#898 a shocker in Upset City

I was back at Energy Solutions Arena this afternoon for the third round of the NCAA tournament. There were two games today. The first game was the Arizona Wildcats taking on the second round's upset kings, the Harvard Crimson. Apparently Harvard used all of it's magic on Thursday because Arizona just ran right over them. The Crimson were never really a factor in the game. Watch out for Arizona. They're pretty good. They won both games they played here in SLC easily.

The second game was the number one seed Gonzaga Bulldogs against the Wichita State Shockers. The Shockers beat Pittsburgh in game one on Thursday, a game I thought was the most boring game I've ever seen. Tonight's game was anything but boring.

Wichita State came out hot and ready to play. Gonzaga looked sluggish and totally out of rhythm in the first half. Gonzaga came out strong to start the second half and took the lead, but the Shockers would not quit and wouldn't back down. Wichita State kept draining three pointers - I think they had 14 three pointers! Gonzaga stayed close, but in the end, Wichita State knocked out the top seed 76 - 70.

There was a brain-fart moment in the game that was bad for Gonzaga. David Stockton, the son of Utah Jazz legend John Stockton, plays for Gonzaga. At one point, David received an in-bound pass from his teammate, but David trotted out of bounds with the ball, causing a turnover. Papa John did not look happy about it in the stands. I felt bad for the kid. I don't think he really recovered from the mistake mentally. He was a lot slower and more tentative after that. Poor kid.

So that's it for the second and third rounds here in Salt Lake City. We saw two great upsets and an Arizona team that looks like it can play with anyone. I am so glad I had the chance to go see the games in person. It was really fun!

Tonight was really cool for me personally. My college friend Brigid lives in Pocatello and was on Facebook on Thursday as I was posting about being at the tournament. She decided to come down today to see if she could get a ticket and attend the games, too. We met up this afternoon at a restaurant downtown, then we walked to the arena together. When I got to my seat in the suite, I was telling my friends there about meeting up with Brigid, and that's why I was late getting to the game. My friend Abby was able to get a suite pass for Brigid, so Brig was able to come sit in the suite with me to watch the game! How cool is that?! Abby's the best. :) Thanks Ab!!