ISU 66 – SUI 51
Coming into tonight’s play in round, each team knew that they would need to win Arch Madness in order to have a shot at the NCAA tournament. The seniors on each team knew this was their last shot and none of them wanted to stop playing basketball tonight. To most fans, this was also the farewell tour for Chris Lowery.
From the beginning of the game, it seemed as though Coach Lowery had lost a bit of the fire Creighton fans were used to seeing throughout the years. The energetic and passionate coach seemed to be absent tonight, and perhaps the last season. The Sycamores’ Jake Odum came out with flashes of a solid night ahead, scoring 6 points in the first 8 minutes of the game, but would finish the half with as many points.
The Sycamores lead never exceeded 7 points in the first half, and the game always seemed within reach if the Salukis could put together a run.
With the halftime score reading 30-23 in favor of the Sycamores, it seemed as though SIU senior Mamadou Seck decided to put the team on his shoulders and try and will them back to play another day. Seck came out of the locker room like a man possessed, yelling to motivate his teammates and showing leadership with his hustle as well.
There were moments where the Salukis made a few stops, crawled within 2 points, but the Trees were just too much tonight. The final score is no indication of the competitiveness of the game, although not lead by a coach, but a hungry senior.
Drake 65 – Bradley 49
The second game of the evening was one that many assumed would be a walk in the park for Drake as they faced a team in Bradley that was only able to win 2 Valley games all year. The start of the game seemed as though it would go that way as Drake jumped out to a 12 point lead with the score reading 12-0 at the 13 minute mark. The Braves seemed as though they had little interest in competing in this one.
It looked like the Bulldogs would have exactly what they wanted in this game, a blow out and a chance to rest their starters with a matchup against #2 seed Creighton looming the next day. Well, the Braves decided to wake up around 9 pm and make this one a bit of a contest. They were able to keep the game just close enough to keep Drake from pulling their starters.
Rayvonte Rice was able to make some good plays througout the night, as he finished with 18 points, the majority of them coming off some strong drives in the lane. For Creighton fans, it is also notable that he ended up playing 36 minutes in the game, much more than coach probably wanted him to play.
Although the final score read 65-49, it was important that Drake finished the game and avoided a potential comeback by the Braves. The Bulldogs will now face Creighton, and Coach may need a lot of ice for Rice.