DAYTON, Ohio – Welcome to March.
It was a little strange Tuesday night in the University of Dayton Arena. The NCAA Tournament began not with pitched battles that raged back and forth. There were only four lead changes in two games, but the total margin of victory was five points. Odd. This was more like two winners trying to desperately hold on, against relentless opponents, against the madness of the month.
Howard won its first NCAA Tournament game in history with a would-be tying UMBC shot in the air at the buzzer that missed.
Texas won its 41st on a tough jumper with one second left that went in.
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Some first act, hey?
This is March. Making the correct turn at the fork in the road.
“There's two ways to be here at the end of the first game in the tournament,” Texas coach Sean Miller is saying, after escaping North Carolina State 68-66. “Your season is over, and you reflect back on all that you've accomplished and how hard it is to call it an end, or you just have this thrilling feeling of being able to advance and play in this amazing tournament that all of us have watched, really our entire lives.”
ARE YOU KIDDING!!!
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB)
TEXAS GOES BACK IN FRONT 😱
This is March. Opportunity.
“We talk about how important it is for them to have a chance to get to an NCAA Tournament and win games,” Howard coach Kenneth Blakeney is saying after the 86-83 victory over UMBC. “We talked about that before the game. We've never won a game. We've done a lot of things in our program, but let's check off the box of winning an NCAA game today.”
This is March. The joy of a game-winning shot, which Texas’ Tramon Mark delivered in the final second to beat NC State, after the Wolfpack had worked so hard to get even. Joy you can hear from the man who took the shot, and the teammates who watched him do it.
Mark: “I got a great look. I looked at the clock, and I just sized them up and got a great look at the rim. I practice those shots every day."
Chendall Weaver: “I guard T Mark every day, he makes those shots on me, so as soon as it went up, I knew it was going in.”
Dailyn Swain: “When he put it up, I crashed the board, but I knew, like that was Tramon Mark, so it's a good chance it's going in. He's a tough shot maker. That's what he does.”
It was, what, Mark’s fourth game-winning shot in the final seconds?
"Five,” Mark corrected.
This is March. Sudden desolation and forced reflection when the end has come.
“It was a little emotional locker room, but it'll be emotional,” UMBC coach Jim Ferry is saying after the loss to Howard. “Like I said, I get we're crying, but let's not cry because it's over, let's cry because, man, how lucky are we that we had a season with each other like this.
“These guys touched my life so much more than I touched theirs. It was magical. It really was.”
This is March. Pressure, knowing the next mistake might be your last.
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Texas and North Carolina State played back in the carefree November days of Maui, and the Longhorns won 102-97. This time, they struggled to get into the 60s. Neither shot 40 percent, and Texas nearly had the game get away when its press-breaker went south. Just like Howard missed three free throws in the final 63 seconds.
“When you get into March, and you're in this tournament,” Miller is saying, “the magnitude of being able to advance versus not can sometimes take over a player's mind.”
And this is March. Heroes of games, who cherish the chance.
Ose Okojie, earlier this week, talked about his first NCAA Tournament trip with Howard and a loss to Kansas.
“I remember the first time I was here, my freshman year in 2022, it was kind of a surreal experience, and I kind of didn't want it to get to my head. I remember the night before, I had trouble sleeping. That was probably the biggest thing. I remember staying up, staring at the ceiling, going, I'm going to be in March Madness.”
But Tuesday night, he is a veteran who scores 23 points.
“At this big stage, there's no time for fear. There's no time for worry, you've got to trust your work.”
Weaver comes off the bench for Texas and has a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds –all 6'3" of him.
And this is March. Understanding that a great moment now can echo through the years.
Blakeney, who was a role player for Mike Krzyzewski back in the glory years of the early 1990s: “When I went to Duke, I understood what going to Duke meant. I went to Duke to win championships. I want our young men to come to Howard to win championships . . . so when I present opportunities to our players, it's about how do you brand, market and separate yourself from other students at Howard? You do it in the classroom. You do it in the community, and you do it on the court.
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“If you have a chance to win a MEAC conference championship, regular season championship, or an NCAA game and advance, there is not going to be an alum in the country that won't take your phone call. You come to Howard for reasons to try to position yourself for the next 30 to 40 to 50 years of your life, and hopefully with our guys, they're doing that today.”
And this is March. Understanding how fate can sway in the wind, having just survived a game where it did.
“I think to a large extent, it's why we all want to be a part of college basketball, to be a part of the NCAA Tournament, March Madness,” Miller is explaining “The incredible journey to make the tournament, which is an accomplishment in and of itself with the parity with our game, and then being able to get into the tournament and fight to advance, the thrill of advancing, and really the incredible pain of a loss. Obviously, when you're in the tournament, you experience both. Like NC State, it's tough on those guys. They easily could be on this podium advancing going to Portland.”
And finally, this is March. A few moments of exultation if you win. And then the sobering reality, who’s next?
For Howard, that’s mighty Michigan. But as Bryce Harris said, “Ever since we kind of get a glimpse of March and what comes with the NCAA Tournament, it's something that you constantly think about because you want to win. Especially coming in as an underdog, that's the American story, baby.”
First ever NCAA tournament victory for 👏
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB)
They will face Michigan on Thursday.
For Texas, that’s an overnight flight to Portland to play BYU. But maybe the experience of already being in the fire will help. It apparently has before. At least one First Four survivor has won its next game in 12 of the 14 years the event has been in existence.
“I haven't really looked ahead too much,” Miller is saying. “I know it's a long trip from Dayton, Ohio, to Portland. I know the time of our departure is midnight. I know what that means. I know tomorrow we have media and we're going to be in the West, so we have a big night ahead of us. I do think there's power in playing a game in this tournament. I've referenced it three or four times, where sometimes a player or a team is not themselves. I don't want to say jitters, but March Madness looms big.
“I think our nerves sometimes can settle through Game 1. You can gain confidence. You already have one game to your advantage. But we're going to have to play a really good team, and we're definitely going to have to play better than we played tonight. We know that. But we get that opportunity. That's the thrill.”
The mood has been set. March has blasted off.
