks is feeling it from outside and is in double figures with 10.  Sparty’s lead has shrunk to seven, and that will give us a timeout in Denver.

1:15     Talk about Christmas cheer.

1:15     Never mind, that was a bad joke.

1:15     Drew Neitzel just got his first points of the game.  The fact Michigan State is ahead with Neitzel not scoring is a great sign for the folks from East Lansing.

1:16     27 seconds to go in the half and MSU should be able to hold for one shot.  Good teams thrive in situations like this.  Don’t shoot too soon and give the other team an extra chance...execute in the half-court...get the ball into scoring position at just the right time.

1:16     Hmm...Neitzel takes a contested jumper with eight seconds to go.  Temple runs the ball the other way and gets to the line with less than a second to play.

That may seem like a little thing, but if MSU just holds the ball without shooting at all, Temple can’t score.  So why shoot with eight seconds to play?  Like I said, it’s all about execution.

1:17     Sorry, that’s a pet peeve.  Temple got one of two from the line.  MSU 35-26 at halftime.

1:18     I thought that score sounded familiar.  Georgia’s up 35-26 at half.  State’s up 35-26 at half.  Kansas is up, 49-26.  Well, so much for a trend. 

1:19     Breaking news alert from CBS commercial: Britney Spears is going to have a guest appearance on How I Met Your Mother.

1:19     So?

1:21     With all three games at halftime, I get to sit and listen to Greg, Clark, and Seth dissect what I’ve already seen.  That gives me a little time to peruse the stats as well. 

How about Brandon Rush with 15 points for Kansas in the first twenty minutes?  Or Derrick Brown of Xavier well on his way to a double-double with nine points and seven boards at the break?

1:27     How about some game action already? 

1:28     Finally.  Georgia and Xavier are underway.  And Georgia gets a putback to stretch the lead to 11. 

1:29     Bob Wenzel just said Xavier has only trailed at halftime five times all year. 

1:29     Derrick Brown continues his big day.  Rebound, bucket, double figures.

1:30     Kansas and Portland State are playing again now.  The Vikings hit a three to cut the lead to 20.  20-point game, 19 minutes to play.  Not quite a nailbiter yet, but you never know...?

1:31     Georgia just committed a huge blunder.  Never take a shot on offense without someone ready to get back and stop the fast break.  Layup, Drew Lavender.  37-30. 

1:32     After a couple Bulldog free throws, it’s steal Georgia, dunk Georgia.  41-30.

1:33     Drew Lavender is “maybe the smallest player in the tournament”, according to the announcers.  Of course, he’s 5’7” and I’m looking at 5’6” Jeremiah Dominguez on the other screen, so...while I may not have majored in math in college...hmm...

1:34     Kansas continues to shoot the lights out from downtown as they stretch the lead to 25.  Of course, every time the Viking guards get too close to the perimeter, it’s a backdoor play and a Jayhawk alleyoop.  Talk about a catch-22.

1:36     Nice pull-up jumper by Drew Lavender against the Georgia zone.  Bulldogs still lead by nine.

1:37     And Georgia answers right back.  43-32.  Cinderella anyone?

1:38     We have the first “Christmas” crack of the day.  Temple guard Dionte Christmas is scoreless at halftime, and color commentator Len Elmore commended the Michigan State defense for “playing Scrooge and taking away Christmas.”

1:39     We got the joke, guys.  Now Gus is congratulating Len for his creativity.  Let’s move on.

1:40     Neitzel just got his third foul for the Spartans—that could hurt.  MSU struggles to find offense sometimes when he’s on the bench.

1:40     State’s Raymar Morgan immediately knocks down a three.  Strike the previous comment from the record.

1:41     I’m still on my first glass of Diet Coke.  When you’re talking about twelve straight hours of basketball, some level of pacing is required!

1:42     Score update: Michigan State by 14, Kansas by 22, Georgia by nine.

1:43     Big shot Georgia!  Billy Humphrey just hit a three to stop the Musketeers’ momentum and stretch the lead back to ten.

1:45     CBS just informed us how rare a 14 seed win is in the NCAA tournament. 

Okay, I buy that.  But why make the point by putting up a graphic that it hasn’t happened since...oh, I don’t know...2006?  “Look, it didn’t happen last year!”

1:47     Michigan State’s got Temple on the ropes.  The lead’s up to 16 and Neitzel’s still on the bench.

1:47     Here comes Xavier.  It’s a six-point game.

1:48     Hmm...One of my DirecTV channels just went blank.  That’s not good.  I’ll give them about two minutes (since it’s a commercial) before I call and complain.                    

1:51     Time to resolve technical difficulties.  See you at 2:00 PM!