Armadillo Sports
Saturday’s 6-pack
18 days until baseball starts; these guys are still free agents:
— Trevor Story, SS
— Carlos Correa, SS
— Michael Conforto, OF
— Jorge Soler, OF
— Tommy Pham, OF
— Johnny Cueto, P
Quote of the Day
“I’ll get to the bottom of this……if I have to go all the way to the top.”
Colonel Flagg, M*A*S*H
Saturday’s quiz
Before the Kansas City Royals existed, which major league team called Kansas City home?
Friday’s quiz
Eric Musselman’s father Bill was once the basketball coach for the Minnesota Gophers; baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield played basketball for Musselman’s Gophers.
Thursday’s quiz
Florida was the last college hoop team to win consecutive national titles, in 2006/2007.
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Saturday’s Den: Wrapping up 2nd day of March Madness
Illinois 54, Chattanooga 53:
— Chattanooga led this game 20-6 early on.
— Illinois’ first lead came with 0:46 left.
— Illini outscored Chattanooga 8-2 over final 3:42 of game.
Ohio State 54, Loyola Chi 41:
— Ugly game; Loyola shot 25% inside arc, Ohio State was 1-15 on arc.
— Just second win in last six games for Buckeyes.
— Last nine years, favorites are 20-13 ATS in 7-10 games.
Auburn 80, Jacksonville State 61:
— Gamecocks led by 6 early, but shot only 31.1% from floor.
— Auburn’s opponents shoot only 42.4% inside arc (#4)
— Tigers have much tougher test Sunday, against Miami.
Texas Tech 97, Montana State 62:
— Game was 32-12 after 10:00; no contest. Tech was 12-20 on arc.
— Tech’s game Sunday will be lot more interesting than this was.
— Last seven years, Big Sky teams are 1-5-1 ATS in first round games.
Purdue 78, Yale 56:
— Yale shot 36.5% from floor; Purdue was too big, too athletic.
— Boilers are 25-0 when they score 70+ points, 3-7 when they don’t.
— From 2010-19, Ivy League teams were 8-2 ATS in this round.
Villanova 80, Delaware 60:
— Villanova made 13-28 on arc, scored 1.31 ppp.
— Blue Hens shot 63.3% inside arc, still lost by 20.
— Last three years, CAA teams lost in this round, by 34-29-20 points.
Miami 68, USC 66:
— Miami led by 7 with 0:44 left, blew that lead, then hit two FT’s with 0:03 left.
— Hurricanes had only three turnovers on 68 possessions in this game.
— USC was down 31-20 at half; they lost three of their last four games.
Notre Dame 78, Alabama 64:
— Alabama lost its last four games, giving up 81.8 ppg.
— Notre Dame made 10-16 on arc, Alabama 8-24.
— Alabama G Quinerly hurt his knee early on, played only 3:00.
Texas 81, Virginia Tech 73:
— Longhorns made 10-19 on arc, snap 3-game losing skid.
— Hokies’ leading scorer scored 19 points in 19:00 off bench.
— After struggling in NCAA’s last few years, ACC teams are 4-2 ATS this week.
Duke 78, Cal-Fullerton 61
— Duke won 10 of its last 12 games.
— Blue Devils never trailed, shot 58.3% inside arc.
— Duke played only six guys more than 8:00.
Arizona 87, Wright State 70:
— Wildcats shot 55% on arc, 55% inside arc, scored 1.14 ppp.
— Arizona won seven in row, 16 of its last 17 games.
— Horizon teams improve to 3-7 ATS in this round over last decade.
Iowa State 59, LSU 54:
— Iowa State was 12-37 on arc, only 8-19 inside arc.
— Only three Cyclones scored more than four points.
— LSU lost five of its last eight games.
Houston 82, UAB 68:
— Cougars jumped out to a 34-16 lead.
— Houston won 10 of its last 11 games.
— UAB (38.1% for year) shot 5-19 on arc.
Michigan State 74, Davidson 73:
— Michigan State is 10-2 out of conference.
— Davidson hit a trey at the buzzer to push the spread.
— Since 2014, A-14 teams are 10-12-1 ATS in this round.
TCU 69, Seton Hall 42:
— Seton Hall shot 28.8% from the floor.
— Big X teams went 6-0 ATS in first round.
— Big East teams went 3-3 ATS in first round.
Wisconsin 67, Colgate 60:
— Game was 28-all at halftime.
— Colgate shot only 12-35 inside arc (10-22 on arc)
— Last five years, Patriot League teams are 4-1 ATS in this round.