Day 1 Recap of The March Madness East Bracket
The first four games of the Big East Bracket were truly some of the best of the day. All of the games had a lot of hype going into them and displayed many talented players. The first game of the day featured sixth-seed BYU vs 11-seed Duquesne. BYU came in as heavy favorites, yet it didn't seem to matter at all for Duquesne. Duquesne got off to a quick 12-2 lead and never looked back. While BYU slowly clawed back and got it back to a great game the fire was really never there for them. Duquesne was able to hold on for a 71-67 win. Overall, no player dominated the game for Duquesne, and it was a great team effort with multiple people scoring in double digits. BYU had lots of expectations going in yet ended up on the wrong end of the first upset of this March Madness.
The second game of the day was Illinois vs Morehead State. Illinois was favored by 10.5 going into the game and they easily covered that spread taking down Morehead State early in the game. Illinois was led by a triple-double from Marcus Domask and 26 points from Terrence Shannon. Illinois will look to continue their success in the round of 32. At around 7:30 pm, the third game of the night in the east bracket started up. This one featured two-seed Iowa State playing against 15-seed South Dakota State. This game wasn't even close as Iowa State dominated the whole time from start to finish. Iowa State went on to win easily by 17 showcasing their dominance to other teams moving on. Five players scored in double digits leading a balanced effort in the win. While South Dakota State was unable to take home the win, guard Zeke Mayo came through, showing up with 19 points and playing 39 minutes. Iowa State has tough matchups ahead, but they may be one of the most skilled teams in the whole tournament.
The last game of the night was Washington State vs Drake. This one was truly a nail-biter. Drake came in at almost even odds to win the game even though they were three seeds lower. They quickly proved why so keeping pace with Washington State throughout the entire game. The game was back and forth, especially at the end where it seemed they were trading buckets over and over again for the last five minutes. After all the battles throughout the game, it was Washington State who came out on top as they were able to come away with a 66-61 win. Washington State will now move to the next round as they concluded the Thursday slate of East Bracket games.
