XBOX NCAA TOURNAMENT ATS SIMULATIONS

Opening Round @ Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.

(3) Xavier vs. (11) Georgia: The Bulldogs continue its excellent play it exhibited in the SEC Tournament and comes out on fire. They hold a 9-point lead at the break, 41-32, forcing Musketeer fans to drown their sorrows in their beers during the intermission. However, the Musketeers come out like gangbusters in the second half and open it up with a 15-0 run to take a lead they never surrender. However, the spread is in doubt in the final seconds, but Georgia’s last ditch 3-point attempt clanks off the rim and Stanley Burrell hits the final two FT’s of the game to allow Xavier to cover the spread.

Final Score: Xavier 77 Georgia 67

(11) Baylor vs. (6) Purdue: The Bears and Boilermakers went back and forth throughout the first 17 minutes of the contest, but PU was able to pull away in the last couple minutes to grab a 9-point lead at the half, 33-24. Head Coach Scott Drew must have given one heck of a halftime speech because the Bears started to look like the team that earned a bid to the dance right out of the gates in the second half. Senior guard Curtis Jerrells nailed back-to-back-to-back threes and the Bears took their first lead of the game at the 12-minute mark. Matt Painter’s club didn’t back down though as frosh phenom Robbie Hummel caught fire and scored the Boilers next 10 points to allow them to retake the lead. The score was all knotted up at 76 apiece with 17 seconds left on the clock and the Bears held possession of the ball. Everyone in the building knew it was Jerrells time, and they were right. After letting close to 12 seconds elapse, Jerrells bolted to the rim but instead of taking the shot he dished it off to a wide open Tweety Carter who let one go from beyond the arc. The ball touched nothing but nylon as the buzzer sounded, and the Bears were the proud owners of the first last second win in the tourney.

Final Score: Baylor 79 Purdue 76

(15) Belmont vs. (2) Duke: The Dookies wasted no time in getting ahead of the spread in their evening contest with the Belmont Bruins. Not seven minutes had elapsed from the game clock, yet the Blue Devils had already notched 37 points while holding Belmont to a miniscule 16. DeMarcus Nelson and John Scheyer were unloading from beyond the arc, and Greg Paulus had already registered 10 dimes. Duke held a 63-27 lead at the break, so Coach “K” decided to bring in his bench players to play a bulk of the second half. They went on to win by a 91-64 final count and cover the 20-point spread with ease.

Final Score: Duke 91 Belmont 64

(10) Arizona vs. (7) West Virginia: The Mountaineers came out simply on fire from beyond the arc! Alex Ruoff and Darris Nichols hit 7 of their first 8 attempts to give the Mountaineers a double-digit lead at the 10-minute mark. This left AZ Head Coach Kevin O’Neill scrambling searching for answers, but then his “ptp’ers” stepped up to chew into the lead. WV led 52-44 at the break. Arizona’s porous defense really turned it up in the second half and held WV scoreless for a four-minute mark to allow Bayless and company to tie it up. This took the air out of HC Bob Huggins club, and the Wildcats rolled from there on out. The final score looks closer than it was only because WV nailed a couple of desperation 3’s and the Wildcats kept splitting at the line. Huge underdog win for the Wildcats who now get the pleasure of taking on Duke in Round 2.

Final Score: Arizona 84 West Virginia 78

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