It's day two of our March Madness Retro Tournament and to kick things off we've got:
No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 15 LSU
Are you ready for the first major upset of the tournament? Behind sharp three-point shooting from Marcus Thornton and tough inside play from Glenn "Big Baby" Davis and Tyrus Thomas, LSU pulled a stunning upset.
The alumni Tigers didn't just win, they blew the Wildcats out 79-57. LSU made 11 threes to just one for Kentucky. It was clear the outside shooting edge was too much for Kentucky to overcome.
No. 7 Florida vs. No. 10 Georgia Tech
Joakim Noah had the alumni Gators hyped, but the alumni Yellow Jackets jumped out to a huge lead early.
Jarrett Jack was bombing away from outside, and dishing sweet alley oop passes to Glen Rice Jr.
Jack had 16 points and six assists to lead the Ga. Tech to dominating 67-43 win.
No. 3 Texas vs. No. 14 Washington
The frontcourt of Texas features Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge. It's going to be tough for any team to match up against them. But Washington gave a great effort.
The teams traded the lead late in the game. In fact, the Huskies had a 53-51 lead with 51 seconds remaining in the game.
Durant found Aldridge on this pass and the big man converted it to the game.
After getting a stop against the alumni Huskies, this second and third effort from Tristan Thompson turned out to be the game winner.
Texas survives a scare and wins it 55-53.
No. 6 UConn vs. No. 11 Arizona
This battle was one of the best of the entire tournament. Andre Drummond was big for UConn. He made a layup that tied the score at 66 with just 15.6 seconds remaining.
Despite the fact that Jerryd Bayless had led the team with 18 points, Arizona turned to Richard Jefferson in the clutch:
RJ drained the three from the corner to give Arizona the thrilling 69-66 win. Buzzer beaters are nice.
That's the end of the round of 16. There are now eight teams remaining. Here are the Elite Eight matchups:
1. UCLA 5. Kansas 15. LSU 3. Texas
8. UNC 4. Duke 10. Ga. Tech 11. Arizona
1. UCLA vs. 8. UNC
This game was tight from beginning to end, but Westbrook looks amazing without Durant. He led all scorers with 24 points and knocked down this three that gave the Bruins a late lead.
Raymond Felton and Carter put up a good fight, but with Westbrook posterizing Vinsanity here, the alumni Bruins moved on the Final Four with a 64-61.
5. Kansas vs. 4. Duke
I had high hopes for the alumni Blue Devils, but they ran into a buzz saw in this one. Chalmers was reigning threes. He scored 17 points and Paul Pierce had 16 in a 63-52 win.
Irving led Duke with 23 points, but it was all for nothing. He's probably used to that playing for the Cavaliers.
15 LSU vs. 10 Ga. Tech
LSU was trying to follow up their upset win over Kentucky with another one over Ga. Tech. It nearly happened too, but more clutch play from Jack helped to hold them off.
The alumni Yellow Jackets survived a scare and moved on to the Final Four with a 69-67 win.
Rice Jr. led all scorers with 19 points and slams like these.
3. Texas vs. 11. Arizona
Two of the three alumni squads representing the west coast clash here. Texas' Tristan Thompson was all over the place on both ends of the floor.
His 19 points led the alumni Longhorns to a 67-59 win. Texas out rebounded Arizona 21-12 in the game.
The Final Four is set:
1. UCLA 10 Ga. Tech
5. Kansas 3. Texas
1. UCLA vs. 5. Kansas
In the first semifinal, Westbrook leads the Bruins against the Jayahwks. The dynamic guard had the best individual performance of the tournament. He went for 31 points to lead the Bruins to a 69-62 win and a spot in the finals.
Which team will join them?
10. Ga. Tech vs. 3. Texas
The lowest remaining seed is the Yellow Jackets. Ga. Tech proved they belong on this stage. Chris Bosh and Iman Shumpert played well, but the Texas frontcourt was absolutely nasty.
Thompson was protecting the rim like it was his newborn baby. Check out this block:
Durant handled the offense. He had 24 points and Texas punched its ticket into the final with a 65-57 win.
The final is set. Durant and Westbrook will go head to head for the mythical, NCAA Alumni Championship. Texas vs. UCLA, here's how it went down.
1. UCLA vs. 3. Texas
Early on, the Texas frontcourt created a problem. Aldridge drains the fadeaway...
and Durant catches the alley oop from D.J. Augustin…
Still the game was tied at 46 heading into the fourth quarter. Trevor Ariza was big late for UCLA. He threw down this slam and had 14 points and was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field.
Ariza knocked down this clutch jump shot to put UCLA up 63-60 with just 11.8 seconds left.
This slam from Westbrook seals the deal for UCLA. Westbrook had 24 points and won the title with a 67-62 win.
